Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe
When Gulutzan was fired, I was of the opinion that the Flames would be a playoff team if the exact same team returned, as long as a decent coaching staff was brought in.
I have never seen a team with a defence that capable miss the playoffs. The one stat that really stands out is how so much offence dried up from the defence. That alone should have made the Flames a much closer team to the playoffs. Add an embarrassing PP that was painfully slow to make any adjustments. Add a lack of in-game adjustments. Add a lack of leadership from the coaching staff (don't buy this one? Treliving himself stated that it was an issue).
Barring any changes other than coaching, I think last season's team was playoff caliber, especially considering the division they play in.
With all the changes and flexibility it has provided? Just gravy, IMO. That bottom 6 should never have been that terrible in production. That defence should never have been that inept at generating offence. They were neither good enough defensively, nor were they good enough offensively. People argue with me about Hartley, but at least Hartley had this team being really good where it mattered - generating offence and limiting chances. Hartley's style may not have been the best with his counter-attack focus, and trying to keep the shots wide and all the lanes clogged, but it worked for the team that he had.
Gulutzan's team seemed to just play for the metrics, rather than constructing a sound system that focused on the team make-up. That is why I think the advanced metrics for the Flames - which were awesome - was skewed and difficult to explain. I think a system like Hartley's can perform better than the underlying analytics - watch a Read Madrid game at times when they play a really good team, and they do the same type of collapsing and counter-attacking with speed, even though their possession numbers can stink at times.
Flames under Hartley were god-awful in the advanced metrics, but that system implemented fit the team and they found sustained success. Can anyone really say that Gulutzan's Flames were great at anything OTHER THAN possession metrics? That is my argument here - Gulutzan played FOR the analytics, rather than implementing a system that fit the Flames and then would translate or correlate with strong underlying metrics. I am 100% not against metrics, but I do believe that first and foremost a coach has to lead his team, and a coach has to figure out what his team is really good at and utilize it well.
Peters will hopefully be a breath of fresh air, get this team playing fast again, especially on the transition where it should be a huge strength of their's as 5 out of the 6 defencemen can move the puck quickly (and Stone can also move the puck 'decently', but is the weak link here). I think the Flames should have attacked the net more, but for some reason that wasn't a thing for 2 straight seasons. I think the Flames should have executed a higher level of passing plays and set plays in the offensive zone that should have translated into a tougher night for the opposing goalies - regardless of how many shots they managed to rattle off, it seemed that the Flames' goalies were always working harder even though they sometimes had to face 10+ shots less.
It wasn't bad luck. It was a system that relied on the most talented scorers to beat goalies who were too often set in position with a clear line of sight. Few "Royal Road" chances, too few garbage goals from jamming the net, way too few tips. This is going to be corrected (as per Geoff Ward), and I expect a damn exciting season.
The additions have been just gravy. I still think losing Ferland is a big subtraction as he added in a few different areas that the Flames were short on, but without question this is a MUCH improved squad in talent, and probably a quicker squad too. I also think that Foo, Mangiapane, Andersson and Kylington are on the cusp of making the team and providing another solid layer of depth - actual replacement players that can helping the team win, instead of just hoping they don't lose the game.
I don't care what anyone says - barring a significant run of injuries - this team will be challenging for the division and I wouldn't be surprised with a couple of rounds worth of playoffs, though that is tough to say given that this is still a rather young and inexperienced squad.
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