Flames had late leads in games 2 and 4 where Colorado scored with the goalie pulled to tie it late. The Flames also squandered glorious chances in both OT’s but Colorado scored shortly after
Colorado was a 88pt second wildcard but they were flying down the stretch. MacKinnon was transforming into a top 3 player in the league. They added Makar who is already a $9.5M Dman after 2 regular seasons and he made an impact immediately in that series. They were more of an emerging juggernaut as opposed to traditional second wildcard and their regular seasons since then have proved it
Don’t get me wrong the Avs outplayed the Flames badly especially in games 3 and 5 but a couple of bounces or saves the Flames would have been up 3-1 after 4
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This will get a lot more play as we get closer to playoffs. Darryl is getting the questions already and you can see how he would prefer to avoid the topic, although today he was willing to discuss. Interesting - he seemed to indicate that today's (more mature) versions of Hanifin and Andersson would have been the top D pair on that team and made a big difference.
Flames had late leads in games 2 and 4 where Colorado scored with the goalie pulled to tie it late. The Flames also squandered glorious chances in both OT’s but Colorado scored shortly after
Colorado was a 88pt second wildcard but they were flying down the stretch. MacKinnon was transforming into a top 3 player in the league. They added Makar who is already a $9.5M Dman after 2 regular seasons and he made an impact immediately in that series. They were more of an emerging juggernaut as opposed to traditional second wildcard and their regular seasons since then have proved it
Don’t get me wrong the Avs outplayed the Flames badly especially in games 3 and 5 but a couple of bounces or saves the Flames would have been up 3-1 after 4
If I can find the time I would not mind re-watching that series.
The biggest thing is that 18-19 deal was mentally weak, like the teams before them. They would wilt, if not collapse, in the face of adversity.
This was always perplexing to me when the 14-15 team was so resilient. Treliving wanted the core to grow and leadership to emerg. Hartley’s exit was part of this growth, but Gluegun was evidence that it failed and would not happen independent of strong coaching.
The Colorado collapse was evidence that Peters was also a failure because, as he was later exposed, he’s a fraud and joke of a coach who can’t reciprocate respect with players.
Geoff Ward was a cheap stop-gap after the Peters fiasco.
Sutter is a master at in game adjustments, he reciprocates respect in players, but the style of play he coaches is demanding, and has a shelf life, and requires the right personnel
Play physical, hard forecheck, win 50/50 puck battles for possession, & with maximum effort, enough skill & goaltending on the roster it maximizes a team’s chance to win most nights.
One thing is clear to me. They aren’t mentally weak, and they won’t be pushed around.
The 18/19 team had a ton of third period comebacks as well. I think you are off with your take there. They were poorly prepared for the playoffs by a coach who was in over his head and he didn’t have them ready. They often would storm back after getting down in games more so than this current team (who doesn’t trail often to begin with)
Digging into the metrics for both teams it's interesting.
That 18/19 team wasn't doing it with mirrors, they had solid numbers. Five on five this year's team is better, but not by much.
Where things really differ though is special teams.
The 21/22 Flames generate 1.38 goals/60 minutes of powerplay time more than the 18/19 Flames, and they give up 0.67 goals/60 minutes when shorthanded.
Their shorthanded save percentage is 5% better as well.
But five on five they are very similar teams.
Interesting. I do also remember Peters was highly revered as having tight structure with his teams, so it’s not like the Flames we’re playing river hockey either.
Differences I see with this team include:
- Much better goaltending
- Bigger blue line with our youngsters now more established
- Better special teams, notably the PK, and a more versatile power play
- More sustained offensive zone time and offensive attack that thrives off the cycle in addition to being potent off the rush
You can't beat a structure where there is no confusion and every player knows what piece/cog they are in the machine and only needs to focus on excelling at what they are already strongest at.
Applies well beyond the dynamics of a hockey team.
I think the moment you have a few guys trying to do too much or trying to be something they're not is when you're set up to fail in the face of adversity.
I think you saw that when Peters' team ran into adversity. They weren't prepared for the possibility of facing faster top players or a more physical team. They didn't have the personnel or defined roles in place to counter that.
Darryl has been surgical with this team and I'm loving it
Flames were very inconsistent after the All Star break that season. This team seems very consistent. Structure, effort level, pace, are all way better.
There’s quite a few differences, but I’d say the 2 biggest things that I’ve noticed comes down to the team’s overall strategy/structure and the top line.
In the past, Peters and Ward both had a different take on the way this team checked, it’s actually not all that different than other teams in this league and I wouldn’t even call it wrong. But for the way this team was built, yes, I think it was wrong. Peters and Ward had this team, how did Darryl put it, “all about offense” or something like that.
To put it bluntly, they were forechecking way too aggressively IMO. F1’s all the way to the F3’s were constantly getting caught up the ice and leaving themselves vulnerable through the middle of the ice, this lead to our D with no back support and constantly facing odd man rushes. This was very hard on Gio, Rasmus, Valimaki and etc due to mobility issues.
If the team was built faster with every line being able to play at a high pace, then yes, this style probably would’ve been just fine. Problem is, the Flames were not a fast team by any stretch of the imagination, there were plenty of slow players up and down the line up.
Darryl has the right system in place for this team now though I think. They still check just as hard and their work ethic is night and day. But in terms of placement, they’re less aggressive so they don’t get caught up ice as much and the F3 is always in a good spot to provide support for the D. Elias Lindholm for instance is just an absolute monster in this department: his awareness, his picture perfect timing, the smart decisions he makes are almost always right. It’s a big reason why he’s on pace for an absolutely absurd +60.
His linemates are no slouches in this department either which leads me to my second point. The Top Line. The single biggest reason for the team’s turnaround in my opinion. They’ve produced offense in 90%+ of the team’s games this season. Talk about consistency. They’re not the type of line that scores 5 goals in one game then just disappear in the next 2 or 3.
They’re the type of line that brings it ever single night. They consistently drive the bus for the team, drive offense, drive momentum, set up their next line for success. It’s not uncommon for one of the other lines to give up a goal and then basically ask the top line to get it back for them.
I believe this line is much different from 2019 top line. The Gatorade line as they were known as absolutely torched the league in the first half of the season. I think Monahan was on pace for 100 points and Gaudreau about 120 if I remember around or before the All Star break. Then after that, they hit the wall.
The games tightened up with the playoffs in sight and rush scoring dried up which I think spelled doom for the top line. Their pace of scoring dropped considerably and outside of that one NJ game, they looked like a below average top line that gave up as much or more than they scored which basically meant they weren’t helping the team anymore, they were sort of just neutral at that point up until the playoffs arrived and that line basically became a negative for the team.
Fast forward to 2022 and again, it’s a night and day difference. The all star game is long gone and playoff type matches have been since and the top line has crushed the competition. In the biggest of tests where the former top line use to wilt, they’re now thriving and in my opinion, it’s 100% based on their ability to produce in multiple ways. They can score on the rush, on the cycle and by checking for their chances. They’re unpredictable which is important in the playoffs when the rush chances disappear.
The Gatorade line on the otherhand was almost exclusively a rush scoring line. Very depend on playing run and gun. Darryl has said this a lot where you can’t just rely on rush scoring all the time and that was the Gatorade line’s problem and lead ultimately to their demise. They were too predictable and often left themselves vulnerable for a lot of counter attacks the other way.
As Geoff Ward use to say, “it’s not always what you make, it’s what you leave” and that line left gold for their opponents and they capitalized especially in the playoffs. The new top line, they don’t leave anything for their opponent, all they do is take from their opponent, just look at their plus/minus and tell me that they’re not the biggest difference makers?
Their goal differential makes this team what it is in my opinion and there’s no doubt in my mind that they’ll be able to transfer this into the playoffs too because we’ve seem some playoff type games like yesterday and last Saturday vs Colorado and they didn’t just show up, they dominated. So there you have it, not a short read, but it’s the 2 biggest differences from 2019 and 2022 team in my opinion and it deserves a lot of words. Thanks to those who bothered to actually read it, I know it’s long.
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As mentioned, the second half was not nearly as good as the first and the top line got shut down pretty effectively as teams adapted after watching tape.
The second line especially struggled in the second half and definately the playoffs. Backlund and Frolik were in the ice for 3 or all 4 winning goals against vs Colorado. Our second line is infinitely better this time around, goaltending people give Smith a hard time because of father time now catching up to him on the Oilers, but he played decent all year and very well in the playoffs, being a star in game 1 and holding the fort in game 3 as well, though not as solid as Markstrom
All that said, the Flames also as mentioned coughed up 3rd period goals late twice and had glorious chance to win in the 2nd game, Backlund missed the pass from Frolik and McKinnon goes the other way and scores 10 seconds later.
If the Flames went up 2-0 there it's a different series and Flames IMO pull it out, Colorado wasn't that great but rode the momentum from that game 2 win.
I suspect if you could pull it, the stat that would separate these two teams is time with lead. where the 2022 team has dominated a lot of games on both ends of the ice from start to finish, the 2019 team has a team that just found a way in the moment they needed to.
3. The Hurricanes trade prior to the 18/19 season has continued to be a transformative deal that is the key part in the team being at the top of the league both years. Lindholm and Hanifin have been fantastic.
The Hurricanes are a good team today... imagine them today with Lindholm and Hanifin as well. I can't see any players on their current roster that has come out of this trade (please let me know if I'm wrong).
Elias Lindholm for instance is just an absolute monster in this department: his awareness, his picture perfect timing, the smart decisions he makes are almost always right. It’s a big reason why he’s on pace for an absolutely absurd +60.
Great analysis!
Add Coleman, Toffoli, and Backlund.... all great 200 foot players to that mix... Lindholm is key, but having one of these players on every line if we want... that's amazing and stops the puck going in our net.
there are no guarantees, 8 out of 32 teams get past the first round
that being said this team has a better chance that that team did, 2019 were .500 after the ASB not .900 and not a top defensive team. Rittich/Smith Vs. Markstrom/Vladar isnt even a question. Colorado was also the worst draw for a first place team ever.
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GFG
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The Hurricanes are a good team today... imagine them today with Lindholm and Hanifin as well. I can't see any players on their current roster that has come out of this trade (please let me know if I'm wrong).
I wonder if Peters helped with this trade.
Remember that you can’t simply add the players without accounting for their cap hit as well.
Carolina also received draft picks when they traded Fox to the Rangers.
