Blues' Hitchcock: Flames as good as anybody in the West

The Calgary Flames have been transforming naysayers into believers all season long. 

But for St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock, he's long been privy. 

"You looked at it in September, and you didn't know who these people were, because they were new to the league or second- and third-year players, and you wondered about their growth," Hitchcock told reporters, looking back on the Blues' third game of the season - a 4-1 win over Calgary. 

"But let me tell you, as soon as we saw them play once we knew, 'Oh boy, game on.'"

It's not the talent that makes them dangerous, according to Hitchcock, but drive that's resolute no matter the situation or score. 

"I think they're at as good a level as anybody in the West right now. They just play. Whatever the score is is irrelevant. It isn't the comebacks - it's that they never drop that level.

"If you take your foot off the gas, they roll over top of you."

The Flames, still clinging to the final playoff spot in the Pacific Division with 13 games left on the schedule, host the Blues at the Saddledome on Tuesday.