Flames embark for early season five-game trip

It’s a common belief an early season road trip can unite a hockey team.

The Calgary Flames will put that theory to the test.

Starting with Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Flames will follow their season-opening victory with a five-game road swing.

“We’ve been with our families for five months, a little too long,” defenseman Nikita Zadorov said with a grin. “It’s nice to get together, especially at the start of the year. We have a few new faces, so we’ll have some dinners, get to know each other.”

The trip includes stops against the Washington Capitals, Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings.

Calgary’s schedule is the opposite of last season, when the Flames started the season with nine of 10 games at home. Sure, they won four of those first five clashes at the Saddledome, but then dropped the final four en route to the disappointment of falling short of the playoffs.

“You get kinda bored,” left wing Jonathan Huberdeau said of having almost all the opening month at home.

On the surface, it may be a long trip but hardly a murderer’s row. None of the five clubs the Flames are to face during this excursion made the playoffs last season.

However, the Flames — who play 14 of their first 21 games on the road — can ill afford to look down on any opponents. Instead, they must see the situation as a challenge amidst an opportunity to build unity while concentrating mostly on the games.

“I don’t like ever saying family is a distraction, it’s so far from it, but the reality is, when you’re on the road, you fly with a group of guys, you get off the plane, you go to the hotel on the bus together, you go for dinner together, you go to the skate together. Everything is together,” coach Ryan Huska said. “It gives people that don’t really know each other that well an opportunity to maybe learn something about each individual on our team, and I think it helps to strengthen the connection.”