Matthew Tkachuk has heard the whisper and knows that the only way to put an end to them is to change his team’s playoff fortune.
The Calgary Flames, who have won just one of their last eleven playoff games, are known as a team that is routinely unable to cope with the rigors of a game that is being put to the test in the playoffs.
One example of this was last year’s five-game crash, courtesy of an emerging Colorado avalanche club.
This loss now serves as fuel for this year’s group.
“I’m fed up with losing – I’m fed up with losing in those first few rounds,” said Tkachuk unprovokedly.
“I know that many of the other guys are fed up with losing who want salvation after last year. It’s time for us to prove that we’re an elite ice hockey team. “
Well said.
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It is certainly time for this group to prove the growing list of doubters wrong or to say goodbye to some of the team’s mainstays.
Every player in this room knows what the only purpose is to give more pressure to a series with Winnipeg, which is a toss of coins on paper.
Winnipeg’s goalkeeping and attacking power makes them an easy favorite in the eyes of many who believe that advancing to the Western Conference finale two years ago will give them an advantage.
Tkachuk heard so much.
“Not too many people say anything about us,” said Tkachuk, an insatiable consumer of hockey information, analysis, and opinion across the league. “But we know that if we play properly, you will get that momentum and the playoffs are all about momentum.
“We just have to get the momentum going as long as we can. I think our team looked pretty good after the break. I am very confident in this group and if we do the right things, I hope that we have the chance to prove the opposite to people. “
Last year they started as the surprise champions of the regular season in the West as favorites.
This year, no one is sure what to expect from the flames.
Perhaps we will get a foretaste on Tuesday when they face Edmonton, which, according to Tkachuk, should be taken much more seriously than a typical exhibition game.
“We have to treat Tuesday like a playoff game,” said Tkachuk.
“If we start with just a simple mentality and not a playoff mentality, as we have done in the last few games in the playoffs that we accelerated just before, we are likely to get a similar result.
“You look at the teams that have won in the past and who win. We have to play the way we want to play against Winnipeg. We have to dial in and play a good, hard physical game, take our chances and not give up much defensively. “
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Tkachuk wore a playoff intensity that the team is clearly trying to promote and was more relaxed when asked about the bubble his club will join in Edmonton on Sunday along with six other teams.
“It’s not that there are fights at the hotel,” he said when asked if he thought his club was by nature in a separate hotel from the Oilers.
“I have seen a bit in the past few days what they will have available for us. I keep telling people that it reminds me of youth hockey tournaments in the summer.
“You are in the hotel and see people in elevators and restaurants and check other results. It will go crazy. I think it’s up to us to make the best of it. I think they did a really good job. “
He originally thought it would be a “hotel room, a locker room, a hotel room, and an ice rink”, and he would have very little else to do if he confined himself to the bladder.
It turns out that thanks to the league’s concerted effort to provide players with endless opportunities, including live concerts, players have a lot more to do.
“A little cool … but then I won’t be walking around all day doing all these activities … it’s playoffs.”
A time to dispel the idea that his team will be neglected again.
