Links - Cullen Kiprusoff Makes the Difference for Flames - North River Minor Hockey Association

Cullen Kiprusoff Makes the Difference for Flames LOGINREGISTERHELPYOU ARE NOT LOGGED IN NHLNBAMLBCFLNFLCurlingTennisGolfSoccerNASCARFormula OneIndyCar NASCAR Canadian Tire SeriesNationwideCamping WorldAuto RacingWorld JuniorsSpengler CupMenS WHCWomenS WHCHockey CanadaAHLBoxingCanada GamesCHLCISECHLFigure SkatingLacrosseMMANCAASkiingSummer SportsWinter SportsMoreOlympicsFantasyDaily LineShowsTSN TalentCommunityMainNHLNBAMLBCFLNFLSoccereotText SizeThere was no more contentious ranking in my preseason NHL Power Rankings than the placement of the Calgary Flames at 17th For the countless emailers who questioned my sanity (among other things) I continually told them that I couldnt see where the Flames would make up for the 54 goals they lost in Mike Cammalleri and Todd Bertuzzis departures and that if the goaltending continued on its steady downward trend a middleofthepack ranking wasnt a reach for the FlamesNow more than a third of the way through the season it appears there was little reason to worry about either of those factorsFor starters the Flames were 8th in the NHL last year with 306 goals per game This year theyre 8th with 300 goals per game Jarome Iginlas 50goal pace hasnt hurt nor has a pointpergame from Rene Bourque but the Flames have primarily done it with a balanced attack with nine players contributing more than five goals and Iginla with 17 the only one with more than Daymond Langkows nineImproving the power play from last seasons 21stranked unit which scored 170% of the time to 16th and scoring 198% of the time this year helps but is hardly earthshattering improvementStrangely enough the Flames have maintained their offensive success despite ranking 29th in the league in shots on goal with 274 shots per game down from last seasons 322 shots per game which ranked eighthIts the shots on goal that make for an interesting comparison between this years Flames and last years version This year despite adding Jay Bouwmeester in an effort to stabilize the defence corps the Flames rank 20th in the league allowing 308 shots on goal per game Last year the Flames were in the middle of the pack allowing 298 shots against per gameNow that one shot per game isnt much of a difference so how do we account for the Flames allowing 239 goals against per game this year compared to last year when they surrendered 300 per game (ranked 23rd)For one thing the Flames have been more disciplined averaging 389 times shorthanded per game this year compared to 426 times per game last season Fewer times shorthanded should also mean fewer quality shots against so that does help explain the Flames improved defensive record despite allowing more shots against But that explanation doesnt do justice to why the Flames are really better than I expected That leaves us with the last line of defence primarily Miikka Kiprusoff seeing ...