Hockey players, coaches, GMs and fans know that almost anything can happen in the Stanley Cup playoffs. It just takes the right goalie to get hot, the wrong forward to go cold or a penalty to be called at a certain time, to craft a tale of stunning upset or humiliating defeat.



In many cases, the difference between a fall from grace or a Cinderella story is a question of degrees. The right power-play goal at the right time, the wrong pinch in overtime, the sway of injuries and inches at the margins.



But that wasn’t the case for the Calgary Flames this year.



Calgary entered their first-round matchup as heavy favourites over the Colorado Avalanche. Yet for a large portion of their five-game series, the Flames were run out of the rink by a team they beat three times out of three in the regular season and that finished 27 points behind them in the standings. All told, the games seemed more like an NHL team deftly dominating an AHL squad.



Calgary...