We’ll begin today with an apology. I work landscaping to keep the lights on. It snowed a lot this weekend. Thankfully, we have a reprieve.
That said, who else is a little speechless about this last month of hockey?
To catch up, at 7-2-2, the Calgary Flames are currently tied for the best record in the NHL in November with Winnipeg and Minnesota. All three teams have 16 points in 11 games. Winnipeg has one more win, so Flames Head Coach Ryan Huska will have to admit that the tie-breaker goes to the Jets.
While some players have heated up in the last ten days (Coronato, Sharangovich, Weegar), most of the credit should be given to the defence. Matthew Coronato and MacKenzie Weegar are in a 31-way tie for 86th in NHL scoring in the month of November with seven points.
Meanwhile, Dustin Wolf has a 5-0-1 record and a .944 save percentage on the month. His 1.62 goals against average over that period is Kiprusoff-esque.
The defence has certainly helped. Pardon the lack of accuracy, but Megan Mikkelson was rattling off stats in the pre-game against Minnesota and MacKenzie Weegar sat near the top of the league in puck recoveries. The pairing of Rasmus Andersson and Kevin Bahl were also around first place in zone denials. We assume she was quoting
SportsLogiq.
Listen, when you're calve-high in snow trying to operate a Husqvarna snow blower and manage a heavy scraper with each hand; you miss the odd detail.
A brief aside about
SportsLogiq. They operate out of Quebec and their statistics are so fun to get access to. I had a call with them a few years ago and got a sample of their game sheets. Their pricing is more in line for a corporate budget, but Sportsnet or TSN sometimes dish out for it.
Strong defence, laughably slow offence, and fantastic goaltending seems to be the name of the game.
The fact that the Flames are competing for first in the Pacific Division despite carrying the 30th-highest cap hit ($69.25M) is surely a testament to how enigmatic this organization truly is. There is no team like the Flames.
Calgary Flames Projected Lineup
Courtesy of Derek Wills.
@Fan960Wills
Huberdeau-Zary-Coleman
Pospisil-Kadri-Kuzmenko
Sharangovich-Backlund-Coronato
Lomberg-Rooney-Kirkland
Bahl-Andersson
Weegar-Miromanov
Hanley-Pachal
Wolf
Vladar
Ottawa Senators Projected Lineup
Sunday’s practice lines courtesy of TSN1200.
@TSN1200 No word on a starting goaltender.
Tkachuk-Stützle-Gaudette
Giroux-Norris-Batherson
Greig-Pinto-Cousins
Amadio-Ostapchuk-Perron
Sanderson-Hamonic
Chabot-JBD
Kleven-Jensen
A Change of Pace
It is highly advised to tune in a bit early to the Amazon Broadcast of this Flames-Senators game. Prime shows the warmups accompanied by just music. It is indescribably refreshing.
Deep Issues
You may have noticed that 34-year-old Travis Hamonic is starting the night on the first pairing.
While 34 is not exactly old, there isn’t much tread left on those tires. Senators fans aren’t particularly happy about their blue line situation. Hamonic appeared to have his best days behind him before he departed the Flames organization in 2020.
The St. Malo, Manitoba product has a -8 even strength goal differential in 19 games this season.
Polar Opposites
The Flames are 3-0-0 in their last three. The Senators? 0-0-3.
3-6-1 in their last ten; the team has been spiraling. Every season seems to be the same as the season prior. To quote the Immortal Bard:
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death.
Maybe that is more about mortality, but existing isn’t exactly fun for the more diehard Senators fans. For Flames fans, their Canadian brethren serve as a bitter reminder than conventional rebuilds have perilously slippery slopes. Stray but a little and all will fail. If Calgary can hold on to a winning culture while bringing in younger players, they should.
You do have to wonder if there is a deal to be made between the two teams. The Senators aren’t devoid of talent and Calgary has a surplus of right-side defencemen that are better than Travis Hamonic.
Game time is 5:30 p.m. MST. Catch the broadcast on Amazon Prime.
Stats courtesy of the National Hockey League.
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