The Flames are in a four way tie for first in the league.

[killer_carlson]

I wonder what happens when they move Stajan andCammalerri back into the lineup.

[Francis's Hairpiece]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

I wonder what happens when they move Stajan andCammalerri back into the lineup.

And if they start losing with those two in the lineup, will the lineups be changed or will they force the square peg in the round hole?

[ricardodw]

why are the Flames winning... Statistically I think it has to do with overall team Grit or more specifically the reduction of soft players.

Statistically (Hits+blocked shots+ take aways - give aways) / games played

This year

Curtis Glencross 3.6
David Jones 3.3
Dennis Wideman 3.2
Lance Bouma 2.8
Mark Giordano 2.8
Shane O'Brien 2.8
Mikael Backlund 2.6
Chris Butler 2.6
TJ Brodie 2.4
Kris Russell 2.2
TJ Galiardi 2.0
Lee Stempniak 2.0
Ben Street 2.0
Brian McGrattan 1.6
Joe Colborne 1.3
Sven Baertschi 0.6
Jiri Hudler 0.6
Sean Monahan 0.2

Last year

Mark Giordano 3.4
Tim Jackman 2.7
Chris Butler 2.6
Dennis Wideman 2.6
Cory Sarich 2.5
Blake Comeau 2.4
Steve Begin 2.2
Jarome Iginla 2.1
Jay Bouwmeester 2.0
Matt Stajan 2.0
Mikael Backlund 1.9
Roman Horak 1.9
TJ Brodie 1.9
Lee Stempniak 1.5
Curtis Glencross 1.5
Sven Baertschi 1.2
Derek Smith 1.1
Alex Tanguay 1.0
Mike Cammalleri 0.8
Jiri Hudler 0.6
Roman Cervenka 0.3


This year there are less soft players.

Monahan, Baertschi and Hudler are being allowed to show their skill because the rest of team is doing the dirty work.

Last year Bouwmeester, Brodie and Smith were playing softer than this years softest D-Man: Russell.

There were 4 of the top 9 forwards not contributing to team grit.

These numbers show that Monahan is really only 19 years old and has not been playing tough. When Cammalleri starts playing the Flames will have the max of soft players to be successful

[Badgers Nose]

Fun funnest games to watch in along time, irrespective of record.

Win or lose if they keep playing with this intensity they will be the best story this nhl season.

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

why are the Flames winning... Statistically I think it has to do with overall team Grit or more specifically the reduction of soft players.

Statistically (Hits+blocked shots+ take aways - give aways) / games played

...

Good to see the RGR (Ricardo Grit Ratio) back in action

[ricardodw]

For comparison purposes here is the GRIT stats for the 1-3 Edmonton Oilers

Ladislav Smid 4.5
Mike Brown 4.3
Mark Arcobello 3.8
Ales Hemsky 3.3
Jeff Petry 3.3
Boyd Gordon 3.0
Will Acton 2.8
Andrew Ference 2.3
Luke Gazdic 2.0
Nick Schultz 2.0
David Perron 1.8
Nail Yakupov 1.8
Anton Belov 1.5
Jordan Eberle 1.0
Ryan Smyth 0.7
Taylor Hall 0.0
Justin Schultz 0.0

[Northendzone]

I think that the flames players should capitalize on the good feelings right now and produce a music video something the the Chicago bears Super Bowl shuffle or the ever popular you can't touch a flame when it is hot......

[Enoch Root]

Just for fun I thought I would compare the RGRs of the Flames and Oilers (since Ricardodw was good enough to supply them).

So the average RGR score for each team was:

Flames 2.14
Oilers 2.24

Also, Hemsky with a higher score than every Flame except Glencross.

I think that's all you need to know bout RGR

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Just for fun I thought I would compare the RGRs of the Flames and Oilers (since Ricardodw was good enough to supply them).

So the average RGR score for each team was:

Flames 2.14
Oilers 2.24

Also, Hemsky with a higher score than every Flame except Glencross.

I think that's all you need to know bout RGR

It is not the average grit on the team.... it is the number of softies on a team.

That Edmonton has a higher RGR overall does not at all compensate for the fact that they have 7 soft players.


This has been Edmonton's plan over the last 4-5 years... to get overly aggressive players, Sortini, Eager, Macintyre, to protect their abundance of soft players.


The most soft players that you can have is 3-4. After that the team is too soft and unbalanced to compete.

This is simple logic. Don Cherry/Scotty Bowman/Quenville and successful coaches knows this fact intuitively... without statistics.... too many soft players will ruin a team.


Last year there was one team with more than 4 soft players to make the playoffs... Detroit with 6. Detroit has since gotten rid of 2 of their softer players: Fipulla and Brunner,

The most the top 7 teams had was 3 soft players. SJ, Minn and Vancouver and Ottawa made the play off with 4 soft players

[djsFlames]

Man, I hate 5 day breaks.

Would be nice to have some thanksgiving hockey.

[strombad]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

It is not the average grit on the team.... it is the number of softies on a team.

That Edmonton has a higher RGR overall does not at all compensate for the fact that they have 7 soft players.


This has been Edmonton's plan over the last 4-5 years... to get overly aggressive players, Sortini, Eager, Macintyre, to protect their abundance of soft players.


The most soft players that you can have is 3-4. After that the team is too soft and unbalanced to compete.

This is simple logic. Don Cherry/Scotty Bowman/Quenville and successful coaches knows this fact intuitively... without statistics.... too many soft players will ruin a team.


Last year there was one team with more than 4 soft players to make the playoffs... Detroit with 6. Detroit has since gotten rid of 2 of their softer players: Fipulla and Brunner,

The most the top 7 teams had was 3 soft players. SJ, Minn and Vancouver and Ottawa made the play off with 4 soft players

But using RGR, McGrattan would be considered a soft player...

[Enoch Root]

and Hesmky, Arcobello, and Butler wouldn't

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by strombad

But using RGR, McGrattan would be considered a soft player...

Not quite 1.0 is soft for a forward and 1.5 is soft for a D-man.


If McGrattan or any other goon is only making 1 gritty play per game (hit / blocked shot) he is not helping his teams grittiness. He is dressing to keep the other team's goons from hitting the Flames players.

If McGrattan falls to a 1.0 pace he will likely get to dress in less games and Jackman more. In his 5-6 minutes /game he should be making 2-3 hits.

[strombad]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Not quite 1.0 is soft for a forward and 1.5 is soft for a D-man.


If McGrattan or any other goon is only making 1 gritty play per game (hit / blocked shot) he is not helping his teams grittiness. He is dressing to keep the other team's goons from hitting the Flames players.

If McGrattan falls to a 1.0 pace he will likely get to dress in less games and Jackman more. In his 5-6 minutes /game he should be making 2-3 hits.

But you said Edmonton has 7 soft players, both Perron and Yakupov are forwards at 1.8, so if 1.0 is what makes a forward "soft" then they only have 5 soft players, 4 if you don't count Eberle who is borderline at 1.0, 3 if you don't count Belov who, again, is borderline at your arbitrarily decided number of 1.5.
We also then have 3.
In this supposed scenario, you also suggest that Edmonton not only has more "harder" players, but that Monahan would be the 3rd softest player on their team when if you actually watch his game, he has played with ample amounts of grit.
As well, if Cammy comes back we would then be back up to 4 soft players, roughly equivalent to Edmonton.
Your system is so silly. I'm impressed though by how blindly you believe in it.

[harmfuljays]

Wow.......what a difference rebuilding makes! I haven't been this excited about the Flames in almost a decade. The team plays with heart, speed and grit now. Very, very happy with the start and the product on the ice no matter how it pans out it looks to be going in the right direction finally. I'll smoke the pipe with Feaster for awhile! Go Flames Go!

[Pontine]

I don't expect this to keep up, but it's refreshing to see the effort and heart the team is showing right now. Even if they lose while putting in an honest effort, that's all I can ask for from a rebuilding team.

[STeeLy]

I don't think the RGR should be measured on a per game basis, but used in minutes played (or 20 minutes played, or something along those lines)

Someone like McGrattan is going to play considerably less than someone like Glencross... Therefore, Glencross has more time per game to get a higher RGR.

[calumniate]

Man this pacific division is ridiculous. Needs more oilers