He leads the Flames in average ice-time, and as he continues his third season in the Stampede City, Kevin Bahl is taking pride in his role as a defensive leader.
The 6’6” blueliner has developed into a dependable checker, an imposing presence on opposing skaters.
And his play in the defensive end of the rink is helping the Flames carry one of the league’s top penalty-kills, as Calgary hits double digits in games played this evening when they host Detroit at the Scotiabank Saddledome. GET TICKETS
“We're just focusing a lot on the process, what we can do differently,” Bahl said Saturday morning when asked about a PK unit that went 4-4 against Minnesota Thursday night, and has gone 14-16 on home ice to start the season. “Being a bit tighter, trying to avoid giving up those chances right in the slot or bumper opportunities.
“Simple things, but when you really dial in on them, that's when you get a good result.”
On the kill, one has to think fast.
Especially with the way teams move the puck nowadays while a man (or more) up.
But for Bahl and his unit, simplicity is the key. If he can use his 2:51 of short-handed ice-time per game to help clog up the middle of the zone, that makes everyone’s job a bit less daunting.
“When you’ve got a really skilled group on the other side that's moving the puck well, sometimes less is more,” Bahl explained. “You don't have to go try to pressure all over the ice. Sometimes you’ve just gotta collapse (to the) middle, just limit the opportunities to the outside.
“Good teams are gonna have the puck in the O-zone, especially on the powerplay, and they're gonna be able to move the puck. You try to limit those opportunities to point shots, flank shots instead of shots from the bumper or shots from right in front of the net.”
Bahl played a season-high 23:48 in Thursday’s 2-1 win over the Wild, matching up at times against the dangerous trio of Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy. But over that 60-minute session, he and his teammates held Minnesota’s top line off the scoresheet, which for Head Coach Ryan Huska is an indication of his tallest defenceman's eagerness to test himself against the NHL’s best.
“His game has grown in a lot of different ways,” the bench boss said Saturday morning. “He now believes that he should be able to play against top players, whether it's killing powerplays, or against those guys 5-on-5.
"Our penalty-kill … I think they're connected and they do a good job of recognizing when to pressure and when to not pressure. And the guys that kill penalties, they take a lot of pride in that role.”
For Bahl, too, there’s a sense of familiarity with his newest defence partner, an old friend from the Garden State.
He and Simon Nemec played together at times while teammates in New Jersey, and nine games into the season, they’ve rekindled that chemistry.
Playing big minutes, playing against top lines.
Making an impact whenever the opportunity arises.
“He’s a tremendous player and he's been playing unbelievable,” said Bahl of Nemec. “I think we kind of found some chemistry and we’re able to make it work.
“Just keep playing, keep doing the things that have been making us successful, which I think is just defending aggressively, moving the pucks up efficiently, and when we get in that O-zone, I feel like we're creating, too. So that's nice to see.”
