Calgary Flames Not Immune to Impact of Outside Noise

Unrelenting Trade Rumours Taking a Toll on the Collective

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a worse performance than the Flames 5-0 home loss to Detroit on Saturday afternoon. Aside from Thursday’s downtrodden 6-3 defeat to the San Jose Sharks, that is.

Two home stinkers in a row have smashed an emphatic final nail into Calgary’s playoff-chances coffin. If we’re being honest, that ship abruptly left the dock after the forlorn display against San Jose, the league’s second-worst team. Then again, the Sharks 5-3-2 record in the last 10 is far superior to the Flames’ 4-6 mark. So, maybe it’s time to stop denigrating the Sharks and respect how well they acquitted themselves against Ryan Huska’s team.

That would be much easier if the Flames put in a full-blooded effort and left everything on the ice. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened. The Flames completely capitulated, throwing in the red and white towel after going down 4-2 early in the third. The same wholesale submission occurred much earlier against Detroit in the follow-up encounter two days later. The Red Wings scored twice in lightning-fast succession in the final five minutes of the first. Everyone watching knew the game was over the moment the second snuck through Markstrom’s five-hole and crossed the line.

While the Flames clearly aren’t an elite team, at least fans could rely on the boys in red putting forth an effort worthy of donning the flaming C. The last two games have fallen drastically short of the effort and commitment expected. The cacophonous outside noise could have a lot to do with their recent implosion. While media attention has relentlessly poked and prodded, it shouldn’t be considered the sole reason for their unacceptable on-ice play. It’s part of the problem but not the whole kit and caboodle.

But if you’re looking for a scapegoat, you’ve got one.