Friesen: The First Line Controversy

The newest debate raging amongst Flame's fan these days is: who will ride the left side on the #1 line come winter?

Flames Sign Another Ference

As if one wasn't enough.

This "Brad Ference to Calgary" thing has been floating around messageboards as a rumor for a few days now. Turns out it's actually true...Sutter must really think we need someone to replace Cale Hulse. Terms weren't disclosed, but I assume it's a league minimum kinda deal. Ference is a career 7th d-man, so I doubt he'll be demanding much above the $450,000 basement.

I don't personally know much about B.Ference aside from the fact he's mean. Here's his career stats, which don't inspire anything above a yawn or a shrug. Also, he played all of the last season in the AHL. The last time he saw action at the National Hockey League level was 03/04. Great.

Turns out he's pretty big tho - 6' 3", 218 pounds - so that's good I guess; as long as he can skate faster than, say, Marchment. Not sure he's much of an upgrade over the likes of Giordano or Ri. Regehr, frankly...but you know Sutter: His motto is "you can never have enough defensemen".

EDIT - No, they're not related.

Where For Art Thou Lombo?

The lack of Flames news got me wonderin'...Why hasn't Lombardi been re-signed yet?

NHL 07 Xbox 360 Gameplay

For all you video game enthusiasts out there...

Looks like EA has made some strides in terms of graphics and sound...

Making Media

I've created a couple of animated GIF's for you Flames fans out there. The first one I'll post is Phaneuf's big hit on Cowan during the regular season...

Use as you see fit.

Team Salaries

I was bored one day and decided that I needed to compose a "complete" website that would include the salary figures for every NHL team. Here's what I've got so far:



Enjoy!

Tanguay - To Score or Not to Score

I finally got around to compiling some "basic plus" stats for Tanguay - namely the ESP/60 and PPP/60 numbers...

More.

With Bosses Like This...

from an article about the NY Islander's debacle on CBS Sportsline:

"(Wang) once suggested in all seriousness that his scouts search out Sumo wrestlers from Japan with a view toward turning them into goalies."

How does someone this dumb become so rich?

Actually Chasing Gomez?

So, exactly a week after posting my pie-in-sky scenario regarding Scott Gomez, a rumor popped up over at Hockey Leaks that the Flames might indeed be pursuing him. I know, I know...it's a rumor and therefore not-too-terribly meaningful. But at least it suggests Im not completely off my rocker...

EDIT - an update was added today stating the Flames are the "front runners" with the Coyotes in the mix...

Nerding Out...Cont'd

So I kept one of my promises from the "Nerding out" post below and calculated the 05/06 PPP/60 for each Flames player.

Find the results and the observations here.

WTF!?

Mad Mike moves up the management ladder and things get even weirder on the Island.

Okay, so it's pretty strange when a Franchise hires and fires a GM before even seeing how good a product he can put on the ice...but how strange is it when said Franchise replaces said GM with an ex-goalie lacking any pertinent managerial experience?

Is this the fucking Twilight Zone? Is there some pre-pubescent kid controlling reality with his mind? That would seem to make about as much sense at this point...

Nerding Out

Follow my first, trembling step into statistical geekdom...(link!)

Why? Why!?

Capitals sign a former 6th overall pick of the Calgary Flames...

I guess they were trying to avoid the BIG PAYDAY this former "teenage phenom" would have gotten out of arbitration *snicker*.

Chasing Gomez

Time for some (non-erotic) fantasizing...

 

06/07 Flames Schedule

Can be found here.

Notable dates include:

- The opening home-and-home series against Greaseville (Oct.5/7)

- The Saddledome debut of Alexander Ovechkin (Oct.30)

- The first game of the year against the Canuckleheads (Nov.11)

- A visit from the defending Stanley Cup champs and Mike Commodore's fro (Dec.5)

- Another New Year's classic versus the Oil (Jan.31 - curiously not currently listed by nhl.com, but reported by the fan960 in Calgary)

- Three (!) consecutive games against the Tanguay's former teammates in February (Feb.15/17/20)

- Season closer against - yup, you guessed it - the Oilers (Apr.7)

Doesn't seem to be a lot of the dreaded back-to-back games this year (assuming the schedule is accurate...which it may not be), which is good. The starting, mid and end points of the season are marked by BOA matches, which is an ideal method of structuring the schedule from an "Alberta" point of view.

The Time Has Come

As had been speculated, it looks like Darryl Sutter has decided to become a full-time GM, with Jim Playfair tabbed to be his replacement on the bench.

My take? Good move. The task of being a general manager in a competitive, salary-capped league must be pretty consuming...not that being a head coach is a walk in the park either. In fact, Im not quite certain how Sutter managed to do both (rather well) last year.

As for Playfair, he's been groomed under Sutter for the last three years. Previously, he guilded the St. John's Flames to the Calder Cup in 2001. His experience as both a head coach and assistant coach within the Flames organization should serve him well going forward - not to mention the rapport he will undoubtedly share with the boss upstairs. All that's left now is to hope Playfair can coax a little more offense out of the guys on the ice...

The Fall of the House of Legace and Other Oddities

It's almost become worthy of a carnival freakshow - purusing NHL headlines on tsn.ca makes one wonder what odd, grotesque or disturbing bit of news will pop up next...

Enter the freakshow here.

Oh...dear God no!!

Daniel Tjarnqvist, upon hearing the news that his agent came to terms with the Edmonton Oilers:

The look on his face says it all. Don't worry Daniel - it's only a 1 year deal!

Noodles Returns!

The ever-popular Jamie McLennan will be returning to Calgary in the role as a back-up next year. In a relatively surprising move, the locker room cut-up was signed to a 1 year/$575,000 contract by Sutter yesterday.

McLennan struggled with the Panthers last year: he won only 2 games and had a 3.07 GAA. His respectable .907 SP suggests he wasn't as bad as the other two figures would have you believe, however.

Im not too sure what to think about this one. I personally felt that it was Brent Krahn's year to make the big leagues, but I've been a noodles fan since his brief stint here back in 04/05. His jester-like personality is ideally suited to the role of back-up - plus he played pretty well when pressed into action way back when. I suppose another year of seasoning in the AHL may be the better option for Krahn vs. sitting on the bench behind Kipper all season. And, if McLennan stumbles (like so many other back-ups did last year) Krahn may get his shot anyhow.

Whatever happens, Im looking forward to those amusing Jumbotron comedic shorts that McLennan occassionally puts together. Welcome back Noodles!

Misc. Flames News...

First, the shrug-worthy news:

Flames sign speedy, but underperforming, left winger Jeff Friesen to a 1 year, $1.6 million contract. Story here.

Hmm...salary seems pretty high to me, especially considering his numbers last year (4 goals, 11 points in 50+ games). Also, Im not too sure what we're going to do with all these forwards come the start of the year - Tanguay, Juice, Iginla, Lombo, Lundmark, Langkow, Yelle, Nilson, Kobasew, Friesen, Ritchie, Amonte, McCarty, (Nystrom?)...

Is a trade in for a prospect/pick in the works?

Second, and more significant news:

Sutter has apparently locked up Tanguay for 3 years. According to tsn, the contract is for about an average of $5.25 million per season. That's around what I expected, so Im not unhappy with the figures. It certainly is nice to have a young sniper like Tanguay locked up for the forseeable future. Also, talk around the water cooler is Tanguay will play center next year. Does that move Juice up the first line? Will Friesen get a chance to re-establish himself as a 20 goal man with Tanger and Iginla?

Stay tuned...

F'ed in the A

I guess I should stop ignoring the White Elephant in the room and post something about the Pronger trade...

More sexual misadventures implied here.

 

Free Agent Feeding Frenzy

The madness began Saturday. And I dont think it's going to stop any time soon...

Metrognome's FA transaction analyses here.

Quack Quack Quack.

Chris Pronger's a Duck now. Story here. Looks like Edmonton won't force him to stand up to his wife's demands, but instead the Oilers have traded him to the Ducks in return for Joffrey Lupul, one non-roster player and several conditional high-end draft picks. Until I see who these high-end draft picks are I will have to say that this was a crap deal for Edmonton and a stellar move by the Ducks. Now the Ducks have a stellar blue line with Pronger AND Scott Niedermayer.


Side Note:
With all these huge signings this Summer 2006 it really makes me wonder if the new CBA is still in effect this year?

Goodbye Dono...

It is always a bit sad to say goodbye to a Flame that was a part of the run for the Stanley Cup in 03-04' but in this sport you have to expect frequent moves by players like Shean Donovan. Hopefully he will do well in Boston. Best of luck to you Dono!

Story here.

P.S. Tough luck Ryan! :D

Andrei Zyuzin is now a Flame!

Well the Flames have found a replacement for Jordan Leopold when they signed Andrei Zuyzin to a two year $2.8 million contract (or have they?), story here. And is it just a coincidence that Zuyzin played for Darryl Sutter in San Jose from 97'-99'? Or is it that Darryl likes to work with players he has worked with in the past (refer to my previous post on Roenick)?

Happy Canada Day!

And the NHL Free Agency Season has begun!

A lot of big signings thus far with Chara (BOS, $37.5MM/5Y) and Jovocrap (PHX, $32.5NN/5Y) leading the way.

The big news coming out of Alberta is that the 2006 Western Conference Champions (i.e. Stanley Cup losers), the Edmonton Oilers, have signed hometown hero, Fernando Pisani to a 4 year deal reportedly worth somewhere in the $8-10MM range. They've also re-signed goaltender Dwayne Roloson to a 3 year $11MM contract.

My take on the signings: I'm a bit concerned. It's about 1 year too long for each player and a little pricey. I was expecting about $1.5MM per year for Fernando and $3MM for Roli. Let's just hope they can keep it up for the duration of their contract.

Speaking of keeping it up for the duration of their contract, where will Chris Pronger's Orbs of Power be headed? I am hoping he goes to Florida for a few reasons:

1. He will be in the Eastern Conference and the Oilers will only get to play him once during the regular season in the next two years.

2. We should be able to get a good return (i.e., Bouwmeester, Norton, and possibly Weiss)