Flames Eliminated

So the Flames, despite their sensational comeback circa Game 3 and Game 4, were finally ousted in 6.

Badly outscored - 18 to 10. Badly outshot - 255 to 129. If it weren't for Kipper's superhuman efforts, this series would've been done long before Game 6 OT.

On paper, the two sides matched up fairly evenly in most areas.

In net, the Flames probably even had a edge over the Wings. The unflappable Miikka Kiprusoff was at his calm-and-cool best in Game 6, repelling 53 of 54 shots until Franzen blasted a high one against the grain past his glove hand to end the series. Dominik Hasek, meanwhile, was at his comical best in Game 4, unsheathing his scythe at Jarome Iginla after a fish-out-of-water impersonation. Oh, and the fact that his English is unintelligible doesn't help his cause.

Up front, it would be hard to argue that the Wings' top players were really miles ahead of the Flames'. Calgary boasted three 30-goal scorers in Iginla (39), Kristian Huselius (34), and Daymond Langkow (33); Detroit had two - Henrik Zetterberg (33) and Tomas Holmstrom (30). Alex Tanguay led the Flames with 59 assists; Datsyuk led the Wings with 60. Craig Conroy recovered from an abysmal 16 points in 52 games season with the L.A. Kings to score 21 in 28 for the Flames; Kyle Calder had an even worse year with Philly (21 in 59) before bouncing back for 14 in 19 in Detroit. Tony Amonte had his worst season in the NHL to date, with just 10 goals and 30 points; Robert Lang had a subpar year with 52. Matthew Lombardi and Dan Cleary both hit 20 goals for the first time in their careers. Jeff Friesen scored a pitiful 6 goals and 12 points, sadly still one better than last year; Todd Bertuzzi had an injury-riddled season.

But really, can you honestly say you'd prefer the Red Wings' top-five of Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Holmstrom, Lang, and Bertuzzi to the Flames' Iginla, Tanguay, Huselius, Langkow, and Conroy?

Depth-wise, Stephane Yelle and Marcus Nilson match up fairly well against Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby, although probably lagging slightly on the physical side. Beyond that, Byron Ritchie, Wayne Primeau, Darren McCarty, and Davis Moss cannot possibly be preferred to Mikael Samuelsson, Johan Franzen, Jiri Hudler, and Valtteri Filippula.

So the Flames could do better on the third and fourth lines, and the Wings' impressive drafting history shines through again. But that's not the most glaring difference.

On defence, Niklas Lidstrom, Mathieu Schneider, and Chris Chelios lead a Detroit blueline that's years ahead of the Flames'. Lidstrom and Schneider, point men on the Wings' PP, combined for 24 goals and 114 points; Dion Phaneuf and Roman Hamrlik had 24 goals and 88 points. Rhett Warrener's physical play equals that of Chelios, and Brad Stuart was a good late-season pickup, though sophomore Brett Lebda has been solid as well. Robyn Regehr and Niklas Kronvall both missed the playoffs due to injuries. The inconsistent play of Andrei Zyuzin and Mark Giordano probably ranks them below Danny Markov and Andreas Lilja. Though Zyuzin displayed flashes of offensive flair towards the end of the series, his poor defensive judgment has proven costly on many occasions, and does not justify his hefty price tag.

Despite employing three aging veterans on the blueline, the Wings clearly benefitted from their timeless talent and experience. Lidstrom has 15 years in the NHL and 174 playoff games under his belt, Schneider 17 years and 92 playoff games, and Chelios 22 years and 228 games. By contrast, Hamrlik has 14 years and 51 playoff games, Warrener 11 years and 95 games, and Stuart 7 years and 46 games. That's 44 combined years to 32, and 494 playoff games to 192 between the two teams' three most experienced defencemen.

Perhaps the most disturbing stat of all is the fact that Zyuzin, of all people, was the only Flame to finish the series at even plus/minus. At the other end, Zetterberg and Samuelsson finished at even. The difference? The rest of the Flames were minuses, and the rest of the Wings were plusses.

In conclusion? The Flames' current corp of D-men aren't as deep as the '04 edition. Regehr and Warrener are still around, and Phaneuf, Hamrlik, and Stuart are probably upgrades over Denis Gauthier, Jordan Leopold, and Toni Lydman. But somehow, Zyuzin, Giordano, and Hale just aren't as reliable as Andrew Ference, Steve Montador, and Mike Commodore.

The Flames can no longer claim to have the league's deepest defence. That honour goes to the Ottawa Senators, with Wade Redden, Tom Preissing, Joe Corvo, Andrej Meszaros, Chris Phillips, Christoph Schubert, and Anton Volchenkov to choose from, even in the post-Zdeno Chara era. Buffalo (Brian Campbell, Dimitri Kalinin, Teppo Numminen, Nathan Paetsch, Jaroslav Spacek, Toni Lydman, and Henrik Tallinder), Dallas (Sergei Zubov, Philippe Boucher, Darryl Sydor, Stephane Robidas, Trevor Daley, Mattias Norstrom, and Jon Klemm), Nashville (Kimmo Timonen, Marek Zidlicky, Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, Dan Hamhuis, and Vitaly Vishnevski), and San Jose (Matthew Carle, Christian Ehrhoff, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Craig Rivet, Scott Hannan, and Kyle McLaren) are all challengers.

Anyway. The point is, the Flames need to get back to their old stingy selves if they want to go anywhere in the playoffs. Allowing 40 shots a game isn't gonna cut it at any level of hockey.