A trip to Tampa always brings back memories for Blake Coleman. You never forget the site of your first (or second) championship boat parade.
Thing is, the Calgary Flames forward had over the past few years endured a far-too-constant reminder of his Stanley Cup triumphs with the Lightning in 2020 and 2021.
During his second trip to the final, Coleman wrenched his back, an injury that would linger far longer than he could have anticipated.
Blake Coleman of the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrates with the Stanley Cup.
It is now in his rearview mirror. Finally.
“It was in our second run and it was bad already, or at least getting bad, and I went to throw a hit on (Joel) Edmundson in the final and kind of missed and ended up folding myself in half into the wall,” Coleman said. “And ever since then, it had just been nagging. I remember in some of my first years in Calgary, at the end of the year not being sure I could finish it and how much pain it was to practice. And I just don’t really have that in me to just give in to it, so I was always looking for alternatives and ways to make it better and attacking it in the off-season and making sure I set myself up to play.
“I’m thankful that we stayed after it, because we found some solutions that have worked.”
Heading into Wednesday’s date against his former team in Tampa, you could easily make a case the 33-year-old Coleman has been the Flames’ most consistent and reliable forward this fall. He’s confident his body will continue to cooperate, and has settled into a daily stretching routine to make sure of it.
Now in his fifth campaign in Calgary, and with speculation already swirling that he will be a top trade target if Craig Conroy is selling, Coleman had occasionally mentioned in previous seasons that he was playing through some pain, although he never wanted to share the specifics.
It’s a compliment to his character and heart-and-soul style that you would never would have guessed it had been so seldom he was feeling at his best.
He’s missed a grand total of only five games since signing at the Saddledome. Dating back to the start of 2022-23, which seems like the most appropriate checkpoint because it syncs up with some significant roster changes, he is second among Flames in goals scored. Only Nazem Kadri has done more lamp-lighting over that span.
It was during a training-camp interview earlier in September that Coleman first revealed the extent of what he had been dealing with.
Flames Blake Coleman as the Calgary Flames opened their 2024 training camp with the first on-ice sessions at Winsport in Calgary on September 19, 2024.
“This was the first summer I have not done any sort of injection or major work that led to missing most of my training in the summer, so it was really nice to have that,” he said then. “Even in the last few camps, I had to manage it and deal with it, had times where I had a lot of difficulty getting around the next day and things like that.
“Thankfully, it’s all behind me now and I think that goes long way. Just mentally, it’s nice to have some peace with that.”
While there haven’t been a lot of bright spots this fall for the Flames, who hit the ice Wednesday on a three-game winning streak and yet still sitting 31st in the overall standings, you won’t hear any complaints about Coleman’s performance.
Heading into the clash with the Lightning, he was tied for the team lead with eight goals. He has notched a couple of shorties, including Sunday’s “firepoker” finish on a rush with his longtime linemate and penalty-kill pal Mikael Backlund. (According to a post this week from @HockeyStatCards, both of Calgary’s shutdown staples rank among the Top-5 defensive forwards in the NHL in the early stages of this season.)
In addition to his trustworthy two-way play, ability to provide some secondary scoring punch and reputation as a guy who can fit like a glove in any locker room, there’s another reason that contending GMs will call to inquire about Coleman’s availability — because of the impact he made after he arrived in Tampa in February 2020.
Calgary Flames Blake Coleman scores on Vegas Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill in first period NHL action at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on October 14, 2025. Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia
He is considered one of the best lead-up-to-the-deadline acquisitions in recent memory, which is why it was unsurprising when one insider suggested he could be the Flames’ most desirable trade chip.
A couple of teammates, Kadri and Rasmus Andersson, have also been regulars in the rumour mill.
“You hear it, obviously, but I think that’s just part of the job,” Coleman told Postmedia before departing on this five-game road-trip. “You put yourselves in this kind of situation (with a poor start). There’s really not a name I haven’t heard. Yeah, some get thrown out more than others obviously. Thankfully, I guess, I learned a lesson early in the league that anything can happen on any day. I was in New Jersey and they told me that I was going to be part of the core and the future, and two weeks later I was traded. So if the right offer comes across for anybody …
“I was a young guy with a good contract. I thought I was safe. They were talking about all the old guys and I was the first one out the door, so … It is what it is. People have a job to do and, honestly, it keeps my family entertained, my parents and all that. I just mute the chat and just go play.”
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