Players get pissy at practice … but that’s a good thing

As PostMedia’s Kristen Anderson reported from Winsport, where the Flames skated on Friday, Blake Coleman and Erik Gudbranson got a little rougher than usual during a competitive drill.

Interesting moment here at Winsport where the #Flames are practising. Coleman and Gudbranson got into a bit of a shoving match after some stuff down low took a turn. Coleman fell to the ground. Gudbranson broke his stick. The two shared words. A high intensity practise.

— Kristen Anderson (@KdotAnderson) April 1, 2022

Calgary Flames head coach Darryl Sutter later told Anderson he’d like to see more “banging” from some of the other players on his squad. We’re just weeks away from the end of the regular season and games are going to present more challenges offensively as players hone their focus on making the post-season.

The Kings presented a strategy clogging the neutral zone, which is one way to prevent the Flames from doing too much damage off the rush. They’ll have to send the puck deep and retrieve it. That means working harder along the boards.

Apparently, that challenge led to the extra physicality in practice. Which, as you might expect, Sutter was OK with.

#Flames coach Darryl Sutter on Erik Gudbranson & Blake Coleman's tense interaction: "It's good. It's a contact sport. Those two guys that were banging each other around? Those are two bangers, right? We need some of them guys that are pillow fighting to do a little bit of that."

— Kristen Anderson (@KdotAnderson) April 1, 2022

Gaudreau NHL’s second star for month of March

In other news, Johnny Gaudreau was recognized as the NHL’s second star for March thanks to 11 goals and 26 points in 16 games.

Gaudreau’s heroics included three game-winners. He helped the Calgary Flames to a 9-4-3 record in their quest for the Pacific Division title.