System tweaks have Flames flying early

More physicality. Tighter gaps when defending. Better communication between the forwards and defencemen. 

Early this season, those changes have helped the Calgary Flames get off to a 5-0-1 start, the best in franchise history. A season after they missed the playoffs, the Flames are currently top 10 in goals for and against, and have improved on the power play. They’ve also allowed just seven five-on-five goals in six games.

Head coach Ryan Huska has said he felt the club was too passive and gave up too many scoring chances in the defensive zone last season. He made some tweaks in the club’s approach and mindset, and players have bought in.

“We’re tracking back a little harder and are just executing at a little faster pace,” said winger Blake Coleman last week. “Tight gaps from our D, good tracks from the forwards, two-man reloads [when moving the puck up the ice in transition].”

MacKenzie Weegar has three goals so far after scoring 20 last season. He explained the change in approach for Calgary’s blueliners. 

“In the offensive zone, you’ll see a lot more of the strong-side [defencemen] pinching down, or if the rim is coming out the weak side, that [defenceman] is coming down,” he said. “You’ll see a lot of forwards covering for the [defencemen], and this year Husk has put a lot of trust in that winger or centreman covering for the [defencemen] when the [defencemen] are still down low in the offensive zone, and that’s caused more offence for us…That’s the right system.”

Huska’s willingness to give blueliners the green light is paying off. The Flames lead the league in goals by defencemen (six), and the team is seventh in goals per game (3.83), significantly higher than the 3.09 they averaged last season.

“We switched a few things up and we stay more aggressive as a team,” blueliner Rasmus Andersson said. “I think we’re just playing harder, working harder too, and that means us d-men can stay up and spend more time in the fun zone.”

The Flames are also communicating much more when backchecking. 

“We’re staying up a lot more in the neutral zone, but I think that comes with our forwards tracking back really hard,” Weegar said. “The area that Husk has really covered is always having guys above you. If a guy pinches down, there’s always a guy coming back out. It allows us to stand up a lore more as [defencemen] or come down and pinch. That’s the biggest thing we’ve changed, and I think that’s been huge for us. Everyone is on board with that. We all like that system.”

Coleman said that it comes down to believing that teammates will do their job. 

“You can’t play an aggressive style if you don’t trust the guy next to you,” he said. “Everyone on our team has bought into it.”

Weegar said that the club also now has more defined responsibilities when trying to get the puck back. 

“There was a grey area, I’d say, last season in the neutral zone, inside the dots – whose guy it was on this side of the red line or that side of the red line,” he said. “Now this year, it’s cut and dry…the communication is very clear for everybody…there’s more trust between the [defencemen] and forwards.”

Defenceman Kevin Bahl has been a quick study to the new system. 

Bahl, 24, was acquired by the Flames from New Jersey for goalie Jacob Markstrom during the summer. He’s played with Andersson on the club’s shutdown pairing so far this season, facing the likes of Connor McDavid, Connor Bedard, and Sidney Crosby.

Despite starting just 26 per cent of his five-on-five shifts in the offensive zone, he’s been on the ice for more high-danger scoring chances for than against. 

“Get up, set your gap, and play connected,” Bahl said of the team’s approach. “The forwards have been tracking exceptionally well. When they track that well, they’re pushing the other team outside, which allows you [as a defenceman] to surf and angle [the opponent], force a dump, force a chip. When you have a really good backchecker, it just makes life easy.”

The changes defensively are paying off in how the team suppresses shots. Calgary is 10th in percentage of five-on-five high-danger chances after finishing 18th last season. They are also fourth in high-danger save percentage. The Flames also playing a much more physical brand of hockey early this year. Last season, they were 23rd in hits. This season, they’re 12th. 

Coleman allowed that the new system is physically demanding to play, but one that’ll pay off in the long run.

“It will be, over the course of 82 games,” he said. “It’s hard to have it every night, but I think the idea is if you can get it 80 per cent of your games, then…it’s going to allow you to beat a lot of teams.”

He also said that the club is benefitting from stability. This time last year, five of the 23 players were on expiring contracts. Now, there’s more alignment and buy-in from everyone. 

“It [the locker room] is one of the best I’ve had in my career as far as guys that have bought in and want to win and want to pay the price,” Coleman said.

“There’s no agendas this year. It’s just hockey and let’s play together and let’s be tough to play against."