The Calgary Flames’ season is over, and for the fourth straight year, there will be no playoff hockey in the city. The team wrapped up its schedule with a win Thursday night but, once again, fell short of a postseason spot, finishing near the bottom of the league. “Last year, there was a bit more sadness, I would say, in our last game because we were right there until the end. I thought with 96 points we’d find ourselves in the playoffs,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “This one, we know it’s been happening for a long period of time. I guess it’s sort of like when someone’s sick, you know, it’s coming a little bit.” For many, it’s a disappointing end — not just for fans, but for local businesses that rely on playoff traffic. “I definitely diminishes because now we’re going to have to be a Canadian’s bar where all the Canadian teams are sort of our focal point,” said Mike Shupenia, owner of Side Street Pub & Grill. While the final standings weren’t ideal, there are signs of optimism moving forward. A major milestone is on the horizon, with the new Scotia Place set to open in fall 2027. Shupenia says that promise makes the terrible season a bit easier to take. “If we didn’t have a (new) Saddledome coming or we didn’t have all these picks, so we didn’t have some of the team that we do have, it might be frustrating, but there’s a glimmer,” he said. “I think it is frustrating to not have a great season, which it wasn’t, but it’s nice to see the future is not looking.” In the meantime, the Flames remain in a rebuild phase, focused on adding complementary talent to a growing core of players aged 25 and under. That process could get a boost at the NHL draft. After finishing fourth-last in the league, Calgary enters the draft lottery with about a 10 per cent chance at the first overall pick, though they are more likely to select somewhere in the fourth to sixth range. A high pick would give the organization a prime opportunity to add a top prospect and accelerate its retool. “We are excited about a lot of the people within our organization now. There’s no doubt about that, and it’s our job is that those younger people and older people to play together, play well, so we can get enough points to get in,” said Huska. The last time the Flames picked sixth overall was in 2016, a selection that turned into star forward Matthew Tkachuk, offering some hope for what this year’s draft could bring.
