Quote:
Originally Posted by moon
I see a different team in terms of style but same overall effectiveness and ability.
Now instead of a team that plays steady in their own zone and have trouble creating chances they are a team that takes risks to try and create chances while ignoring the defensive side of the game...
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I don't buy this for a second. From what I have seen, this year's Flames are not demonstrably worse on the defensive side of the puck than they were last year, or in any of the previous five or six. You have a very short memory if you do not recall the regular defensive breakdowns in recent memory.
Rather to the contrary, what is noticeably different this year is the team's ability and commitment to playing a puck possession game, which is something that they have not done since before B. Sutter's term as coach. The evidence for this is in their demonstrably improved face-off winning percentage (fourteenth in the NHL), and the difference between their average shots/game (second in the League) and shots against/game (second). This is a substantial improvement on where they have been ranked in each of the categories in past years. While these figures do not indicate anything about quality of chances or shots*, they do rather clearly demonstrate a definite improvement in possession time for the Flames, which has arguably been their biggest problem in the recent past.
* This in itself is rather subjective, and every person is likely to see much of what they want to or expect to see when viewing any game. It comes as NO surprise to hear you claim that the team has lapsed significantly defensively; your MO has pretty consistently been to exaggerate the Flames's problems at the expense of their strengths.
On the contrary, I think the team appears substantially better on the offensive side of the puck, and if they are any worse defensively (I don't think they are), then the difference is minimal or practically negligible.