Article content continued

Read more…[/np_storybar]

The Calgary native knows that in more tranquil times the stretch of restaurants and pubs along 17th Avenue in his city’s southwest sector is a place to grab a pint and a slab of pizza.

The Flames centre also knows that in more testosterone-driven times it’s fan central. and when the NHL club made its first postseason Saddledome appearance in 2,184 days on April 20, there was a freaky frenzy. People in the streets. People removing clothing.

“Driving home after Game 4, I was one of the last to leave the rink and there were people running into the street and giving me high-fives and honking their horns and the flags were out,” recalled the Flames forward.

“My memories from the Red Mile are from 2004 (Stanley Cup final) and some of my favourites growing up. It was one of those things, a Calgary thing, and having pride in your city. I was all over that.”

The Flames were all over a real rebuild two years ago and that commitment was cemented Saturday with a 7-4 comeback victory to shockingly shove the Vancouver Canucks to the playoff sidelines in six games of the Western Conference quarterfinal series.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or

Of course, change is easier when you’re so bad for so long and have high draft picks. But the game isn’t played on paper.

The Flames finished the 2013-14 season 27th overall with just 77 points — the lowest franchise output since 2002-03 — but played in 49 one-goal games. It was the silver lining.

Emerging from the shadow of Jarome Iginla and moving Jay Bouwmeester, and the retirement of Miikka Kiprusoff, opened the door to significant change. They landed first-round 2013 picks in packages for Iginla and Bouwmeester, and even though the Flames lost Mike Cammalleri to free agency last summer, what they gained by playing the kids has paid off now and will do so even more in the future.