Posted on August 31, 2024 (Season 12)

On the evening of August 30, we joined our friend Kevin Olenick from the Shifts and Pucks podcast to remember Johnny Gaudreau, share our memories, discuss his passing, and discuss ways to memorialize him in Calgary. We encourage our fans to share their memories of Johnny Hockey. Feel free to leave a comment on FiresideChat.ca or any of our social media channels so we can all remember the Gaudreau brothers together.

Posted on January 30, 2023 (Guest Host) | (Season 11)

The Calgary Flames had a very Jekyll and Hyde week with a big loss to the Chicago Blackhawks and a big win versus the Seattle Kraken. And don’t forget the return of Johnny Gaudreau to the Saddledome where he took on Jonathan Huberdeau. Johnny Hockey vs Jonathan Hockey.

This week Dan is joined by Kevin Olenick of the Shifts and Pucks podcast to break down what went wrong this week and discuss some bigger issues surrounding the Flames as they embark on their All-Star Break.

Posted on July 26, 2022 (Season 10)

It’s been an eventful off season for the Calgary Flames. On this episode Dan and Matt spend most of the episode discussing Johnny Gaudreau’s departure and the situation regarding him notifying the organization last minute he wasn’t coming back, and the big trade that swapped Matthew Tkachuck for Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar.  Can the Flames be contenders with these aquisitions, or will this coming season be a rough one for the C of Red? The guys discuss these topics and more.

Posted on May 29, 2022 (Season 10)

The Calgary Flames series has come to an end after a 4-1 second round series loss to the Edmonton Oilers. Game 5 ended in controversy with the Flames go-ahead goal by Blake Coleman being called back. Do the guys think that Coleman made a distinct kicking motion? We break down the Flames series and look ahead to what the Flames need to do this off-season and how this team could look different next season.

Posted on May 2, 2022 (Season 10)

The regular season is over, and the Calgary Flames are ready to kick off a playoff series against the Dallas Stars. This week the guys recap look back at their pre-season predictions to see how they did, and preview the Dallas Stars series and what we can expect from the first three games of the series.

Posted on February 28, 2022 (Season 10)

With the Flames win streak come to an end we saw Dillon Dube and Adam Ruzicka out of the lineup against Minnesota. The guys debate Dillon’s future in Calgary this season and beyond and if he fits a Darryl Sutter system. Then the guys look ahead to the March schedule and what the Flames have to do to get at least .500 in that month. Then we look even further ahead to the NHL Awards, and what players we think could be going home with hardware this year.

Posted on May 18, 2021 (Season 9)

The Calgary Flames are down to the last three games of their season, and Dan and Matt spend this discussing what they think the team needs to do in the off-season including looking at if the #1 and #2 Right Wingers the team needs can be filled internally, what UFA candidates exist this summer, or if we’ll need to trade for that position – and how each of those would impact the roster. The guys also discuss if it is time for the Flames to change their leadership as part of a culture shift, and why Milan Lucic is the right guy to be the next Captain.

Posted on April 5, 2021 (Season 9)

As the Flames season continues to slowly slip away from them, we look at what went wrong this year and what the best moves are going forward, which brings more questions than answers. Should Milan Lucic be our next captain? Is Sean Monahan a viable #1 or #2 Centre moving forward? Where will the scoring come from next year if Gaudreau is traded? And is it time to re-tool or re-build?

And of course, we preview the Trade Deadline and the Flames in a very different position than usual being sellers come April 12. What players have value? What can we get? How can we start the re-tooling at this deadline? The guys answer all these questions.

Posted on March 22, 2021 (Season 9)

The Flames started the “second era of Darryl Sutter” on a high but this week seem to have slipped back into hold habits, and with that brought the same old results. We once again try to figure out what’s going on with the Flames and why this team just can’t put things together. Johnny Gaudreau trade talk is a big part of this week’s discussion as we also ponder why Matthew Tkachuk hasn’t excelled under Sutter and just how many games the Flames will need to win to make the postseason. If they do make the playoffs, how far can they really be expected to go?

Posted on February 8, 2021 (Season 9)

If the Flames stay playing at less than .500, what changes need to be made? Is it time to change the coach? GM? Or make major roster moves? The guys answer these questions as well as discuss the Sam Bennett situation and some possible ways to change the forward lines without making major mid-season acquisitions.

Posted on February 1, 2021 (Season 9)

Frustration with the team’s disappointing week leads to debating how to fix the flaws with this team and if it is time to make major changes to the Flames roster before their window of opportunity closes on the current core roster. The guys have different ideas of how to handle the Sam Bennett request for a ‘change of scenery’ and debate how they’d handle the scenario and what a reasonable return might be.

Posted on February 4, 2020 (Season 8)

The Flames are back in action after their bye week and had two big games over the Oilers, and discuss how the Flames went from good to terrible against the Oilers in a 72-hour stretch. Why the inconsistency this season, and can it be remedied, or is the issues the players in the room?

The guys discuss if it’s time to look at Tkachuk and Lindholm as their top two instead of Monahan and Gaudreau – and if so, does it make it easier to trade Monahan or Gaudreau?  Of course we need to talk trades prior to the Trade Deadline, and is it time to move on from TJ Brodie to fill the gaps on the forward ranks? How about Mikael Backlund?

Posted on January 7, 2020 (Season 8)

If the Flames don’t make the playoffs, is it finally time to trade Johnny Gaudreau? We discuss what the Flames might get back to make the deal attractive and if the Flames can upgrade the holes in their lineup through other means. 

Posted on December 3, 2019 (Season 8)

And we thought this would be a slow news week for the Flames!  Despite the poor month for the Calgary Flames, the team still ended the month with a .500 record – and only 7 points out of first place in the Pacific Division. Of course we discuss the Bill Peters incident, and the new Head Coach Geoff Ward.  What does the December schedule hold for the Flames, and is it still possible to turn this season around?

Posted on November 5, 2019 (Season 8)

As the Calgary Flames return home from the longest road trip of the season, it looks like the team is starting to turn their game around.  We break down what went well (and what didn’t) on the road trip, and how the team’s game improved, and look ahead to the Flames schedule for November and what we can expect for this month of games.

Posted on November 6, 2018 (Season 7)

One month into the season the Flames are riding high in a four game win streak. The Calgary Flames finally seems to be coming into their own, but how long can the team win games in the last 20 minutes? and how much is their goaltending to blame for their bad starts?

We can’t avoid the goaltending discussion again – who should get starting minutes? Do the Flames need to acquire a goalie, and if so at what cost? Can the team promote from within to solve their goaltending issues? Outside the net the Flames have a lot of players doing things right. Sean Monahan was the first star of the week, and Monahan, Gaudreau and Tkachuk are in the top 10 in league scoring with Lindholm not far behind at number 13. Plus, we debate if Dillon Dube should be in the NHL or AHL right now, who his replacement might be, and answer a question for a Flames fan in the UK.

Posted on April 12, 2018 (Season 6)

The disappointing Flames season is over, and this week we break it all down and try to figure out what the heck happened. We look closely at many areas of the team to determine where the Flames went wrong and what needs to be improved.  This week we’ll play “stay or go” with each of the Flames Unrestricted Free Agents, and discuss how different the roster may look next season. Dan poses a “crazy” theory – that the Flames should consider moving Johnny Gaudreau in the next few seasons – and what they’d need to get back for him.

Posted on November 1, 2017 (Season 6)

This week we discuss what roster move(s) the Flames should make when Jagr comes off the IR, how Kulak has played his way into the top 6, some hypothetical line juggling to get better scoring – including who should be on the first line Right Wing, and if Johnny Gaurdreau is the pure scorer he once was.

Posted on February 1, 2017 (Season 5)

After being called out by coach Glen Gulutzan, who said the team has a “fear of failure”, the Flames responded back with a good game against the Senators. Will they be able to keep the momentum going after the All-Star Break? The guys debate if TJ Brodie and Mark Giordano need to be together to be effective, or if we just need to find them new partners – and debate if Mark Giordano is still the right Captain and leader for the Flames and a lot more post All-Star Break Flames news.

Posted on January 18, 2017 (Season 5)

Six weeks from the 2017 NHL Trade Deadline, we look ahead to if we think the Flames will be buyers or sellers at the deadline – and what they have for sale, and need to buy. Dan and Matt talk about the Flames young players and where they fit into the lineup going forward. Will Monahan and Gaudreau get paired up again? Does Matthew Tkachuk stay with Frolik and Backlund next year? Where does that leave Sam Bennett? And we look ahead at the next week of Flames action, and what we can expect for the rest of January.

Posted on December 7, 2016 (Season 5)

The Flames swept this week, winning everything including a big 8-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks. The team looks like they’re turning things around, currently sitting tied for a Wildcard playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Flames lines are looking different these days with some players returning, some out, and Gaudreau and Monahan playing on different lines. We look at each Flames line and how it’s contributing to the team’s success.

At the 1/3 point of the season we look at Flames stats so far, what players are doing well and who is slumping, and we’ll look at the results of the Flames Super Skills competition.

Posted on November 2, 2016 (Season 5)

After a good week of Flames hockey we’re back to recap the last week of games, and to look at what now seems to be a finalized version of the Flames lineup. The third and fourth lines have been the best forward groups on the ice this season, and the Monahan and Gaudreau needs to be better for the Flames to have continued success. We recap the Stockton Heat’s week and look ahead to the Flames California road trip. Can we break the Honda Center curse finally?

Posted on October 26, 2016 (Season 5)

After an amazing Flames win over the Chicago Blackhawks, we have a lot of positive things to talk about. We’ll look back on the Flames records from previous Octobers and realize they’re not doing so bad, and at the historical data of how other teams have done with a new coach – we’re in the same boat. Not only are the Flames doing well, so are the Stockton Heat! We’ll profile who’s looking good in the AHL and who’s making a case for a promotion – as well as our optimistic look ahead at the next week of games.

Posted on October 13, 2016 (Season 5)

On the evening of the 2016-2017 kicking off we have a lot of Flames news to discuss including the Johnny Gaudreau contract, where new Flames Kris Versteeg and Nicklas Grossmann fit into the lineup, the final training camp cuts and our thoughts on the opening day roster while we look ahead and make some predictions for the season including who we expect to lose their job on the Flames roster first, and our thoughts on if the Flames will make the post-season.

Posted on September 25, 2016 (Season 5)

As the Flames get ready to kick off the 2016-2017 pre-season, our hosts recap all the news from the summer as we eagerly await the new Johnny Gaudreau contract announcement. Salary cap troubles, the Penticton rookie tournament, World Cup, all of these topics and more as we look forward to the puck drop against the Oilers.

Posted on March 30, 2016 (Season 4)

With Johnny Gaudreau, Josh Jooris, and Jykri Jokipakka out with injuries this week it lead to Derek Grant, Hunter Shinkaruk, Emile Poirier, and Brett Kulak being recalled from Stockton on an emergency basis. We’ll recap how all four kids looked in their first game of this recall and Dan and Matt disagree over who we might see back in Calgary next season, and in what role.

We’ll also talk about Jankowski, European UFA Daniel Pribyl, if the Flames can beat the Honda Center Curse and more.

Posted on March 24, 2016 (Season 4)

Happy Easter! This week’s show covers a whole range of topics including recapping the Flames week of hockey playing at just over .500, our thoughts on moving the NHL Entry Draft age up to 19 and why it’s more difficult to do than most people think, how a loop hole prevents Gaudreau from being ineligible to get an offer sheet as an RFA, our thoughts on the expansion draft and more Flames news and notes including looking ahead to the final nine games of the season.

Posted on December 27, 2015 (Season 4)

Happy Holidays! In our last episode of 2015 we look back at the Flames pre-Christmas break week of games and their continued success at home, and their struggles on the road. After Johnny Gaudreau’s hat-trick against the Jets (and 100th NHL point), we look at his career as a Flame so far and where he sits in team record books. Ferland and Jooris are back in the lineup, so we look at their play and long-term futures as Flames and we cover other Flames news of the week and look ahead to 2016.

Posted on February 15, 2015 (Season 3)

It’s been a week of highs and lows for Flames fans. Former Flame Steve Montador passed away this weekend at age 35, and then the Calgary Flames earned a thrilling overtime victory over the Boston Bruins which saw Johnny Gaudreau relegated to the fourth line in the third period. We’ll also look at the recent successes and struggles of Ramo and Hiller and dive into some preliminary trade deadline rumours as we’re less than 2 weeks from the trade deadline.

Posted on November 5, 2014 (Season 3)

Another great week for the Flames means we’ve got a lot to talk about. The Flames have four top forwards on the injury reserve, and four prospects have been called up from Adirondack to fill their spots – and are doing surprisingly well. We’ll look at Josh Jooris and Markus Granlund and how well they’re doing, and what Sven Baertschi needs to improve to stay in the NHL. Does Johnny Gaudreau have a shot at the Calder Cup this season? Have the Flames finally found their starting goalie in Jonas Hiller? Plus we’ll look back at the last week of games, and the games coming up this week.

Posted on October 22, 2014 (Season 3)

On this week’s episode we celebrate the Flames excellent 4-3 road trip. We look at the Josh Jooris callup and Johnny Gaudreau’s first goal of the year. Plus, we break down how the Flames have improved their faceoffs. We have a report on the farm team and our thoughts on the new TJ Brodie contract – and more.

Posted on October 15, 2014 (Season 3)

On this week’s episode we look at the 1-2 start to the season for the Flames. We’ll talk about players who are looking good this early in the season and we’ll review our Opening Day Roster predictions to see if Dan or Matt won. What are the storylines to follow this year? We’ll run them down for you this week.

Posted on October 9, 2014 (Season 3)

As we look ahead to the opening of the regular season, we talk about the players who will be on the Opening Day roster – including Johnny Gaudreau. Which of the veteran players are going to impress us this year, and which veterans do we think will disappoint? Will Glencross and Bollig be players that will have a good or a bad season? Plus – we look at how well some of the Flames young prospects are doing in the Canadian Hockey League so far.