What's working for the Flames this year?

[Matty Sundin]

They don’t look good on paper but with the right coaching they get a hard work ethic and team game that can build confidence on their young goalie to excel and develop. The thing is, the Flames never have a tank year when it’s expected and might be good for them. They did something similar in 2014-15 and that was the one draft year I think a lot of fans wouldn’t have minded to tank.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

The rebuild already started.
In the last 18 months...

OUT	IN
Tyler Toffoli	Yegor Sharangovich 3rd in '23 (Aydar Suniev)
Nikita Zadorov	5th in '24 (Traded for Nikita Okhotiuk) 3rd in '26
Elias Lindholm	1st in '24 (Matvei Gridin) Hunter Brzustewicz Joni Jurmo Andrei Kuzmenko
Chris Tanev	2nd in '24 (Jacob Battaglia) Artem Grushnikov
Noah Hanifin	1st in '26 (Unprotected) 3rd in '24 (Karill Zarubin) Daniil Miromanov
Jacob Markstrom	1st in '25 (Top 10 protected) Kevin Bahl
Andrew Mangiapane	2nd in '25 (Avalanche Pick)

You're right, I guess what I mean is going through with it fully, and not seeing their current play as a reason to start thinking this is just a quick re-tool.

 

[madmike77]

You're right, I guess what I mean is going through with it fully, and not seeing their current play as a reason to start thinking this is just a quick re-tool.

I don’t think they’ll make the same mistake twice. They’ll just keep their picks, draft away and hope for the best. And if guys with expiring deals won’t re-sign they’ll deal them for more picks. They have time.

A top-10 pick this year would have been ideal and it’s still possible but there’s only so much the GM can control.

 

[NVious]

Wolf that's it, their top scorers are on pace for like 50 points and they give up the 8th most shots in the league. Not a recipe for success, but if you get 930 goaltending, literally anything is possible as we saw with Price Habs or Lundy Rangers.

 

[Lunatik]

Wolf that's it, their top scorers are on pace for like 50 points and they give up the 8th most shots in the league. Not a recipe for success, but if you get 930 goaltending, literally anything is possible as we saw with Price Habs or Lundy Rangers.

Tell me you haven't watched the Flames without saying it.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Good coaching. What they lack in talent they make up in effort most nights.

Better effort is the one thing that I have noticed the most. A highly-motivated team is a highly-dangerous team even if they don't look so hot on paper. Kudos to the Flames organization.

 

[FLAMESFAN]

I think a team is more successful when they actually enjoy being there.
That wasn't the case lastyear with more than a few.

 

[NVious]

Tell me you haven't watched the Flames without saying it.

The team ranks 22nd in gf/g, every team below them isn't in the playoffs and the next 4 teams above them also aren't in. I thought somebody would be having some great year, but nope. Rasmus Andersson is going to be the top point getter with his 51 point pace and Huburdeau is gonna be the top sniper with a massive 23 goal pace. That's lottery tier offense.

 

[Ghost of Murph]

Continues to be goaltending and effort. This is a really fun team to watch since game 1. They're physical and they bust their ass every shift. Seems like this group has great chemistry.

 

[YMCMBYOLO]

Who cares whether the flames are playing well or not, if they deserve to be where they are in the standings. They’re playing with house money. Clearly the vibes on the team are good, they believe in themselves.

 

[Lunatik]

The team ranks 22nd in gf/g, every team below them isn't in the playoffs and the next 4 teams above them also aren't in. I thought somebody would be having some great year, but nope. Rasmus Andersson is going to be the top point getter with his 51 point pace and Huburdeau is gonna be the top sniper with a massive 23 goal pace. That's lottery tier offense.

My point was it's not "just Wolf" as you wrongly claimed. You clearly have no f***ing idea what you are talking about and just reading stats.

Yes, they aren't scoring much, but the team works incredibly hard, doesn't quit/give up, Andersson is playing like a Norris candidate, Bahl has looked incredible, Weegar is his usual self, Miromanov isn't getting overly exposed playing top 4 minutes, Vladar has been well above average. While the numbers don't show it, Zary has looked dynamic and has arguably been the teams best forward. Coronato has looked great since being called up from the Wranglers.

So, please tell me again how it's only Wolf.

 

[Rubi]

You have to give a lot of credit to relative newbie GM Craig Conroy. He moved out a number of older major players (Toffoli, Hanifin, Lindholm, Zadorov, Tanev, Markstrom) who either didn't want to play for Calgary anymore or were older UFA's and were looking to resign long term expensive contracts and brought in some younger and lesser known players who were a better fit for the future.

Conroy seems to have a knack for identifying talent on other teams that was either being underutilized or misused and making a trade for said talent, such as Sharangovich and Bahl.
He also made room on the team for younger players such as Zary. Pospisil, Coronado, and Wolf to establish themselves and put them in a position to succeed and shine.

Craig Conroy was also able to recognize Huska for the quality coach and motivator that he is when so many others (me included) were saying he should look elsewhere outside of the organization for someone with more nhl experience and a proven nhl head coaching winning track record.

 

[Yepthatsme]

The team ranks 22nd in gf/g, every team below them isn't in the playoffs and the next 4 teams above them also aren't in. I thought somebody would be having some great year, but nope. Rasmus Andersson is going to be the top point getter with his 51 point pace and Huburdeau is gonna be the top sniper with a massive 23 goal pace. That's lottery tier offense.

They’re also 8th in shots per game and 10th in scoring chances per game. Since November has started, they’re 16th in xGF/60, and 12th in xGF%. So why haven’t they had the offense match that yet? They’re 28th in shooting percentage, surrounded by the who’s who of league under-achievers this year in Nashville, NYI, Pittsburgh, Boston, and Edmonton.

Guys like Kadri (3.3%), Zary (4.9%), and Sharangovich (3.7%) aren’t going to continue having laughable on ice shooting percentages, the offense will pick up if they keep doing what they’re doing.

 

[ESH]

So-So. It's tough to say any forward on this roster had stood out consistently from an offensive standpoint.

He gets to much hate, though. Leads the team in goals despite not playing with a single full time NHL centermen yet (Pospisil, Sharangovich, Zary)

Huberdeau is getting paid the kind of money that he should be the one carrying any line he’s on.

Over the past couple years I’ve seen people say he doesn’t mesh with Lindholm or Kadri, and now there’s 3 different new guys he’s not producing with this season.

The reality is that he is just a shell of his former self. It’s not like he’s out there making brilliant plays that aren’t being finished, he’s largely invisible.

 

[Our Lady Peace]

It's all in the room. They moved all the players that wanted to play elsewhere last year and have now started fresh. All the guys who are playing on the roster this year are happy where they are. That's not to say wanting to play elsewhere is bad, but it speaks volumes when everyone is on the same page and you can start that way

They're firing on all cylinders and out-working their opponents. Like, they had 35 shots at the halfway mark into the Rangers game the other night

Their defense is pretty weak on paper outside of Andersson and Weegar but they are somehow getting it done. Wolf and Vladar have been very solid too. System seems to got a lot out of every guy

I mean you got Justin Kirkland getting his first shot in the NHL at 28 and has 3 shootout winners. All of which he takes the exact same route at the same speed with the same finish

They're riding the wave and capitalizing. Good for them

 

[JianYang]

Watching the flames/Rangers, it stuck out to me that they have a high work ethic, and you can see it on their faces that they like coming to work and they like each other.

They will drop off but teams coming into Calgary should not be expecting a free meal. The score flattered the Rangers on this particular day.

 

[winnipegger]

I can almost guarantee they will finish just outside on the bubble. Very weird team without a clear identity or any big star players.

 

[Yepthatsme]

It's all in the room. They moved all the players that wanted to play elsewhere last year and have now started fresh. All the guys who are playing on the roster this year are happy where they are. That's not to say wanting to play elsewhere is bad, but it speaks volumes when everyone is on the same page and you can start that way

They're firing on all cylinders and out-working their opponents. Like, they had 35 shots at the halfway mark into the Rangers game the other night

Their defense is pretty weak on paper outside of Andersson and Weegar but they are somehow getting it done. Wolf and Vladar have been very solid too. System seems to got a lot out of every guy

I mean you got Justin Kirkland getting his first shot in the NHL at 28 and has 3 shootout winners. All of which he takes the exact same route at the same speed with the same finish

They're riding the wave and capitalizing. Good for them

Their defense is weak in name value, not on paper. Weegar and Andersson get their due respect (Andersson didn’t get it back until this season though), but Bahl is looking like a really good top 4 shutdown defenseman. Pachal is everything you want in a bottom pair guy, and the rotating cast as our #6 have all performed admirably. We really have one miscast player currently with Miro acting as a 4D on the right side, but even he hasn’t been bad there as of late.

Also on a fun side note, Kirkland was actually known for being “Mr. Automatic” with that one move before coming up. It’s the entire reason we have a 4th liner taking our anchor spot on the shootout, Huska came out himself and said he was kicking himself for not using him earlier after all the guys knew he just always scores.

 

[HolyGhost]

Didnt they have a great first half of the season and then fall apart in the second?

 

[Pablo El Perro]

Lombo

 

[Anglesmith]

Didnt they have a great first half of the season and then fall apart in the second?

Last year? It was a bad start, then they seemed like they might be clawing their way into it, then after they traded everyone they lost heavily. When they had the Heritage Classic last year both them and the Oilers were toiling away near the bottom of the standings.

The start this year is better than either of the past two years by a long way, and they do not have several key guys expecting to leave. It's a different story this year.

 

[Kielbasa]

They don’t look good on paper but with the right coaching they get a hard work ethic and team game that can build confidence on their young goalie to excel and develop. The thing is, the Flames never have a tank year when it’s expected and might be good for them. They did something similar in 2014-15 and that was the one draft year I think a lot of fans wouldn’t have minded to tank.

Well amongst Flames fans the "find a away" Flames of 2014-15 have a complicated legacy.

Yes it was a fun season, and it marks the end of the rebuild between the Iginla and Gaudreau eras. But should it have?

I'm of the opinion that they jumped the gun, and the new core came out half baked. Maybe if Bennett had turned into a 1C it would have worked. But long term they just hadn't rebuilt enough to before they started spending draft capital.

The result? A team that made the playoffs every other year. Only made it past the first round twice (once in 2014-15). Never made it to a conference finals.

Similarly, this team is hard working and industrious, but not even close to done rebuilding. I just hope that ownership and management don't get ahead of themselves again.

 

[HockeyWooot]

I think some of the uncertainty that was hovering over the team last year prior to the exodus of players is now lifted.

Am guessing there’s a bit of “us vs the world” mentality out to prove detractors who have written them off wrong

There’s a still a number of quality vets (Weegar, Kadri, Andersson, Huberdeau) and young players taking a larger role. Dustin Wolf looks like the real deal.

Not sure if they sustain this pace but they certainly will be in the hunt for a wildcard spot.