Quote:
Originally Posted by Makarov
I haven't seen a lot of discussion regarding the Flames advanced statistics this season. I think they're interesting. The Flames rank 7th in the league for CF%, 7th in the league for xGF%, and 8th in the league for SCF%. Those are the advanced statistics of a team solidly in the playoffs (likely with home ice advantage in at least the first round.)
So... why weren't the Flames able to translate those statistics into wins?
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For starters, it's a tale of two seasons.
Flames under Ward:
24 GP
50.26% CF
51.02% xGF
8.12% SH%
92.47% SV%
Flames under Sutter:
26 GP
54.78% CF
54.24% xGF
8.11% SH%
90.56% SV%
So basically, since Sutter took over, we've played
much better hockey... but have not gotten the goaltending needed to win the games in which we outplayed the opponents.
Had Sutter been the coach over the full season, he would have benefited from the solid goaltending we got early on, before the Sigalet Effect took over. Had they been playing Sutter hockey with early season goaltending, they're probably sitting in a playoff spot right now.
I also think Sutter shot himself in the foot early on with his short-lived #1RW Brett Ritchie infatuation. He'd probably like a mulligan on that.
The crazy thing is though, now under both coaches, the shooting percentages are pretty respectable. It's really just the SV% under Sutter and the shot volume under Ward that tanked the season.