Flames outside looking in this Spring
09.04.01 06:30MST
Editorial - What's next for the Flames?
When Dave Fyvie was hired last summer, it was with the intention of finding that final piece that would catapult the Flames into the playoffs. Whether that final piece be the man himself, or that man would acquire that final piece was the question.
Fyvie made some moves. He acquired players. He moved out players, prospects and draft picks. Oh so many draft picks.
The result - a team that finished with 83 points. 4 points more than the previous season and 2 points back of the 8th place Sharks for the last playoff spot.
Where can this team improve? What will the Flames do this off-season?
Calgary had three players score more than 20 goals this season:
Iginla 38 goals
Stillman 28 goals
St.Louis 24 goals
Which is a decent upgrade over last season where they only had two:
Bure 28 goals
Iginla 27 goals
Giguere's numbers took a slight nose-dive over the previous year:
2000/01
65gp 2.57GAA .916SV
1999/00
46gp 2.12GAA .927SV
He started 19 more games and it seemed to take a toll.
On the back-end one glaring issue that seemed to plague Fyvie all year was how ineffective Phil Housley was as a top-4 option. Despite this, the new bench boss relied heavily on the veteran until the deadline, when he brought in Dan Boyle from Florida. Housley posted 36 points over the course of the year but was uninspired -8.
And speaking of veterans, Dave Lowry had a rough first year as a Flame too. The 35yr old winger posted a dismal -19 as a 'shutdown' winger. Perhaps we've identified the problem. In a league where shutting down the opposition is so important, the Flames charged with this duty were abysmal at it.
The shutdown line Fyvie employed the most was Lowry, Shantz and O'Neill. Their combined +/- on the year was -42.
To his credit, Fyvie identified this and demoted Shantz and acquired Ryan Johnson at the deadline but more needs to be done. Expect the front-office to address this issue during the off-season. It is a critical issue and has repercussions throughout the team.
One area to investigate is the Flames' special teams. One quick look shows that the Flames actually had a decent season on both sides of the man-advantage.
Powerplay 17.5% - 10th best in the league
Penalty-kill 85.5% - 10th best in the league
Both units found themselves in the top-ten of the league (barely). To be fair, that is better than being in the bottom of the league or even in the middle of the pack.
One final area to look at is shots for/against for the year. Again, the Flames posted decent numbers:
Shots per game: 32.48 9th best in the league
Shots agains per game: 30.70 12th best in the league
Surprisingly, the Flames averaged exactly the same for goals for/goals against for the year - posting 2.65 for and against. Improving their team defensive should help shift that ratio for next season.
Where the front-office takes this team this summer is anyone's guess. The team has assembled a solid group of young players up and down the lineup. Perhaps it's time the youth wrestle the torch from the veterans and begin to assert their place in the league.