2013 Calgary Flames

[StrykerSteve]

I'm spending some time combing through NHL.com this evening, and I came across some really interesting stats worth mentioning.

After 11 games, which is almost 1/4 of the season, here's how the 2013 Calgary Flames are looking vs the rest of the league.

Conference Rank: 12th (4-4-3, with 2-3 games in hand on every team ahead of them, could be as high as 7th if they manage to win these games)

Team Stats

Goals For: 8th (3.00)
Goals Against: 26th (3.27)
PP: 2nd (27.5%)
PK: 27th (72.5%)
Shots For per Game: 6th (30.6)
Shots Against per Game: 5th (26.7)
Faceoffs: 23rd (48.8%)

Player Stats




Team Leaders

Goals: Stempniak
Assists: Iginla/Tanguay
Points: Tanguay
+/-: Stajan/Brodie
PIMs: Tanguay
Wins: Kiprusoff/Irving
GAA: Irving
S%: Irving

Positives

All of Calgary's offseason moves seem to be paying off. Wideman, Hudler and Cervenka are all primary contributors each night. Flames no longer need to rely on Iginla to carry the team offensively.

The Flames top 4 defence is performing pretty well, at both ends of the ice.

Brodie has moved into the 3-4 role with very little difficulty, giving the team a solid top 4 on the back end.

Irving is proving that there is life after Kipper, going 2-1-1 since the injury to the starter, giving his team a chance to win most nights. Still making some rookie mistakes, but overall, there's a lot to like about what he's brought to the table.

Concerns

Team is still giving up too many goals, despite not giving up a lot of shots. Especially evident while shorthanded, with the team struggling mightily on the PK. Goaltending hasn't been spectacular overall, but it's gotten better as the season has gone on.

The 4th line isn't contributing much to this lineup. Not enough energy, not enough physicality and zero offensive production thus far.

Team is still losing too many draws, at both ends of the ice. A faceoff specialist being brought in would be a welcome move at this point.

Team continues to lack consistency, not delivering a complete 60-minute effort in all but maybe two games this season.

The 5-6 defence drastically needs to be improved. Wotherspoon can't get here soon enough.

Overall

Team has been unlucky with injuries so far this year, with Baertschi, Backlund, Cammalleri and Kipper all out for extended periods. Despite this, the Flames have managed to remain competitive, and with games in hand, they still have a shot at making a move in the playoff race.

However, this is a story we should all be really familiar with. The question is, does the new coach, with the new offensive-oriented system with the new bodies in the lineup making a big impact, change the fortunes of this team?

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that it certainly appears that way. Even when they've lost (barring the Vancouver game and the snoozefest that was the Minny game), they've entertained the hell out of me and surpassed my expectations early on. I haven't had this much fun watching Flames hockey in many, many years. Kipper was playing pretty poorly to start the year, and Irving having to step in was a blessing in disguise, and I believe he'll continue to improve.

[VANFLAMESFAN]

PK is scaring me the most so far this year.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by VANFLAMESFAN

PK is scaring me the most so far this year.

Yes....and the #1 PP team (by a WIDE margin too) is up next.

[jg13]

you can thank feaster and his off season acquisitions for that #2 ranked PP

[Roof-Daddy]

Cammy's last two games have him over a point per, all of a sudden.

I expected a big year out him, he's getting his game back now and looks poised to affirm my expectations.

[Roof-Daddy]

Those are some sickly stats from Irving.....yet, better than Kipper right across the board.

[Bunk]

So, scoring: good; preventing other team from scoring: bad

[Hatter]

Feaster on his off-season acquisitions:



Seriously though, gotta PK better and be a bit better in the nets.

[Frank MetaMusil]

Strangest stats to me so far are these:

The Flames have yet to lose a game when being outshot, and yet to win a game when trailing after 1 period.

[868904]

ROR would sure help the faceoff and PK numbers.

I think it's encouraging that the offense is generally clicking save for the game against the Canucks and Wild, and that the shots against are also low.

If this team could get any kind of good goaltender and shore up its PK, it could be a playoff team.

[Red Slinger]

This team has layed a couple of eggs but otherwise they've been fairly solid up and down the lineup. From a strictly statistical point of view the PK and goaltending have been the weakest aspect of the team thus far. Again, just looking at stats the Flames lineup, so far, compares very favourably with a couple teams in their division that is supposed to be far superior offensively:

Vancouver- Averages 4.47 points per skater (after 12 games). 3 players pointless. None at point per game average or above.
Edmonton- Averages 3.25 points per skater (after 13 games). 8 players pointless. 1 on a point per game average.
Calgary- 3.29 points per skater (after 11 games). 8 players pointless. 3 on a point per game or above average.

The Calgary numbers include more skaters in their totals and brings their average down because of injuries. When looking at just regulars the Flames seem to be icing a competitive line-up. The Oilers are really struggling to score and the Canucks, despite being very healthy (besides Kesler), aren't putting up the numbers that we're used to seeing.

It seems to me that if the team can solidify the goaltending and improve the penalty kill even a little, that they should be very much in the hunt for a playoff spot. As a matter of fact, it wouldn't surprise me at all for the Flames to finish 2nd in the division, behind Vancouver presuming that Kiprusoff is back relatively soon and returns to his average form.

However, I'm afraid that this team will get steamrolled in the playoffs by a team that plays a physical, strong forechecking game.

[edn88]

I kind of like the 2013 Flames... I think goal tending has been a problem, and I think we have been unlucky to not be 2-3 points ahead of where we are. I think we have too many good pieces under contract to be rebuilding.

I think that if Iggy gets it into gear, and Squid gets rolling, and Sven comes back and can help, and if Kipper comes back quickly this team can be dangerous.

[djsFlames]

Cammy was one of if not possibly my favorite flame when he was here the first time. I was ecstatic to get him back, never thought it would happen. Was pretty disappointed with his start and with the treatment he was getting from fans but had faith he could show a lot more. Now it looks like he's playing with swagger again, and even looking reminiscent of his 08/09 self. Mind you he has to do it in a lot more games, but he could be working his way up my list again.

I thought him, Stajan and Stemp were absolutely dynamite tonight. We looked like we had 3 scoring lines again. The team looks good in general when its top 9 are all threatening.

Stempniak looks like a top 6 player these days. And he's 2nd in shots on the team behind the captain... interesting little fact.

The Canucks and Minny games were very reminiscent of last year's Flames though and I think it bummed out a lot of fans. So I'm really hoping that those couple of games were just blip along the way to a more consistently hungry and offensively exciting team that we've seen bits of. Honestly, when this team moves its feet, they start to dominate their opposition regardless of what kind of team they're facing. They just need to keep that in mind each night going in, implement it, and I think they'll have a legitimate chance.

[SebC]

Said it before and I'll say it again... those SV% percentages need to come up. Other than that, the Flames are doing quite well.

[opendoor]

The numbers would suggest that the Flames are in for a positive correction. Their 5-on-5 save percentage and shooting percentage are both terrible right now and will likely improve. Over the long haul there aren't huge differences between teams' PDO (combined sv% and shooting %) so if the Flames maintain their excellent shot differential then the goal differential should follow and with that more wins will come. Iginla in particular certainly won't continue shooting at 2.3% like he has been so far (though by the same token Hudler and Cammalleri won't shoot in the 20%+ range either).

That said, despite appearances to the contrary, the Flames were generally a very good possession team under Sutter as well (7th in the league in 09-10 and 10-11 for team Fenwick) so it remains to be seen whether these numbers will generate any real results.

[Alberta_Beef]

The Flames are tied for 10th in the West when it comes to winning percentage. The 8th & 9th best are both 1 game over .500 (with 13 & 14 games played). If the Flames win their next game and it is before Dallas and Phoenix play again then the Flames will technically be in 8th based on winning percentage.

[StrykerSteve]

Alright, time to update and reflect where the Flames stand today. When last we checked after 11 games, they ranked 12th in the conference. Today, after 19 games, they sit 14th, and those games in hand that they had, have essentially been wasted. They are currently 25th overall in the NHL.





Couple key points to note...

- Matt Stajan at +7 on this team, deserves some sort of medal, Stempniak also deserves some credit for being +3
- No goalie over .900 save percentage
- Alex Tanguay is almost a point-per-game player this year, but has a team-worst +/-, with Glencross right behind him
- Jay Bouwmeester and Dennis Wideman are producing at a fantastic rate
- The best faceoff guys are in the minors

[zamler]

Originally Posted by StrykerSteve

- The best faceoff guys are in the minors

Brilliant.

[kyuss275]

What was the flames faceoff % for tonight?

For the last 5-6 games they have been below 40%.

[StrykerSteve]

Flames won 33
Colorado won 42