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Calgary Flames' First Month of 2017 - Recap and Review
January is over! The first month of the new year is now over so let’s take a look at what happened in the opening month of 2017 for the Calgary Flames.
The first month of 2017 is now over! Let’s take a look at how the opening 31 days of the new year treated the Calgary Flames.
To be honest, January was not a good month for this team. And definitely not the kind of month they were hoping for, after an incredible December and end to 2016. Let’s look at everything about the team.
We’ll be focusing on three topics, for length purposes, in this article. The overall numbers of the team with their win-lose numbers, their special teams, and some notable players on the team.
Numbers
We’ll start by looking at how the Calgary Flames did, numbers wise. Like I mentioned, January was not a good month for this team.
The Flames went 5-7-1 and only managed to get 11 points that month. They also at one point had a four-game losing streak where they let in the first four goals in each game. Before the start of allowing those four-goals in four-games, they allowed two or less goals in 18 of their last 25 games. They finally ended that losing streak with an exciting overtime win over the Ottawa Senators to end their month, where they also scored the first goal that game. A feat they haven’t done in ten games before that.
They also managed to get shut-out twice in January. Before January, they’ve only been shutout one other time in the season.
From the start of the season until the end of December, they had 103 goals-for and 110 goals-against, giving them a goal differential of -7. In January, they had just 29 goals-for and 37 goals-against in 13 games, averaging just 2.2 g/gp. Before that with their 103 goals in 39 games, they weren’t doing a whole lot better, with averaging 2.6 g/gp. However, they were still winning more games. So it doesn’t quite matter how many goals you’re getting, as long as you’re winning games, at the end of the day, that’s all that matters (obviously).
Dec 20, 2016; San Jose, CA, USA; San Jose Sharks right wing Joonas Donskoi (27) celebrates scoring against the Calgary Flames in the second period at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports
Special Teams
The Calgary Flames start to their season had quite horrible special team numbers. However, at around mid-late November, they pulled their stuff together and had one of the most dangerous special teams in the league by December. From the start of December, they were 29th overall on the powerplay and by the end of the year, they were 13th overall. Even the beginning of January was great for them, and by the end of the first week of January, they were 10th overall on the PP in the league.
Since the start of December until the end of the year, even into that first week in January, they were first overall on the PP with an explosive and impressive 35.0%. The second highest was 27.8%.
However since after that first week of January until now, they’re 16th overall in the league with 18.2%. An ideal number for this team right now, especially with slightly falling out of a playoff position, would be 25.0%. But right now, they’re slightly struggling on the PP. In their last three games, they’ve only scored one PPG.
On the other end of this spectrum, the Flames also got their penalty-killing slightly in check. They were last or second last in the league for over a month. By the end of the year, they managed to get to 17th in the league with 81.2% PK. So not exactly great, but at least they were improving. In fact, just in the month of December, they were third overall in the league on the PK with 88.5%.
In January, they have struggled slightly as well with the PK. They’re 15th overall in the league in January with 80.0%. On the season right now, they’re 17th overall with 80.9%. So they have some work to do in the next couple months.
Forwards/defensemen
The next and final topic we’ll be looking at today are the players on the Calgary Flames. We’ll first start with some notable forwards and defensemen and then we’ll move on to the goalies.
For length-sake so this article isn’t like 5000 words long, we’ll just be focusing on a few players.
Johnny Gaudreau
From the start of the season until the end of December, Johnny Gaudreau had the most points on the team even though he played less games because of injury. He had 25 points in 29 games, averaging 0.86 points/game-play. He also had nine PPP and had a shooting percentage of 11.1%. One thing to also keep in mind about the lone Flames All-Star is that he had a +/- of -11, which was tied for third worst on the team in that time frame.
Now in January, he has just six points in 13 games. However, he ended the month with helping his team to an OT win against the Senators by scoring the game-winning overtime goal. That was his first goal in 11 games. And with that, he went into the All-Star weekend feeling confident and he was definitely one of the best players at the game. He had one of the most amount of points out of all the players. Let’s hope with that, he’ll continue this momentum heading into this new month and continue to also push his team into fighting for their playoff position back.
Sean Monahan
Sean Monahan hasn’t quite been having the season he was hoping for. Until the end of December, he had just 20 points in 39 games. He had 63 points in 81 games last season and 62 points in 81 games the season before, so he was definitely not on pace to hit that. He also had -14 on the team which was second worst on the team and worst among forwards.
However January came and unlike one of his best buddies on the team (Gaudreau), he had an impressive month. He had 11 points in 13 games, six of them being goals. He even had a five-game goal streak at one point. Now he has 31 points in 52 games, so still not on track to match his numbers from the last couple of years, but with his 16 goals on the year, he can definitely match his goals from the last few season if he continues this.
He also had just a -1 on the month, which is impressive considering how the team has been playing in January.
Something else to note about Monahan is that it’s not like his shooting percentage is much better. Until the end of December, it was 12.5% and in the new month, it’s at 13.0%. The thing is he’s shooting way more. If he continues to keep shooting the puck when he can, he can continue this push and also help his team back in a playoff position.
Mikael Backlund
Mikael Backlund has been one of the most consistent players on the Flames this season. So much so that people are now saying he should be a Selke finalist, which I may be biased, but I completely agree. Until the end of December, he had 24 points in 39 games. Now in January, he has 10 points in 13 games. On the year, he has 34 points which is the highest on the team.
He’s one of the main reasons that the Flames don’t have horrible PK numbers this year too. With him and line-mate Michael Frolik as the first penalty killing unit, they’re a fun dynamic duo to watch this year.
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And even with being on that first penalty killing unit, he still manages to keep his +/- in the positives, being +5.
Since the start of the season until the end of December, he had just seven PPP. In January alone, even with the team slightly struggling on the PP, he has five. He already has more PPP than he did last season and he’s at his highest ever with 12 and he doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.
He’s currently on pace to beat his points from last year where he had 47 points, which was a career-high. He’s projected at earning over 50 points this season which would be the first time he’s ever gotten over 50 points. This is definitely undoubtedly his best season of his career thus far.
Matthew Tkachuk
The Calgary Flames rookie, Matthew Tkachuk, has been quite the story this season. After going sixth overall at the 2016 draft and the Flames getting an absolute steal of a pick with the 19-year old, he’s been one of their best players this season. He is currently tied for third on the team with 31 points in 48 games.
But he’s also had an impact in other ways.
He may be young and new to the NHL, but he’s not afraid of anything. Especially not afraid of keeping his mouth guard in his mouth (please put your mouth guard in there Matt. That’s what it’s there for).
He has 92 PIM in the season which is highest on the Flames. The second highest? 66. It’s also the second highest in the league and highest among rookies.
So how has he been doing in January? Well, like his line-mate on the 3M line, Mikael Backlund, he doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon either. He had nine points in 13 games and 22 PIM this month alone. In the month, that was tied for highest among rookies and his nine points is tied for fifth among rookies. He’s tied for second for assists among rookies in the month of January.
He has definitely made his case on being included in Calder talks, but knowing the Flames, he probably won’t have his name mentioned, unfortunately.
Dougie Hamilton
The last forward/defenseman we’ll be looking at today is Dougie Hamilton. He is currently second for most amount of points on the team, with 32 in 51 games. And just like Backlund, he doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon. In January, he is tied for second with Backlund for the month with 10 points in 13 games. With his 32 points in 51 games, he’s projected at earning around 50 points on the season, which would be a career-high for him as well. His highest was last season with 43 points.
However, in January alone, he’s averaging 0.77 pts/gp. Before that, it was 0.58 pts/gp. If he continues the way he played in January for the rest of the season, he could potentially earn 55 points.
On the year among defensemen, Dougie is tied for 7th overall in points. In January, he’s tied for sixth among defensemen for points and is tied for fourth in the Western Conference.
Let’s hope he doesn’t stop anytime soon and he could have his best season thus far. Also just look at how adorable that picture is of him and Backs. How could he not have the best season of his career with a picture like that?
Nov 20, 2016; Detroit, MI, USA; Calgary Flames goalie Brian Elliott (right) shakes hands with goalie Chad Johnson (31) after the game against the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena. Flames won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Goalies
Last but definitely not least, we will be talking about goalies! I love goalies, they’ll always have a special place in my heart. Let’s start with the Calgary native.
Chad Johnson
Anybody who follows us on Twitter knows that I am the biggest Chad Johnson fan. However in January, he has sort of lost that spark that he had in throughout the rest of the season where he was a big factor for the Calgary Flames being in a playoff spot.
In the new year, Johnson’s record is a saddening 3-4-0 where he went 13-8-1 before January. Until the end of December, he had a save percentage of 0.920% and GAA of 2.34. He also had three shutouts which all came in a span of 8 games.
Now in 2017, his save percentage is 0.887%. This is definitely hurting the Flames and the reason for their not-so-great start to the new year. Let’s hope he can find his game again and he can continue to be that hometown hero he’s always dreamed of being.
Brian Elliott
Brian Elliott doesn’t have so much of the same story as Johnson does, but he has struggled this season. Before the new year hit, the Flames were turning to Johnson to be between the posts night after night because Johnson was rising up to the occasion and unfortunately, Elliott was having problems getting into his usual groove.
Until the end of 2016, Elliott was 7-9-1 on the season, had a save percentage of 0.893% and GAA of 3.00. So we can see why the Flames chose Johnson more often than not.
In January, Elliott isn’t getting much better, going 2-3-1 and having a sv% of 0.892%. But hopefully now with the Flames using the win-and-start method for the goaltending and with that exciting win over the Senators before heading into the All-Star break, he’ll start to regain the confidence he definitely needs. And hopefully with that new method, it’ll encourage him and push him to keep winning night after night. He will be starting in the crease for the first game after the All-Star break and for the first game in February, since he did win the last game, so let’s hope he can keep winning and keep getting the nod to be between the pipes.
Well, that’s all for now in the month of January. The Calgary Flames definitely need to push now more than ever, with just 30 games left in their season, they need all the wins they can get right now.
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