The formula for one of the early surprises this season – the success of the Calgary Flames – has been simple: good goaltending and strong play from their blue line.
This simple formula has resulted in a current claim by the Flames to third place in the vaunted Pacific Division, only trailing the Anaheim Ducks and Vancouver Canucks, while being ahead of the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings.
Jonas Hiller has been one of the ‘surprise’ players early on this year, and while his success (2.16 GAA, .929 SV%) has certainly made things easier , Hiller has a track record of carrying teams on his back for stretches.
Along the blue line, maybe no player has made a bigger impact than T.J. Brodie, who is certainly living up to the billing of his brand new five-year, $23.25 million contract signed during the season (cap hit of $4.65 million). After breaking out for 31 points last season, Brodie is on pace to blow by that mark as early as the mid-season point this year.
“I’ve rarely seen a young defenseman progress at such a quick pace,” said Flames Head Coach Bob Hartley after their win against the Montreal Canadiens. “His progression is phenomenal. T.J. is such a gifted skater. (He) understands the game well.”
Nearly at a point-per-game pace (14 points in 15 games), the former fourth round selection (118th overall in 2008) has been paired with team captain Mark Giordano, who has been sharing a similar pace (15 points in 15 games), to form one of top defensive duos in the league.
No other blue line tandem has come close to the 29-points that Brodie and Giordano have put up so far (Dennis Wideman’s nine points makes them the top defensive scoring trio in the league with 38 points).
It hasn’t been solely on the offensive side of the puck where Brodie is taking his game to a new level either. Hartley has entrusted his 24-year-old defender with the toughest match-ups and he’s been counted on in the defensive zone.
This chart below shows how Brodie is being deployed compared to some of the other better defenders in the league (the players who are and are not listed is completely debatable) and it shows Brodie is clearly up against tougher competition, as well starting the majority of his shifts in his own end.
It also shows that despite him being deployed mostly in defensive situations against top competition, he is still able to drive action to the opposing net and his team is still scoring more goals while he is on the ice than is being scored against (68.42 GF% only trails Shea Weber and Marc-Edouard Vlasic on this list).
Competing in one of the toughest divisions in hockey, a lot of things will have to continue to go right for the Flames to keep their current pace. Calgary is currently one of the bottom three teams when it comes to possession as well as one of the top three in PDO, which means if their shooting percentage and/or save percentage drop in any way they could find themselves in trouble (and analytics show this to be pretty likely).
When this does happen, the play of Brodie will be that much more important. If early on is any indication, he seems to be more than up to the task.
“Brodes is much louder on the ice than in the dressing room, I can tell you this,” Hartley said. “Brodes, in the locker room, is almost like a ghost… His play right now is doing the talking. And that’s where it counts.”
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