Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - QOTD: What should be the Flames #1 New Years resolution?

Cali Panthers Fan · 01-01-2015, 03:33 PM

I don't understand this forum sometimes.

Who cares if we win in Anaheim or not? Honestly, outside of a moral victory, it has very little bearing on our fortunes as a team. We play exactly 2 games there this year and played often only once there for years past. Just because it's a long streak doesn't mean it will prevent us from making the playoffs this year, which is still the goal last time I checked. Besides which, Anaheim is still one of the elites. They SHOULD be beating a team like ours on their home ice. Expecting anything else is unrealistic. It's only 4 points, 2 of which have already been decided, and it's from a team we aren't in the same class as, so winning any game against them is a bonus.

What we should be focusing on is beating the Vancouver Canucks. Currently tied with them in points but they have games in hand. We are 0-1-1 so far this year and 0-3-2 against them last year. We are directly competing with them for playoff spots, so every win we get against teams like the Canucks, Kings, Sharks, Jets, Blues, and even the Wild and Stars, are of utmost importance. That will likely determine our fate.

Our penalty kill will decide more in terms of the amount of points we can get down the stretch than any one road game in any building. Consider this: The Flames currently sit 26th in the league with a 77% kill rate. Part of that lack of success is they have fewer opportunities than most teams to kill off because they only take 8.4 PIMs per game, 5th in the league. But still, that means they have so few penalties to kill they should be fresh and effective most nights. If we were to improve our percentage to somewhere around 83% which would put us just outside of the top 10, it would save us 6 goals so far. Over the course of 40 games it could mean the difference between winning and losing 4-5 games. 8-10 points is a big deal when it comes to a league with such parity. If the Flames do nothing else they need to find a way to at least get above 80% with their PK. It might be the difference between 9th or 10th and 7th or 8th.

2 things the Flames need to do the rest of the way: Win as many games as they can against divisional opponents, and improve the PK.

01-01-2015, 03:33 PM	#26
Cali Panthers Fan Franchise Player Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Boca Raton, FL Exp:	I don't understand this forum sometimes. Who cares if we win in Anaheim or not? Honestly, outside of a moral victory, it has very little bearing on our fortunes as a team. We play exactly 2 games there this year and played often only once there for years past. Just because it's a long streak doesn't mean it will prevent us from making the playoffs this year, which is still the goal last time I checked. Besides which, Anaheim is still one of the elites. They SHOULD be beating a team like ours on their home ice. Expecting anything else is unrealistic. It's only 4 points, 2 of which have already been decided, and it's from a team we aren't in the same class as, so winning any game against them is a bonus. What we should be focusing on is beating the Vancouver Canucks. Currently tied with them in points but they have games in hand. We are 0-1-1 so far this year and 0-3-2 against them last year. We are directly competing with them for playoff spots, so every win we get against teams like the Canucks, Kings, Sharks, Jets, Blues, and even the Wild and Stars, are of utmost importance. That will likely determine our fate. Our penalty kill will decide more in terms of the amount of points we can get down the stretch than any one road game in any building. Consider this: The Flames currently sit 26th in the league with a 77% kill rate. Part of that lack of success is they have fewer opportunities than most teams to kill off because they only take 8.4 PIMs per game, 5th in the league. But still, that means they have so few penalties to kill they should be fresh and effective most nights. If we were to improve our percentage to somewhere around 83% which would put us just outside of the top 10, it would save us 6 goals so far. Over the course of 40 games it could mean the difference between winning and losing 4-5 games. 8-10 points is a big deal when it comes to a league with such parity. If the Flames do nothing else they need to find a way to at least get above 80% with their PK. It might be the difference between 9th or 10th and 7th or 8th. 2 things the Flames need to do the rest of the way: Win as many games as they can against divisional opponents, and improve the PK. __________________ "You know, that's kinda why I came here, to show that I don't suck that much" ~ Devin Cooley, Professional Goaltender