Blake Coleman solidified his place in Battle of Alberta lore with one thunderous check.
Four and a half minutes into Saturday’s 6-3 victory at Rogers Place, the Flames forward threw Oilers captain Connor McDavid into the boards, sending him flying backwards into the ice.
It was the type of hit that superstar players don’t usually get, and it served as the first shot in what turned out to be a quite rough second period.
The Texas Tiger had a little extra venom Saturday, fighting Edmonton’s Mattias Janmark minutes after the McDavid check, but when asked about the hit, he minimized its significance and intended target.
“It’s an Oiler player,” Coleman said Monday. “It’s anybody on the other team, if you get a chance to get a lick on ’em, you’re gonna finish your hits; that’s what my role is, be hard to play against; doesn’t really matter who’s wearing the sweater, I treat everybody the same on those teams.”
“Obviously, people ran with it more than I even thought they would but for me, it’s ‘finish your check, be hard to play against.'”
Coleman has been a constant source of frustration for his opponents this season.
Not only is he having a career year offensively (23 goals and 45 points are both personal bests), but he, along with linemates Mikael Backlund and Andrew Mangiapane, has made the game difficult for numerous top-tier opponents.
Coleman sees in his colleagues a little extra self-sacrifice, the knowledge that two valuable points may come with a bruise or a scrape, as evidence of everyone’s commitment to stay in the fight.
“It just shows that guys care,” he explained. “This point in the season, every point matters, every game matters, no matter who it is, we’ve got to be willing to scratch and claw for everything we get, that’s the type of team we are.”
Coleman is consistently ranked as one of the most trusted leaders on the Flames’ roster by head coach Ryan Huska, and the 32-year-old winger has recently served as one of the club’s alternative captains.
For Huska, Coleman’s grit is telling.
“If you do it the right way, I think it shows that you’re engaged and ready to play,” Huska told reporters on Monday. “Now, the fine line is, you don’t want to cross a line and sit in the penalty box in those instances, because many powerplays across the league will penalize you.
“I think we did a really good job (Saturday) of making sure we were engaged and ready to play.”
The Flames’ win over Edmonton capped an outstanding three-game run in which they earned all six points against quality opponents.
Coleman hopes Calgary’s return to the win column, particularly in a Battle of Alberta that has gone the other way so far this season, will serve as a springboard as the Flames begin a three-game homestand Tuesday night against the Kings. Get tickets.
“I thought the will to win was there all night (Saturday),” that’s what he said. “It was a game we knew we needed, against a squad we’d been trying to beat for a while, and I said to myself, everyone showed up and competed properly.
“Guys made great plays and more importantly, we had that team fight in us.”
