After a long absence, the playoff snake is back for another season. To explain for the newcomers, and recap for returnees, the black line on the graph is the estimated number of points required to make the playoffs, normalized over the course of the season. I have gone with 96 points. The Flames require 1.171 points per game in order to keep at this pace. The number of points to make the playoffs may not be 96 this year, but no team in the history of the western conference has missed the playoffs with 96 points. Yes, there is a debate over the 2010-11 and 2014-15 seasons, but no team in the western conference has achieved 96 points and missed the playoffs. Only one team in the east, the 2014-15 Bruins, achieved 96 points and missed.
In the original spirit of the snake, as created by Bunk, I am using this year to only focus on the Flames, and not other teams. I am including Calgary's last two years for comparative purposes. The Flames made the playoffs in 2014-15 (green snake), and missed out in 2015-16 (purple snake).
It's been a tough start, with only one OTL in three games. I'm always hopeful that the red snake will stay above the black line all year. All three snakes shown on the graph started out with a loss in game one, and thus below the black line. The good news is the red snake got a point in game three. That wasn't accomplished the last two years. The Flames are one point behind the pace of the last two years. They are 2.512 points below the 96 point playoff pace.
