October 14, 2022 by Mike Dashney

If I’m going to be the only guy on this Edmonton Oilers centric hockey network that thinks the Calgary Flames will repeat as the NHL’s regular season Pacific Division champions, then sobeit.

That said, let me just start with this: I hate myself for feeling this way. I get less than zero enjoyment in saying anything constructive or positive about our provincial rival. I by no means want this misconstrued or skewed to think there is a single solitary ounce of me that will cheer for the Flames. Not in 1986. Not in 2004. So, certainly not in 2023.

Okay look, I also know the Flames had a lot of things go right for them in the regular season. Most noteworthy being their lack of injuries. They also had a few key players in the last year of their contracts.

I hope I am wrong; I really do. Simultaneously, I also have this nagging feeling in my gut like the Flames will be even better than last year… but let’s hope that’s just indigestion. Nonetheless, here are ten reasons I think the Flames will repeat in the Pacific after 82 more games.

10. The Oilers

If Calgary doesn’t repeat, then this is easily Edmonton’s division to lose. The Oilers moved on from eight of their nine oldest players this season, including Mike Smith, Duncan Keith, Derrick Brassard, Kris Russell, Mikko Koskinen, Colton Sceviour, Kyle Turris, and Zack Kassian. That’s 5,879 games of NHL experience lost. Even with all that experience and the leadership intangibles in the room, a handful of Oilers still got blamed for taking games off and “self load managing”. Should we expect the Oilers to be more consistent when that many years of experience aren’t there to settle things? Last season was one of the biggest roller coasters in memory, and that was with all that knowledge and wisdom with the team. The Oilers’ goaltending must improve considerably for them to outplay their mistakes more than they did last season, and therefore be more consistent. I really hope that happens. All that said, the Oilers’ weakness is on the blue line where they need their youth to step up and play key pivotal roles. I know the Oilers have enough firepower to carry us to the playoffs.

9. Special Teams

They are a vital and integral part of a team’s make-up in today’s NHL. They can be the driving force in how a game is decided. Last season the Flames had the tenth best powerplay (PP) in the league. They had a 22.9% PP, and they could even get stronger there with the additions of Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri. They had 38 and 29 points respectively with the man advantage. They were almost 4% better than the league’s average on the penalty kill (PK). The Flames did turn over some personnel in the summer, but the only major PK contributor the team lost was Erik Gudbranson. MacKenzie Weegar successfully played the PK in Florida just as much as Gudbranson did in Calgary.

8. Jacob Markstrom

He is an elite goaltender. He was third in the NHL in goals against average (GAA) and save percentage (SV%), and he led the league in shutouts. Upon coach Darryl Sutter’s arrival, Markstrom improved his SV% by 0.18, lowered his goals against average by 0.44, and recorded six more shutouts than he did in 2020-21. He also recorded fifteen more wins and four fewer losses while elevating his goals saved above expected from -4 to +26.1. Markstrom is by far the most consistent and proven goalie out of him, Jack Campbell, and Stuart Skinner. Not against the Oilers you say? Well, I agree. Markstrom’s SV% against the Oilers last year was 83%, but his SV% versus the rest of the league was 92.5%, which is almost 10% better. That said, due to a huge schedule fail by the NHL, the Flames and Oilers only face off three times this year (and only once after October expires). He will benefit from a team that has proven to have good starts, consistency, and team discipline. He will further benefit from having a stronger and more mobile defence in front of him.

7. Jonathan Huberdeau

This is the Johnny that Calgary always wanted! Johnny Gaudreau and Johnny Huberdeau tied for second in league scoring last year with 115 points. They were also neck and neck finishing fourth and fifth respectively for the NHL’s award for Most Valuable Player. The previous season, Huberdeau was thirteenth in Hart Trophy Voting when his league scoring found him ninth in points scored and tied for seventh in assists. Johnny Hockey was dynamic and fun to watch; but I strongly believe Huberdeau brings more consistency, dimension, and breadth with his game.

6. MacKenzie Weegar

It has been said many times that top pairing defencemen don’t grow on trees. Weegar is easily that. In fact, he’s arguably a top fifteen defenseman in the NHL. According to the information derived from Sportlogiq, Weegar ranked first in blocked passes, fourth in zone denials and eighth in zone exits at five-on-five. In the last two seasons, Weegar has placed fourteenth and eighth in James Norris Trophy voting. He is known as one of the league’s top two-way defensemen. He also has versatility. Even though he shoots right-handed, he played the left side with Aaron Ekblad for the Florida Panthers. Weegar is one of the best defencemen in the league in transition, both when it comes to exiting the zone and breaking up rush offence coming the other way. He excels at defending with his feet and using an active stick. The Flames led the league in shutouts, and now they have a new defenceman that’s better than anyone they already had.

5. System Improvement

Another year of practicing and perfecting the systems that Sutter implemented. Clearly what he did with that team worked. No disrespect to Jerome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff, but last season’s Flames may have been the most consistent Flames team since the 80’s. Similarly to how much the Oilers can benefit under a full season of Jay Woodcroft’s tutelage, the Flames will have had that much more time to fully understand and buy into Sutter’s system.

4. Better Team Chemistry

Look, I see the irony in this statement given the Flames undeniably had the best line in hockey last season. It’s also not lost on me that TEAM chemistry is never optimal when its known key team members don’t want to be there. Playing for yourself and playing for your team are two very, very, very different concepts. This lack of team chemistry came out in the wash in the playoffs when Evander Kane completely neutralized Matthew Tkachuk and the entire identity of the Flames with one very intimidating spoken sentence. This lack of chemistry also showed when they lost focus enough to let Leon Draisaitl walk all over them with one leg (breaking records set by Wayne Gretzky in the process). The bottom line is that the distractions are gone now, and I feel like the new leadership group will play for team success, not for individual success.

3. More Maturity

I don’t disagree that this team got a lot older. I don’t disagree that the Flames may really regret a few of these contracts sooner than later. However, they are more experienced, battle-hardened, sophisticated, and better prepared for challenges that lie ahead this coming season. That said, reason numbers three and four should inevitably equate to more dedication.

2. Better Buy-In

Nobody except the people in that room know for sure if the Flames had a culture problem within it. Believe what you want about their commitment to the team on and off the ice. I know what I believe, and I believe that this group will do a better job maintaining the high level of commitment that Sutter demands on AND off the ice.

1. Darryl Sutter

Each year, the Jack Adams Award is awarded to the National Hockey League coach “adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success.” Sutter took his L.A. Kings team through thirteen rounds of playoffs from 2012 – 2014, and still the award eluded him. Fast forward to the present, and Sutter literally just won the Jack Adams trophy for the first time last season. I tell you that to ask you this: Who in the history of hockey has gotten more effort and consistency out of teams than Sutter? The Flames don’t even have dust on their new “Pacific Division Champions” banner yet, and the coach now has a more mature and experienced team at his disposal.

Let me repeat that I do not think the Flames have a snowball’s chance in hell of defeating the Oilers when the playoffs roll around again come June. Maybe instead of using the adage of the snowball that I just used, perhaps I should have said that a Flame cannot survive in an Ice District.

Despite all that, I’m looking for any reason to be wrong here. Comment below and tell me why.