Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
The Calgary Flames just concluded the best regular season imaginable.
Fresh off a disappointing year in which they missed the playoffs by 11 points, the Flames completely flipped the script under new head coach Bill Peters.
The Flames finished 2nd in wins (50), points (107), goals (289), differential (+62), and have earned home ice throughout the entire playoffs so long as they don't run into the historically good Tampa Bay Lightning at the end of it all.
They've put themselves in a great position to go on an extended run but the real work starts now, and it starts against the Colorado Avalanche.
A quick glance at the standings – Calgary won 12 more games and their differential was 48 goals better – would probably have you thinking this will be a cake walk, relatively speaking, for the Flames. I'm not so sure that'll be the case. This Avalanche team is not a pushover.
They went 15-7-3 and picked up 33 points over the final 25 games, which was 6th most in the NHL.
They have a 99 point forward of their own, one that recorded more chances than all but John Tavares, in Nathan MacKinnon.
Phillip Grubauer has more than made up for his slow start posting a ridiculous .955 save percentage over the last two months, which ranks him 2nd to just Ben Bishop.
The Avalanche are also the league's best team at drawing penalties. They spent 30+ minutes more on the PP than the next closest team (oddly enough, Calgary). Their ability to draw calls at a high rate always leaves the door open for a big special teams night.
Calgary is the better, deeper, team and they have some edges, which I'll discuss in more detail over the next few days, but Colorado has the pieces necessary to make it a competitive series.
I think it's going six games.
Recent posts:
Starting Mike Smith in the playoffs would be a mistake
Flames sign Artyom Zagidulin
Flames among those targeting Joakim Nygard
On the Jason Zucker trade that almost was
Predicting the Pacific Division standings
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»