Calder: the Flames’ coach complicates Lane Hutson’s task

Dose
Crédit: Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

After vibrating to the rhythm of the 4 Nations Confrontation for two weeks, the normal course of activities in the NHL is back today. For the Canadiens (and Emil Heineman), it’s with a game in Ottawa against the Senators tonight that it will happen.

That being said, it’s also in a context where the team’s playoff hopes are quite slim that everything will resume. The trade deadline (in two weeks) will be an important moment, but beyond March 7, the stakes will be lower for the CH.

The biggest stake, in fact, will probably be the Calder Trophy race, in which Lane Hutson is currently involved. At the moment, Hutson and Macklin Celebrini are seen as the two protagonists of a race to finish.

On the other hand, from Calgary, Flames coach Ryan Huska made an announcement that will complicate the task of the CH defender: the club will no longer limit the workload of goalkeeper Dustin Wolf.

Wolf, who is also a rookie, will therefore have the opportunity to play more… and come mix up the cards in this race.

If we talk a lot about the race between Hutson and Celebrini (and with good reason, they who are racking up points by the ton), Wolf is a name that passes a bit more under the radar. That being said, in 33 games this season, Wolf has a record of 19-11-3, an average of 2.63 goals against and an efficiency rate of 0.912.

These are very, very solid numbers for the 23-year-old goalkeeper.

In a world where Wolf continues to be dominant and brings the Flames to the playoffs, he will then become a serious contender for the Calder Trophy. And necessarily, the fact that there is more competition will complicate the task of the Canadiens defender.

And as if that weren’t enough, the two-week break seems to have done a lot of good for Matvei Michkov, who had been a bit behind in this race for a few weeks. In a 6-3 win for the Flyers over the Oilers this afternoon, the Russian scored a goal and two assists, finishing the game with a +5 differential.

If Hutson wants to win the Calder Trophy, therefore, he will have to be ready to finish the season strong. The competition will be fierce, and he will have to stand out against three other rookies who, like him, are excellent young hockey players.

This will be a very interesting race to follow.

In rafale

– Already five years since the famous performance of David Ayres.

– Emil Heineman was eager to return to the game.

– Let’s hope so.

– Too bad.

– And in the end, it contributed to changing the rule.