Flames Offense during the Preseason

[gvitaly]

The preseason started with the Flames scoring 2 or less goals in 6 of the 7 preseason games. In fact during those 6 games the Flames scored 7 goals(1 of which was an empty netter). There were many contributing factors including great performances by goaltenders(Lack and Berra come to mind), skeleton lineups including mostly kids, and simply the fact that it takes players more than a few games to develop chemistry.

First of all I wanted to know what you think is the main reason for the low scoring so far? I listed a few reasons, but I was wondering if someone with a better eye than mine noticed some interesting tidbits?

Also,I just wanted to know how do you guys envision the Flames offense during this season. For example will the majority of the offense come from the Power Play, individual efforts, or perhaps odd man rushes?

Will the Flames play a lot of low scoring games?

Even though scoring by committee sounds nice, who do you think will be the go to guys to generate offense?

Well I hope this thread will generate some new discussion, while we are all still counting the days to the beginning of the season.

PS: I am not criticising the Flames offense, nor am I predicting the lack of it... I am just curious what do you think of it so far!

[jaginla]

Yeah I think it will be a lot of 1 goal games again like last year.or we get blown out.

[Tyler]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

First of all I wanted to know what you think is the main reason for the low scoring so far?

[PeteMoss]

There just isn't a lot of offense on this team. There are going to need points from the blue line (Gio, Wideman, Russell, etc) and why young guys will probably get a chance.

[Enoch Root]

Offense ebbs and flows. Look at the bright side - a slump is better in pre-season than in the first 10 games of the regular season.

The Flames aren't going to score a lot of goals this year. That isn't news. However, they will be fine - they aren't going to go the whole season scoring at a 1GPG clip.

And if they do, they draft top 2.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

It's interesting to me because where the Flames were weak for the first 30+ games was defense and goaltending, especially goaltending. I would say our defense is slightly better than the beginning of last year, and our goaltending is significantly better (remember, at the start it was an inexperienced Karri Ramo and McDonald who was pretty terrible). We carried the play during that early stretch and a lot of offense was generated from simply outworking the opposition. Then injuries happened, which hurt us mostly for consistent offensive production, but when Gio went down our possession dried up a lot too. That's when the offense went in the tank and didn't recover until we had some key veterans return, a late surge from Cammalleri, and some young and enthusiastic kids helped our possession numbers.

This year our offense has taken a step back due to Cammy's departure. However, the pre-season last year was about work ethic and competition for jobs, and I would say this year's pre-season camp has had even more competition. If that carries over, we should be able to outwork the opponent most nights, but we aren't going to surprise anyone so it should be a wash 5 on 5, and we will likely draw fewer penalties.

Which means the power play needs to be deadly this year. We have Giordano and Wideman who can both score from the point, and Brodie and Russell who are decent quarterbacks and puck movers. Hudler is good on the half boards and Glencross, Monahan, and even Colborne are decent in front of the net. What we are missing is a true sniper, someone who can sit in the slot and take a one-timer and blow it past the goalie. We didn't replace that with Cammy's departure and we don't really have anyone in the organization who does that (maybe Granlund, but TBD). What you're likely to see is a lot of shots thrown on net from any angle and a lot of garbage goals 2 feet in front. The lack of versatility in the forward group means that it will be difficult to score once teams figure out how to defend our PP. It could honestly be a long year offensively, but there's hope.

By the end of the year we could have guys like Gaudreau, Baertschi, Granlund, Ferland, and Poirier adding some significant skill to the forward ranks at the NHL level and replacing veterans who aren't as dynamic offensively. We don't really know what we have at the NHL level for any of these players just yet, so that possibility could make the team a significant offensive threat again.

So, like last year's defense and goaltending, the Flames offense could start off pretty rough and become respectable by the end of the year. Just my two cents.

[Caged Great]

The Flames lost their best pure goal scorer and replaced him with nothing. When your team is already near the bottom offensively, to lose your best scorer is a very bad sign. It wouldn't shock me if the Flames finished 29th or 30th in goals for.

[dissentowner]

The team is going to have to outwork the opposition, no doubt, but if a few things come together this year we should score more goals. Things are only going to get better as time goes by and our young guys develop more.

[timbit]

Just an opinion but the Flames will struggle greatly.

Their work ethic will get them only so far.

Their offense is extremely suspect bordering on poor.

Their Defense is marginal with the exception of Giordano and perhaps Brodie.

Unless their goaltending is elite, the Flames have an excellent chance at McDavid or Eichel.

[calgarygringo]

What offence? I rest my case.

[Monahan23]

well we replaced Cammy with Raymond in an already bad offence.

[Caged Great]

It's not a bad thing that we're going to be bad, it's expected especially where we are in the rebuild process. We're only a year and a half into what should be a 4 year rebuild. This year we're going to likely be a bottom 5 and more likely bottom 3 team. You don't finish that poorly if you have a good or even average offense. We just have to endure this and hope that things start coming together next year.

[Hatter]

We're just not going to score a lot this year. Nobody on the team (outside of a healthy Glencross) is even a shoo-in for 20 goals, let alone close to 30 like Cammalleri.

With Gio and Brodie playing almost half the game, and a much improved goaltending tandem, I expect a lot of 2-1 games this year.

[jeffman]

I'm not worried, Gadreau will score 50

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by jeffman

I'm not worried, Gadreau will score 50

Probably more than Heatley!

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Monahan23

well we replaced Cammy with Raymond in an already bad offence.

19 goals vs. 26 goals its not as crazy as people seem to think

I think the young guys can pick up that slack but yeah still not a ton of offence but honestly who knows

[djsFlames]

This is precisely why Johnny Gaudreau needs to be a Flames this season.

Even with the still developing chemistry, it's very concerning how in tough our players are when trying to put the puck in the net. 6-7 games of this goes beyond goalie performances. We don't have the snipers to keep up with the high octane offense of western teams.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Hatter

We're just not going to score a lot this year. Nobody on the team (outside of a healthy Glencross) is even a shoo-in for 20 goals, let alone close to 30 like Cammalleri.

With Gio and Brodie playing almost half the game, and a much improved goaltending tandem, I expect a lot of 2-1 games this year.

Monahan?

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by Monahan23

well we replaced Cammy with Raymond in an already bad offence.

Cammy was gd abominable up until the trade deadline when he realized that his sulking year to date erased all well wishes from a good season courtesy of Iggy and one playoff run in Mtl. So please can we stop pretending he was any DM good when it mattered?

It is f'ing sad that it is realistic that Raymond is not a downgrade.

[FBI]

If none of the young guys make it we won't be scoring much at all. Addy will be much more entertaining.