[NHL 15] The Calgary Flames: A Dynasty

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Special team letdown
SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

Vancouver, BC — The Calgary Flames (2-1-0 in the preseason) suffered their first loss of the preseason against the Vancouver Canucks (2-1-0 in the preseason), losing 4 – 2 in a game that can be described as an offensive collapse. The Canucks went down a man on six penalties throughout the game (one a double minor), but the Flames were unable to capitalize on any of the six chances. Canucks netminder Eddie Lack closed out the game with 30 saves on 31 shots, allowing only a goal from Curtis Glencross early in the first period.

“We cycled [the puck] pretty well, kept our heads up and got a few shots off. I don’t know why we didn’t score more,” said Flames center Matt Stajan.

While the Flames were struggling to generate offense on the opposite end of the rink the Canucks were having no trouble scoring. Nicklas Jensen scored two goals on the hapless Flames’ defence, while Zack Kassian and Radim Vrbata joined in to give the Canucks their four goals.

“You win a couple games and everyone forgets what it’s like to lose,” said coach Hartley. “Obviously our special teams need some tweaking, but it wasn’t a bad game for us. We got our shots and held onto the puck. We just couldn’t put it in the net tonight.”

But there are some who chalk up tonight’s loss to more than just not being able to score. The Flames defensive corps has long been the source of questions when it comes to its efficacy on the ice. The Flames have a strong first pairing in Mark Giordano and Dennis Wideman, but their second and third pairings are noticeably weaker. In the first three games played by the Flames the top two defensive pairing of Giordano and Wideman have already been averaging 25:00 and 25:39 respectively, or about four minutes more per game than the next most-played D-man, T.J. Brodie. This wide berth in ice time is mostly a result of the arrangement of the team’s special teams, which use Giordano and Wideman much more than any other defensive pairing.

“On the power play, you want to score. And to score, you put the best assets you have out there to do it,” countered coach Hartley when asked about his defensive corps.

But neither Giordano nor Wideman have proven themselves to be notable scorers from the point in the past, and it looks like little is on the verge of changing this year. What the Flames need is more offensive output on the blue line, someone who can really control a power play from the point to complement Wideman (who is a natural on the power play) so that Giordano can be better utilized on the penalty kill.

The Flames are currently ranked 14th in the preseason league on the penalty kill and 18th in the league on the power play. If the Flames are to be a playoff contender this year, like we were promised when GM Doucette took office in August, special teams are going to have to perform a lot better come the regular season.

The Flames play one more game on the road in Arizona against the Coyotes on Monday night, then return home to finish off the preseason against the Los Angeles Kings and the San Jose Sharks.

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Quote: Originally Posted by SENS_AK27

Great stat tables. I know the work that goes into the level of detail so it's much appreciated.

Thanks Sens! It took a lot of work to get the code right. I was a little disappointed I couldn't plug it in to the site and have it work properly, but the screenshots seem to be working just fine.

Thanks for reading!

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Preseason Recap: Week 1
SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

Calgary, AB — Hockey’s back!

The preseason began last Sunday with a bang, featuring 14 games from around the league and has continued all week long. So let’s talk about what we saw this last week and what we expect to see in the last week of preseason, and our projections for the Flames this year.

Top Headlines

Flyers Undefeated
The Philadelphia Flyers are the last team standing in the preseason, having gone 4-0 so far, the best record in the preseason league. Buoyed by the team’s first line of Simmonds, Giroux and Voracek (who have already amassed an astounding 17 points in four games between them), the Flyers have come to play this year. [Read More…]

No wins for Washington
The perennially ill-fated (so it’s come to seem) Washington Capitals have posted an abysmal 0-4-0 record thus far in the preseason. After missing the playoffs last year the Capitals do not look to have made any strides to realign themselves with the club they used to be. In fact, it seems the Capitals have slid into an even deeper slump. [Read More…]

Bishop Leads NHL in GAA and Save Percentage
Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop leads the NHL with the lowest Goals Against Average at 2.00 and the highest Save Percentage at 93.62%. (The statistics were calculated based on goalies who have played three games.) [Read More…]

How the Flames Stack Up

The Calgary Flames finished 26th in the NHL last year, amassing only 77 points in 82 games played. This year the Flames are looking to change their fortunes and realign themselves in much the same way that the NHL itself has recently been realigned. Having brought in a couple of key players in the offseason (including now-starting goaltender Jonas Hiller) the Flames believe they can be a contender for a playoff spot this year.

So how do they stack up so far in the preseason? How close are they really to that ever elusive playoff seed?

In net Jonas Hiller is the only Flames’ goalie who has played thus far in the preseason, posting two wins in three games, putting him in an eight-way tie for first in the preseason league for most wins. Outside of wins, Hiller has posted a Goals Against Average of 2.67 and a Save Percentage of 91.11%.

So how does that compare to other goalies? Out of the league wide total (numbering 77 goalies who have played a game), Hiller ranks above the league average of 2.956 GAA and 90.22 SV%. But of goalies who have played three games (of which Hiller is one) Hiller ranks only 6 of 8 in GAA and 7 of 8 in SV%, which is not at all as flattering as the stats first tell us. If the Flames want to be contenders this year, Hiller will have to post better numbers than he has been thus far in the year.
But he’s not the only one who’s going to have to improve if the Flames want to be a playoff contender. The Flames are ranked 18th in the league on the power play and 14th in the league on the penalty kill, two statistics which cost them dearly in their first loss against Vancouver last night.

On the plus side, the Flames are producing in five-on-five play. Curtis Glencross is tied for 7th in the league for goals (with 3), while Jiri Hudler is tied for 7th in the league for assists (with 4). Hudler also leads the Flames in points in the preseason with 5.

Kris Russell and Deryk Engelland lead the team in plus/minus with a plus/minus of +4.

It’s true that these are not the Flames of last year. They’re a little more mature, a little more serious this year, and they have a few extra pieces of the puzzle that they were missing last year. Still, if nothing changes from now until the end of the year, we project the Flames will place 6th in the Pacific division, putting them short of a playoff berth.

But it’s not even the regular season yet, so we’re still holding out hopes that the Flames of this year don’t repeat the mistakes of last year.

Projected result: 6th in the Pacific Division.

Free Agent Signings

Team Breakdowns

Week 1 Results