As is my tendency, I've been imagining a lot of "worst case" scenarios for the Flames heading into the season. I figured I might as well share them here *just* in case one of them happens so that I will look like some kind of mystical hockey seer when it does.
1.) "Flames Decimated by Injuries"
I think this might be the most likely lament that will show up in the fish wraps this season. According to the Forechecker, the Flames have a brutal travel itinerary this year: 52,941 miles, 2nd only to the San Jose Sharks (56,111). Lots of time on the road and in planes can be taxing and tends to cause and/or exacerbate ailments.
Of course, there's other reasons to expect the injuries to mount this year. If you squint, you'll notice the Flames kinda, sorta have an "injury prone" roster:
Todd Bertuzzi - Back problems. Played only 83 games the last two seasons combined.
Mike Cammalleri - Missed 20 games last year due to various ailments.
Rene Bourque - Never played a full season in the league (most was 77 games in 05/06).
Adrian Aucoin - Well documented groin/knee problems. Last played whole season a decade ago.
David Moss - Battled concussion and ankle problems last season.
Eric Nystrom - Concussion and shoulder issues. Has missed huge chunks of time due to the latter.
Rhett Warrener (if he makes the team) - Too many problems to list.
If one or two of these guys go down, it probably won't be an issue. Three or four at a time, however...
Course, there's also the cruel, probabilistic hand of fate to fear as well. In the last couple seasons, all of the Flames NW Division rivals have struggled to overcome multiple, significant injuries: The Oilers had Stoll, Horcoff, Hemsky, Souray, Pitkanen miss time. The Avs saw Statsny, Sakic, Leopold, Svatos, Hejduk go down for the count. The Canucks didn't play a single game with their entire blueline in 07/08 while Minnesota have had to worry about Gaborik, Koivu and Demitra.
The only recent, significant injury to a major Flames player I can recall was the month Jarome missed during Nervous Jimmy's reign. That's it. As such, I can't help but think that the hockey Gods have pulled the wings off all the other NW division flies and readying to do the same to Calgary.
2.) "Miikka Kiprusoff Traded"
Once upon a time, he was a demi-god to the faithful. In light of his mediocre performance, I think the collective patience of Flames fans and management with Kipper's "slow starts" is wearing thin, however. The combination of further decline with his big new contract would pretty much guarantee his ticket out of town by the trade deadline (assuming someone would take him). He's a couple years removed from his Vezina trophy, on the bad side of 30, and the 5th highest paid tender in the league. While his previous excellence buffered the backlash in years past, I doubt Keenan or Sutter will be willing to wait till January for Kipper to work out the kinks this season.
3.) "Flames Look For Offense"
That hateful headline, once banished, may rear it's ugly head again.
Calgary was decent at scoring goals last year, despite an obviously terrible bottom half of the forward roster. This year that aspect of the team has improved markedly, albeit at the expense of the top 6. There's a lot of optimism surrounding the additions of Bertuzzi and Cammalleri as well as the potential progression by Lombardi, Boyd and Moss. Still, it's worth noting that NONE of those players scored at or above a 2.00/60 rate at ES last season (and a good handful of them got scored on a lot too). If the rebounds/steps forward don't happen - and they may not - the Flames will probably struggle to score goals. Keep in mind that Iginla no longer has Huselius and/or Tanguay feeding him the puck, meaning the changes may depress his output as well.
4.) "Keenan Fired"
I can't be the only one half expecting to see this headline sometime in March or April. While there's lots of talk in the media of a "mellower" Iron Mike, there have still been disquieting signs that Keenan is up to his old tricks in Calgary (Tanguay, Huselius, Nilson). He's well known to have a short shelf life as a bench boss and things could go South in a hurry if the team stumbles and pressures mount. A play-off-less Flames will doubtlessly lead to a Keenan-less Flames.
