QOTD: Midway Point - Can the Flames play .600 hockey?

[corporatejay]

The one knock on LA is they've played a lot of hockey the last couple of years. Maybe they run out of gas.

[crapshoot]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

The one knock on LA is they've played a lot of hockey the last couple of years. Maybe they run out of gas.

LA will probably find a way in as they get up to speed during the second half. They look like they have been sleepwalking through the first half. The Canucks, Jets and possibly Sharks seem likely to be on the bubble though.

[djsFlames]

Can anyone break down the number of games against different 'tiers' of opponents, to gauge how difficult the remaining schedule will be the rest of the way?

[Vulcan]

For me the most important stat after won-lost for team strength is GF-GA and in that stat we are a +9 which ties us for 4th in our conference with Vancouver and LA. Chicago at +39, Nashville at +32 and St. Louis at +31 are the class of the conference.

I'm not going to predict how we end up, this team is too full of surprises but if we get the goaltending, we should qualify.

[Street Pharmacist]

Of the 39 games left,
-21 are against playoff teams, 18 against non playoff teams. 10 of 12 games in February are against playoff teams, but only 5 of 15 on March are.
-we only play 5 games against the top 5 teams (3xANA, 1xNSH, 1xNYI)
-we play 6 games against the bottom 5 teams (2xARI, 2xEDM, 1xNJD, 1xBUF)

[djsFlames]

This is why I'm curious about Ortio. If he's feeling it and can win us a few games - and let's face it, the Ramo/Hiller combo has been at times solid, but they haven't stole us any games in months now - then I'd opt to keep him around a little while and see if we can run up a streak with him holding the fort.

We either need the offence from the D we were getting early on, or the quality of goaltending, or both. But we need at least one area to step up its overall performance if we want a sniff at the postseason.

[SebC]

Goal differential presents an interesting picture: the West has become quite top-heavy. After the top three, goal differential suggests that the Flames' point pace could be just as good as anyone else.