The day has almost arrived. It has been 82 games worth of excitement for the Calgary Flames franchise and what better reward for their hard work and effort than a chance to play in the Stanley Cup playoffs against some of the league’s best teams?
As someone who watched, talked, and wrote about the Flames all year, I have to say that it is interesting to see the number of band wagon jumpers that not two months ago were saying that this team had no chance of even talking about a playoff spot, now cheer them on.
Whether or not you admit which group you found yourself in at this point I suppose is insignificant, as all that matters is we gather and cheer against the Vancouver Canucks!
I thought to get the discussion going that I would provide an overview of how these teams have fared against one another, both on the road and at home, but also how each respective team may play given their individual records moving forward.
Interestingly enough, going over their head to head records the two teams tied throughout four games during the regular season. Vancouver won their two first games while Calgary has won the last two. Their combined goals scored are 9-8 for the Canucks and the Flames, respectively.
That said, of their four games played, one of Calgary’s losses were in OT, so in actuality the Flames hold a slightly better record than doe the Canucks during their head to head match ups.
Now, I’d like to take this a step further because I argue that in a head to head series of 4-7 games played, averages will typically come in to play…even to a small degree. When we look at the two teams side by side, here is how they look in terms of their stats (league wide) ranking.
G/GP: CGY 7th, VAN 8th - slight edge to Calgary GA/GP: CGY 17th, VAN 19th – slight edge to Calgary PP%: VAN 9th, CGY 13th – edge to Vancouver PK%: Van 2nd, CGY 20th – big edge to Vancouver SA/GP: CGY 12th, VAN 19th – edge to Calgary FO%: CGY 26th, VAN 29th – slight edge to Calgary Hits: CGY 21st, VAN 27th – edge to Calgary Bks: CGY 1st, VAN 12th – big edge to Calgary GvA: VAN 15th, CGY 3rd – big edge to Vancouver TkA: CGY 1st, 18th – big edge to Calgary
Overall, I would say that the two teams are going to match up rather evenly when you compare their offensive vs. defensive stats, however it would appear that (on paper alone) the Calgary Flames have a slight overall advantage when you compare who the two teams have done statistically.
The more I think about this series in direct relation to what I’ve offered above, the more I get excited to watch the two teams. It’s going to be back and forth goals and some serious levels of intensity. It’s going to be great playoff hockey, despite what other writers may think!
Thanks for reading!