The Calgary Flames saw their playoff dreams go up in smoke last night, as they watched Matt Duchene’s shootout goal seal their fate. It was a fitting end to an incredibly frustrating season, one which started with so much promise and then ended with a whimper.
Eric Duhatschek of The Globe and Mail has some sobering thoughts from long-time Flames center Craig Conroy:
“Duchene scores, they win and it’s over,” said Conroy. “It’s as simple as that. You can’t say much more than that. We were hoping for a miracle and it didn’t happen.”
“When we were scoring three or four goals at the start of the year, it wasn’t even close. We were winning all the games. Then we just went dry. There was a lot of pressure on Jarome. We just couldn’t find ways to score. The power play wasn’t clicking like it was at the start of the year. I don’t know why, it just didn’t happen.”
Calgary will have a lot of roster adjustments to make, based on a wasted season and a team that already has $53 million in payroll locked up for next season in 17 players. Many will want to blame Iginla for his disappointing season, but the lack of scoring from anywhere on the roster hurt the most. Jaw Bouwmeester, signed to be the catalyst for an explosive defensive corps, might already be considered a bust.
It’s going to be a long summer in Calgary.