It's been an interesting start to the year for the Flames. I'd be lying if I said I expected them to be in this position heading into 2009 - a lot of guys have played a lot better than I expected. I wrote in the summer that the Flames didn't seem to have a lot of "outperformers" on the roster in terms of value vs. cap hit, but guys like Moss, Boyd, Glencross, Bourque, Pardy and even Primeau and Nystrom have done a lot to convince me otherwise. I'd feel better if Iginla could get back to being elite and/or some of the extra dollars on the back-end could go away, but Im more optimistic now than I was at the same time last season.
The Oilers are in town tonight on the heels of a loss to the woeful Ottawa Senators. The news for Flames fans gets better from there: Ales Hemsky is injured (again) and Curtis Glencross is probable to return to the line-up. Like the last two contests, file this under "very winnable". A "W" tonight would put them six points up on the Canucks for first in the division with a game in hand. Good stuff.
Prediction - Calgary 4, Edmonton 3. Langkow, Bertuzzi, Giordano and Glencross for the Flames. Souray, Penner and Cole for Edmonton.
Go Flames!
