A look at the remaining schedule

[CaptainCrunch]

I thought I'd toss this up here, maybe it will be helpful in looking at scheduling advantages for the teams the Flames are competing against for a playoff spot

[MikePatton]

Lots of divisional games for the Flames...

I'm confused by the teams below/teams above. Doesn't add up to a number that makes sense to me. Shouldn't they add up to 30 for every team?

[Erick Estrada]

Lots of divisional games means that their fate is in their own hands as the route to the playoffs is through the division as the Wild Card spots are going to be difficult to attain.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by MikePatton

Lots of divisional games for the Flames...

I'm confused by the teams below/teams above. Doesn't add up to a number that makes sense to me. Shouldn't they add up to 30 for every team?

The number of their games against teams above them in the standings vs. teams below them in the standings. It's a little screwy because the standings are so close that those numbers will move drastically on a nightly basis. It's a snapshot of the level of the upcoming competition, but it doesn't say HOW MANY points above or below the teams are. They might be 2 points above or 20 below. Big difference in the level of competition, but you can't get that nuance from this chart.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by MikePatton

Lots of divisional games for the Flames...

I'm confused by the teams below/teams above. Doesn't add up to a number that makes sense to me. Shouldn't they add up to 30 for every team?

Not with only 24–26 games remaining. These are games each team has to play against teams either above or below them in the standings.

[lazypucker]

Even though with 72 points, I don't think St. Louis is a sure-in yet. They play 2-3 more games than the teams in the chasing pack so a slip up will drag them right back.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

The number of their games against teams above them in the standings vs. teams below them in the standings. It's a little screwy because the standings are so close that those numbers will move drastically on a nightly basis. It's a snapshot of the level of the upcoming competition, but it doesn't say HOW MANY points above or below the teams are. They might be 2 points above or 20 below. Big difference in the level of competition, but you can't get that nuance from this chart.

Trust me, I thought about doing a column for competitors above split into groups of 5 points or less and 5 points or more. And the same with below, but at that point I thought, man this chart could get huge.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Lots of divisional games means that their fate is in their own hands as the route to the playoffs is through the division as the Wild Card spots are going to be difficult to attain.

Probably, but missed in this is how many head-to-head games the all the teams around the Flames still have remaining on their schedules. Within the group of #2–5 teams in each of the Central and Pacific Divisions, the schedules are as follows:

Anh: 9 games
Cgy: 7 games
Col: 10 games
Dal: 12 games
LAK: 9 games
Min: 10 games
SJS: 12 games
StL: 10 games

I think when it all shakes out the extra five games that Central Division teams will play within this group will bring everyone closer together between the #2–3 Divisional seeds and the two Wildcards. I also think that the Flames probably benefit the most for having the fewest remaining games to play within this group.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Just for example, the Flames have 3 games remaining against bottom feeder Arizona, but they also have 3 games remaining against the apparently elite Golden Knights.

One more game against Boston, and one more against Winnipeg, but the rest of the competition is near the same level as the Flames.

One more game against Buffalo and Ottawa each, and 2 more games against Edmonton if we're talking about bottom 5 competitors, but we know how things have gone against the Oilers lately.

The Flames play Colorado 2x, San Jose 2x, L.A. 1x, and Anaheim 1x for 6 games. Those are the important divisional games. The bulk of the other divisional games are against teams that they aren't really competing with directly (Arizona, Edmonton, Vegas). Edit: LOL, forgot Colorado isn't in our division anymore. Point still stands. We are in direct competition with Colorado for a playoff spot.

So to sum up:
-Flames play 5 games against elite teams
-13 games against competitive clubs
-7 games against bottom feeders
-and 6 important divisional games against teams they are competing directly with

[bubbsy]

The divisional games that are actually of any real importance are the ones against teams that we are actually competing for a spot against..... That number is quite minor (4 games).

Ducks (1 x home)
LA (1 x home)
SJ (1 x home, 1 x away)

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

...So to sum up:
-Flames play 5 games against elite teams
-13 games against competitive clubs
-7 games against bottom feeders
-and 6 important divisional games against teams they are competing directly with

I broke it down this way for each team:
· Number of games remaining against division leaders (including the Bruins, who are only one point behind TB with two games in hand).
· Number of games remaining against Pacific and Central Division teams #2–5
· Number of games remaining against the bottom six teams

Anh: 3–9–5
Cgy: 5–7–7
Col: 4–10–5
Dal: 4–12–4
LAK: 3–9–6
Min: 5–10–5
SJS: 5–12–4
StL: 4–10–2

If we consider the cut-off between top- and bottom-competition to be in the second and third numbers, the remaining schedule for each team on the basis of quality of competition appears as follows:

Anh: 12–5 in 24 games
Cgy: 12–7 in 25 games
Col: 14–5 in 26 games
Dal: 16–4 in 25 games
LAK: 12–6 in 26 games
Min: 15–5 in 26 games
SJS: 17–4 in 25 games
StL: 14–2 in 23 games

It looks to me like Dallas, SJ, and possibly St Louis have the most difficult upcoming schedules, and LA and Calgary possibly the least difficult.

[Five-hole]

Originally Posted by MikePatton

Lots of divisional games for the Flames...

I'm confused by the teams below/teams above. Doesn't add up to a number that makes sense to me. Shouldn't they add up to 30 for every team?

It's games vs teams ahead and games vs teams behind, not how many teams are ahead/behind.

It should add up to the number of games remaining, which it does.

[Classic_Sniper]

I had a quick glance at each team's remaining schedule and without a doubt I think Dallas, St. Louis and Minnesota (in that order) have the hardest schedules. Lot of head to head match ups and the least non-playoff opponents. These guys also play the California teams more than we do, so that'll help take points from one another, especially if 3 point games are kept to a minimum.

Colorado has an easier scheedule, so if we want to increase our chances of at the very least being a wide card team, then we need to beat Colorado both times. Preferably, a Pacific division spot is ideal, but LA, Anaheim and San Jose's schedules are the least difficult of all of our opponents. But our strength of schedule is definitely an advantage with how few head to head match ups we have.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

...Preferably, a Pacific division spot is ideal, but LA, Anaheim and San Jose's schedules are the least difficult of all of our opponents. But our strength of schedule is definitely an advantage with how few head to head match ups we have.

I think SJ's schedule is pretty tough. They are finishing up a homestead now, but then play four games in six days on the road—where they are not good—against Central Division teams. They have another home stand with lots of time between games in the last week of February and first week of March, but then they finish the season with 11 of their final 16 games against division leaders and Western Conference teams with whom they are in a dogfight for playoff positioning.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I think SJ's schedule is pretty tough. They are finishing up a homestead now, but then play four games in six days on the road—where they are not good—against Central Division teams. They have another home stand with lots of time between games in the last week of February and first week of March, but then they finish the season with 11 of their final 16 games against division leaders and Western Conference teams with whom they are in a dogfight for playoff positioning.

San Jose's schedule is definitely sneaky tough. Anaheim and L.A though, scare me a bit. Good thing we're ahead of them at the moment. But the ace up our sleeve could still very much be the 3 Central teams who have a murderer's row of opponents and if all else falls apart for us, we can hopefully at least sneak into a wild card spot. I'm optimistic about our current situation for sure though.

[ForeverFlameFan]

We still have the most divisional games left... Those are going to be very crucial.

[JohnnyTitan]

There is no doubt at this point you want to finish in one of the division spots.

Finish 2nd: Home ice adv against one of the Cali teams
Finish 3rd: No home ice adv against one of the Cali teams
Finish WC: Play Vegas, Winnipeg or Nashville.

I for one would rather play a Cali team. Especially a non-Duck Cali team! (Even though we could beat the Ducks...lets mix-it-up a bit!)

[JohnnyTitan]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

We still have the most divisional games left... Those are going to be very crucial.

But not really. As discussed, the games against Vegas, Edm and Arizona don't really matter that much at all. No "Four Point Games". And those games represent all but 4 of our divisional games.

The 4 against SJx2, LA, Ana will be huge though. For sure.

[JohnnyTitan]

Originally Posted by JohnnyTitan

Finish 3rd: No home "Road Ice" adv against one of the Cali teams

Just read my own post...and fixed it!

I think the Flames may actually want "Road Ice Advantage" in the playoffs! LOL!

[JohnnyTitan]

Posted simply to have four posts in a row. :P