CALGARY — The most truculent person in the Calgary Flames’ organization is president Brian Burke. Winger Michael Ferland is a close second.
But the Flames are not supposed to be a team that intimidates, that wins on physicality. Calgary’s fast, physical forecheck caused Vancouver Canuck players to miss the puck or give it away Sunday, leading to the first three Flames’ goals in a 4-2 victory that broke a 1-1 tie in the teams’ National Hockey League playoff series.
It’s not Calgary scorers Sean Monahan and Jiri Hudler who are winning this series, but role players like Ferland and Joe Colborne, Brandon Bollig and David Jones, even 18-year-old Sam Bennett.