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Good day sports fans!
After a shootout victory over the Anaheim Ducks last night, the Calgary Flames are now sitting 6th in the league in points, and 3rd in the Western Conference. No need to pinch yourself or check the standings, you’re not dreaming and I made no mistake!
The fact of the matter continues to be that the Calgary Flames are being underestimated with respect to their work ethic and, talent. Yeah, I mean, they do actually have some talented guys out there! And while their current play has been strong (7-2-1 over their past ten games), much of the hockey world continues to hold that their play is not sustainable.
Take for example James Mirtle of the Globe. Mirtle recently released an article tiltled “Unsustainable Flames can't keep burning teams forever… in which he went into detail about how the Calgary Flames are currently similar to the Toronto Maple Leafs of last year who played above their own heads, so to speak.
What James argues is that while the Flames are one of the better ranked teams in terms of goals scored and power-play effectiveness, their puck possession numbers aren't really that great and their PDO (combined shooting and save percentage) are much higher than this team “should… be able to sustain.
Now of course Mirtle has no crystal ball and can’t use a form of analytics to determine just how well the Flames should be able to continue to play, or not, but he has some solid points and the article is worth a read. All that being said, and while the stats which he uses to argue his case are accurate, who’s to say that this team can’t in fact continue to play against the odds and give the rest of the league a run for their money!?
Having watched both teams play and having witnessed both “stong runs… (despite the fact that the Flames are currently still going strong), there is in fact a difference between what we are seeing with Calgary at the moment and what we saw with the Leafs.
Something that Mirtle may not be considering with respect to the comparison is that when Toronto was winning, their overall poor play and inability to play a sound defensive game was masked by brilliant goaltending and goals scored.
Toronto’s ability to find the back of the net saved them from losing more games than they should, considering they were allowing 35-45 shots against on about any given night. And while they argued that said shots were from the perimeter and were “low scoring chances…, these constant shots on net wore down the defense and goaltending and eventually led to their demise.
How the Flames differ, however, is that they currently sit 15th in the league in terms of shots against per game; Toronto is still ranked 27th. They are actually rolling four lines and are being rewarded by all in terms of production, rather than their top two. Sure an argument can be made that Giordano and Brodie are holding down the fort and Hiller has offered some great tending, but where I see a big difference in is toward their team play, rather than individual play. And all this is due to the fact that they have a good leadership group and, most importantly, a coach who seems to have his shit together.
The above comments were not things we could offer in terms of Toronto’s run of “success… last year. There were evident gaps in their wins where it was rather apparent that they would soon come tumbling down if not improved upon. We all know how it ended for the Leafs last season and it appears that much of their issues remain prevalent up until today.
So could the Calgary Flames really sustain their current play? Or should they in fact be compared to the Maple Leafs of last year where we can expect them to fall apart? My personal opinion is that the Flames won’t maintain their current records as other teams start to shift in to 2nd and 3rd gear for the playoffs, but not for the same reasons as did the Maple Leafs.
Sure this team is playing beyond what most would expect, but let’s not get carried away in saying that they are getting “lucky… or that reality will soon hit. This team is playing some good hockey, are led by a good coach and leadership group, and may continue to surprise the masses beyond what we are currently seeing.
"That's always the talk in the locker-room," offered Hartley. "If I don't say 'speed' and 'hunger' 20 times in every meeting, I don't say it once. Those are standards for us. That's what we're trying to build."
"It's also how you react," Hartley added. "You need to react fast. You need to be on your toes. I always tell the players, 'Don't play on your heels. Don't sit back. Play on your toes. Be proactive. Instigate rather than retaliate.' "
"Right from our goalies out ...… Giordano said. “We're strong in our own zone, we feel like, and we can move the puck up the ice. And the way our young guys and the way our forwards are playing with that pressure style, it's going be tough on other teams most nights. We have to keep that up, that skating mentality."
"We play at a high pace, and now we've gotta keep that up," agreed Jooris. "It's a high-paced, high-intensity system, and we just have to be able to keep that going."
Thanks for reading!