One of the weird little litmus tests I used to run in my own mind was how the Maple Leafs would fare on their trip to Western Canada.

Those three stops -- Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, though not always in that order -- to me was always a good gauge into just how good, or how bad, the Maple Leafs were.

I remember when Pat Quinn took over a team that had been pretty terrible, and the Leafs went 2-1 (beating Calgary, and Edmonton, losing to Vancouver) on that Western swing that was the second, third and fourth games of the season. Then the Leafs beat 'em at home, too, in November. Then went back out West in March and swept all three games. Yes, then, to me, the Maple Leafs were for real.

They only go out West once a year now and they're on that trip now. But one, sometimes two, of those teams is usually right at the Maple Leafs level. Either for better, or worse.

The measuring stick lately has largely been the Edmonton Oilers. That was for all the wrong reasons in the days when making the playoffs seemed out of reach. Now for the right reasons given the arrivals of Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews.

But the real team to watch on this trip is the Calgary Flames.

(And back off Jets fans. I'm not ignoring your team here. They might be Canada's best team right now. They're just in a different division, and not usually part of Western swings.)



The Flames don't have a No. 1 centre like the Oilers do in McDavid, or the Leafs do in Matthews, though Sean Monahan (at 23 with 14 goals) is no slouch.

The Flames roster is strong and their best forwards are young.

Johnny Gaudreau is 24 and as feared a scorer/playmaker as there is in the NHL with 11 goals, 23 assists and tied for second in league scoring.

Matthew Tkachuk, just 20, is showing no signs of a sophomore slump with four goals and 16 assists.

Michael Ferland is 25, and maturing into an elite power forward.

Meanwhile their blue line is made up of veterans, like stalwart captain Mark Giordano (34), and TJ Brodie (27).

The goaltending of Mike Smith (35) has certainly been good enough (20-11-7, 2.64, .922). Veterans like Michael Frolik and Jaromir Jagr are certainly good to have around.



How good are the Flames? Consider the struggles of Sam Bennett (one goal, two assists, minus-7) are barely making a ripple. The 21 year old, former fourth overall pick, is averaging about 13 minutes a night and -- aghast -- has not turned into Doug Gilmour.

Imagine if William Nylander or Mitch Marner had those paltry numbers?

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GM Brad Treliving certainly seems to have built a Flames team for the long haul. They've risen past the Oilers as the team to be feared the most when heading to Western Canada.

GOT A QUESTION? Email me at askkevinmcgran@gmail.com and I'lll answer it in Friday's mailbag.