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Most NHL teams have games to get ready for today, and with that...pregame blogs! Well, the Flames get an extra day to prepare themselves for the NHL season and I would like to take this opportunity to discuss the team, as it "stands".
It has been a widely accepted notion that the Flames were one of the older teams in the league and have not done anything to get any younger. James Mirtle has recently released stats which rank teams by height, weight, and age...where did the Flames place?
Height
The Flames were ranked 23rd league wide for height…something that shouldn’t really surprise many, as the Flames have not iced too many large NHLers in a few years. While they may not have the tallest of players, they have a few within the system who will be looked at in years to come for grit…guys like Akim Aliu (6’3 225lbs).
Weight
The Flames were ranked 30th for weight. This stat essentially goes hand in hand with the height category, as with a team ranked 23rd league wide for height, you wouldn’t expect them to be ranked too heavily in the weight department. In their current roster, the Flames do not have any overly large players, as most are seemingly midsized NHLers. In addition, they have younger players on the current roster who have not completely filled in, so I would expect this particular stat to change over the next few years. As mentioned, the overall weight of the team goes hand in hand with height, and this is something that could remain around the same for the Flames, with recent draft selections such as Johnny Gaudreau and Mark Jankowski…neither being very large.
Age
The most important of them all..age of the team. The Flames are one of the oldest teams in the NHL and have not done very much to address this which consequently ranks them at 14th league wide in age….wait…14th? The Flames are below the median of NHL age league wide. Yes, that is correct…they are a (younger) NHL team and are continuing to get younger! Since the end of last season, the Flames have allowed Scott Hannan, David Moss, and Olli Jokinen to walk out their doors. All three of these players were between the ages of 31-33 and were no longer part of the team’s future plans. In the first 48 hours of free agency, Feaster signed slightly younger players in Juri Hudler(28), Ben Street(25) and Denis Wideman(29), all upgrades over the previous three in both age and efficiency. There are also a few younger players joining the team this year who will be looked upon to spark some energy in the lineup, such as Sven Baertschi(20).
Although the above stats indicate the 2013 Flames may not be the biggest team nor the toughest team, they are a much younger team than most seem to beleive and Hartley is well aware of who and what he has to worth with to make this team successful.
“I believe in team toughness. I don’t believe in stupid hockey. If some teams try to be stupid with us, Jiri Hudler makes our power play much better.’’'
As mentioned in previous blogs, the team has certainly improved in talent and youth in the past two/three years; however they are still a few larger moves away from being a team to fear. If anything can be taken from Feasters transactions so far, is that we should continue to expect moves which hold a future conscientious mindset, while also remaining
competitive today.
Thanks for reading!
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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