I’m not always a huge fan of looking at statistics as the only measure of productivity, but there’s a trend that’s starting to develop in Calgary that might be a bit of a shocker to some people. When you look at their lineup, there’s no doubt that they are designed to be GREAT on the backend and GOOD up front. But when you look at the results of their first 9 games, you’ll see that the architect of this team can’t be 100% happy with the results.
Excuse me, my foot feels better. Thanks for asking...
The Flames 7-2-1 start has no doubt silenced most of the criticism that would normally be directed at the defense. They’ve given up at least 3 goals in all but two of their games this season. Their Goals Against Average is sitting at 24th in the NHL (3.30). For a team whose biggest acquisition in the offseason was a defenseman, that’s probably not what Flames’ GM Darryl Sutter had in mind.
You can see just how important the Top 4 are to the Flames when you look at the salary numbers. If you only take into account the top two pairings for Calgary, they make up 37% of the salary cap. Throw in Miikka Kiprusoff and the five guys account for almost HALF of their entire cap (47%)! As you can see this team is undisputedly built around the idea of keeping the puck out of their own net.
Here’s a look at the renowned defense for the Calgary Flames this season:
Jay Bouwmeester: Of all the guys on the blueline, he has the most pressure to produce. If you just look at his stats, you’d think that 1 goal, 5 assists and 10 PIMs is an average start for an extremely well paid acquisition. But for people that have been watching the games, there’s been more to his contribution than stats alone. Since opening night, he’s been playing against the opposition’s best players which has allowed the Phaneuf/Regehr pairing to drop down against lesser competition. They might not be the best pairing in the league—but they might be the best 2nd pairing in the league. While playing against the leagues best, Bouwmeester started the season without his regular partner. Any man that can make a bottom pairing guy look at home on the top pairing is pretty good. As well as Mark Giordano was playing, he can thank Bouwmeester for much of his success. $6.68 million is a ton of cheddar; but he’s met just about all REASONABLE expectations.
Robyn Regehr: It looks like the Sutter’s want him to be the rock of the Phaneuf/Regehr pairing—which is both good and bad. The good is that the role plays right into his strengths. While Phaneuf is pinching and trying to create offensive chances, Regehr’s role will be to hang back and cover for any bad decisions that his partner has been known to make. When Phaneuf leaves his position to make a big hit or completely loses his man down low, its Regehr’s responsibility to minimize the damage. Honestly, it’s the perfect role for him. The bad is that they’re paying him over $4 million per year to do that against 2nd and 3rd lines. If he’s going to have that kind of salary against that kind of competition and NOT score, he’s going to need to have a better +/- than ZERO!
He may have lost a step; but he's a damn good 2nd pairing guy...
Dion Phaneuf: He has 5 goals and 4 assists for a total of 9 points (6th among NHL defensemen). He’s playing with Regehr as the #2 pairing on the team—which means he isn’t playing against the toughest of competition. Even though he’s ranked among the league leaders in points for a blueliner, his EVEN +/- shows that he hasn’t been as great at the stats would show. Not only that, but his shooting percentage is at 26.3% (ungodly for a defenseman). Before people start buying their Elisha Cuthbert jerseys, they might want to take a step back and watch and see how it plays out.
Cory Sarich: He missed the first 5 games of the season with a foot injury, but he has looked right at home on the top pairing since he’s returned. He’s one of those players that you only truly appreciate when you watch him game in and game out. Think of guys like Rob Scuderi or Brooks Orpik from the Penguins last year. No one would know who they were if it weren’t for a couple of trips to the Stanley Cup finals and the television coverage that goes with it. His return will allow Bouwmeester to fully exploit his offensive talents while still helping to shut down the opponent’s top lines. He’s the new Robyn Regehr of the team.
Mark Giordano: He was perhaps the best defenseman on the ice for the Flames in their opening night win against the Canucks. The incredibly underrated defenseman filled in admirably while Cory Sarich recovered from his foot injury. He’s a tough defenseman, makes the opponents work, sticks up for his teammates and still chips in a few points. Not too bad for a guy that will spend the majority of the year on the bottom pairing, right?
Hell, this is a team that could hypothetically have Kronwall and Seabrook as their bottom pairing! Too bad its STAFFAN Kronwall and KEITH Seabrook.
You could make the argument that this is the way to win a Cup (2007 Anaheim Ducks). But you know what’s funny—their defense has sucked this year (by sucked, I mean tied with the Islanders). But as the old saying goes, “winning cures everything.” Being one of the top teams in the Northwest Division and Western Conference has a way of silencing most critics. But unless they continue to be the top scoring team in the league, the haters are going to have a little ammunition. You, me and 4 guys in the local beer league could win games if our forwards were scoring 4 goals a game and we had Miikka Kiprusoff!
We’ll see how the rest of the season plays out—but right now the Flames are exactly what we thought they’d be. They’re near the top of the conference standings and are a legitimate threat to represent the West in the Stanley Cup Finals. On the other hand, most people expected a team built on defense to actually be able to play defense. From that perspective, they’re nothing like the Flames we thought we’d see this year.
We have 5 months to figure out what kind of team to expect. And they have 5 months to show us what kind of team they want to be.
