It was a tough and early end to the Calgary Flames’ season.

The team jumped out of the gate with an exceptional month of October, but quickly slipped down the Western Conference standings, having to fight for a Wild Card spot for most of the 2024-25 campaign.

However, despite a valiant last month and a half, and a 5-4 win shootout victory over the Pacific Division champion Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night, the Flames were eliminated from playoff contention. The St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild locked in the two Wild Card spots.

Defenseman Mackenzie Weegar confirmed the team gave a dogged effort in the final weeks of the season.

“I’m sure everybody was saying, you know, it’s sad, disappointing, whatnot,” Weegar said on Tuesday. “For me, it was what a hell of a fight. Like, with all the ups and downs this year, you look back and you kind of… I saw the jumbotron there, and when they said thank you to the fans, and the memories that go back. And it’s such a grind all year long and it’s a hard league to win in.”

The Flames had the odds stacked against them, needing to win just about every game in the final month to stay alive. The team has won four of its past five games, going 6-2-1 in its previous nine contests.

“This group came together at the beginning of the year right away. And I’m proud of this group. The perseverance and the leadership from everybody, the belief, everybody bought in. And it says a lot. Everybody came to work for one another this year. And I think that’s the most important thing. So credit to this team, man. We really did fight with all we had.”

Weegar had to give props to the Blues – the team that went from an afterthought to contending in a matter of weeks. St. Louis went on a 12-game streak to leapfrog multiple teams in the West to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in three years.

“Credit to St. Louis. They went on a run that I don’t think anybody expected. It would have been nice to get a little help in some areas. But I just look back and love this group of guys. It’s a special group. It’s just too bad we couldn’t see the damage we could have done in the playoffs.”

The Flames have now missed the playoffs three years in a row. They will wrap up their season on Thursday night when they visit the postseason-bound Los Angeles Kings.