• HOME
  • NHL Teams
    • Atlantic Division
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Metropolitan Division
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Central Division
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Pacific Division
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • NHL Rumors
  • THW Podcast
  • NHL Prospects
  • Columns
  • NWHL
  • More…
    • Women’s Hockey
    • Other Leagues
    • Long Read
    • NHL Entry Draft
    • Books
    • NHL History
    • Fantasy Hockey
  • Log in
The Hockey Writers
  • Site Index
  • NHL Salary Caps
  • Hockey 101: A Beginner’s Guide
  • Join Our Team
  • Free Newsletter
  • Resources
  • Log in
The Hockey Writers
  • HOME
  • NHL Teams
    • Atlantic Division
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Metropolitan Division
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Central Division
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Pacific Division
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • NHL Rumors
  • THW Podcast
  • NHL Prospects
  • Columns
  • NWHL
  • More…
    • Women’s Hockey
    • Other Leagues
    • Long Read
    • NHL Entry Draft
    • Books
    • NHL History
    • Fantasy Hockey
Home
Calgary Flames

4 Reasons the Flames Missed The Playoffs

By Ryan Pike March 25th, 2018

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp

The Calgary Flames came into the 2017-18 season with very high expectations. Thanks to a second half skid those expectations will not be met. For the second time in three seasons, the Flames will be spectators when the Stanley Cup playoffs begin.

Calgary Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan

Calgary Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan (Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports)

Here are the four primary reasons why the Flames will be idle after the regular season concludes on April 8.

Lack of Scoring Depth

The Flames have several forwards that can score with regularity. Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk and Micheal Ferland all have scored 20+ goals, while Sean Monahan has hit the 30-goal mark for the second time in his young career. Beyond that quartet, though, the offense dries up rather quickly. Mikael Backlund can put up numbers, but Michael Frolik is more of a defensive specialist at this point of his career.

Michael Frolik Calgary Flames

Michael Frolik (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Once you get past that defined top six group, things get lean in a hurry. Mark Jankowski has emerged as a steady third line center, but his offensive game lacks finish. Sam Bennett has flash, but not consistency. Troy Brouwer’s settled into a two-way role and doesn’t generate much even strength scoring. Curtis Lazar and Garnet Hathaway lack much flash or consistency. The Flames didn’t get a ton out of their secondary players offensively this season and it’s made the team extremely top-heavy and easy to defend against.

Lack of Defensive Chemistry

Mark Giordano and Dougie Hamilton are a dynamite first pairing. They play against the NHL’s best players and consistently produce offense – though Hamilton’s a bit dodgy in the defensive zone sometimes. The Flames have struggled to become a team with two good pairings, first acquiring Hamilton at the 2015 Draft and then acquiring Travis Hamonic at the 2017 Draft to play with TJ Brodie. But Brodie’s playing style doesn’t mesh well with Hamonic’s. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman described it like this: “Hamonic is structure, Brodie is a jazz virtuoso.”

Writing an argument that Glen Gulutzan should have buried Hamonic/Brodie in DZ while keeping Gio/Hamilton out of DZ and worried I might have gone a little deep here.

— dellowhockey (@dellowhockey) March 24, 2018

While the top pairing is great – and young Brett Kulak has meshed rather well with stay-at-home defender Michael Stone on the third pairing – the unevenness of the Brodie/Hamonic pairing has really done a number on the team’s in-game momentum on several occasions. And while plus/minus isn’t a perfect indicator of things, Brodie’s minus-16 rating reflects the second pairing’s defensive foibles. The Flames are still primarily a one-pairing team, and head into yet another off-season needing to fix their defensive balance.

Lack of Power Play Production

The Flames have four established goal scoring forwards, plus the likes of Norris contenders Giordano and Hamilton and Selke contender Backlund. In addition to all that offensive talent, Tkachuk and Gaudreau are among the NHL’s best players at drawing penalties – likely via a combination of Tkachuk’s agitation and Gaudreau’s insane speed and skill. As a result, the Flames sit third in the NHL in terms of overall power play time.

But somehow the club is only 21st overall in goals scored on the power play, despite all their skill and opportunity. Even worse, the Flames’ power play often stifles any momentum the team has built up at even strength. This power outage has earned head coach Glen Gulutzan and assistant coach Dave Cameron a lot of scorn from fans, who can’t seem to fathom how a team with as many potent offensive weapons can be so impotent with a man advantage.

Inconsistent Goaltending

The Flames began the season with a strong starter in Mike Smith and a really shaky backup in Eddie Lack. They uncharacteristically made an early adjustment, booting Lack to the AHL (and later New Jersey) and promoting AHL standout David Rittich to the NHL level. The new tandem performed well until the Bye Week break and then they – like the rest of the team – seemed to fall completely apart in terms of their consistency.

  • Smith was 20-13-3 with a 2.46 goals against average (GAA) and .924 save percentage (SV%) before the break, but has gone 4-8-3 with a 3.16 GAA and .894 SV% since then.
  • Rittich was 4-1-1 with a 2.03 GAA and .932 SV% before the break, but has gone 4-5-2 with a 3.34 GAA and .892 SV% since then.

The tandem’s numbers were bound to regress a bit as the season wore on and both dealt with the adjustments shooters were making to their tendencies, but nobody expected them to crash completely down to Earth.

  • Tags
  • Dave Cameron
  • Glen Gulutzan
  • Mike Smith
  • T.J. Brodie
  • Top Story
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp

Facebook Comments

Our Hockey Podcast
hockey podcast
Bruce’s Picks
2019 NHL Trade Deadline: Deal Tracker

2019 NHL Trade Deadline: Deal Tracker

2130
Recent Posts
Feb 21st 2:45 PM
Edmonton Oilers

NHL Rumors: Islanders, Blackhawks, Bruins, Oilers, More

Feb 21st 1:59 PM
NHL Rumors

THW Podcast – Ep. 12 – NHL Trade Deadline and Making Goalie Masks

Feb 21st 1:02 PM
Los Angeles Kings

Hagelin Traded to Capitals

Feb 21st 12:20 PM
Toronto Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs Don’t Need McQuaid

Feb 21st 12:05 PM
St Louis Blues

Blues Set Record With 11 Straight Wins

Feb 21st 10:40 AM
Archives

Top 10 Latvians in NHL History

Feb 21st 10:05 AM
Vancouver Canucks

Canucks’ Playoff Hopes Hampered by Injuries

Feb 21st 9:20 AM
Anaheim Ducks

One for the Ages: Steve Thomas’ 2002-03 NHL Season

Feb 21st 9:05 AM
Other Leagues

Spitfires Remember Fallen Captain on 11-Year Anniversary

Feb 21st 8:50 AM
Pittsburgh Penguins

3 Potential Penguins Trade Targets

Stay in Touch
Contact Us

Via our Newsletters
RSS Feeds

Privacy Statement

Our Partners
HFBoards

About THW…

Founded in 2009, The Hockey Writers is a premier destination for news and information on everything hockey. Updated daily with news and features from over 130 writers worldwide. Over 2 million monthly readers now come to THW for their hockey fix.

Join over 18 000 Subscribers of our free bi-weekly Newsletter.

© The Hockey Writers 2018. All rights reserved.
The Hockey Writers
  • HOME
  • Search THW
  • NHL Rumors
  • The Goalie Page
  • Atlantic Division
    • Boston Bruins
    • Buffalo Sabres
    • Detroit Red Wings
    • Florida Panthers
    • Montreal Canadiens
    • Ottawa Senators
    • Tampa Bay Lightning
    • Toronto Maple Leafs
  • Metropolitan Division
    • Carolina Hurricanes
    • Columbus Blue Jackets
    • New Jersey Devils
    • New York Islanders
    • New York Rangers
    • Philadelphia Flyers
    • Pittsburgh Penguins
    • Washington Capitals
  • Central Division
    • Chicago Blackhawks
    • Colorado Avalanche
    • Dallas Stars
    • Minnesota Wild
    • Nashville Predators
    • St Louis Blues
    • Winnipeg Jets
  • Pacific Division
    • Anaheim Ducks
    • Arizona Coyotes
    • Calgary Flames
    • Edmonton Oilers
    • Los Angeles Kings
    • San Jose Sharks
    • Vegas Golden Knights
    • Vancouver Canucks
  • Selections From Our Archives
  • Podcast
  • Prospects
  • NHL Salary Cap Information
  • Join Our Team