1/10th of the way through a season ...

[Scoutski]

I do think they'll be somewhere around .500 either just above or below. I expect a big lull to come in for a decent enough stretch and maybe another strong second half, but I don't expect playoffs.

[Loyal and True]

85 points is a bit much, but I was thinking 80 to 82 points this year, which is a slight improvement from last year's 77 points. Obviously everyone expected goaltending to be better this year.

If you are looking at the stats for the first 8 games you have to remember that 6 of those are road games against pretty strong competition. We've had to play twice as many games as some teams. 8 games in 13 nights. So I am not surprised we were outshot significantly. 2nd night of back-to-back in Chicago, you knew the Flames were gonna get outplayed in that game. Good on Hiller for stealing 2 pts.

I expect that, with more home dates and fewer games crammed together, the advanced stats will even out a bit and we will be 20th in the league in those categories

Bottom line is Flames are likely going to get outshot most nights against top teams, but they should also expect very good goaltending will help them get 80 to 82 points.

Next couple years we may be drafting 9th to 16th overall and coincidentally some very good D-men and RW should be available as "Best Player Available" at that spot in the draft (assuming mostly centres are drafted in the top 8). Then in a few years we'll be ready to beat the best with some regularity.

[Erick Estrada]

I still think picking top 3 is still very possible for this team. Lots of games left and 8 of the 13 games in November are on the road. Lots left to play out before declaring anything.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by AcGold

Depends, a lot of the shots are from the perimeter. When Chicago battered us most of the shots were from the outside when the goalie was on the post. If the team forces that to happen and the goalie doesn't even have to react at all the save % can remain high, yesterday we allow two shots near the crease and two goals resulted. Not all shots are the same, the goalie could face 100 shots and stop them all if he doesn't have to move.

True to an extent. But it's the same argument as I heard from Oiler and Leaf fans last year. It's not sustainable.

I look at it this way. Even elite goalies have save % no better than 930. So 40 shots a game on a regular basis = 3-4 goals.

[dino7c]

2 home games in between 6 on the road

too soon

[megatron]

Too soon to tell.

I think the goaltending will regress a bit, but scoring should improve (ie. Monahan).

I still think we're picking top 5, but probably not anywhere as bad as Carolina, Winnipeg, Buffalo and maybe Edmonton.

[heep223]

At or slightly above .500: 65%
Make playoffs: 5%
Bottom five: 30%

But that is obviously just pure speculation on my part.

Injuries killed us last year....we have better depth this year should that happen again and the kids have another year of experience under their belts. Plus as many others mention regardless of whether goaltending regresses (which I think it will), it certainly will still remain an improvement over last season.

If Glencross gets traded odds of making playoffs increase to 10%

[FlameZilla]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

The limited options, and "epic fall" is too dramatic for my liking.

When I think epic fall, I think Leafs -- playoffs last spring.

I went with "epic fall" as well, but I also don't think it will be as dramatic as that.

I thought the team played really, really well against the Bolts. The intensity was flat-out for the whole 60 minutes. These are an exceptionally fun team to watch but I really don't think their bodies can keep this intensity up for the whole season. The goalies should keep them in games, but at some point the skaters are going to run out of steam and there could be some ugly score lines.

Could be wrong, but it seems pretty likely.

[Wood]

Were going to be in the 6-10 draft spot I believe. We're nowhere near as bad as some of the teams in the NHL this year. If anything I expect them to finish higher

I don't expect a top 5 pick this year

[Rick M.]

I went with 'epic fall' but don't think it will be that drastic. I expect a fall off when the injury bug arrives, as it inevitably does. Hope I'm wrong.

[Stay Golden]

8 games in is just that. They have had a better than expected start. If they are still at this pace in December now that would be something to discuss.
Happy with the start though.

[H2SO4(aq)]

I wanted to pick B until I read EPIC FALL. I think our defensive game will improve over the course of the season. I think our offense will improve over the course of the season, and because of these two things, we will survive without having such unbelievable goaltending for all 82.

Our hot start does remind me of the leafs last season. Their record was much better than their play. But I also have more faith in our coaching staff and player buy in that we wont have the same brutal collapse later that the leafs did.

[Bezer]

I suspect we are in for a long losing streak.. just a gut feeling. And may the hockey gods help us if either Gio or Brodie get hurt for long term. (knock on wood)

[EldrickOnIce]

Continue to get out shot like this, and there will be a hard freefall.
Flip side is turn that around, and goaltending has carried Flames through this period.

Time will tell

[Pontine]

I think we'll still be picking top 5 and have a similiar season to last where we lose a lot of close games. I'd be okay with that because the games were still enjoyable last year.

[Dion]

Goaltending is a huge reason why the Flame are where they are in the standings. Both Ramo and Hiller have done yoemens job of giving the Flames a chance to win on most nights.

We don't score enough goals on most nights and our defence is still too thin once you get past the pairing of Brodie and Gio and Russell..

I think we'll be drafting 4th or 5th this year

[Enoch Root]

The save percentage stats are very likely to normalize. But that doesn't (solely) mean that goals against will rise to fix them.

So far, they have given up 5 more shots per game than last year (and that's after last nights game pulled the number down). I would expect that shots against will continue to drop down towards last years numbers - and that would drop SVP by 10-15% even with no more goals scored.

And the possession numbers reflect having played most of their games on the road, while flu-riden.

Having said all that, it is far too soon to tell what they are. I voted 85 pts for interest sake, but really, who knows?

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by AcGold

Depends, a lot of the shots are from the perimeter. When Chicago battered us most of the shots were from the outside when the goalie was on the post. If the team forces that to happen and the goalie doesn't even have to react at all the save % can remain high, yesterday we allow two shots near the crease and two goals resulted. Not all shots are the same, the goalie could face 100 shots and stop them all if he doesn't have to move.

True and not true. While not all shots are the same, averaged out over a big enough sample size and they are all the same. The Chicago game had a ton of shots from inside

[flame4life]

I have to believe the goaltending will come down from it's out of the world status. I also believe that the scoring will improve once Monahan and Johnny get on track. I am also surprised by the quick starts of Colby and Raymond. If we can continue to get the secondary scoring and get the primary scoring on track, we could surprise. I believe it will be an up an down season and likely hit the 85 point level by stealing a few games we shouldn't win and giving away a few we should win.

[Monahan23]

I'm thinking we'll do pretty well. Not playoffs but my think they'll do better than I thought they would