In season of change, Calgary Flames leaning on one line’s consistency

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The Calgary Flames have a lot of moving pieces.

It’s been a season of change, with players coming and going.

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But in the middle of it all is one line with Mikael Backlund at centre and Andrew Mangiapane and Blake Coleman on either side of him.

And with so many new faces in the locker room and wearing Flames jerseys, that trio is more important than ever.

“They’re the line who when we need to start the game the right way, they start,” Flames head coach Ryan Huska said last week. “When we need to shift the momentum, they’re the line that does that.

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“They have a chemistry amongst the three of them and they understand how we have to play to have success and they’re good with that. It’s nice to have three guys who have been together that long and play well together.”

It’s no secret that the Coleman-Backlund-Mangiapane line has been great for the Flames for a few seasons now. They’re relied upon to go up against their opponents’ best lines and superstar players and this year, they’ve been doing some real heavy lifting on the offensive end, too.

After a stretch where Mangiapane was separated from his linemates earlier in the year, they’ve been together for months and have been arguably the Flames’ most consistent and important line ever since.

And that consistency is as essential now as it’s ever been.

With GM Craig Conroy moving Elias Lindholm, Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin in the month or so before the trade deadline, the Flames now feel like a completely different team from the one that started the season.

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Young guys are being given opportunities. Players are being moved into bigger roles. Everyone’s trying to figure it all out on the fly.

And whatever the Flames’ goals may be between now and the end of the season, having a few veterans around setting the tone can only be a good thing as the Flames start trying to build towards a hopefully brighter future.

“It’s big, right? I think our line has played together so long and we just know what we’re going to get from us,” Mangiapane said. “We play against the big matchups and just try to be consistent with our game. Obviously, there’s a lot of inconsistency in our room right now (because) guys are new here and they’re moving around. Left-wing, right-wing, centre, everyone’s playing every position and just trying to build chemistry somewhere.”

As the Flames figure their new-look team out, it can only help having a trio of veterans playing together and setting the standard at the locker room and around the rink.

If new guys want to see what being a Calgary Flame is all about, all they have to do is look at Backlund, Mangiapane and Coleman and they’ll have a pretty good idea.

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That will matter as much as anything the trio does during a game between now and the end of the season.

“I think our role won’t necessarily change in the sense that we’ve always played hard minutes against top lines and at the end of the day we’re expected to shut guys down,” Coleman said. “I think it’s just the way we come to the rink, prepare and show the right way to be a pro.”

MORTON GETS NOMINATED

This is going to be a week that Sam Morton remembers.

After signing with the Calgary Flames on Monday, Morton made his debut with the Calgary Wranglers in AHL action on Tuesday. He picked up an assist on Mitch McLain’s game-winner, too.

Then, on Wednesday, he was named as one of the 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, which goes to the top collegiate player in the U.S.

The 24-year-old scored a Central Collegiate Hockey Association-leading 24 goals and added 10 assists in 37 games this season for Minnesota State.

He was signed to a one-year, two-way contract by the Flames on Monday and will play for the Wranglers on an amateur tryout for the rest of the 2023-24 campaign.

The three finalists for the Hobey Baker award will be announced on April 4, and the winner will be announced on April 12.

daustin@postmedia.com

X: @DannyAustin_9

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