{"id":435994,"date":"2026-01-30T09:28:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T09:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/435994\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T09:28:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T09:28:12","slug":"ryan-huskas-defence-first-approach-doesnt-work-and-its-costing-the-calgary-flames","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/435994\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan Huska’s defence-first approach doesn’t work, and it’s costing the Calgary Flames"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ryan Huska has built the Flames\u2019 identity around a simple idea: defence first. The Flames have had a very clear mandate under the first-time head coach: limit high-danger chances, play low-event hockey, and outwork other teams. In theory, it\u2019s a good enough idea for a team that lacks high-end talent, like the Flames. The problem is it\u2019s not working, and the Flames and their young forwards are paying the price.<\/p>\n

The Flames\u2019 January performance shows that theory and reality are far apart. Calgary has been among the NHL\u2019s very worst teams defensively in January. For a coach who focuses solely on the defensive side of the puck, mostly at the expense of offence, the Flames have been among the NHL\u2019s worst teams at both ends in January. It\u2019s yet another reminder that whatever Huska is trying to do behind the bench, it\u2019s not working.<\/p>\n

A middling defence since 2023<\/p>\n

Huska was first brought on board for the 2023-24 season, and since then has attempted to implement a defence-first approach. Despite his best efforts, the Flames have been middling at best on the defensive side of the puck over his three years in charge.<\/p>\n

All numbers are courtesy of naturalstattrick.com.<\/a><\/p>\n

StatCalgary Flames (2023-2026)NHL RankHDCA1947.6618thHDSA1258.5923rdSCA\/6027.524thHDCA\/6011.1821stxGA\/602.5417th<\/p>\n

Looking at those ranks in the far right column, you\u2019d think the Flames were prioritising offence first. They rank in the bottom half of the league in all five metrics, and bottom 10 in both high-danger shots against and scoring chances against per 60 since 2023. Not exactly the type of numbers you\u2019d hope for from a team that supposedly plays strong defence.<\/p>\n

Does Huska have a juggernaut defence group to work with? No, but that\u2019s not really an excuse. In 2023-24, the Flames still employed MacKenzie Weegar, Rasmus Andersson, Noah Hanifin, and Chris Tanev for most of the year. The last two seasons, they\u2019ve had Weegar, Andersson, and Kevin Bahl. This isn\u2019t a terrible group of players by any means.<\/p>\n

Huska hammers home over and over that they want to play a low-event shutdown style, and yet the numbers show it\u2019s not working. If you\u2019re going to sacrifice offence as much as Huska does, you\u2019d better have good defensive results. The Flames are achieving neither.<\/p>\n

The offence is just as bad<\/p>\n

As we touched on, the Flames have been sacrificing creativity and offence for years under Huska. So much so that the team has become one of the very worst offences in the NHL over the past 3 years.<\/p>\n

StatCalgary Flames (2023-2026)NHL RankGF\/GP2.7929thHDCF1843.0820thHDSA1161.1822ndHDCF\/6010.5821stxGF\/602.4921st<\/p>\n

I mean, what else is there to say? The Flames have the fourth-worst offence in the NHL in terms of goals per game since Huska came on board. When we look at metrics that track how often the Flames are creating high-danger chances or scoring chances, they don\u2019t look much better. This is a team that ranks in the bottom 12 for every single offensive metric here.<\/p>\n

January has been a nightmare<\/p>\n

Things have gone from bad to worse for the Flames in 2026. The team has struggled to pick up wins, and their defensive results have completely cratered. It appears as though Huska\u2019s system has gone from bad to terrible. Here\u2019s how the Flames look in 2026.<\/p>\n

StatCalgary Flames (Since Jan. 1st)NHL RankxGF%41.31%32ndHDCA\/6014.432ndSCA\/6032.9832ndxGA\/603.18T-32nd<\/p>\n

Yikes. Across the board, the Flames have been the worst defensive team in the NHL in 2026, and it isn\u2019t particularly close either. They rank dead last in all four metrics, as they\u2019ve been completely dominated in their own zone every night in 2026. Whether it\u2019s high danger chances against, scoring changes against, or expected goals against, the Flames have been getting crushed over their past 12 games.<\/p>\n

It takes a special kind of terrible to place 32nd in four major metrics, but Huska\u2019s Flames have somehow achieved it. An alarming sign for a lineup that just lost its best defenceman in Andersson. The good news is things can\u2019t get any worse than they already are.<\/p>\n

The offence has struggled too<\/p>\n

As we mentioned above, the Huska-led Flames have historically been below average both on defence and offence. 2026 is no different, as the Flames have combined a league-worst defence with a league-worst offence.<\/p>\n

StatCalgary Flames (Since Jan. 1st)NHL RankHDCF\/609.6728thSCF\/6032.9829thxGF\/602.24T-32nd<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t make this up. Huska has the Flames sitting with the worst xGA\/60 and xGF\/60 in 2026. A truly remarkable feat. The Flames have been allowing the most expected goals against in January, and producing the least amount of expected goals for. Not exactly a recipe for success.<\/p>\n

Huska has to go<\/p>\n

Night in and night out, the Flames are getting absolutely cratered at even strength, and Huska refuses to change the team\u2019s style. His defence-first approach clearly isn\u2019t working, as the Flames have been the league\u2019s worst defence in 2026, while also possessing the league\u2019s worst offence.<\/p>\n

After three years of middling results and likely two bottom-10 finishes, it\u2019s time for Huska to either adapt. If he continues to refuse to change his ways, it may be time for the Flames to find a new head coach sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ryan Huska has built the Flames\u2019 identity around a simple idea: defence first. The Flames have had a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309503,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[895,26,5294,896,5,4,3292],"class_list":{"0":"post-435994","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-calgary-flames","8":"tag-calgary","9":"tag-calgary-flames","10":"tag-calgaryflames","11":"tag-flames","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-ryan-huska"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115983345596556113","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}