Out of the gate

Strong starts?

So I was thinking about how we're always hearing about how strong the Flames have been in the first period this season, and I figured I'd take a quick look at the numbers. Not all the numbers mind you, just the shots and goals for the first five games of the season, by period. Just to get an idea as to how strong their first periods are, compared to later in the game...

Game 1: 6-0 loss to Vancouver

Period		1		2		3
Shots		9-5		10-7		6-11
Goals		0-1		0-2		0-3

Game 2: 5-4 OT loss to Vancouver

Period		1		2		3		OT
Shots		11-7		9-18		7-6		2-3
Goals		3-1		1-2		0-1		0-1

Game 3: 5-4 win over Colorado

Period	1	2	3
Shots	12-10	15-5	8-14
Goals	3-2	0-1	2-1

Game 4: 4-3 loss to Edmonton

Period	1	2	3
Shots	8-15	9-12	12-8
Goals	1-1	1-3	1-0

Game 5: 3-2 loss to Edmonton

Period	1	2	3
Shots	17-3	6-14	10-10
Goals	2-0	0-3	0-0

Total after 5 games: 1-3-1

Period	1	2	3	OT
Shots	57-40	49-59	43-49	2-3
Goals	9-5	2-11	3-5	0-1

Its too bad we couldn't just call the games after the first 20 minutes, since then the Flames record would be a very respectable 3-1-1...

As has been stated in numerous posts (but not in any of mine), Keenan can't seem to leave well enough alone and appears to like to switch things up between periods. I know you have to be able to make in game adjustments, but when what you are doing is working, it should be the other team that makes the changes. Keenan's attempts at pre-emptive line changes isn't throwing the other teams off, it looks like its just making it easier for them...

Back to back battle! Again!

Once more unto the breach!

Canucks last week, and now the greasers in a back to back this weekend? I guess they want to get the divisional races heated up a little early in the season. It can't really get any worse than what happened last weekend, can it?

My hate-on for the Oilers has grown again these last couple of years, what with them becoming somewhat respectable again... Wait, that's not the right word... I can't bring myself to actually respect them... How about the Oilers have become somewhat competent again... much better...

Anyway, the Flames host the kids from up North at the Saddledome tonight, and then take Highway 2 to the Rexall Centre tomorrow for the second game...

At least I'm assuming they'll take Highway 2. But it might be a nice time of year to take the long road through the parks... Which reminds me... The Tim Horton's in Hinton doesn't offer hot chocolate... Which I find kind of weird, since its just outside Jasper and you would think that if some parents were taking their kids through the parks in the colder months, they would like to have a hot liquid option for them to drink... Because I'm assuming kids in Alberta don't drink coffee, do they? Maybe that's why prairie kids are such gritty hockey players... And they probably drink it black, straight up... I'm sure that the Tim Horton's in Vulcan probably only serves black coffee, no double doubles allowed (do they have a Timmy's in Vulcan?)... Or maybe I'm just overthinking this...

Regardless, I will not be around to catch either game, as I'll be Oktoberfesting it up in Kitchener-Waterloo... In fact, I'll probably be three sheets to the wind (five or six actually), by the time the puck even drops on either night...

I would think of recording the games on my PVR (which was so lucky a couple of years ago), but I'm sure my brother would be more than a little skeptical of me taping an early season hockey game, regardless of who is playing in it... Although he did record the start of the Habs-Bruins game a couple nights ago, while muttering something about 100 years and Patrick Roy's jersey... I don't know, I wasn't really paying attention...

I know I should probably go to a bar and watch the game instead of a big fest-hall, but Oktoberfest only happens once a year! Its not like its a date that I can put off for a day or two...

Here's hoping the boys win tonight at least, as otherwise there is apparently a decent chance that Mike Keenan could be fired just four games into the season...

Don't worry about it... yet...

Where is Sean Connery when you need him?

It seems that at the beginning of every season lately the Flames are floundering around looking like they are still playing preseason games. I've gotten so used to the boys losing for a good section of the first month of the season, that I thought I'd look and see just how bad they have been in the previous five seasons...

Now most of you have probably realized by now that stats based articles are not my forte (which is kind of funny to me when I think of how many stats courses I took in university). So I kept this one simple...

I just took the October records for the Flames and compared it to the rest of the season for the years 2002 to 2007. I also did a quick check to see how they started out the month in each year by showing the first four games...

October 2002: 3-3-2-0
Rest of 2002/03: 26-33-11-4

October 2003: 4-4-0-1
Rest of 2003/04: 38-26-7-2

October 2005: 4-7-0-2
Rest of 2005/06: 42-18-0-2

October 2006: 3-6-0-1
Rest of 2006/07: 40-23-0-4

October 2007: 6-3-0-3
Rest of 2007/08: 36-27-0-4

As you can see, last year was the first time that the Flames had a positive record in the month of October since Sutter and Kiprusoff came to town. But if a loss was a loss regardless, they only broke even. And obviously the 2002 season doesn't really fit in since it was when the Flames were still horrible, but I threw it in anyway...

But even last year's anomaly fits in when you only look at the first four games, you can see that they usually start very poorly (with a loss, in fact)...

2002: L, L, W, T
2003: L, W, W, L
2005: L, W, L, L
2006: L, W, L, W
2007: L, L, L, W
2008: L, L, W, ?

I fully realize that I am selecting my data to corroberate my hypothesis (since they won 3 of the previous 5 fifth games and tied another), but that wouldn't change where I'm going with this anyway...

At least I think I'm going somewhere with it...

Basically, relax, cause its only October. Not much of a revelation, I realize, but I was curious about the numbers, and I'm sure that some of you may have been too...

Yeah, it'd be nice to get a good jump out of the gate, but that wouldn't be the Calgary Flames' style...

And you have no idea how much of a pain in the ass it was to create that mock movie poster...

Update: it looks like the boys picked up their first W of the season tonight over the Avalanche...

Update 2: it also looks like Leanne beat me to the punch... which is probably one reason why I shouldn't have spent the better part of last night working on that damn poster...

Hockey's Back! (And so am I)...

Easing my way back into it...

Hey, do I have any readers left?

Yeah, I apparently took the summer off, as well as a good portion of the spring and the first few weeks of fall...

Been kinda busy and I just wasn't feeling it, you know? But with the start of the first Calgary game of the season, I'm refreshed and back on the boat (in the chair, whichever)...

I had a few posts all drafted up and ready to go, one on guys that I can't stand, which I will probably edit and post later on. I had a post on the Festival Cup here in Toronto at the beginning of September that I only had to add my photographs to. There was a significant Flames presence there, so I may just post it with its backdate and if you are really bored at some point you can read through it (I may post it tomorrow, if I remember)...

Actually, as I type this the Flames are down 5-0 with only 7:30 left in the third period. The boys are not looking sharp tonight. They had a pretty good first, but couldn't solve Luongo and the F@%^ing Canucks built on a couple of quick goals to start the second. Have I mentioned how much I can't stand the Canucks? I have? Oh, nevermind then...

There are a bunch of things I should really get around to voicing my opinion on, which I probably will, when the topic comes up again...

But in the meantime, welcome back! And let's just hope the Saturday night game in Calgary goes a lot better...

Update: 6-0 final... ugh...