Flame for Thought
Fansided

Calgary Flames: Five things to look forward to in 2018-19

By Ramina Shlah

SHENZHEN, CHN - SEPTEMBER 15: Mark Giordano #5 of the Calgary Flames celebrates a goal against the Boston Bruins at the Universiade Sports Center on September 15, 2018 in Shenzhen, China. (Photo by Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)
SHENZHEN, CHN - SEPTEMBER 15: Mark Giordano #5 of the Calgary Flames celebrates a goal against the Boston Bruins at the Universiade Sports Center on September 15, 2018 in Shenzhen, China. (Photo by Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 6
Next
LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 22: Mark Giordano #5 of the Calgary Flames converses with T.J. Brodie #7 of the Calgary Flames during a game against the Los Angeles Kings at STAPLES Center on December 22, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NHLI via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 22: Mark Giordano #5 of the Calgary Flames converses with T.J. Brodie #7 of the Calgary Flames during a game against the Los Angeles Kings at STAPLES Center on December 22, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NHLI via Getty Images) /

5. Mark Giordano and TJ Brodie reunited

Reunited and it feeeeels so gooooooood.

Mark Giordano and TJ Brodie will be reunited to start the season off. While Brodie has been struggling the last couple of seasons, Gio has been quite consistent. In fact, he and Dougie Hamilton (RIP) were one of the best duos in the league last season. Since being paired up together at the start of the 2016-17 season, Dougie credited a lot of his success to Giordano and on Gio being a great leader.

We saw a great example of this when Gio and Brodie were paired up together in 2014-15 and were a great tandem together. One of our writers here, Brett Boyle, wrote a few weeks ago about how they should play together again, and here is what he showed about it:

"Together: Giordano – 143 games, 32 goals, 72 assists, +8 Brodie – 151 games, 17 goals, 69 assists, +19 Apart: Giordano – 163 games, 25 goals, 52 assists, +22 Brodie – 155 games, 10 goals, 58 assists, -32 The most alarming difference here is obviously the change in +/- for TJ Brodie. Giordano actually has a better +/- when he is not paired with Brodie, showing both the struggles Brodie can have in the defensive zone as well as the brilliance of Gio."

More. Why Giordano and Brodie should play together again. light

Although I’m not the biggest fan of using +/- as a stat because it doesn’t accurately describe a player’s ability, we can see how offensive they can be together. And a big problem for the Calgary Flames last season was their inability to produce offence, being the fifth lowest-scoring team in the league with 216 goals.

Last season, both Gio and Brodie struggled with their offence, with both hitting the lowest they have in years.

When the two were paired together in 2014-15, while the whole team, in general, didn’t do all that well when it came to puck-possession, Gio and Brodie did their best when they were paired together. Given they didn’t spend a lot of time apart (Gio spent less than 100 minutes away from Brodie at 5on5 and more than 1000 minutes with him), Gio did worst (among all skaters) when he wasn’t paired with Brodie, with a mere 43% CF% (stats taken from naturalstattrick.com).

Brodie’s numbers are the same, among all skaters he played at least 20 minutes with (5on5), his CF% was the worst when he wasn’t paired with Gio, at a 38.85%.

Maybe being reunited again after spending a couple years apart will be what they each need. And Brodie can try to find his game again.

All I know is that I miss the 2014-15 season and any chance to try and recreate that magic is exciting in my books.

Home/Editorials