The Calgary Flames are off to their worst start in team history with a record of 2-8-2 through 12 games. There are excuses you can make for this club, but ultimately they just aren’t playing good hockey at the moment. Almost every baseline stat would back that up.
As you can see, the Flames counting stats are ugly. But what does the tracking data say about the Flames and some of their players? Let’s do a deep dive and see if we can find any interesting tidbits.
Team speed
It should come as no surprise that the Calgary Flames are one of the slowest teams in the NHL. You can tell by just watching the games that the Flames lack team speed and agility. It’s most evident when you go from watching other teams in the NHL like Colorado, Carolina, Edmonton, and Vegas, to then flipping the channel to a Flames game. There are nights when it’s like watching teams in different leagues.
The Flames rank 29th in speed bursts over 20 MPH with 191. The league average is 246. It doesn’t help that their best skater has been out with an injury for the entire season in
Martin Pospisil, who was clocked in as one of the fastest skaters in the NHL last season.
Calgary ranks 25th in 22+ MPH speed bursts with 7 (league average is 14). And they rank 30th in 20-22 MPH speed bursts with 184 (league average is 233)
Their top skating speed this season is 22.87 MPH which came from Ryan Lomberg in Thursday night’s loss to the Ottawa Senators.
Best skaters on the Flames
I mentioned Ryan Lomberg has the fastest Calgary Flame on the season so far with his 22.87 MPH burst on Thursday.
Filling out the top ten max speed bursts on the Flames this season are:
2. Morgan Frost vs St Louis: 22.73 MPH
3. Matt Coronato @ Edmonton: 22.68 MPH
4. Adam Klapka vs St Louis: 22.59 MPH
5. Joel Farabee @ Ottawa: 22.16 MPH
6. Nazem Kadri @ Ottawa: 22.12 MPH
7. Ryan Lomberg @ Edmonton: 22.07 MPH
8. Matt Coronato vs Vegas: 21.95 MPH
9. Joel Farabee @ Edmonton: 21.83 MPH
10. Adam Klapka vs Vegas: 21.76 MPH
It’s interesting to see so many repeat names on this list. Ryan Lomberg, Joel Farabee, Matt Coronato and Adam Klapka are showing through data that they are the four fastest players on this Flames team.
Skating distance
The category that the Flames rank the highest in on NHL Edge is in distance skated. The Flames rank 4th in miles skated with 549.38 this season. Last season they were second in the NHL.
MacKenzie Weegar is ranked 3rd in the NHL in total distance skated at 43.32 miles and it makes sense because he plays in all situations, he gets involved in the rush, and he is third in the NHL in total ice time.
I am not sure exactly how to interpret this information from a team perspective. Does it mean they’re working harder than other teams? Does it have to do with the system they play? Is it because they’re on defence more than they’re on offence?
The Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers led the NHL in average distance skated per 60 minutes last season. Four of the next five teams on this list did not make the playoffs last season in Calgary, Philadelphia, Buffalo and Detroit.
Shot power
The last calendar year has not been successful for
Rasmus Andersson. But one thing he can hang his hat on i his ability to rip slap shots. He clocked in with the hardest shot on the team so far this season when he took a 93.52 MPH slap shot against the Winnipeg Jets at the Saddledome. Andersson also has three of the next four hardest shots on the team.
Rounding out the top 10 on this list include Kevin Bahl, Adam Klapka, Sam Honzek, Justin Kirkland and Joel Hanley.
The Flames rank 20th in average shot speed at 58.58 MPH and they rank 23rd in hardest shot at 93.52 MPH.
Shots
The Flames don’t have a problem with shooting the puck. They are 9th in the NHL in shots from all locations with 337. We’ve seen a shift in the way the Flames are playing from their first six games to their last six games.
In the last six games, it looks like Ryan Huska has put a major emphasis on getting pucks to the net and creating havoc around their opponents crease. The Flames are 8th in shot attempts per 60 since Oct. 18.
The thing that is killing this club is their lack of finish. They are dead last in shooting percentage at 7.7% with the league average being 11.1%.
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