Not long ago, the idea of the Calgary Flames being part of a Wild Card playoff conversation felt almost laughable.

The way October unfolded all but buried them. A 2-9-1 start had the Flames planted firmly at the bottom of the NHL standings. Around the league, the verdict came quickly — this team was done. Trade speculation ramped up, draft lottery talk took over, and a portion of the fan base openly leaned into the idea of finishing last rather than fighting for something in the middle.

Through it all, Ryan Huska never budged.

The Flames’ head coach didn’t sugarcoat the results, but his message never changed. He consistently pointed to details — puck management, structure, compete — and maintained that while he didn’t like the outcomes, he liked the process. That wasn’t coach-speak. It was a belief that if they stayed the course, the standings would eventually catch up.

Inside the room, that same mindset took hold.

Rather than letting losses snowball, the Flames used them as fuel. Confidence didn’t fracture. If anything, it hardened. The most telling part of their growth hasn’t been found in their wins — it’s been in how they respond when things don’t go their way.

Nazem Kadri put it plainly when asked about the team’s belief.

“I truly don’t think any deficit is too big,” he said. “I think there’s always hope… we certainly played like it.”

That mentality showed again in a loss to Detroit, where Calgary pushed late and nearly erased the gap. Mackenzie Weegar said the belief on the bench never faded.

“We believed that we were coming back,” Weegar said. “Guys felt good in here. We had legs and we had jump.”

Devin Cooley echoed that sentiment after another strong team effort, and a win, against Dallas.

“When everyone’s going together, we’re a really solid team,” he said. “We just went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the league and I thought we were incredible.”

That brings us to now.

With one game remaining before the Christmas break — a Tuesday night meeting with Edmonton — the Flames sit within striking distance, just five points out of a Western Conference wild card spot. Considering where they started, it’s a remarkable climb.

So how did they get here?

Home ice has mattered — a lot

The Saddledome has quietly become a problem for visiting teams. Over their last 12 home games, the Flames are 9-2-1, a stretch that has driven much of their resurgence. The starts have been sharper, the energy more consistent, and the Flames have found a way to tilt games in their favour in familiar surroundings.

The goaltending found its footing:

It wasn’t there early, but it didn’t collapse either — the indicators suggested improvement was possible. Over the past several weeks, that improvement has arrived.

Dustin Wolf has gone 5-1-0 in his last six starts, while Cooley is 4-2-1 over his last seven appearances. More importantly, the Flames are getting the same thing every night: a chance to win. That consistency has allowed everything else to settle into place.

Follow the captain

Mikael Backlund’s influence on this turnaround can’t be overstated.

Often underappreciated, Backlund has been deployed in some of the hardest minutes imaginable — defensive-zone starts, tough matchups, and critical faceoffs against top lines. Alongside Blake Coleman and Connor Zary, that line has become Calgary’s stabilizer.

Zary, who struggled to find traction early, has benefitted from that assignment. Since being reunited with Backlund and Coleman, he has five points in his last eight games. Backlund himself has contributed offensively, recording four goals and five points in his last two outings. On the season, he sits third in team scoring with 21 points in 36 games and leads the Flames at plus-14.

When the captain sets the standard, the rest tend to follow.

It all raises an unavoidable question: where would this team be without that disastrous October? There’s no answer — only curiosity.

And now, the complicated part…

Take a step back, though, and the picture becomes less clear.

The Flames’ 6-3 win over Vegas on Saturday vaulted them past four teams in the standings. That’s how tight — and volatile — the Western Conference remains. A couple of wins can change everything. A couple of losses can undo it just as quickly. It’s like a game of snakes-and-ladders and Calgary is squarely in the middle.

Which leads directly to GM Craig Conroy’s dilemma.

Does he lean into the push and risk getting stuck in the mushy middle? Even if the Flames squeeze into the playoffs, are they built to win a seven-game series against teams like Colorado, Edmonton, Dallas, or Minnesota?

Then there’s the Rasmus Andersson question — the biggest one of all.

Andersson is an unrestricted free agent at season’s end and arguably the most valuable defenceman available on the market. By every account, he could — and maybe should — be moved before the Olympic break.

But trading your best defenceman while you’re in playoff contention is a dangerous gamble.

Andersson has seven goals and 25 points this season, nearly matching the production of the rest of Calgary’s defence combined. He sits second on the team in scoring. Removing him would almost certainly lead to more losses — and likely remove the Flames from the Wild Card race entirely.

The same logic applies to veterans like Blake Coleman, second on the team in goals, or Kadri, the club’s leading scorer.

This would have been simple if the Flames kept losing the way they did in October. It’s far more complicated now that they’re winning — and believing.

The culture, the resilience, and the recent results have been impressive to watch. The challenge for management is determining whether that momentum is enough to outweigh the broader reality: this team may still need significant change to become a true long-term contender.

And that decision — perhaps more than any game on the schedule — will shape what comes next.