'Back To Basics'

Five practice days.

What a treat, and at just the right time for the Flames, who returned to work Tuesday afternoon at WinSport.

After a hectic January schedule, and ahead of a six-week stretch drive that promises to be even more pressure-packed, the club gets a much-needed opportunity to refine their game ahead of the sprint to the finish line.

And after more than a week away from the rink, Blake Coleman and his colleagues were more than eager to get back at it, too.

“It’s nice after the break, you kinda feel a little rejuvenated,” the veteran forward said Tuesday. “The lungs and legs still need a few more days. Thankfully we have enough time to get that going before the game this weekend.

“Ultimately, it’s just nice to be back and be around the guys again.”

That break might have come at just the right time.

Calgary closed its pre-layoff schedule with 10 games in 17 days, and the extra time off also allowed for injured skaters Kevin Bahl and Connor Zary to be full participants at Tuesday’s session.

Bahl had been out of the lineup since late January, while Zary was injured just after the calendar flipped to 2025.

But the extra training sessions also act as a reset button on the season, according to both Coleman and Flames bench boss Ryan Huska.

“I think anytime over a week being away, it feels like forever in the hockey world,” Coleman explained. “It’s definitely just getting back into that rhythm, that schedule and the swing of things.

“The body hurts a little less, and people feel good. It makes for good energy on the ice.”

"It almost felt like the first day of training camp again - a little bit - today, a toned-down version of it,” Huska added. “I did like the energy that they had today.”

The Flames have just one home game over the next two weeks as well. Calgary returns to action Sunday night when the San Jose Sharks pay their first visit of the season to the Scotiabank Saddledome (GET TICKETS), before embarking on a six-game, cross-continent roadie that takes the team right up to the Mar. 7 trade deadline.

Come the weekend, practice days will be few and far between, and for Huska, that makes this week’s work even more essential.

“It’s important for us to use this time the right way, and we have a couple new players, (Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost), that this is their first practice that they’ve had with us since they came over in a trade,” Huska said. “We have an opportunity now to review our systems now with the guys, and also have a mini training camp, where we can touch on a few things without burying them.”

All in a bid to start the stretch drive - and the push for the playoffs - by playing the right way.

“It’s a good refresher on systems,” said Coleman. “Sometimes it’s nice to get back to basics and just pound those expectations home on how we play.

“When you’re rested, it’s a little easier to go in and execute.”