'Prove People Wrong'

Derek Jeter famously said he “loves it when people doubt me.”

Some – like the Hall-of-Fame shortstop – are simply wired that way, to be fuelled by their critics, to "work even harder" and accomplish what they claim you can't.

The us-against-the-world mentality isn’t new to pro sports, but when your team spent the summer getting dragged by the pundits, it’s clear that the locals haven’t forgotten.

And they’re not afraid to say it.

“We can be in that playoff picture,” said Kevin Bahl, who was right in the thick of the action on Tuesday against the Vancouver Canucks. “All of us, together, that’s been our goal and we’ve been talking about it all season, starting in main camp.

“We want to be there.

“As a group, but on an individual level, too, I think there are a lot of guys who are thinking about that and how we can prove people wrong and not being another team that just floats through the year and go home early.

“Coming in, there weren’t a lot of expectations from outside media or whatever, but we know what we’re capable of.”

It felt like things had been trending this way for some time, with a unique brotherhood forming that plays to the team’s identity of being one of the hardest-working troupes on circuit. But once the puck dropped and the Flames roundly beat their division rivals in a feisty, New Year’s Eve affair, the postgame quotes from inside the dressing room showed a cheekiness we haven’t seen yet this year.

“Who all had that here? Anyone project that? Anyone project that here?” Nazem Kadri said of closing out the year in a playoff spot after leap-frogging the Canucks.

“Experts ..."

Then there was Ryan Lomberg, who’s coming off a Stanley Cup win and has quickly become an integral part of the team’s heartbeat, with a pair of fights (and very nearly a third) in that emotional, 3-1 victory.

“I didn't sign here to lose,” he said. “I didn't think we would be in the basement, like everybody thought.

“I knew that there were guys here, coaching staff, management, players on the team, everything about it. I knew that this is exactly where we were going to be – bubble, fighting to get in, and having to earn it every night.”

And earn it, they have.

There have been highs, lows and everything in between through the first 37 games, but – to steal a Kadri-ism – ‘hands up’ if you didn’t see that coming.

But it’s not that there wouldn’t be any pressure points at all during this public ‘growth’ phase.

It was always going to be about how the team would handle them, with the team’s leadership group steadying the ship and establishing a culture of success.

“There's a better understanding of what's needed out of each other and as an individual person,” said Head Coach Ryan Huska. “I think that's come from our leadership group and I think that's come from consistent messaging.

“When the coach leaves the room, it's the message after the message – all the time. If your older players or your leaders are fully in and fully engaged, them challenging a peer or a teammate, 'I know you've got more,' I think that goes further than a coach saying, 'Hey, I know you've got more.' Because they don't want to let the people beside them down.

“I think it is the most important message and as I've said before with our guys, I think they've done a good job of finding balance as to when to pat (on the back) and when to push, and I think there's a great respect in our dressing room that guys know that it's coming from the right place, if one of their teammates does push them a little bit harder.”

It’s why, when everyone buys in, you get the type of effort that we saw on Tuesday.

The type where everyone quite literally comes out swinging for one another, whether it’s in response to an ornery opponent or simply to set the tone against them.

It’s not an easy way to play – and with 45 dates left on the regular-season calendar, the challenge will be to bring it consistently.

But now, an identity has been forged, while the finer details of their defensive game have tightened up, and some key contributors have really stepped up offensively.

Together, it’s given this now confident team a heightened belief in what’s possible down the stretch.

“Just play physical,” said Bahl, who had a spirited bout with J.T. Miller the other night. “It's not necessarily about being in the box or taking penalties, but if you play physical and teams want to step up to the plate, you've got to respond.

“That's part of our identity.

“For us, it’s about being a really tough and physical team to play against, and sometimes a little bit ratty. I think that's a good thing to have up our sleeve, especially if we can do it without taking too many penalties, which we pretty much did last game.

“Now, we have to do it again tonight.

“We're trying to get back in the playoff picture and really solidify ourselves there, so it's another chance for us to do that.”