Something else that is encouraging about this season.

[Caged Great]

With the Flames now in 1st in the West, I wanted to mention something about the Flames schedule to this point.

October - 13 Games Played - 8-5-0

Against teams

In Playoffs - (6-3-0)

Nashville X2 - 1 W, 1 L
Colorado - W
Boston - W
Washington - W
Toronto - W
Buffalo - W
Pittsburgh - L

Out of Playoffs (2-3-0)

Vancouver X2 - 1 W, 1 L
St. Louis - L
New York Rangers - W
Montreal - L

November - 13 games played 8-4-1

In Playoffs - (3-3-1)

Colorado - W
Anaheim - L
San Jose - L
Winnipeg - W
Vegas X2 - W, L
Dallas - OTL

Out of Playoffs (5-1)

Chicago - W
Montreal - L
Los Angeles X2 - W, W
Edmonton - W
Arizona - W

December - 14 Games Played - 9-3-2

In Playoffs - (6-1-1)

Columbus - W
Minnesota X2 - W, W
Nashville - W
Dallas - L
Tampa - OTL
Winnipeg - W
San Jose - W

Out of playoffs - (3-2-1)

Chicago - W
Edmonton - L
Philadelphia - W
St. Louis X2 - W, L
Vancouver - OTL

January - 4 Games Played - 3-1-0

In Playoffs - (0-1-0)

Boston - L

Out of playoffs - (3-0-0)

Detroit - W
Philadelphia - W
Chicago - W

Out of the 44 games we've played, 24 of them have been against playoff teams.

Remaining in January

2 vs playoff
5 vs out of playoff

February

7 vs playoff
6 vs out of playoff

March

9 vs playoff
6 vs out of playoff

April

1 vs playoff
2 vs out of playoff

Of the remaining schedule 19 games will be against Playoff teams, 19 against non playoff teams. The record thus far is 15-7-2 (.667) vs the playoff teams. They are 13-6-1 (.675) vs the poor teams.

[JohnnyB]

It could be a beautiful and fun run to a top spot in the playoffs, or an even more crushing defeat losing out to a bunch of mediocre teams we think they should be beating as we drop to the Flames' standard just-not-quite spot on the outside looking in.

Watching the way they play this year and how they are getting the wins, the former feels much more likely than the latter, but I expect it will be a battle nonetheless. Looking great so far though.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Playoff teams from last year or teams in a playoff spot right now?

[mrdonkey]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

It could be a beautiful and fun run to a top spot in the playoffs, or an even more crushing defeat losing out to a bunch of mediocre teams we think they should be beating as we drop to the Flames' standard just-not-quite spot on the outside looking in.

Watching the way they play this year and how they are getting the wins, the former feels much more likely than the latter, but I expect it will be a battle nonetheless. Looking great so far though.

Meh, the Flames will be fine. Anaheim and San Jose seem to turn on the jets every year and look incapable of losing for extended stretches, so it will be a battle for sure. I don’t know if this team is currently a conference winner but they’ve built themselves a nice cushion for when that inevitably happens.

[Aarongavey]

If the Flames maintain those winning percentages they would get 112 points.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

It could be a beautiful and fun run to a top spot in the playoffs, or an even more crushing defeat losing out to a bunch of mediocre teams we think they should be beating as we drop to the Flames' standard just-not-quite spot on the outside looking in.

Watching the way they play this year and how they are getting the wins, the former feels much more likely than the latter, but I expect it will be a battle nonetheless. Looking great so far though.

That's the spirit!

[Jeff Lebowski]

With the great performances noted by the OP, I think it's also encouraging to note that there are still a few guys who haven't found their level yet. When they do look out...

It's probably very rare to have games where everyone is clicking at the same time but when these guys finally find their groove it will make the lineup that much deeper, that much stronger.

Amazing!

[GGG]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

It could be a beautiful and fun run to a top spot in the playoffs, or an even more crushing defeat losing out to a bunch of mediocre teams we think they should be beating as we drop to the Flames' standard just-not-quite spot on the outside looking in.

Watching the way they play this year and how they are getting the wins, the former feels much more likely than the latter, but I expect it will be a battle nonetheless. Looking great so far though.

The crushing defeat actually becomes pretty difficult to due. At 10 games over .500 just playing .500 hockey the rate of a bottom 5 team would get us to 92 points and a 50/50 shot at the playoffs. It’s not certain, but it takes an epic collapse from here to miss the playoffs.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Playoff teams from last year or teams in a playoff spot right now?

right now

[Caged Great]

Bump and updated.

The Flames are going to be playing a lot of poor teams the rest of the month. After that, things get a little more balanced over the following 25 games starting in February with 13 against playoff team and 12 against non playoff teams. Then some tough games to end the year.

They can make some hay over the next little while.

[1qqaaz]

I'm such an idiot, I didn't even think the Flames would make the playoffs this season.
I thought the goaltending would cause the team to suffer. Thank goodness for Rittich.

Now the Flames have a 99.9% chance of making the playoffs according to Sports Club Stats. Not bad.

[Incogneto]

According to the USA Today Sagarin ratings (A computerized poll) the Flames (Currently ranked 6th overall) have played the 5th hardest schedule in the league. They have also played the hardest schedule of any team in the top-10.

http://sagarin.com/sports/nhlsend.htm

[Robbob]

Looking at the 7 game segments, the Flames have been really good picking up points.
Great start to the 7th segment.

[vicarious]

Looking at the schedule for the rest of January it should be an opportunity for the Flames to put some distance between themselves and other teams. Lots of home games and the competition isn't that stiff.


February on the other hand, has some really tough road trips.

[Canada 02]

Including Chicago, the Flames have 4 consecutive opponents who play the Flames on the 2nd night of back to back nights. Relatively soft spot in the schedule.

Good opportunity for struggling players to find their game

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by vicarious

Looking at the schedule for the rest of January it should be an opportunity for the Flames to put some distance between themselves and other teams Tampa Bay for 1st overall . Lots of home games and the competition isn't that stiff.


February on the other hand, has some really tough road trips.

I think this is what you meant.

[Fuzz]

Another encouraging thing about this season...






http://www.nhl.com/stats/player?repo...ls,gamesPlayed


Calgary has 4 of the top 16 point scorers. That's 1/4 of the league's of 31 teams. Pretty good Flames, pretty good.


This is where we were last year at this time, if you are curious...(End of season rank in brackets)


http://www.nhl.com/stats/player?aggr...,goals,assists


Gaudreau at 11(18) with 46 pts, and Monahan at 36(53)with 37 pts, Tkachuck at 114(121)with 26 pts