Decidedly Jazz Danceworks threw a pretty catchy party Saturday night.

The Calgary dance company’s new show Party Time is a kind of celebration of springtime and it was hard not to watch the company’s dancers trace out the steps of a night on the town and feel a little spring in your step, no matter how close we are to the tax filing deadline (Tuesday!).

In fact, at DJD’s gorgeous 12th Avenue S.E. dance theatre, when a piece gets the audience’s groove, you can actually feel the bleachers move in time to the music onstage – and that’s what was happening in the first act Saturday night.

That’s when company member Sabrina Naz Comanescu, dressed a bit like a 1920s flapper, evoking turn-of-the-20^th century New Orleans, acted as a kind of choreographed emcee for the evening, slowly drawing us into the dreamy, drifty world of Party Time.

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What makes a DJD show special is that they have always blended their unique dance with live music.

In Party Time’s first half, the soundscape is dominated by Andre Wickenheiser’s trumpet, which provides an almost elegiac soundtrack for the company as it gathers for a house party.

There’s Hugo Barry (Thys Armstrong), a mustachioed dude prone to missteps. There’s Fifi (Mara Liao Esnard), an animated presence who dreams of one day becoming a flying squirrel. There’s Zeus (Catherine Hayward), whose Van Dyck beard looks carved from a Rembrandt painting who moves like a panther.

Roshanak (Shahrzad Ahmadi) is a Persian powerhouse whose presence shrinks everyone around her.

David Kizzy Wisdom the 3^rd (Shemar Herbert) brings the street dance to the party and a pretty wicked sense of mischief.

There’s others too, the same way there is at every party: people you spot across a crowded room, smoking a cigarette or laughing in a way that makes their head tilt back and showcases their molars and makes you write a life story for them in your head.

All of it unfolds somewhat dreamily, led by Wickenheiser’s lonely trumpet that made me think of city life, sort of the way it’s depicted in Billy Wilder’s Oscar-winning classic film The Apartment or even the Edward Hopper painting Nighthawks at the Diner.

City living, as depicted in Party Time, is a weird gumbo of loneliness and the instant intimacy that sometimes happens between strangers who happen to be in the same place one night, listening to the same jazz ensemble melodies when a little magic happens.

Choreographed by DJD artistic director Kimberley Cooper, Party Time poignantly acknowledges both strands of city life – it bounces between celebration and meditation, between youthful exuberance (Esnard’s jubilant flying squirrel fantasy) and Hugo’s awkward efforts to fit in with a crowd he doesn’t quite fit in with.

The second half of Party Time pumps it up, replacing Wickenheiser’s lonely trumpet with something a little funkier, allowing Kizzy Wisdom the 3^rd and Roshanak among others moments to shine, as the party goes deeper into the night and everyone starts to think and move and feel as one.

All of it benefits from Hannah Fisher's sublime costume design and Scott Reid's evocative sets. In addition to Wickenheiser's wicked trumpet playing, there's great musical chops from Carsten Rubeling (keyboards/trombone), Jeff Gammon (bass) and Luis 'El Pana' Tovar on drums.

Not to be overlooked either is the DJD Dance Centre: walking out of the theatre, you are greeted with a gorgeous, glassed-in tableau of downtown Calgary and Saturday, there were a few young women standing there taking selfies against a backdrop of the glittering city skyline – and I thought it kind of fits exactly into what Party Time explored.

I used to live in Los Angeles and one time someone asked what it’s like to live in Los Angeles and I said, “I’ve never lived anywhere where I met so many people for the first time.”

Party Time will make you feel like you’ve known the dance company and even the people sitting next to you forever.

At DJD Dance Theatre through May 5.

For tickets, go here.

After Darryl Sutter was fired from his position as head coach of the Calgary Flames following reports of locker room turmoil and missing the postseason by two points, new general manager Craig Conroy brought in Ryan Huska to be the man behind the bench for the foreseeable future.

With Huska as the new bench boss and new staff coming in to help coach the different positions and special teams, the hope was that there would be some offensive resurgence. The players who struggled under Sutter in 2022-23 would return to form (or, at the very least, close to it), and there may even be some players who hit some milestones.

And for the most part, that happened, especially for Blake Coleman.

Prediction: Blake Coleman scores 20 goals and 40 points

Result: Correct

It’s hard to put Coleman’s impact on the ice and on the general attitude of the fans into words. He played a fun style of hockey before coming to Calgary, and he has continued that style of play under Sutter and Huska. His consistency of playstyle led him to the kind of success he found in 2023-24 in the box score and throughout the more in-depth analytics.

Coleman’s previous career-high in points was 38 in 2022-23 with Calgary, when he played the full 82 games.

He broke that.

His previous career-high in goals was 22 in 2018-19 with the New Jersey Devils.

He broke that, too.

With 54 points in 78 games, Coleman was consistently one of the best players that Huska would throw on the ice, and, more importantly, he always seemed to find a way to score goals, breaking the 30-goal plateau for the first time in his career.

It’s almost unprecedented that a 32-year-old middle-six forward would not only be able to have a massive impact as Coleman did, but the fact that he shattered his previous career highs at this age is nothing but remarkable.

Playing with Mikael Backlund and Andrew Mangiapane, as he usually has since coming up north after a 64-game stint with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Coleman found his stride offensively, but he didn’t abandon his defensive responsibilities to score more goals or register more points overall. He knows what his role is on the team on the ice (as well as off it), and his defense stayed at an above-average level over the course of the season, per his analytics from Evolving-Hockey.

Below is his regularized adjusted plus-minus chart from Evolving-Hockey, and it’s about as impressive as one could hope for it to be for a role player:

Per Evolving-Hockey, Coleman finished sixth on the Flames in goals above replacement (GAR) and third in expected goals above replacement (xGAR). The RAPM chart also indicates that this wasn’t a case of Coleman finishing with better results than he should have on the season. Instead, it’s the complete opposite, suggesting he earned every point that went into the box score.

Of course, it’s important to mention the biggest caveat: the likelihood that Coleman will shoot 15.7% in a season again is very low. It’s the highest shooting percentage of his career, 4.2 points, which occurred with the Lightning back in 2020-21. However, the high shooting percentage doesn’t mean he wasn’t creating high-quality chances to score. His expected goal numbers say he was, and when the process is good, the results will follow.

I picked Coleman to hit 20 goals and 40 points not just because I love the way he plays but also considering he was able to hit career-high marks under Sutter while also having an around-average to below-average shooting percentage, the sky was the limit under a new regime, with linemates that he continues to grow alongside, and a rejuvenated energy in the locker.

I’m glad Coleman made me look good, unlike some of my other predictions that I’ll be covering as we move along in the early stages of the off-season!

Hey, hockey heads! Get ready for The Daily Faceoff Playoff Parlay Challenge! Each game day, answer four playoff prediction questions like who will win the first game, will points be over or under or what will be the highest-scoring period? Daily winners snag gift cards, while each round’s champs pocket cash! Play now at games.dailyfaceoff.com and prove your puck prowess! It’s fast, it’s fun, and it’s all about hockey! Let’s go!

Editorials

Roadrunners Recap: 4/26/2024

Game #2: Tucson Roadrunners vs Calgary Wranglers

SOG: TUC (43) – CGY (24)

PP: TUC (1/5) – CGY (1/2)

CALGARY SCORING: Sam Morton (1), Riley Damiani (1), Ilya Solovyov (1), William Stromgren (1)

TUCSON SCORING: Dylan Guenther (1), Justin Kirkland (1), Hunter Drew (1)

TUCSON ROADRUNNERS FALL TO CALGARY WRANGLERS 4-3 IN GAME TWO OF THE PLAYOFFS FROM THE TUCSON ARENA

TUCSON, AZ – It was a record–breaking Roadrunners playoff crowd of 5,178 fans in the Tucson Arena for Game Two of the playoffs as the Tucson Roadrunners fell 4-3 to the Calgary Wranglers to fall 2-0 in the best-of-three series.

My oh my, Dylan Guenther. There may not be another goal ever scored in hockey where to goalie has been undressed like this. It’s no fluke Dylan Guenther was Tucson’s leading scorer in his time with the Roadrunners and scored 35 points in 45 games for the Arizona Coyotes this season. Guenther’s power-play goal in period one of Friday night’s contest would give Tucson the 1-0 lead.

DON’T OVERLOOK IT

YOU ARE HOCKEY IN THE DESERT – Tucson is hockey in the desert. In a year full of record breaking performances from both players and in attendance the Roadrunners drew over 10,000 fans for the playoff series against Calgary. With 5,178 fans in attendance, a Tucson playoff franchise record, the Roadrunners would average 5,001 fans per home game this season. Total attendance for the entirety of the season was 158,415. You, Tucson, are hockey in the desert and Tucson is a playoff town.

LOOK AT THIS

Forward Hunter Drew celebrates in the third period of Friday night’s contest as he scores a goal to bring Tucson within one goal of Calgary. Drew’s goal ignited the 5,178 fans in attendance. It was Drew’s first career playoff goal and the second career playoff assist for Curtis Douglas.

THEY SAID IT

“It’s tough, we worked so hard and fought all year. Obviously, it’s do or die so there is a lot of fight in us. It’s a good group in there, there are a ton of high character guys and we’ve had a blast all year. There is a lot of bright futures in there (the locker room) and I’m going to miss it for sure.”

Forward Cam Hebig following Tucson’s 4-3 loss on Friday night

THE RUNDOWN

It would take just over 16 minutes for the 0-0 score to be broken and this time it would be by Roadrunners Forward Dylan Guenther. Guenther would score on the power-play and knock the roof off the building in the Tucson Arena. Guenther was assisted by Steven Kampfer and Matthew Villalta. Yes, THAT Matthew Villalta. Guenther’s goal to give the Roadrunners their first lead of the series would be erased just 52 seconds later as Calgary would answer on a power-play of their own. Tucson held Calgary to seven shots in the period and held them under 10 shots for two of the three periods.

The 1-1 tie would take the two teams through the end of the first and seven minutes into the second. It was an even-strength goal from Calgary that would give the Wranglers a 2-1 lead and their first lead of the night. In a physical next couple of minutes Tucson would answer the bell and tie things up 2-2. It was Justin Kirkland scoring for the Roadrunners; punching one through the Calgary netminder’s five hole and into the back of the net. Kirkland was assisted by Max Szuber on the play. Calgary would answer be and retake the lead 3-2 just 26 seconds later. Tucson outshot Calgary 13-10 in the frame and 43-24 in the game.

Calgary would extend their lead to two at the 9:56 mark of the third period. The 4-2 lead would be held by the Wranglers for just over two minutes. Hunter Drew would score and cut the lead to one. Drew was assisted by Curtis Douglas and the 5,178 fans in attendance would come alive.

The final seven and a half minutes would be a fight from both sides but ultimately the scoring was done. Calgary would hold on to the 4-3 lead and defeat the Roadrunners 2-0 in the series.

Try as they might to score their second-ever national championship, the city’s top-flight minor hockey crew came up short with Saturday’s loss — a 4-1 drop at the hands of the Western Region-champion Brandon Wheat Kings.

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That stopped this year’s squad from trying to match what the 1989 edition did by winning the Hockey Canada’s Men’s U18 National Club Championship.

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“Boys played so hard,” said Buffaloes head coach Brent Harrison, whose 2019 crew also lost in the semifinal tilt.

But after a 3W-0OTW-1L-1OTL round-robin performance, the Alberta- and Pacific-champ Buffaloes of this year fell in their last step to make the final contest.

Manitoba’s Wheat Kings, who went 3-0-2-0 in the round robin, used a pair of second-period goals to beat goaltender Kael Svenson and the Buffaloes. That despite Brayden Gourley scoring first for the Buffs in the game.

“We had some good chances,” Harrison said. “Just couldn’t get any more past their goalie, who played well.”

Indeed, Burke Hood stopped 35 pucks for the Wheat Kings in the win.

‘At the other end, Svenson was solid in making 39 saves in a losing effort.

But the star goalie was beaten by Brady Turko’s power-play goal late in the first period to draw the Wheaties even.

Turko then scored again in the second, along with Easton Odut.

And then Turko turned the hat-trick with an empty-net goal late in the game to ice the win and oust the Buffaloes from the gold-medal trail.

“We had to kill a lot of penalties (Saturday),” Harrison said, “including a five-minute PK to start the third period.”

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It didn’t help that it was captain Tyson Murray taking that major penalty — and the game ejection that came with it — late in the second frame, as the Buffs lost one of its most valuable players.

A tough blow and a tough result to swallow, for sure.

“So proud of their effort all season,” said Harrison, who saw his Buffaloes roll to the Alberta Elite Hockey League’s best regular-season record with a 27-9-0-0-2 mark then onward to the provincial banner with a 7-2 playoff mark before sweeping the Vancouver North East Chiefs in two games to win the Pacific Region and book their spot in the Telus Cup.

“It’s been a great week and a great experience for our players and staff,” continued Harrison. “Hockey Canada put on a first-class event, and the facilities have been great.”

The other semi Saturday saw the Quebec-winning Cantonniers de Magog (5-0-0-0) stay unbeaten with a 7-4 defeat of the Central-kingpin Markham Waxers (2-1-2-0), of Ontario.

That matches the Magog squad up against the team from Brandon in Sunday’s nationally televised Telus Cup final (2 p.m. MT, TSN).

Meanwhile, the Buffaloes wrap up their trip to Telus Cup with a chance to win the bronze medal Sunday against the Waxers (10 a.m.).

“Our season is not over,” added Harrison. “We have a chance to win a bronze medal and finish third in Canada.”

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