The New Pacific Preview: Calgary Flames

2013 Stats

Record:

The Flames finished 4th in the Northwest Division and 13th in the Western Conference with a 19-25-4 record, missing the playoffs by 13 points. It was the first time they had missed the playoffs by more than five points since 2003. Their record against the Ducks was 1-2.

Leading Scorers:

Overall

Player	GP	G	A	P	+/-
Mike Cammalleri	44	13	19	32	-15
Lee Stempniak	47	9	23	32	2
Alex Tanguay	40	11	16	27	-13
Jiri Hudler	42	10	17	27	-13
Curtis Glencross	40	15	11	26	-8

Jarome Iginla put up 33 points as well, but 11 of them came in a Penguins uniform. With his departure, Cammalleri and Glencross are the Flames' most reliable goal scorers. Calgary will also miss the offense of Tanguay, who they traded to the Colorado Avalanche with Cory Sarich in exchange for David Jones and Shane O'Brien.

Against Ducks

Player	GP	G	A	P	+/-
Curtis Glencross	2	2	1	3	-1
Mike Cammalleri	2	0	3	3	-1
Roman Horak	2	1	1	2	2
Lee Stempniak	2	1	1	2	1

Predictably, Cammalleri and former Duck Glencross did the most damage in the three games between Anaheim and Calgary last season.

Goalies:

Overall

Player	GP	W	L	OT	GAA	SV%	SO
Miikka Kiprusoff	24	8	14	2	3.44	.882	0
Joey MacDonald	21	8	9	1	2.87	.902	0
Leland Irving	6	2	1	1	3.33	.883	0
Daniel Taylor	2	1	1	0	3.00	.912	0

Kiprusoff's stellar career came to a less than stellar finish, as he posted a goals against average below .900 and a save percentage above three for the first time since he was traded to Calgary in 2003. This season, the Flames' net will likely be shared by MacDonald and Karri Ramo, who hasn't played in the NHL since his stint with the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2006 to 2009.

Against Ducks

Player	GP	W	L	OT	GAA	SV%	SO
Miikka Kiprusoff	3	1	2	0	3.33	.877	0

Power Play:

There are plenty of reasons why the Flames had their worst season in ten years, but their power play was not one of them. It finished with 20.0% efficiency, good for 9th in NHL. In eight chances against the Ducks, they scored two goals, which sounds an awful lot like 25% to me.

Penalty Kill:

The Flames penalty kill wasn't terrible either, clicking at 81.5%, which was 14th in NHL. They killed all four penalties they took against the Ducks.

Key Additions:

The thing about rebuilding is you don't get a lot of big offseason acquisitions that are going to make an immediate impact. The best assets Calgary acquired last season and in the offseason were picks and prospects, but they also grabbed a few full-time NHLers.

Karri Ramo, mentioned above, will compete for the net with Joey MacDonald. The Finnish goalie posted a solid 26-9 record in the KHL last year (5-7 in the playoffs), but it remains to be seen whether or not he can replicate that success in the NHL. In Tampa Bay, his career record was an unimpressive 11-21-10.

TJ Galiardi, acquired from San Jose on the second day of free agency, notched a modest 14 points in 36 games last year. He has penalty killing experience and can provide some secondary scoring.

Kris Russell and Shane O'Brien will do their best to patch up a defensive corps whose talent falls off steeply after Mark Giordano and Dennis Wideman.

David Jones, acquired alongside O'Brien in the Alex Tanguay trade, is only three years removed from a 45-point season, but he only notched nine last year.

Sean Monahan, drafted sixth overall this year, has a pretty good shot at making the big club as an eighteen year old, if for no other reason than the Flames' dearth of scoring centers.

Maybe the most notable addition for the long term future of the Flames however, was in the front office, where everyone's favorite Barn Fighting, loose tie wearing, Bob Murray fleecing executive, Brian Burke was hired as President of Hockey Operations.

Key Losses:

After trading away Iginla and Jay Bouwmeester, the Flames lost Kiprusoff to retirement and Roman Cervenka to the KHL. Cervenka did provide some offense – 17 points in 39 games – but not enough to garner Ilya Kovalchuk-like attention for his decision.

GM Jay Feaster turned heads by trading longtime Flames Alex Tanguay and Cory Sarich to Colorado during the offseason. They will miss one's offense and the other's defense in the short term, but the hope is that O'Brien and Jones will be better long-term investments. I guess. Right now, I think the Avs won this trade.

Season Series:

Wed. Oct 16 @ Ducks 7:00 pm, Prime Ticket

Fri. Nov 29 @ Ducks 1:00 pm, Prime Ticket

Wed. March 12 @ Flames 7:00 pm, FS West

Wed. March 26 @ Flames 7:00 pm, FS West