Some minor Flames news and random thoughts to pass on during this insufferable gap between play-off rounds.
First, the Sun recently published a series of pieces centered around a Randy Sportak interview of Ken King. Dubbed "the state of the union", the series is actually stunning in it's delivery of, well...little more than obfuscation and platitudes. King is a brass-balls, iron-fisted business man behind closed doors, but is overtly diplomatic with fans and the media in public. Several interesting subjects are broached - including the direction of the team and the possibility of a new building, and King reveals essentially nothing that wasn't known previously. Anyways, if you want to experience the politicking yourself, enjoy:
State of the union.
King admitted the data goes into the "large hopper" and "it would have a place" but refused to comment on it, not even to take credit for the No. 15 ranking for fan relations.
"I can't respond to the good any more than I can to the bad," he said.
"It would be inappropriate for me to take a bow for the positive aspects of it -- I don't consider 15 to be very positive, by the way -- than it would be for me to pooh-pooh the negative."
Team Direction.
"I think it's parity. I think the difference is a very, very fine line. We want to, plan to and need to progress. You're not looking at a team that is managed or owned or operated by people who believe that a first-round exit in the playoffs is OK or making the playoffs is OK. That's not who we are."
Ticket Prices.
"What we have always attempted to do with our pricing is balance the market we're in, the demand for tickets we have, and a level of fairness."
A New Home.
"We believe the long-term future of the team and our fans requires we have a new building at some point," said King. "We would like to attempt to complete a building by 2014, open the doors of a new building. That's the natural expiry of our existing lease. As each day and each month marches on, that becomes an increasingly difficult target to try and hit. We have spent money, we have done research, we have spent a lot of time and effort."
Dollars and Sense
"In order for us to continue to spend at the levels we do, which are very near the cap, we have to be very near optimizing revenues in order to achieve them,"
"We don't have a big gap. We need full buildings, we need good advertising revenue, we need good television revenue, we need good merchandise revenue, we need good food and beverage revenue. We need the wind blowing hard at our back in a positive revenue form in order for us to finance and keep our commitment to a competitive team."
(Don't say I didn't warn you).
Secondly, during his recent interview on Fan960, Sutter admitted the Flames had pursued un-drafted wunderkind and new Dallas Star Fabian Brunnstrom. In the same exchange, Darryl admitted the organization also has it's eye on one Martin Thornberg of the SEL.
Thornberg is a 25 year-old LW who scored 20 goals and 37 points (in 51 GP) this season in the Swedish Elite League. Those numbers aren't overly impressive to me, but then again I don't know who he plays with/against and have never seen him live. So maybe there's something there. I wouldn't bet on him being a capable Huselius replacement, however, since the latter managed 14 goals and 49 points in just 34 games in the same league back in 03-04 (and around the same age as well). However, any player that can potentially increase the depth of the organizations laughably shallow LW should be welcomed with open arms.
Speaking of depth, the QC Flames lost AHL journeyman Tim Hambly to the the Chicago Blackhawks recently. Hambly wasn't really Calgary property, having played under an AHL-only contract last year, so I guess this isn't really very newsworthy, unless you're a big QC fan. Hambly scored 4 goals and managed 26 assists in what turned out to be a career year for the 25 year-old last season.
Finally, on the topic of "how nonsense becomes 'conventional wisdom'", I happened to catch a Pierre McGuire segment on local sports radio recently. During the back and forth, McGuire asserted that Chris Osgood was doing "an amazing job" in net for the Red Wings, because "it's very difficult to play behind a team like Detroit" because "they limit the opposition to so few shots". I shit you not. In McGuire's mind, having fewer shots - and fewer quality opportunities against - is a tough gig for a goaltender - "because they like to have more shots and feel part of the game".
Sigh.
