Welcome to a new series of blog posts in which I occasionally try to familiarize myself with a team that I don’t know as much about as perhaps I ought to. Maybe my rambling will also be educational to you. Some people I’ve met in my tenure as a hockey fan seem to have unlimited ability to absorb information, and this both terrifies and intrigues me. I need to do a lot of research before I begin to understand something. Today, I’m doing some edifying reading about the current status of the Calgary Flames.
So like, are the Flames actually doing the thing? What do we know about this?
my experience with the Flames is that they are the hometown team of a dear friend, and I know their history and roughly what their roster was like in, um, 2009ish?
I had the pleasure of visiting the Saddledome for a game against the Kings this past April with my Calgary native friend, whose hockey knowledge is deficient enough to get his Canadian citizenship revoked probably. The Flames’ barn quickly became basically my favorite NHL arena of those I’ve visited. Walking to the arena through hallways and arches covered in 1988 Calgary Olympics decor and decades of Calgary Stampede memorabilia is a fantastic, unique experience. And the arena itself is great–the small concourses reminded me of Mellon Arena (RIP) and I love the pyrotechnics. The Flames won in a shootout, which made it extra fun. I decided in that moment that I actually liked the Flames, as an Idea, never mind that their struggles as of late and time zone strugs make them hard to follow for an east coast hockey fan who barely has enough time to keep up with one NHL team.
Anyway, this post at The Hockey News is basically about how the Preds and the Flames are both doing okay but the Preds are better because, well, duh, the Preds kind of have a recent pedigree of success, and the Flames have a recent pedigree of being a dumpster fire. So what makes them different this year, and what are their chances of getting into the postseason, actually?
Ari at Matchsticks and Gasoline said it in a more straightforward way: the Flames are getting a ton of scoring from their defensemen. They’re basically winning games on the strength of a positive attitude, good luck, and the guys on the backend going on a scoring tear. And it isn’t just dumb luck either; Flames captain Mark Giordano might score close to a point per game this season. If he keeps up anything close to this pace, he could be in line for a Norris since Norris is just thinly veiled code-speak for “Art Ross for defensemen.” He’ll be like an Erik Karlsson on a team that no one in the NHL baseline fanbase hates yet, but without a Tumblr. (HOT TAKE FOR MARK GIORDANO: GET A TUMBLR.) Ari again: “Since being named captain, Giordano has 65 points over 80 games, and he’s still going.” Basically, if the Flames continue to get quality scoring from their D, and they can manage to get forward lines rolling in some fashion, they might sneak into the playoffs for the first time since 2009.
Reading the Flames roster to someone who primarily watches Eastern Conference games is a little bit of “oh, he’s still in the league?? Really?” and “I didn’t even know humans were called that.” I’m honestly trying to figure out why I even knew Ladislav Smid’s name in the first place.
REMEMBER WHEN. . . . .. ???????
The Flames decided Deryk Engelland was worth 3 million a year????
Like seriously his last NHL cap hit was $566k.
I did some digging around Flames fan blogs and the consensus seems to be that he has been just awful for them this season. Like not even worth watching. Like “shouldn’t be in the league.” With the Penguins, Engo always seemed like a “bubble” player who never quite made it, whose value as an NHL skater basically dropped immediately after I purchased his #5 jersey to wear to the “Long Island rematch/invasion” game in 2011. The fact that the Flames are paying him $3 million boggles the mind. And yes I still have that jersey.
. . .Jiri Hudler was the most productive scoring forward on a team?
Yeah, me neither, but actually that’s the situation the Flames are in with their forwards. Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan are basically on par with him, though, with 12 and 11 points respectively to Hudler’s 13.
And yeah, I also remember when Jiri Hudler’s personal space was invaded by the lurking Pepper. Ah, memories.
Every team needs someone who can be classified as a game-changer–whether that means they’re an all-world player every year or someone who just finds Magic at the right time and the right place. The Flames still aren’t built for a deep postseason run, no one’s making the argument that they are. But seeing something “click” for them even early in the season is kind of exciting, Hudler notwithstanding.
. . .the Flames finally replaced Brian Burke in April with Brad Treliving?
Again, no, this is a piece of news that happened completely outside of my realm of awareness. But he is in fact the guy who brought in Deryk Engelland at that price tag. Sorry to keep harping on Engo, but it’s signings like that that epitomize what is holding the Flames back. From this FOX Sports piece:
“When you looked at this team, one thing we needed to add was a presence around our net; a physical, strong guy who adds an element of toughness,” Treliving said. “We knew we’d be young so we wanted to make sure we’d have support for our young players to not be physically overwhelmed.
“Deryk is a pro, too. He creates a culture for the younger players to look at how he lives his life, how he trains and the work he puts in.”
oh good
The author of this piece, Craig Morgan with FOX Sports Arizona, immediately followed the quote about Deryk Engelland with this: “You’d be hard pressed to argue with any of Treliving’s moves so far.”
come on
seriously?
I half expect that Treliving spends his evenings smoking Cuban cigars in various Boston Pizza locations after closing time, flipping through a little black book and referring to various career AHLers as “good kids” who “respect their mothers” and “could do some business with us.”
okay I’m exaggerating, Treliving is a perfectly serviceable member of management and is obviously not Jay Feaster. I want the Flames to reach for the stars in general, but to be TOTALLY fair, an “ANYONE BUT FEASTER” campaign isn’t a bad platform to run on. Treliving’s first draft pick for the Flames was Sam Bennett (4th overall), whose most recent season with the Kingston Frontenacs was extremely promising (91 points in 57 games). However, Bennett basically lied about a shoulder injury for a year because he wanted to make it to the big show, and subsequently hurt himself in training camp. Teens lie, obviously, but that was a really immature thing to do and kind of a shit sandwich for Treliving, who has said that building through the draft is important to him.
Anyway yeah, the Flames might finish out this season better than they have in recent years, and it’s NOT all smoke and mirrors, but there’s a long road ahead for them in general. I didn’t need to do rudimentary research to learn this about the Flames, but I feel edified, and that’s really all that matters.
I can’t recommend Matchsticks and Gasoline enough, by the way. They do realistic, heartening fancy stats recaps for your reading pleasure.
Go Flames?
I’ll be possibly providing occasional Flames updates throughout the season, and “GET TO KNOW A TEAM” will return as well, more for my benefit than for yours. Don’t get too excited.
