Pro sports are a resulted oriented business.
There are no ribbons for trying, no punch to the arm for hard work, no pat on the back for showing up. You win or else, and that applies for coaches, general managers, and players.
That’s not to say the process and digging deeper aren’t important; teams that make rash decisions on wins and losses only are doomed to fail as poor players and coaches will be extended and retained for small sample sizes and good options overlooked without enough thought or investigation.
The Flames dropped a 2-0 contest to the Nashville Predators on Saturday night in a game that essentially was perfect for the Flames; five on five.
The powerplay let them down, and the last time I checked the powerplay is part of a 60 minute hockey game.
Stats and Results
I wrote a piece this week suggesting the Flames are due for a break out given their underlying statistics. It caused pages of discussion and argument which I personally love; that’s the whole point. In the end it’s not a guarantee or a declaration, it’s the suggestion that teams with good underlying stats, more often than not, will have those numbers show up in the standings and not just the underlying stats.
There are exceptions though. Some teams find a way to buck the trend both good and bad.
The Colorado Avalanche of 2014 and the Calgary Flames of 2015 both made the playoffs despite having terrible underlying numbers. The L.A. Kings missed the playoffs last season despite being number one in shot differential.
I’m a pretty patient person but the Flames could prove to be one of those exceptions this year.
Jagr and the 4th Line
The Flames reintroduced Jaromir Jagr to the lineup but not in place of Garnet Hathaway who stayed in his spot with Sam Bennett and Mark Jankowski. The lines got blendered a bit in the third period but for the most part Jagr skated on the “Geezer” line with Matt Stajan and Troy Brouwer, and despite a lack of foot speed the trio actually had more scoring chances in a game than we’ve seen from the fourth line all season.
Crossbars
Luck always evens out, but it was pretty comical to see the Flames hit not one, not two, or three but four cross bars on the night. The old saying of “that’s all the shooter could see” is legit to a point, but it’s certainly indicative of a team getting good looks but not a lot of good bounces.
Brouwer and the Instigator
First off good on Troy Brouwer for jumping in and defending a teammate; Garnet Hathaway, for a very late and blind hit by Austin Watson last night. Ugly hit. The fight gave Brouwer a two minute instigator penalty and a ten minute misconduct to go along with his five minute fighting major. And as things have been working for the Flames the two minute penalty delayed what would have been a five minute powerplay, setting up a four on four that ended in the Flames net for the Predators first goal of the season.
I don’t have a problem with the call, but I wish I knew the standard as to what’s instigation and what isn’t. Should it be called any time a guy that starts a fight after a clean hit? I’d like that. More latitude on a dirty hit? In this instance the perpetrator turned around and seemed ready to drop his mitts making the instigator even less clear. As I said I’m fine with it but I’d like to have the decision point a little more defined.
Late Whistles
Thought it was interesting that Louie Debrusk mentioned on three occasions that Mike Smith wasn’t getting whistles in goal mouth scrambles as quickly as his counterpart at the other end. This is far from a statement of fact, it’s an opinion, but if true it begs the question; why? Last week in a game Smith uttered a very audible “F*** You!” to a linesman who waved off an icing call because he took a half step out of his crease. Does the guy have a reputation as mouthy on the ice and not getting as much help?
Slammin’ Sammy Bennett
Just loving the play of Sam Bennett these days.
He didn’t score a goal or pick up a point, but he was very much in the fabric of the game, adding a little bit more of that Tkachuk element to another line. The confidence gained from a stretch of productive games still seems to resonate as he has a tonne of spring in his stride and looks a lot more like “18 year old Sam Bennett”, then the variations we’ve seen since.
My only fear is a stretch of games without production causing a wane in said confidence again, giving back the gains.
The Powerplay
I’ve watched enough Flame seasons to see powerplay slumps, ruts and yard sales; so this isn’t anything new. It happens, and they always get out of it.
Generally tension and tight grip of sticks is the majority of the cause, but last night that five on three went into the twilight zone in terms of positioning. A five on three needs motion or it’s too easy for the triangle defense to set up camp and keep things to the outside. TJ Brodie and Mark Giordano were doing their part as they feebly switched spots a few times on the blueline. The forwards however set up the “T” at the goal line and just stood there. One guy in each corner and another guy in front of the net. You literally couldn’t be less effective by taking yourself out of the play and in the corner watching.
That’s terrible execution or very poor coaching.
Fancy Stats
The Flames had 55% of the shot attempts in the first period, 67% of the shot attempts in the third period, but got worked in the second to the tune of 24%. Overall they were the victors at 52% of the shot attempts over the course of the game. Scoring chances were 8-6 Calgary five on five, and 17-10 in all situations.
Individually Mark Giordano and Johnny Gaudreau led the way, both north of 60% on the night. Micheal Ferland Dougie Hamilton, Travis Hamonic, Sean Monahan, Mikael Backlund, Michael Frolik and Tkachuk were all on the positive side on the night. The bottom pairing and fourth line minus Jagr were in the 40% range.
