Only good vibes from former Flame Blake Coleman's return to Calgary

On Wednesday night, the NHL narrative was dominated by the hostile reception that Ottawa Senators fans gave Brady Tkachuk on his return to the nation’s capital.

A day later, Blake Coleman knew he didn’t have to worry about a similar response from Calgary Flames fans when he steps onto the ice for the first time since being traded in early July to the Minnesota Wild.

Nobody at the Saddledome was going to boo Coleman. Nobody was going to start rude — but hilarious — chants besmirching his name.

If Tkachuk’s return to Ottawa represented one hostile extreme on the spectrum of fan responses to former players, Coleman coming back to Calgary surely was somewhere on the opposite end.

“I hope I don’t get booed,” Coleman said with a smile. “I’m excited, just the morning skate and being back on the ice, it’s strange, it’s such a big part of your life and then it’s gone. I’m excited, I’ve always enjoyed playing in front of these fans and they’ve been nothing but great to me and my family, so it’ll be great to get out there in front of them again.”

There were no worries about Coleman getting boos from the Saddledome faithful. His departure was inevitable and there was no animosity from either side in his final days with the Flames.

Everyone understood the Flames were rebuilding and while the organization valued the 34-year-old winger, he was at the point in his career where he either wanted to be traded to a contender or sign a long-term deal.

For the Flames, flipping him to the Wild this summer alongside Olli Maatta and getting Jake Middleton and a package of future picks was a logical next step in the process of getting younger and building towards the future.

It was, ultimately, a move that made sense for the Flames, the Wild and Coleman himself. That’s how the business of hockey goes sometimes, and was neither a reflection on the American’s affection for Calgary or of the Flames’ view of the player’s value.

“He was the ultimate team guy, that’s the best compliment I can give him,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “What he did at the rink, in our dressing room, on the ice, but also just a great family man and a great person. He was a really good player for us and I think a lot of our younger players learned a lot from him.”

It’s been a long time since Flames fans have booed a returning player at the Saddledome. Matthew Tkachuk was probably the most recent and that was way back in 2022 after he’d informed management in the summer that he wouldn’t re-sign. Even then, the reception didn’t come close to being as negative as what Tkachuk’s brother received in Ottawa on Wednesday night and Calgarians still applauded gratefully when a thank-you video was played on the big screen.

Coleman’s return carries none of the same negativity. When he signed with the Flames in 2021 after winning two straight Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning, he was rightfully seen as a piece that might be able to push that generation of Flames towards the deeper rounds of the playoffs.

His contributions in 2021-22 helped them reach the second round, but through no fault of his own, the Flames regressed in the following seasons to the point where a rebuild was inevitable.

But Coleman never once complained and was a model pro, earning the Peter Maher Good Guy Award from the local media three times.

That made Thursday’s return to the Saddledome feel like a reunion with an old friend.

“My girls grew up here, it’s the longest I’ve spent in any city in the NHL and I’ve got a lot of good friends and neighbours,” Coleman said. “There were milestones here, there’s a lot of things but it’s mostly the people. It’s fun to come back and see guys that you played with and staff you were around for a long time. We didn’t do as much winning in my time here as I would have liked, but it was a lot of good people and any time you get to reconnect, it’s a good time.”