December has arrived and with it the frigid arctic air, the soul-crushing mall crowds and, for Flames fans, the slowly advancing realization that hockey may not be fun to watch anymore.
But let's focus on the positives. Becauase it's a much shorter and easier list to compile.
Jarome Iginla = Awesome.
No Jarmoe this year. The lone shining bright spot from the OT loss against the BJ's was the play of the Captain. He was, in short, a merciless animal on the ice. He assisted one goal and scored another by fighting off multiple opponents and knocking in his own rebound while flying through the air. He also set-up at least a half dozen other quality scoring chances and beat-up that poor schmuck Ole-Kristy-Whatshisface.
Iginla is now tied for the most ES points (27) in the league with Vincent Lecavalier. He's in the top 10 in terms of PPG (1.33) and is on pace to score 42 goals and 110 points. If the Flames had any kind of PP going, Iggy would likely be sharing the overall league lead in points with Vincent, if not leading outright.
With all the other crap going wrong right now, let there be one soothing thought rattling around in the back of your head: Jarome Iginla's a Flame for life (probably).
Help on the Farm...Grant Stevenson
I thought Stevenson was one of the better prospect/fringe players during the pre-season. He's older and has experience in the bigs, so that wasn't unexpected. Right now, he's leading the QC Flames in points by a fair margin and has really developed chemistry with farm signee Khrys Kolanos. By all accounts, Stevenson has been instrumental in the QC Flames turn-around and is now approaching a PPG scoring pace (8-11-19 in 24 GP). With David Moss and his hands of stone being sidelined, Stevenson may get another chance to prove himself at the NHL level pretty soon.
Third Round Steal?
John Negrin spent a lot of last season sidelined by injuries, which probably explains his dropping into the 3rd round of the draft. This season, he's proving he was a worthwhile gamble as he's scored 1 goal and 29 points in 30 games for the Kootney Ice, and is a healthy +8. That's an encouraging jump over the 16 points he accumulated in 44 games last year. I haven't seen Negrin play yet, so this is all number gazing, but it's nice to see a Flames draft pick putting up decent results. It'll be interesting to see if he can keep up this pace, since it would no doubt make him one of the highest scoring defenders in the WHL by year's end.
Yeah. That's all the positive I got for now. Expect the Dark Mutterings to resume shortly.
