BOUNCE BACK

Over the course of his lengthening stay in the 403, Mark Giordano has run the gamut.
From gut-wrenching, down-to-the-wire disappointments to earlier exits.
"This one, for me is the toughest," confessed the captain. "Maybe because it's the freshest. But I don't think that's exactly why.
"It's more because of the expectations we had for ourselves.
"This one hurts.

"We fully expected to be in a good spot right now. We liked our team from last year and added some key pieces.
"We had a real feeling there was a legit chance of not only being there but making some real noise once we got there.
"So to not even get in …"
A 10-point drop in the standings from a year ago has consigned the Flames to the role of outsiders looking in at the most festive part of what is annually a long haul.
"The feeling? One word?'' repeated defenceman Michael Stone. "I'd say disbelief. Certainly since we were officially eliminated, anyway. I don't know what to say. I really don't.
"We expected a lot better of ourselves.
"I wish I could pinpoint one or two things that flipped things around on us.
"I just think there were times we were capable of a lot more. And that's the hardest thing to accept."
Despite the deflating conclusion to an odyssey that had begun with such promise, there are positives to draw on, looking back and moving forward.
A career-best 84 points and 60 assists for offensive dynamo Johnny Gaudreau, for starters.
Sean Monahan's fourth consecutive campaign of 30 or more goals.
New-boy Mike Smith's All-Star turn tending goal.
Matthew Tkachuk's continuing development into a multi-tasking difference maker.
The successful injection of prospects from AHL Stockton, including Mark Jankowski, Brett Kulak, Garnet Hathaway, Rasmus Andersson, Spencer Foo, Andrew Mangipane, Ryan Lomberg, as well as goaltenders David Rittich and Jon Gillies.
Over the course of the year, Matt Stajan logged milestone game No. 1,000. The Jaromir Jagr experiment, however brief, allowed Flame partisans to see the 45-year-old legend outfitted in the Flaming C.
As late as Feb. 4, remember, the Flames were nicely placed at 32-22-9 and battling for second place in the Pacific Division but struggled from there, going 5-13-1 the rest of the way, in part due to key injuries.
"We were shocked a few weeks ago when we started going through that tough stretch to put ourselves out of it,'' acknowledged Giordano.
"We didn't react well. And we just seemed to keep digging ourselves a deeper and deeper hole."
The 34-year-old Stajan (whose eight-years-plus Calgary account seemed to symbolically close with a third-star spin Saturday), Versteeg, late addition Chris Stewart and Matt Bartkowski are all UFAs while Jankowski, Gillies, Hathaway, Kulak, and Nicholas Shore are pending restricted free agents.
Different pieces will be moved out and others in.
"Hey, listen, I've been around long enough to know that in a salary-cap world changes happen every year,'' said Giordano. "Regardless of what you do, whether you make it or not or how deep you go.
"When you don't meet expectations, there are usually more.
"But in saying that, we have a group of guys in here who, I think, could bounce right back. This team, and the way it's been assembled … it's a good team.
"I believe that.
"And you look at the teams that that turned things around from one year to the next this season. Winnipeg's a perfect example. Colorado.
"So, we'll see what happens."
Monday, bright and early, 9 a.m., marked the start of the customary exit-meeting process, colloquially known as "garbage-bag day", involving 1-on-1s with the coaching staff, GM Brad Treliving and strength and conditioning mentor Ryan Van Asten, followed by a quick trip down the media gauntlet.
"Personally,'' said Giordano, reflectively, "you have to take stock of what you as an individual could've done better, be honest with yourself, and then the team makes (its) decisions.
"At the end of the day, there's a lot of things that went wrong at different times.
"But bottom line: We didn't get it done.
"And that's our job: To get it done."