Comparing the Flames of 2019 vs. 2022

[CFO]

Regardless of players, a huge difference is coaches. Sutter is a step above.

[Bingo]

It's interesting when you look at the numbers in the 2018-19 season they were pretty consistent before and after the all star break despite going from a .695 team to a .585 team.

All came down to finish ... they lost two percentage points on team shooting percentage.

That could be luck.

That could also be the league figuring the top line out.

[Strange Brew]

We were awfully bullish on the 2019 team at this point in the season. 1st in the West, 2nd in the league. It’s the aftertaste of how that team fell apart that really influences the comparison.

[Sylvanfan]

The 18-19 team had a pretty impressive 54 game run where their record was 36-11-7 after that 9-1 home loss to Pittsburgh. At the 45 game mark, Gaudreau was on like a 120 point pace, and Monahan was 100 plus and that top line trio were all on pace for 40 or more goals.

Even today that 54 game stretch is something only the 88-89 team can beat. But they also were inconsistent to start the season with a 5-5 record and finishing out 9-9.

That was a team who largely did play with the puck, but it was not a very big or physical team, and just lacked that ability to finish teams off. There was a stretch of games where they gave up a goal in the last two minutes when up two quite frequently. Still for a long stretch they were really good.

This team had that 2-8 stretch before and after the Covid outbreak in the middle of the season. Aside from that they have been remarkably consistent. There are habits in this team that look promising so far. But 25 remaining games is a lot so we will see how it plays out.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Bingo

It's interesting when you look at the numbers in the 2018-19 season they were pretty consistent before and after the all star break despite going from a .695 team to a .585 team.

All came down to finish ... they lost two percentage points on team shooting percentage.

That could be luck.

That could also be the league figuring the top line out.

I don't think it was luck, I think it was their reluctance to go to the hard areas. Yes, teams figured them out, but they also made it too easy for teams to defend them. Defense gets tighter as the season moves on and approaches the playoffs, and the Flames didn't have the game for it - especially the top line.

One of the biggest differences this year is that they have been building their playoff game all year (the whole team, I mean). And as far as the top line goes, Tkachuk makes a huge difference, and Gaudreau has improved his game in that regard. This top line does not get intimidated off the puck like the 18/19 line did.

[NegativeSpace]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

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.

Great post. One thing that struck me last year was Darryl forcing the team to practice with pace and making numerous comments about conditioning, which is hard to correct mid-season. The first practice with Darryl Tanev said it was the best practice all year. After a full training camp, we have a similar (not identical) roster and yet the team plays faster. I suspect that Ward held similar practices to Peters. The dominance of the first line is clearly a major factor in this team's success, but the level of pace that the team plays with (most recently on their penalty kill) is a significant change - at least to my eye. The 2019 series felt like a track meet where Colorado was at full speed and the Flames were still stretching their legs. I don't think that will be the case this year.



Also, neither Peters nor Ward were very good at making in-game or in-series adjustments - which may be unfair or not true. It just felt like the other team was adjusting to or game-planning for the Flames. I have less concerns about that this year.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by JackIsBack

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.

I find Backlund can be really good in the checking department, especially when he’s engaged. But when he’s playing lazy, he seems to go on autopilot and he’ll make a lot of poor reads. There’s not much good to say about Monahan in this department, this is a weakness of his and it could explain why he leads all forwards on the team in goals allowed at 5 on 5.

Lindholm on the other-hand is spectacular with his reads. I believe the coaching staff rave about his positioning. Allegedly, he’s sort of the gold standard and the guy they show on video doing it right because he always seems to make the right choices. Just a great mind for the game.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by Bingo

It's interesting when you look at the numbers in the 2018-19 season they were pretty consistent before and after the all star break despite going from a .695 team to a .585 team.

All came down to finish ... they lost two percentage points on team shooting percentage.

That could be luck.

That could also be the league figuring the top line out.

I honestly think it had everything to do with the top line’s struggles. They went from complete domination to paltry in the blink of an eye. Just took a look at the stats and Gaudreau had 73 points in 51 games, Monahan 61 in 51. After the break, 26p in 31gms and 21p in 27g respectively. If I’m not mistaken, they also saw a similar drop in the 2017-18 season and obviously, the playoffs as well where that duo was infamous for disappearing.

You just could not trust or rely on that duo to get it done late in the season. Time and time again, when the game changed, they wilted. They weren’t even neutral performers, they were net negative performers, so it’s easy to see why this team failed in the first round every year. The team got into the playoffs playing run and gun regular season, which doesn’t work at all in the playoffs.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by NegativeSpace

Also, neither Peters nor Ward were very good at making in-game or in-series adjustments - which may be unfair or not true. It just felt like the other team was adjusting to or game-planning for the Flames. I have less concerns about that this year.

Peters coached an absolutely brutal post season. I guess maybe we shouldn’t be too surprised since it was his first playoff appearance, but however we want to label it, he was absolutely owned by Bednar. The Gatorade line may have been dreadful, but I don’t think Peters set up the entire team for success either.

I remember being very concerned with the way the team was playing even in game 1 where we won 3-0 I believe. Half way through that game I remember yelling at my TV screen that they would lose the series if they continued to play that way. The easy transitions, the way the D was being pushed back constantly, the way Smith was being assaulted with shots. Yeah, that was not a pretty series for Peters.

Had he not continued to coach all offense-regular season hockey, maybe the team could’ve made it closer, like game 7. But Colorado probably still would’ve won. Mackinnon and Rantanen wouldn’t be denied.