After 7 games

[stignasty]

I thought it would be interesting to look at the point totals of the teams in the NHL after each of them had played 7 games.

1. San Jose - 14
2. Chicago - 13
3. Tampa Bay/St. Louis - 12
5. Ottawa/Boston/Anaheim - 11
8. Montreal - 10
9. Minnesota/New York Islanders/Edmonton/New Jersey/Detroit - 9
14. Vancouver/Pittsburgh/Toronto - 8
17.Buffalo/Winnipeg/Nashville - 7
20. Colorado/Carolina/Los Angeles/Calgary - 6
24. Columbus/Phoenix/Dallas - 5
27. Florida/Washington/Philadelphia - 4

[doctajones428]

Meh, we will catch up eventually, everyone is starting to play well and get in the swing of things. Hopefully Irving/Taylor can hold the fort

[stignasty]

I heard a couple of comments from the talking heads tonight about how this is only Calgary's second win, and how they're basically sucking hind teet. So... I put this together and considering the games in hand on 29 teams, the Flames aren't really that bad off.

[Alberta_Beef]

Which talking heads were those? because on Sportsnet I heard the Flames were playing better than the record indicates more than once. They were however discussing the slow starts of Cammalleri, Iginla and Kiprusoff.

[nik-]

The team will need to take stock of itself at the 12 game mark, 25% of the season. If we're still way back at that point, we're likely not catching up.

[CaptainCrunch]

I believe that this team is better then its record, They struggled with the new system and the new players, but really over the last three games they've looked like a very good team.

And a lot better offensively then we've seen in a long time.

[afc wimbledon]

Personally I think if the team is going to suck better to really suck than just half arse suck, so better than last year so far.

I do not believe there will be any significant change in the teams prospects without at least one or two top 3 picks added and developed to replace Iginla and the nos 1 line.

[MyFlamesFirst]

I am much more excited towards next game because I know that every night we have a legit chance to win based on the small sample we have seen of these new flames. So far both Hudler and Wideman have been paying huge dividends, and Cervenka seems not too far behind. Combine this with the new offensive Hartley style and I am not so worried about the standings at the moment. If we continue to play how we are, the points will come.

[bigpete]

Definitely think the Flames are playing better than their record indicates. They have looked good and are just starting to really put it together the last couple of games. Gotta think there have been at least 3 games that we lost that coulda/shoulda gone the other way (Chicago, Colorado, even San Jose and Anaheim). The games we have lost we have barely lost and the games we have won, we have won rather convincingly.

It's especially hard being around Oiler fans every day who constantly shove it in my face that the Oilers are looking so good and the Flames are in last place. The Oilers have played 9 games and only have 1 regulation win to show for it. Plus I'm pretty sure they have a grand total of about 4 or 5 5-on-5 even strength goals all year. Food for thought!

[nfotiu]

I have always though it was lame that the NHL is the only league to publish standing with no consideration of games played. In reality, it is much more accurate to call us half game out of a playoff spot than it is to call us DFL. Basically we are right on track for our usual 9th place spot :whaa:

[jlh2640]

Great game overall. Bouwmeester is sure playing good hockey at both ends of the ice. Wideman looked good as well. Things are starting to come together. I like all 4 lines the last 2 games. Now we need consistency and Kipper to get healthy.

[AR_Six]

Or you could just look at the standings by point percentage... http://wombat.san-francisco.ca.us/perl/nhlsched.cgi?op=standings&team=nhl&conf=all

[Tilley]

San Jose - good first, poor second, average third period
Anaheim - terrible first, average second, good third period
Vancouver - average first, average second, good third period, shoot out loss
Edmonton - dominant first, dominant second, good third (end made it look closer than it was)
Colorado - good first, good second, good third - then a terrible final 3 minutes
Chicago - dominant first, dominant second, dominant third, shoot out loss
Detroit - dominant first, dominant second, good third

The Flames have played four teams playing well (SJ, Ana, Van, Chi) and three average teams (Edm, Col, Det). They looked have looked good for the majority of the games they have played. The obviously need to clean up some elements of their game and the Kipper injury throws everything up in the air, but this team is definitely not as bad as it's record suggests.

[stignasty]

Each team's record after they have played 8 games:
1. San Jose 15 pts.
2. Chicago 14 pts.
3. Boston/Anaheim 13 pts.
5. Tampa Bay/St. Louis/Montreal 12 pts.
8. Ottawa/New Jersey 11 pts.
10.Vancouver/Pittsburgh 10 pts.
12. Minnesota/New York Isles/Edmonton/Detroit/Nashville/Minnesota 9 pts.
18. New York Rangers/Colorado/Carolina/Calgary/Los Angeles 8 pts.
23. Buffalo/Winnipeg/Dallas 7pts.
26. Phoenix/Florida 6 pts.
28.Columbus/Washington
30.Philadelphia 4 pts.

[Tsawwassen]

Already 1/6 through the season.

[icarus]

Calgary Flames Playoff Chances
Beat Columbus 4-3 (ot), playoff odds up 10.1 to 47.5%

http://www.sportsclubstats.com/NHL/Western/Northwest/Calgary.html

[Roof-Daddy]

Interesting to note that of our five losses, four of them came against teams that are a combined 29-5-6 so far this year.....the top four teams in our conference, and honestly the Flames weren't really outclassed in any of those games.

Really looking forward to seeing how the Flames fare in the next matchup with those four teams.....first up, Vancouver.

[Red]

Top 10 in goals for. Best in NW.

[Bingo]

http://www.sportsclubstats.com/NHL/Western/Northwest/Calgary.html

and projected in the 8th spot ahead of Edmonton

[jlh2640]

: )

[edn88]

The Flames/Canucks game is going to be yet another early season test for the fellas. A win gets them right back in the thick of things, an OT loss is not the end of the world (5 out of 6 points on a road trip).

Am definitely concerned about mounting injuries.