Calgary Flames: What’s Wrong With The Power Play?

In a disappointing 4-2 loss to Carolina Hurricanes, the Calgary Flames now only have a 4.5% power play success rate. So why can’t these guys score with the man advantage?

The Calgary Flames had back to back to back power plays against the Carolina Hurricanes Thursday evening, but couldn’t get any pucks into the back of the net. They had a total of six power plays that they couldn’t take advantage of. They also had six power plays against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday evening, where they also couldn’t score a goal.

In fact, the Flames have had 22 power plays since the start of the season and have only been able to score on one of them. And that goal was by D Dennis Wideman, who has been a healthy scratch the last few games. They now have only a 4.5% success rate and are dead last in that category.

So what gives? What is wrong with this team that they cannot score with the man advantage?

Something you’ve noticed as a Flames fan is that the top line isn’t producing. Johnny Gaudreau finally got his first goal of the season in this game against the Hurricanes. And as a first line and first power play unit, if you’re not producing then you’ve got to depend on secondary scoring. And that doesn’t always work.

But that’s not the only problem here.

We know that Dave Cameron, former head coach of the Ottawa Senators, was hired during the off season as an assistant coach for the Flames. He’s also primarily the power play coach for this team as well. Does there need to be a coaching change?

Let’s Look At His Numbers

Related Story: Calgary Flames Make Mistake In Hiring Cameron

The last two years that Cameron was the head coach for the Sens, they finished 21st and 26th in power play ranking, respectively. Pretty similar to Calgary’s situation, seeing how they finished 22nd last year in power plays. Senators GM Pierre Dorion made it very clear about his thoughts toward Cameron and his coaching, and even listed all the reasons why he was let go.

The fact that they have one of the league’s top defenceman, Erik Karlsson, and still only had a 15.8% pp success rate was unacceptable, according to Dorion (I had Karlsson in my pool two years ago and I remember him always getting me power play points, so this is interesting to see). They also somehow had 17 shorthanded goals last season, but still ranked 29th in penalty killing, right before Flames. Eerily similar to the Flames power play and penalty killing situation.

So What Gives, Brad?

By Brad, I mean Brad Treliving aka Flames GM.

Treliving and Brian Burke have made some excellent decisions in the last two seasons. They’ve been amazing at negotiating and have gotten players for great prices. So why hire Cameron? This has been leaving many fans and sports writers alike scratching their heads. We know Brad is an excellent businessman and he wouldn’t have been hired (obviously) if he didn’t know what he was doing. Surely, there’s got to be a reason why Cameron was hired, but the reason is unknown thus far.

Something the Flames have been continually struggling with for the last few seasons have been their special teams. So why hire someone specifically for the power play when he doesn’t have respectable power play numbers? Dorion made it incredibly clear how horrific Cameron’s coaching style is and how poorly the Senators did last season BECAUSE of their coaching staff. So what gives?

Next: Are The Comeback Flames Making Another Comeback?

With all of the deals Treliving has made in the last couple seasons, I trust him with my life. But I’m not so sure about this one. I just hope the Flames can find a way to benefit from the man advantage and bring their fans something to cheer for again.