The Calgary Flames have grown into a legitimate playoff contender in the Western Conference on the power of a true breakout season from Mikael Backlund and a sensational rookie campaign from 19-year-old American Matthew Tkachuk. Combining the performances of Backlund and Tkachuk with the usual solid play from Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, and defensemen Dougie Hamilton and captain Mark Giordano, the Flames have been able to ice a fairly solid team in front of netminders Chad Johnson and Brian Elliott.
With all of the good players, however, the Flames likely owe a good amount of their contention in the Western Conference to parity within the conference and a portion to good, old-fashioned luck.