The turkey’s off the table, the wrapping paper’s in the blue bin.
It’s time to get back to work.
The Flames begin the unofficial second half of the 2023-24 campaign tonight when the Kraken pay a visit to the Scotiabank Saddledome. Get tickets
And after a couple of days to recharge the batteries, captain Mikael Backlund and crew feel energized with two home contests left on the calendar in 2023.
“You can tell the boys are excited, we know we have to ramp it up even more now,” Backlund said following morning skate Wednesday. “It was a slow start, but I think in November and December, we played some better hockey, we’ve got to put the gas pedal down and go for it.”
There’s no time like the present, and no place like the home track, for the Flames to put the pedal to the metal, too.
According to Backlund, that forward momentum and high-energy state of mind was a contributing factor in his team's ability to secure points in five of their six most recent games.
“We play with a lot of pace with and without the puck; when we’re on our game, I think we’re relentless,” he said. “Without the puck we’re chasing every puck down, we’re in opponents faces and making it really tough on opponents.”
Defenceman Rasmus Andersson agrees, noting tonight’s fixture is an opportunity to ‘flip the switch’ after three days away from the rink.
He adds the Flames have proven a tough out for opposing teams when the entire group is pulling in the same direction.
“It’s got to be 20 guys every night, it’s not one or two guys,” Andersson said Wednesday morning. “It’s the 20 guys that (are) going to work hard, put a lot of pucks towards the net, create a little traffic and chaos in the O-zone and move around.”
