I'm calling it now, The Flames will be dancing this spring

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

You raise an interesting point though -- in terms of a first round matchup, there really is no incentive to win the Pacific as placing second will likely give you a much weaker opponent.

The Kings would do everything conceivable to play Minnesota or Nashville as it stands now. With the Ducks 2 points out of the playoff spot, they certainly wouldn't prefer risking playing them in a 2 vs 3 Pacific matchup.

The Kings are the Kings and the Ducks brought Chicago to game 7 last year, that's 2 very scary teams to match up against in the Pacific. The Ducks, like last year Kings, might not make the dance but it's not something the Kings would want to risk.

It might get a bit more interesting if Chicago drops to the Wildcard spot as they are 1 point ahead of both Minnesota and Nashville, but with how close it is today they could fall straight to the second spot and play Dallas anyways.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Every team in the division is playing the "if" game. The problem is that the Flames need to go on a tear as .500 hockey won't cut it. The Canucks are a good road team so they will get their points and it appears the Oilers will at least hang around. The Flames need to be a lot better than those teams and until that happens they are still the worst team in the division. They have been decent lately at home but they still have the worst special teams and goaltending in the league and the only reason they have been winning of late is because the puck has been going in the net as they are on a run of scoring 4+ goals a game and that's not sustainable. I'm not saying give up hope but temper your expectations as this is still a bad hockey team.

If the Flames play .600 hockey the rest of the way, they will finish with 90 points which may be good enough. Since October, they've been playing at .570 and continuing to get better and better.

I agree re expectations, but this is not that unrealistic. I maintain that this isn't a bad hockey team, it's a playoff hockey team with horrible goaltending.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by heep223

If the Flames play .600 hockey the rest of the way, they will finish with 90 points which may be good enough. Since October, they've been playing at .570 and continuing to get better and better.

I agree re expectations, but this is not that unrealistic. I maintain that this isn't a bad hockey team, it's a playoff hockey team with horrible goaltending.

Defensively they still have gaffes but less than the tire fire that was the first 1.5 months of the season. I simply don't see a fix for the goaltending as Ramo has elevated his game from horrific to his normal which is below average goaltender. I still cringe every time a team takes a bad angle shot and he goes down with his pad in the same position that cost them points against the Jets early in the season. He's a good reactionary goaltender but the rest of his game including his positional play is poor.

[heep223]

The advanced stats people say that we're going to regress from last season, because our goalies can't keep up that performance.

They were right - last season our goalies were average, whereas this season they are the worst in the league.

Why we don't improve that position is beyond me. The Flames are giving up less scoring chances than last season but allowing twice as many goals.

This is a bubble playoff team who's been dragged down by goaltending.

[Erick Estrada]

Right now 960 has a round table going on and some pretty fair criticism of the coaching, GM, players etc. A good point brought up lately is that the team has played better as Russell and Widemen have played less and maybe it's no coincidence the Flames have played better of late with Russell out of the lineup. I'm not a big advanced stats guy but removing one of the worst possession players in the league maybe is helping.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Right now 960 has a round table going on and some pretty fair criticism of the coaching, GM, players etc. A good point brought up lately is that the team has played better as Russell and Widemen have played less and maybe it's no coincidence the Flames have played better of late with Russell out of the lineup. I'm not a big advanced stats guy but removing one of the worst possession players in the league maybe is helping.

And Bouma


*hides behind furniture

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

And Bouma


*hides behind furniture

Not having Bouma is probably the biggest reason our PK is 30th in the league.

I agree he has no business in a top-6 role though where he spent time to start the year.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Bandwagon In Flames

Not having Bouma is probably the biggest reason our PK is 30th in the league.

I agree he has no business in a top-6 role though where he spent time to start the year.

I'm not sure I agree. No forward was on the ice for as many PPG against, and his GA/60 on the PK was bother than any forward last year. Now I'm sure he faced stiff competition, but I certainly wouldn't say he was the driver for any success.

The PK isn't won by blocking shots, it's win by winning board battles and getting in passing lanes.

[polak]

I agree with trying Russell on the bottom pairing or on the bench.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

I'm not sure I agree. No forward was on the ice for as many PPG against, and his GA/60 on the PK was bother than any forward last year. Now I'm sure he faced stiff competition, but I certainly wouldn't say he was the driver for any success.

The PK isn't won by blocking shots, it's win by winning board battles and getting in passing lanes.

Watch pretty much ANY PK last season. A typical PK would contain Bouma blocking a point shot and firing the puck down the ice himself. He constantly makes plays to create chances for line changes. He's quick, determined and fearless. His ability to pressure the puck keeps other teams from making their desired plays. He's the best PKer on the team, hands down.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Originally Posted by heep223

The advanced stats people say that we're going to regress from last season, because our goalies can't keep up that performance.

They were right - last season our goalies were average, whereas this season they are the worst in the league.

Why we don't improve that position is beyond me. The Flames are giving up less scoring chances than last season but allowing twice as many goals.

This is a bubble playoff team who's been dragged down by goaltending.

Uhh what? Literally nobody said we were going to regress because of the Goalies. They might of compared us to Colorado where we countered with the Flames having average goaltending vs. Vezina caliber goaltending like the Avs.

They said we were going to regress because of the low possession and high shooting percentage. Not to mention all of the 3rd period comebacks.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by Bandwagon In Flames

Uhh what? Literally nobody said we were going to regress because of the Goalies. They might of compared us to Colorado where we countered with the Flames having average goaltending vs. Vezina caliber goaltending like the Avs.

They said we were going to regress because of the low possession and high shooting percentage. Not to mention all of the 3rd period comebacks.

You said it. Tons of comparisons to Colorado, who had Vezina caliber goaltending.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Originally Posted by heep223

You said it. Tons of comparisons to Colorado, who had Vezina caliber goaltending.

Wow.. I don't even know what to say about your logic.

Colorado was used an example because they went from making the playoffs to being a bottom dweller. That is the valid comparison.

How they got their is not and you can't make a silly claim like that because of a comparison made by unintelligent Oiler fans.

Anyone actually looking at advanced stats didn't claim goaltending would have anything to do with their regression. Just accept that and move on.

[LouCypher]

The San Jose game showed me that they are really starting to wrap their heads around playing a better possession game and controlling the play. Still plenty of work to do and room for improvement but if they can utilize their skill level this way I see a playoff team this year.

[troutman]

I'm not sure why EDM always has much better odds than CGY here, when they have the same record. Maybe the bad goal differential?

http://www.sportsclubstats.com/NHL/Western.html

[saillias]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Right now 960 has a round table going on and some pretty fair criticism of the coaching, GM, players etc. A good point brought up lately is that the team has played better as Russell and Widemen have played less and maybe it's no coincidence the Flames have played better of late with Russell out of the lineup. I'm not a big advanced stats guy but removing one of the worst possession players in the league maybe is helping.

I heard the segment and thought it was pretty awful. Both were your standard Corsihard fenwickers with the same predictable stuff. Nothing we haven't heard before.

[polak]

Originally Posted by saillias

I heard the segment and thought it was pretty awful. Both were your standard Corsihard fenwickers with the same predictable stuff. Nothing we haven't heard before.

The correlation with Russell's awful possession our increase in possession performance in his absence is something that should be noted.

His shot blocking masks his poor play too often.

[saillias]

Sure, just don't need to hear Ryan Lambert smugly talk about how **** the Flames are to know. Same guy who riles up Flames fans by insulting the fanbase, insulting the coach, management etc. Then after the segment he spent 2 hours crying on his twitter personally attacking Boomer.

[Inglewood Jack]

wait, they actually allowed Lambert to spew on Calgary Flames radio? is there no place we can hide from this clown?

[saillias]

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

wait, they actually allowed Lambert to spew on Calgary Flames radio? is there no place we can hide from this clown?

Yup and he was exactly as condescending and pompous as he is in print. Then had a "twitter fight" with Boomer. About par for the course if you let the guy near anything.