For months now, myself and an ever growing contingent of Tweeps have noticed damning similarities between this year’s Calgary Flames and last year’s Stanley Cup runner up Nashville Predators.
For starters, both teams started their summers by making a blockbuster move for a defenceman, resulting in their D-corp earning “best defence in the NHL” compliments from fans and pundits alike. Am I comparing Travis Hamonic to P.K. Subban? No. But both deals involving the two were blockbuster in nature. They also went into the season with a starting goaltender well into their 30s.
Then, both teams made cameos in preseason Cup predictions, and featured prominently as likely division leaders (everywhere except the Edmonton Journal, of course).