'You Love It'

Spring training hasn’t officially arrived yet, but Craig Conroy is already out here smacking dingers.

“It's nice to see that management is doing something like this for us, after no one on the outside believed in us at the start of the season,” said one of the team’s preeminent and most outspoken leaders, Rasmus Andersson.

“And here we are.

“Right in the middle of the playoff race.”

One point up, in fact, and with their sights now firmly set on the LA Kings for third in the Pacific.

Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee – acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers in a six-piece blockbuster – will now figure prominently in that chase, adding a punch of offence, snarl and defensive acumen to a forward group in need of all three.

That the Flames have put themselves in this position at all is a testament to their belief in one another.

Their structure.

And their dedication to becoming one of the hardest teams on the circuit to play against.

It’s one of the tightest locker-rooms you’ll come across, too – with Head Coach Ryan Huska at the helm, and likely deserving of Jack Adams consideration here, past the midway mark of the campaign.

The closeness of the group is partly why Andersson was one of many who felt a mix of emotions on Thursday with the departure of two brothers – including one that was pulled mid-game, which quickly made the rounds inside the dressing room.

But fully understanding of the business end, he quickly saw the on-ice potential blossoming in the mind's eye.

“Weegsy (MacKenzie Weegar) told me before I went out for the second period,” Andersson said. “I had no clue. Obviously, we figured Kuzy was involved with something because he was (scratched) a little earlier.

“From a human perspective, it's tough. We all loved Pelts and Kuzy. Pelts gave a lot of energy to a lot of people.

“But from a hockey perspective, you love it; you love it for what it adds to the team and for the message it sends to everyone."

At 25-18-7, the task is far from over.

But in the 36 hours since the late-night trade was consummated, you can sense the group feels about a foot taller.

“We always believed it in this room,” Andersson said. “Not very many other people did. We've had that feeling that we were going to prove everyone wrong this whole time and so far we've done that.

“So, when you see your GM go out and be a buyer and not a seller at this time of the year, yeah, it’s huge for the group’s confidence.

“But now it's on all of us to keep pushing and string a few together for the break.

“We have, what, 32 games left? It's not like we have a 10-point (cushion). It's one point. Every night is a big one and our game has to (reflect) that. We have to out and continue to play our style of game – and hopefully we'll start to produce a little bit more now, too.”

The Flames will look to get things off on the right foot tonight when they welcome the surging Detroit Red Wings to the Scotiabank Saddledome for an 8 p.m. puck drop.

The new recruits will be in the lineup, with Farabee lining up on the top line, with Nazem Kadri down the middle and Jonathan Huberdeau on the left. Frost, meanwhile, will centre a trio with Martin Pospisil and Yegor Sharangovich.

And based on the morning skate, both will see some powerplay time, too.

“With them playing in the east, I haven’t been able to see them too much,” Andersson said. “But I heard Frosty is a really skilled player and is great in the dot. And Farabee, he seems a little feisty – which I love – and at the same time, can put the puck in the net.

“Everyone's looking forward to seeing what they can do tonight.”