Pre-Break Victory Post-Game - Causes for Optimism

A lot was riding on the game last night - primarily a play-off spot. With the win, the Flames retained the 8th spot over Detroit and Anaheim.

The Ducks were without their best forward in Ryan Getzlaf and the Flames managed to take advantage. Without the former Hitman causing havoc, the Flames were able to spend most of the night in the offensive zone at ES and even managed to score more than 2 goals for a change. Almost the entire club was in the black in terms of advanced stats by the end of the night and the team was actually rewarded for a dominant performance with the W.

Jarome Iginla had a rough first period, but managed to reel things in for the rest of the night. After a magnificent Kipper save on a 10-bell Duck scoring chance in the second, Iginla and Glencross hooked up for the go ahead marker on a nifty one-timer. That goal seemed to enliven the slumbering captain, because Jarome was far more active and dangerous from that point going forward. His second goal was vintage Iginla - a snipe from a rush off the wing. He finished the a far more "Iginla-like" stats line than has been usual lately. Good sign? Or flash in the pan? We'll have to wait a couple of weeks to find out (although maybe he can keep it going for Team Canada).

For those of you who wonder why we include all the various ES stats at the top of each Post-Game thread, Jay Bouwmeester represents an interesting case-study as to why they're useful. Starting with corsi, you'll see that he was the only Flame skater under water in terms of possession. That's a curious anomaly considering the club finished well above water. If you check the H2H Ice next, you can see who Bouwmeester played against by clicking on his name. Of his 16.8 ES minutes, Jay-Bo saw Perry for about half of it (8.7 minutes). That's more than any other Flames defender, including Robyn Regehr (7.1). Bouwmeester also saw a lot of Koivu and Ryan, so we can safely say he played against the best the Ducks had to offer a lot.

Next, if you check out the face-off chart, you'll notice that Bouwmeester had the worst "zone start" of any Flames skater (2 more defensive zone face-offs than offensive zone). Overall, then, we can see that Bouwmeester's relatively poor corsi rate was probably more a reflection of his tough circumstances than a personal failing. Related: if you do the same excercise for the Langkow trio, you'll realize just how good they were yesterday. Imagine what would happen if they swapped out Kotalik for Bourque.

Anyways, it was a very strong showing for the club and another stuttering step in the right direction. The addition of the new forwards hasn't instantly cured the offensive woes, but it does seem to have the team headed in the right direction in terms of possession and out-shooting.

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Higgins

Played pretty good again last night (5 SOG) but just can’t seem to put one in the net. Obviously its the story of the entire Flames team but man, if these guys who are capable of scoring could get going, the Flames WOULD be a pretty good offensive team. Combine that with (usually) a pretty solid D and great goaltending and the Flames could be a great team. Unfortunately for whatever reason (be it chemistry or bad luck, I don’t even know anymore), they just can’t seem to get going.

by Icedragon on Feb 14, 2010 12:53 PM PST reply actions

Hey Kent, how does your scoring chance index compare to ESPN’s? I’m guessing you define a scoring chance as a shot within the faceoff dots and net

by M F on Feb 14, 2010 1:43 PM PST reply actions

Kent and I discussed methodolgy in the comments back in December. My Paint handiwork is sub-standard ;-), but I think you’ll get the gist, and the area inside the black lines is where both of us concentrate when we’re counting chances.

Matchsticks and Gasoline

by Robert Cleave on Feb 14, 2010 2:19 PM PST reply actions

Lundmark Gone?

Just saw on TSN he’d been claimed off waivers by the Leafs. I thought with his 2-way contract, he didn’t have to clear waivers?

I thought he was a great spare part to have around, so two thumbs down from me on losing him!

by ashassin on Feb 14, 2010 3:07 PM PST reply actions

Yesterday. He could go up and down once, but needed to clear the second time through. The Flames had no room if they wanted to activate Dawes and Moss. He wasn’t going to play once all the wingers were healthy, and Toronto’s pretty lean up front, so for his sake, this is good. 600k > 100k, right?

Matchsticks and Gasoline

by Robert Cleave on Feb 14, 2010 3:27 PM PST up reply actions

waivers have absolutely nothing to do with one way or two way deals. those contracts specify dollars only…. not saying that i fully understand waivers but that is the biggest misconception, IMO. lundmark needed to clear waivers in order to be re-assigned to abby because of the number of games played…

great spare part, yes, but NHL teams are only allowed to have 23 players on the active roster at any time. with moss and dawes both returning from IR, and mcG/johnson already in the pressbox, something had to give. obviously, backlund (who would NOT have had to clear waivers) is a more important player to the org and i guess they still think that mcG has a purpose. ie: lundy was the odd man out. pretty simple.

in saying that, backlund has now been demoted but if they want to bring him back up, one of conroy or mcG [ or boyd :( ] will have to go on waivers/be traded when bourque is healthy. which, ultimately, means that backlund might be done with the big club for the year.

by walkinvisible on Feb 14, 2010 5:46 PM PST up reply actions

Too bad Sutter has such an unneccessary manlove of useless enforcers.

by SmellOfVictory on Feb 14, 2010 6:21 PM PST up reply actions

They don’t have to do what you’re saying, wi. The roster limits come off on March 3rd, and the Flames don’t play until after the payroll numbers for the day are set. They can activate Bourque and Conroy that day, keep McGrattan around, and call the kid back up, if they so choose. If either Dawes or Moss was still hurt and wasn’t going to be ready to play until after the Olympics, they would have been able to keep Lundmark around as well. Here’s the pertinent clause:

16.4 Active Roster Size; Playing Roster.
(a) For the 2005/06 League Year and thereafter, there shall be a maximum of
twenty-three (23) Players on each Club’s Active Roster at any one time, provided,
however, that, on the date of each season’s Trade Deadline, a Club’s Active Roster may
be increased to any number of Players the Club, in its discretion, so determines, subject to
Article 50 hereof.

Article 50 is the Salary Cap limits. So, as long as the Flames are in financial compliance, they aren’t obligated to move anyone. They might choose to make a deal or a move, but the roster limit won’t be why, and they’re currently well under the cap.

Matchsticks and Gasoline

by Robert Cleave on Feb 14, 2010 7:08 PM PST up reply actions

i guess i didn’t consult the schedule. so yeah, that’s good. good for boyder, anyways (i hope).

by walkinvisible on Feb 14, 2010 9:02 PM PST up reply actions

In Getzlaf-related news, for anyone who wasn’t watching the Oil/Ducks game, he basically crapped all over them, so we’re good for the Olympics.

by SmellOfVictory on Feb 14, 2010 7:24 PM PST reply actions

Mirtle:

Getzlaf pots another goal. I’m guessing Armstrong’s report will read: “Looks good against Edmonton”

Pat McLean:

@mirtle Yzerman’s reply – you call that scouting? Who doesn’t!?

I’d say Pat has it about right, no? Hopefully his ankle is still good tomorrow.

Matchsticks and Gasoline

by Robert Cleave on Feb 14, 2010 7:35 PM PST up reply actions

Haha yeah, I was thinking that. Regardless, a four point game is always a good sign.

by SmellOfVictory on Feb 14, 2010 7:49 PM PST up reply actions

let’s hope the slapper that sidney took in the foot didn’t amount to anything when he took his skate off.

by walkinvisible on Feb 14, 2010 9:04 PM PST up reply actions

Crosby actually absorbs the energy from pucks and hits and can convert them into goals at a time of his choosing.

by SmellOfVictory on Feb 14, 2010 9:09 PM PST up reply actions

ahhhhhh…. i was unaware. ;)

by walkinvisible on Feb 14, 2010 9:59 PM PST up reply actions

Crosby actually absorbs the energy from pucks and hits and can convert them into goals at a time of his choosing.

I would like him to save all that energy until at least the quarters. Thx.

Go Flames Go
"WAS IT OVER WHEN THE GERMANS BOMBED PEARL HARBOUR?"

by Justin Azevedo on Feb 14, 2010 11:58 PM PST up reply actions

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