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Christmas season is over, we are now into the New Year and teams are just now approaching the midway mark to the year.
That being said, the Calgary Flames find themselves just shy of a wildcard spot and ahead of teams like the Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, and Colorado Avalanche; all teams might I add which I would have put my money on at the start of the year to be ahead of Calgary at this time.
The month of December was not overly kind to the Flames who started to lose more games than they were winning as they finished the month of with 6 W's out of 14 games played. That said, the team is currently boasting a four game winning streak and fans couldn’t be more excited for the way this group has performed. It will be interesting to see how things play out over January as trends would suggest that this is the make it, or break it month for most teams.
So far what we can take back from this team is that they have been streaky, both in wins and in losses. They certainly seem to come in bunches, don't they? Sure makes things stressful for those watching/writing!
I know there has been far too much talk about how this team has done on paper and frankly, people are sick of hearing it, but at the end of the day how they look on the ice doesn’t always give a strong enough idea as to what we can expect. Numbers don’t lie and if the Flames are starting to trend negatively in any aspect of their game, it would suggest that their luck may start to run out.
I wrote a blog on November 6th which basically went on to say how, despite the fact that the Flames were winning games, there were some important stats which they were struggling with such as the PK, hit totals, give-aways, etc.
To put things into perspective, below I will list the stats which I offered from nearly two months ago compared to today. What this will provide is the ability to assess whether the Flames are improving, remaining around the same, or are actually playing worse as the year goes on. Of the options, the latter would suggest that Calgary will experience a tough January, whereas the former could offer that they may stand a chance after all!
November 12th in PP% 1st in blocked shots 15th PIM/game 29th in PK% 14th in Hits 6th in Give-aways 29th in FO%
Current 15th in PP% 1st in blocked shots 5th in PIM/game 26th in PK% 18th in Hits 1st in Give-aways 28th in FO%
The above numbers are not very impressive given that the Flames have seemingly started to move in the right direction of late. What I can offer with respect to the above is that their numbers are a little worse than they should be given their losing streak(s) in December, but they worry me just the same.
When we last spoke and the Flames were losing, their numbers weren’t that bad. The above sets of numbers are both during times in which the team is winning, however in this case the team is actually playing worse (on paper) than they were in November. The reason it worries me is because, as mentioned, teams will start to heat up around this time and if the Flames do not find ways to improve upon their give-aways, penalties taken per game, and FO%, they are without a doubt going to have a harder time winning games than we would like to see.
Understand that the above is not to try and take wind out of your sails, rather to provide added discussion/information about the current team and their pace. Playing in the Western Conference is a challenge every year, especially for a team who is arguably a few years removed from playoff discussion (according to pundits).
While the thought of playoffs should not be out of mind for the organization and players, for me the importance will be whether or not the coaching staff and team can slowly improve upon the stats which will hurt their chances moving forward. I much rather see a team lose a few close games where they did all the right things, than see a few games won and many lost because their system is a little out of whack. There’s plenty of hockey left, and this team remains exciting regardless of how this month turns out. And what's best is I believe that they shouldn’t be part of most discussions with respect to challenging for that lottery pick anymore, at least not if the Oilers can continue to do what they do…best?
Thanks for reading!