When Jarome effed up his knee back on January 4th, you would have had a tough time convincing anyone that Calgary would be where they are now a month later.
But, here we are - currently atop the NW Division dogfight and poised to pull away from the fray. Conroy's back and making a difference, the supporting cast is looking solid and Kipper is top 5 in everything. Defensive depth, good rookies, career years abound. Yay!
- People aside from myself and Matt are starting to notice Mark Giordano. Marky Mark, as HG calls him, is leading NHL rookie defensemen in scoring with 6 goals, 14 points and a respectable +11. While those numbers are hardly staggering, keep in mind Giordano has only played 34 of the Flames 51 games so far this season. HIs 0.411 PPG pace pro-rated over an 82 game season equates to approx. 34 points (14 goals!). Have I mentioned that 2 of his 6 goals this year have been GWG's. Not too shabby for an undrafted 23 year-old "no name".
Qualitatively, I've been impressed with Giordano's play pretty much all season. He get's pillowy soft minutes, but he makes the most of them (unlike, say, Zyuzin, who tends to struggle no matter the quality of the opposition). He almost never panics with the puck on his stick and has great offensive instincts. His first pass is decent and he can control the puck along the blueline during the PP. Anyone who saw his 2 goal performance against Toronto or his side-splitting hit on Tollefsen against the BJ's knows the Flames have a keeper on their hands.
- David Moss also continues to impress me. He's been playing with the big boys the last little while and never seems to get into much trouble, defensively speaking. He's not a mad point getter, but he makes things happen thanks to his Smythian compulsion for getting in front of the net. That guy streaking by Luongo while Juice scored the game winner on Saturday? That was Moss. Watch him during a game and you'll notice he does it pretty much every time he's on the ice. And that's a good thing.
- What more can be said about Kristian Huselius? His was the GWG on Saturday night, which came upon the heels of a 3 point performance agaist Columbus. He has now scored at least a point in 12 straight games and is one of the hottest players in the league. He began the season as a question mark, lost in the shadows of Iginla, Tanguay, Phaneuf, and heck, even Lombardi and Kobasew. These days, Juice almost invariably looks like one of the most dangerous players on the ice for either team. He's already bested his career mark for points and, should he stay on his current pace, will end the year with 77 points. How brilliant do I feel for snagging him in the 10th round of my hockey pool?
- Speaking of point-getters, the Flames now have 3 players with 50 or more points on the season (Iggy, Tanguay and Langkow) with one more knocking on the door (Juice). By the end of the year, the Flames will likely have six 20 goal scorers on their roster: Jarome, Damond and Juice are already there while Lombo (15), Tanguay (15) and Phaneuf (13) stand a good chance of breaking the barrier as well. Overall, Calgary is sitting 7th in the league in terms of GPG with a 3.17 average. That equates to more than 260 goals by season's end which is nearly a 50 goal increase over last season's output (216). Woohoo!
- The Augmented production hasn't necessarily come at the cost of defensive responsibility either. Currently, Calgary sits first in the league at ES goals against and 8th overall in terms of total GA/G. The Flames early season troubles, combined with their inability to kill a penalty are the primary culprits behind Calgary's drop from 1st/ES to 8th/total. Not that 8th is anything to sneeze at.
Further, the Flames now own an impressive +35 GD at ES (98-63) and a similar +35 mark overall (165-130). The Oilers, on the other hand, are -7 and, yes, -7 respectively. HA! HA!
- Calgary's PP has quietly taken a few steps towards respectability over the last few weeks. Since Januray 21st, the Flames have scored 9 goals on 32 opportunities for a 28% success rate. Granted, that number is inflated by a 4/10 run against the hapless BJ's, but it's an encouraging sign nonethless. Thanks to their recent spate of success, Calgary's PP is a few small steps away from relatively "average" (18th). Course, the PK is still wallowing amongst the bottom feeders, but one step at a time...
Yup, it's almost all good. Now, if the boys could get the road/PK stuff up to snuff we'd be laughing. Moreso.
