Home sweet home: Flames thriving at the Saddledome

When the Flames returned to Calgary after a long stretch away from home on Dec. 2, they’d played more road games than any team in the NHL.

It had taken its toll, but with a Saddledome-heavy stretch on the horizon, they were committed to making Calgary a hard place for opponents to play. If the Flames were going to salvage their season, they had to make their home games count.

By any measure, they’ve done just that. Through seven home games in December, the Flames have won six.

Every team talks about making their home building feel like a fortress. The Flames are walking the walk.

“I think we feel comfortable and confident in this building, that’s how it should be,” said Flames goalie Dustin Wolf. “Home ice should be an advantage. Now, we just need to turn the road ice into an advantage going forward.”

The Flames have gone 10-5-2 at the Saddledome this year and are 8-1-1 in their last 10 home games. That stretch includes wins over some very good teams, including the Vegas Golden Knights, Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers, who they knocked off on Saturday night.

Their .647 winning percentage at home is the 10th best in the NHL, which is certainly impressive when you consider that they lost their first four games at the Saddledome this season.

So why is it happening?

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“It’s hard to say,” said Flames blueliner Joel Hanley. “Obviously, home ice advantage, you get last change and last night I know the fans were unbelievable. Even the altitude, it’s teams coming in here and it’s a tough barn to play in. We’ve been feeding off the crowd and getting to our game and making it hard for teams.

“I think even when I was on the other side of it, when I’d play in Calgary I always found it a hard arena to play in.”

Hanley wasn’t the only player saying that.

“When I played on Philly, I hated playing at the Saddledome,” said Flames centre Morgan Frost, who was acquired from the Flyers earlier this year. “I don’t know if that plays into it. We’re playing good, I don’t want to take away from that, but I hated playing here.

“When I was in Philly, the way we play now, it sucks to play against. When we’re playing good, it sucks to play against, with the trap and how hard we play. It wasn’t just the arena.”

Part of the Flames’ success at home in December can probably be attributed to improvements in the team’s game. They’re a better team than they were a month ago, and definitely much better than they were in October when they stumbled out of the gate and had the NHL’s worst record.

They’ve gone 1-3-0 in the three road games they’ve played since the start of the month, though, so it does seem as if the success they’re finding in Calgary isn’t necessarily translating when they’re out of town.

That’s something that will need to be addressed in January, but the Flames still have four more home games before they hit the road again.

“The energy in the building the last two nights, I can speak of for sure, has been through the roof,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “It’s been awesome and I think the players really enjoy playing here, they know we have great fans. I just feel like we get to our game a lot quicker than we do on the road lately. That’s something we have to flip, because we have to become a better road team than we’ve been so far this year.”

daustin@postmedia.com

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