Calgary Flames forward Nazem Kadri made sure to let everybody know how far off they were in it came to predicting the season standings.
The Flames, who had recently traded out some of their most valuable players, including Jacob Markstrom, Chris Tanev, and Noah Hanifin, were expected to struggle in 2024-25. To many, it felt like an outright rebuild, one in which they had bottom-five potential in the standings.
Instead, a win on New Year’s Eve versus the Vancouver Canucks put the Flames back into a playoff spot. Through 37 games, they own a 22-12-3 record, which not only has them in the second wild-card position in the Western Conference but is also just four points shy of the Edmonton Oilers for third place in the Pacific Division.
“Who all had that here?” Said a grinning Kadri following Tuesday’s game. “Anyone project that here? No? Experts.”
Nazem Kadri is the best LMAO #Flames pic.twitter.com/7NHfrLem9U
— Yegor Sharangovich replaced Breadman (@FierySharky) January 1, 2025
While having fun, it’s clear that Kadri and this Flames team are using their early season doubters as motivation. It’s worked, as despite not having a ton of top-end talent, they’ve managed to be quite successful thus far.
“We fight to the end; that’s kind of how it works,” Kadri said before reminding everyone that there is still plenty of hockey between now and the playoffs. “There’s a lot of year to play. Lot of year to play. It’s great going into the new year in a spot. We’d like to build on that.”
Kadri himself is a big part of the Flames’ success this season. He’s coming off a December in which he recorded six goals and 11 points in 12 games and is back to playing at the level we saw from him in 2023-24. He and his teammates will look to start 2025 off on the right foot tonight as they are set to take on the Utah Hockey Club.
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