Flames Pre-Season Begins

Calgary's official start to the pre-season began yesterday with the initiation of the rookie portion of training camp.

Metrognome's take on the Flame's top rookies is here.

The Hockey Mag Post (Part 2)

For the Flight home from my travels I snagged The Sporting News Hockey magazine at some anonymous American airport stand (I was fairly surprised to find it). In contrast to the Hockey News Ultimate Pool Guide I discussed in the post below, the SN publication is more of a general team by team analysis. The book starts out with basic NHL pieces - they discuss the Sabres as potential cup favorites this year and include a preseason "power poll" (a decent overall ranking, unless you consider that the Canucks (7th) are ranked above the Flames (8th) and the Predators (5th) are ranked above the Senators (6th)). Of course, Crosby is discussed briefly, as are some of the top picks from the most recent draft. The magazine also goes over the issue of "team chemistry" citing the Rangers and the Hurricanes as two organizations that explicitly pursued the all-elusive element of "team cohesiveness" through various means last year. The bulk of the book, however, is dedicated to Team analysis.

I'll admit, it's a fairly decent read. Each club gets about two pages, with each being graded across 4 categories: Forwards, Defensemen, Goaltenders and Special Teams. I have issues with the grading criteria in that...well...none are stated. Further, team's aren't given an "overall" grade - simply a "bottom line", which is typically a 3 paragraph blurb. One might think that, logically, assigning an overall grade would follow from grading a squad's component parts. But, I guess not.

As mentioned, the grading criteria for each category isn't explicitly elucidated. As a result, the grades seem to vary in consistency across divisions (and, sometimes, from team to team within one division even - despite the fact that it's the same writer for both!) For example, Chuck Gormley gives the Toronto Maple Leafs a "B" for Defensemen with the reasoning that "...Kubina and Gill provide the muscle, McCabe and Kaberle will provide the offensive punch" and "the Leafs have strong prospects in Jay Harrison, Ian White and Andy Wozniewski". Fair enough. Except two pages before that he gives the Senators a "B-" for Defensemen. Apparently because "after Redding, Preissing and Corvo the corps. is solid but not spectacular with Andrej Meszaros, Chris Phillips, Anton Volchenkov and Christoph Schubert."

Now, I don't know if Chuck is a Leafs fan or what, but this borders on the absurd. Toronto's #4 defenseman is Hall Gill. Big, slow and offensively useless, Gill is hardly a top 4 guy these days. After him, they have the likes of Khavanov, Colaiacovo, Kronwall, White and Wieniewski to fill the 5th and 6th positions. Who and who? Exactly. In comparison, The Senators have future Norris candidate Redden, as well young stand-outs Preissing, Corvo and Meszaros. All 4 are young, mobile, scored 10 or more goals last season and ended up on the + side of the ledger. The bottom pairing on Ottawa will consist of former #1 draft pick and stalwart Chris Phillips and young up-and-comer Anton Volchenkov, who already has a full season of NHL experience under his belt. Both players can deliver the big hit when need-be (and both can skate faster than Hal Gill).

For quantative types out there, here's a basic statistical comparison: Together, the Senators top 6 (Redden, Corvo, Preissing, Meszaros, Phillips, Volchenkov) scored 218 points in 445 games played and were a collective +146. The Maples Leafs top 6 (McCabe, Kaberle, Kubina, Gill, Khavanov, Colaiacovo) scored 202 (135 by Kaberle and McCabe alone) points in 396 games and were a collective -32. Offense between the two groups is comparable, although the Leafs corps is very top heavy. While +/- is, at best, a suspect stat to use to compare players across teams, consider that both Corvo and Preissing's numbers (+16 and +17, respectively) were not inflated by playing behind the likes of Heatley, Spezza and Alfredsson all year. In fact, Corvo managed his decent showing despite playing in front of 2 young, inexperienced goaltenders in LA.

So...to me at least, The Senators have a very solid 6 defense group. The Leafs, on the other hand, have 3 very good NHL defensemen, 1 lummox, and 2 question marks. Course, Im not certain what criteria were used for grading the defense of each team - but I just can't see how the Leafs could be considered superior as a group to the Senators.

Not that the errors end there. Other teams with supposedly superior defensemen to Ottawa? Buffalo (B), New York (B), Carolina (B+!) and San Jose (B). Plain silliness.

The forwards rankings tend to be pretty decent, I'd say, aside from the assertion made by Elliot Teaford that Dallas has "so much skill, so much potential: it's a wonder the Stars don't skate every team off the ice." Is he looking at the same roster as I am? Observe:

Modano, Lindros, Morrow, Lehtinen, Halpern, Barnes, Stefan, Ott, Jokinen, Hagman, Miettinen, Barnaby.

The Stars will be lucky if they have 4 twenty goal scorers among their top 12 forwards. Modano is 36 and on the downslope of his career. Lehtinen is usually good for 25-30 goals and Morrow for 20...but besides that, there's not much else. Lindros is an injury waiting to happen and Patrik Stefan is one of the biggest first-choice-overall busts in the last 10 years (he scored 10 last year with the Thrashers). Ott is an agitator (5 goals), Barnes is a 36 year old 3rd liner (15 goals) and Halpern is a checking center (11 goals). Jokinen had a decent rookie campaign with 17 tallies last season, but he'll no doubt have to improve on the those numbers for the Stars sake. Miettinen managed all of 11 goals and 31 points last year. Hagman had 6 markers in 54 games with Dallas. Hmmmm.

Confused with his opening statement and his subsequent grading of the Star's forwards (A), I was rather intrigued to read the rest of Teaford's accompanying explanation. He goes on to claim that Lehtinen "is a sublime offensive player, a deft passer and playmaker..." Ummm. No, he's not. He's a consistent enough goal-scorer and a Selke candidate, but he's hardly a playmaker. In fact, his goals almost always outnumber his assists and he's never had more than 32 helpers in a single season. Lehtinen is a valuable top 6 guy, as much for his defensive acumen as for his 30 goals, but he's absolutely nothing at all resembling a "sublime offensive player".

I found Teaford's appraisal of Lehtinen a little out-there, but I was floored by his next baseless claim:

"By excercising a one-year option on Lehtinen's contract and re-signing winger Niklas Hagman to a two-year contract..the Stars eliminated a good deal of hand-wringing for nervous fans. The pair will force opponents to focus on someone other than Modano..."

Waitaminute, let me get this straight; Stars fans were worried about Niklas Hagman re-signing? The same Hagman that has never scored more than 10 goals or 30 points in one of his 4 NHL seasons? And he's going to be the guy taking pressure off of the Star's other offensive forwards?? BWAHAHAHA!

Either Teaford is a shamless fan-boy of the Dallas Stars or he's never really watched them play. Or looked at their stats. What's even stanger is he grades the Dallas defense, their organizational strength, a (relatively) modest B+. Well...whatever you say, Elliott.

My final complaint concerns Iain MacIntyre's grading of the Calgary Flames forwards. His anaysis is relatively sound: he mentions the additions of Tanguay and Friesen, the need for better secondary support from players like Nilson, Lombardi and Yelle and Kobasew's break-through as a 20 goal scorer. He doesn't mention the fact that Lombardi was injured for a large portion of the season, nor that Huselius scored at a 60 point pace once he moved to Calgary from Florida last year...

So, he ends up giving the Flames forwards a D. While Im the first to admit that Calgary was very bad at scoring last year (particulary at ES scoring), I hardly think a roster boasting a two-time Rocket Richard winner in Iginla, a PPG producer in Tanguay and 2nd line populated by 20 goal getters (Huselius, Langkow and Kobasew) is worthy of a "D" mark. Especially if one considers Teaford's ejaculatory grading of the Stars forward ranks. Is Calgary an "A" offensive club? Nope...but I also don't think we should be considered bottom of the barrel - here are the forward marks for some of the worst teams in the league: St. Louis (C+), Columbus (B-), Chicago (C-), Washington (C+!) and Pittsburgh (B-). Hmmm...in fact, the only other team to garner a (D) for the forwards was Phoenix. As you can see...there are some consistency issues with the grading.

Rants and nit-picking aside, the Sporting News mag is worth a look. Most of the punditry is sound if you can forgive the slight lack of grading continuity and Elliott Teaford's incredibly odd man-love for Jere Lehtinen and Niklas Hagman, you won't be terribly disappointed.

Taratukhin Signed

As a capper to all this 'Tukhin business, Sutter announced today that the Flames have signed the 23 year-old russian center to a two year, two-way entry level contract (entry level = league minimum I think). According to local radio, Andrei's already in town awaiting the start of training camp. It should be interesting to see how he makes out (and if his former club, Yaroslavl Locomotiv, will carry out their threat to sue the Flames for the signing).

The Hockey Mag Post (Part 1)

I've been away for awhile.

And on my travels I managed to a accrue a couple of hockey magazines - they're good reading for short flights - so a I figured a little run-down-and-critique was in order. First up:

The Hockey News Ultimate Pool Guide

What you'd expect for THN - lots of content, much of it useful, some of it not-so-much. An example of the latter sort would include picking the Flames to win the Stanley Cup (I wish the mags would stop doing this) as well as predicting the winners of many of the major year-end awards (names include Crosby, Staal, Iginla, Kiprusoff, Niedermayer and Malkin). While I understand the throbbing need for pundits and fans to foolishly pontificate on such matters during the dog days of summer, it still doesn't detract from the fact that picking a cup winner in August is completely absurd. Although, to their credit, THN admit that their past predictions have been less than accurate. I guess August Champions with an astericks is good page filler.

A feature on Iginla is included near the front. It focuses on his relatively disappointing season last year and what he expects of himself and the team in 06/07. Of particular interest to Flames fans is Iginla's re-vamped summer fitness regime - apparently Jarome decided to work more on speed and agility than strength this off-season. The hope is to take greater advantage of the obstruction crack-down.

Another article discusses a THN pseudo-stat called the "I.Q." (Intimidation Quotient), which is determined by multiplying a player's goal total by three and then summing the resultant product with the player's penalty-minutes (minus the major misconducts). The aim, I think, is to statistically identify the NHL's true "power forwards" - guys that produce and play with an edge. The problem, of course, is that the formula seems relatively arbitrary (why multiply the goal total by 3? Why aren't assists included?) while some of the variables should be better controlled (why exclude 10 minute majors in the PIM total while including stuff like diving?). THN's list of the top 20 "IQ" scores from last season speaks more to the stat's dubious analytical power than to anything else: Sidney Crosby had the highest IQ with 227. Olli Jokinen was 5th with 202. Other names on the list? Marc Savard (9th - 184), Dainius Zubrus (16th - 153) and Max Afinogenov (19th - 150)...

Savard and Zubrus. Power fowards.

Right.

It looks to me like this IQ thing is a gimmick that THN made up to generate articles and little else. I guess it could be potentially useful if your particular hockey pool rewards both goals and penalty minutes...but in terms of actual, real-life valuation of players, it's nearly useless.

Other Stuff:

9 players are predicted to score more than 100 points, with Crosby again topping the list at 116. Personally, I think this is a "generously optimistic" forecast. It would take a full year of playing with players of roughly equivalent talent to produce at that rate - and since it's likely that Malkin will be centering the Pen's second line, Im guessing Sid the Kid is probably going to gather very similar totals to last season. Similarly, Alexander Ovechkin is placed at #3 with 112 points. While it's possible that the injection of (Alexander) Semin into the Caps top line is going to bear offensive fruit, so to speak, I don't see it myself.

As well, each team is outlined with top player point predictions, depth charts, some minor prospect details as well as the expected "placing" prediction. THN expects the Ducks to win the West and the Senators to be regular season victors in the East. Three NW division teams are placed outside of the play-off picture (Edmonton, Vancouver, Colorado) which I find hard to imagine (they have 4 pacific teams making it...including the Kings). Yes, these predictions are made to be laughed at in hindsite...but, based on the info we have now...Colorado in 12th place and the Kings in 8th is eye-brow raising fare, at the very least. I'd say more, but I'm saving my own predictions for another post.

Finally, almost 100 pages of THN's fantasy mag is dedicated to individual player evaluation and point projections for next season. This section is definately useful for those rabid poolies who endlessly search for that hidden diamond-in-the-rough that's going to propel them to victory. It's also relatively interesting for fans of various teams to see where the pundits think their favored stars will end up next year ... (Iginla's forecast: 48 goals, 45 assists for 93 points).

Overall - recomended. Especially if you're flying somewhere.

Next up -The Sporting News

Taratukhin News. Sorta - EDITED

Pursuant to MadMac's comment from the previous post, I tried to unearth some stuff on Flames prospect Andrei Taratukhin.

According to this article on Russian Hockey Digest, there are some legal barriers standing between Taratukhin and donning the Flame's colors any time soon:

Yuri Lukin, General Manager of Yaroslavl Lokomotiv spoke about two players who Loko has under contract:
'We already told "see you" to Taratukhin. He came to see the team, shook everyone's hands. It is all great, of course. But from our side we told him see we will see him back in Yaroslavl. We are planning to sue Calgary Flames who signed a contract with our player'.

I haven't heard any news that the Flames have indeed signed a contract with Taratukhin, so Im a little puzzled by Lukin's claim that it's already a done deal. Course, whether it's true or not is secondary to the fact that the Russians are dead-set on pursuing legal action against any NHL club who tries to pry their russian prospects out the super league (prior to a transfer agreement being inked).

Therefore, I wouldn't count on Andrei making it to training camp. In fact, the chances of him playing anywhere outside of Mother Russia this year are starting to fade more and more each day...

Monday, August 28th EDIT - A Taratukhin interview. Seems like he's going to come to Calgary whether there's a tranfer agreement or not. Good news.

Flames Summer Summary

It looks like Calgary is finished for the summer. With that in mind, I figured it was time for a re-cap.

Read about Calgary's summer adventures here.

Wait...We're Still Talking About This?

Another NHL Rumor site, another whisper of "Gomez To Calgary". Probably prompted by the Lombardi re-signing. I'd love for this to come about, hell I even suggested it way back when...but it ain't gonna happen. Sutter would have to do the "salary cap shuffle" in order to fit a contract like Gomez's into the Flames line-up (Current cap figure = $41.603 million).

It's a nice fantasy and all but...the fact that it's been floating around these rumor sites so long (I think even the infamous Eklund has mentioned it) pretty much guarantees that it's bogus.

Makes for nice blog filler though.

Malkin Situation Clarified

If, like me, you've been wondering about certain details about the on-going Malkin saga, check out Karen Price's story in the Pittsburgh Tribune. The interview covers the issues behind the firing of his agents, the signing of another year long contract with Magnitogorsk and his flight from training camp in Helsinki. Interesting stuff.

Hattip to Mirtle for the link.

NHL Team Salaries Website Moved

My Shaw account is expiring soon so I have moved the site:

http://www3.telus.net/public/dreyes/nhl

The URL is a bit longer but it will have to do for now.

I wish I thought of That

Check out Matt's "exclusive report" (featuring a conversation between Evgeni Malkin and his agent) over at the Battle of Alberta...

Great stuff.

Stick a Form In 'em...

...they're done.

It looks like Sutter has finalized his 06/07 roster by tying up his final loose end.

Yup, that's right. Lombardi was (finally) re-signed recently. Of course, the details weren't released by the club...but if you check out the nhlpa, you'll see that he's in line for $800,000 next year.

My thoughts? 'Bout time. Good price too. If Lombo is employed in a top 6 roll in the coming season, this'll be looking like a downright steal half way through the year. Granted, of course, he manages to stay healthy for most of it.

Anyways good news. Bring on October!

Phoenix - The NHL's Island of Misfit Toys

With the news that Owen Nolan is apparently going to sign with Phoenix I went about wondering (not for the first time) what exactly the game plan is down in the ol' desert.

I've Been Reduced to Shilling

Spurred by a shameless and abject need for any sort of hockey news or content, I recently purchased an electronic version of the hockey news. It can be found here.

Included in this THN offering is a rating of the top 50 players in the game, stories on the NHL business in general, the obstruction crackdown, the emergence of Alexander Ovechkin, a Sidney Crosby interview and next season predictions. Further, each team is profiled with overviews including: strengths, weaknesses, offense, defense, "goalie zone", "cap crunch", rookies and market watch sections. Not to mention depth charts, previous season stats, effective shoot-out players and each team's 06/07 schedule. So, yeah, there's a ton of stuff to read for the hockey enthusiast.

The most gratifiying portion of the mag for Flames fans probably comes in the "Top 50" section. THN ranks 5 Calgary players amongst the best 50 in the league: Robyn Regehr (44), Alex Tanguay (43), Dion Phaneuf (32), Jarome Iginla (7) and, of course, Miika Kiprusoff (1!). While these rankings lists are rather subjective and arguable, it's still nice to see the paid punditry recognizing and lauding Flames talent. Especially considering the flacid and inept clubs Calgary faithful were forced to endure during the "7 season drought".

Anyways if you're like me and going mad from hockey withdrawl, I recommend checking this out.

Oilers Land Sykora

Edmonton has apparently added to their relatively impressive stock of top 6 forwards. Beyond the potential for more goals, it's probably encouraging for Edmonton fans to see an UFA coming to town rather than leaving.

The details of the deal are still rather sketchy, though tsn reports it's going to be a one year contract (provided Sykora passes a physical exam). The level of monetary compensation is still up in the air, so your guess is as good as mine - not that it's an issue for the Greasers. They have a bunch of cap space.

Assuming the deal goes through, the Oilers will have up to 15 players available to fill out their forward ranks come training camp (that number includes rookie hopefuls MA Pouliot, Brad Winchester, JF Jacques, Rob Schremp and Alexei Mikhnov). While their d-ranks are rather barren, Edmonton is literally bursting at the seams with forwards. One can reasonably expect, therefore, a Raffi Torres+prospect for NHL-ready defenseman type trade before the start of training camp. I would expect the Dallas Stars, who have 2 defensemen too many, would be a natural trading partner.

Top Seven of The Summer

Pronger wasn't the only one Cookin' up news this summer. Check out who else made into Metrognome's Top 7 stories of the NHL off-season.

Good God(ard)!

There's some rumors swirling on the boards that the Flames have signed tough guy Eric Godard. I was loathe to grant them any sort of legitimacy until I saw that the nhlpa is listing Godard as Flames property.

So, let's see. He's huge. Probably slow. He's scored 2 goals in 107 NHL games! Gee-whiz. Super.

I have to assume, for my own peace of mind, that Godard was signed to a 2-way, league minimum kind of contract and is therefore Omaha bound. The thought of him taking a roster spot away from, well...any current Flame I can think of currently makes me ill. As you can probably tell, I am part of a growing concensus that thinks that the role of the "talentless pugilist" has become something of an anachronism in today's NHL.

Anyways, I suppose we'll see what the truth of the matter is shortly. Either this is a baseless rumor and a nhlpa typo, or Sutter has suddenly developed a penchant for signing large, PIM gathering players (see: Brad Ference signing).

Bloggers to the Left of me. Bloggers to the Right.

With hockey news slowing to a trickle it's been tough keeping the ol' blog fat with fresh content over the last little while. Let's see...Buffalo signed Briere and his $5 million arbitration award. Senators picked up ex-flame Dean McAmmond. Hasek will be injuring his groin in Detroit next season. Sutter apparently acquired Tanguay for some damaged goods. And Carter still hasn't been signed.

That's about it.

In response to the dearth of interesting actual news, I figured I'd put together a "blogroll" (read: post filler). Some of the following blogs are pasted on the sideboard to the right, some aren't. All are worth a read.

1.) Battle of Alberta. It just so happens that one of the best blogs out there deals with a conflict so close to my heart. However, irregardless of team affiliation, almost everyone should add this one to their "daily read" list. Posts can range from incredibly insightful and informative to downright juvenile. When the season swings into full gear, reading the flame wars and pissing matches between Calgary and Edmonton fans in every other "comment" section is typically worth the price of admission.

2.) mc79hockey.com. Few can match Tyler's sheer volume or depth of analysis. "Mud Crutch" provides lawyerly insight on matters of the CBA, hockey as an industry and throws in the odd 10,000 word/5 graph relatively-obscure-but-ultimately-useful-stat post. Truly a blogger-extraordinaire.

3.) Covered In Oil. Another Edmonton fan, another great blog - their team may suck, but their blogs sure don't. Mike, Chris and Pleasure Motors manage to cover everything Oilers...typically in jovial and comedic fashion. From comparing Ed Belfour to a "sun-ravaged mummy husk" to documenting the deconstruction of a play-off beard (check-out their June archive's "A farewell to Not Shaving". You'll never hire a clown named "Mr. Tickles" for your kid's birthday again), these guys keep you informed and clutching your sides.

4.) James Mirtle. An actual, bona-fide professional, Mirtle offers great commentary about stuff going on around the league.

5.) Vancouver Canucks Op Ed. Lots of posts, lots of content, lots of laughs. Alanah over there recently completed 49 posts in 24 hours as part of a charity powered "blog-a-thon" . Kudos!

6.) Abel to Yzerman. I got hooked on this one during the first round struggle between the Oil and the Red Wings. All flavors of insight and coverage in regards to Detroit Red Wings matters are tackled here.

7.) Raking Leafs. Ninja is one of those incredibly rare things - an intelligent and balanced Toronto Maple Leafs Fan.

Honorable Mentions: Lowetide, Irreverant Oiler Fans, Acid Queen and Battle of California.

The lack of Flames blogs is curious, I know. Hopefully this coming season will see the growth of a couple more quality Calgary-slanted blog-based commentaries.

He's Created a Monster

By now almost everyone has seen the superb Salary Site (soon to be permanently ensconced on the sideboard to the right) that our own Cantaloupehalves created one slow Saturday afternoon. And I do mean Everyone.

"The Site" has proliferated like a weed in the fertile soil that is the NHL blogsphere / messageboards communities. In a little over a week, it's collected more than 13,000 unique hits, some of which have come from outside the continent. How this all grew from a bored Saturday afternoon to a single post on Calgarypuck.com to...well...this is beyond me. Clearly, though, the need was out there and was being poorly serviced by the typical sources.

So a resounding HUZZAH! to you, my friend. Even if you are an Oilers fan.

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)

Roenick a Flame?

Well it looks like Jeremy Roenick is becoming an UFA this Saturday and he is hoping to play for a Canadian team. With his poor stats from last year he will be coming with a discount (and he is willing to play at a discount according to the article). Story here. From this interview he sounds very serious about playing hockey again, and if so he just might be a great addition to the Flames. He would be reuniting with his former Hawks buddy Amonte and his former Hawks Coach Darryl Sutter. If the price is right I believe Sutter will sign him up as he seems to have the tendency to sign up players he has worked with before (see: Kiprusoff, Donovan, Amonte, Loyns). I guess we will just have to wait and see!

The UFA shopping list

In line with my suggestion will be shopping for another d-man come July, I've decided to put forward some possibilities...

Metrognomes fruitless guesses contained here.

Enter the "Tanger"

Onto the good news...

Metrognome's take on the Tanguay Trade here.

There IS trouble in Shelbyville!

Well it seems like the rumours of Chris Pronger wanting to be traded have been substantiated by his agent this past Friday, you can read the story here.

I guess the big question now is why move after a phenomenal run for the Stanley Cup? Well rumour is that it is because Pronger's wife doesn't like Edmonton and wants out, story here. She wouldn't be the first Oiler wife that didn't like Edmonton (see: Janet Gretzky).

Tanguay a Flame!!

This just in...announced at the entry draft, the Flames have acquired Alex Tanguay for Jordan Leopold + picks...

Ummm...wow.

Links and analysis to follow...

Trouble in Shelbyville?

In the wake of their nearly triumphant, but unltimately fruitless, play-off run it looks like the Oil and their fans will have to deal with more bad news this summer.

Granted, the details offered in this article are more rumor than fact, however, should events unfold according to Sportsnet's prophecy, Edmonton faithful will (once again) have to deal with losing another MVP in the off-season.

This could all be good news for the Flames next year, depending on what sort of return the Oilers get for Pronger. One thing's for sure - with his departure I thankfully won't have to hear (read) about his blasted "Orbs of Power" anymore...

This is it - Game 7 is tonight!

Will all the hard work of the Oilers pay off tonight? Will they have that bit of luck that has followed them through out this Stanley Cup run? Or will Eric Cole bring up his game tonight and stop the Oilers from bringing the Stanley Cup back to Canada? Tonight we will see if the 8th place team from the Western Conference can beat the 2nd place team from the Eastern Conference. This will definitely be a game to remember.

Go Oilers Go!!!

Why the Oilers deserve to win the Cup

They've had to overcome a deluge of adversity to be one win away from getting their names engraved in sports most coveted trophy:

1) They clinched a playoff berth upon the completion of their 81st game in an 82-game regular season (on a last-minute game-winning-goal, no less).

2) They were seeded 8th in the conference, meaning they had to take on the Detroit Red Wings, winner of the President's Trophy for being the league's "best" team in the regular season.

3) They were down two games to none to another "better" team--a team that boasted the offensive talents of Joe Thornton and Johnathan Cheechoo, winners of the Art Ross and Rocket Richard trophies, respectively.

4) You think battling the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim might have been enough of a challenge for the Oilers during the Western Conference Final? Nope! Most of the players had to battle the flu bug as well. It seems as though the team from Anaheim took to their new name a little too early.

5) An early Conn Smythe candidate is irrevocably knocked out of the first game of the Stanley Cup Final and the back-breaking goal that ensued to seal the defeat. Could this be the beginning of the end of the magical run?

6) Down three games to one on the 12th of June, it seemed like the clock was inevitably striking 12.

7) Game 5 goes into overtime and a penalty, and a weak one at that, is called and the smell of pumpkins are in the air...


... but wait! Oh, there was something in the air that night. The stars were bright, Fernando! The Oilers escape with the first ever Stanley Cup Final Shorthanded Overtime goal. Three nights later, momentum builds as the spOilers win 4-0, playing a complete game.


Win one more game and the Oilers can complete the most unheralded Stanley Cup victory of all time (or at least, of MY time). So please, hockey gods, don't be cruel and bring the Cup back home to Canada.

There's going to be a Game 7!!!

With another night at the brink of elimination the Oilers proved their resiliency once again beating the Carolina Hurricanes 4-0 in Game 6 at Rexall Place and coming back from a 3-1 series defecit to tie the series up at 3's. The Hurricanes came out flat footed and only showed a bit of life near the end of the second period, but that's all they could muster up against the gritty Oilers who simply out played their opponent in every aspect of the game. They out shot their opponents 34-16! That's just crazy for Edmonton.

Now we just have to wait and see if the Oilers can pull off the biggest upset in the Stanley Cup Finals.

For a review of Game 6 click here (courtesy of NHL.com)

Game 6 tonight!

Canes vs Oil tonight. It's going to be an intense game (or so I hope). The Oil will be battling to stay alive and the Canes will be battling to close out the series a game early of game 7. Will the Canes be able to do it with the loss of Doug Weight? Will the Oilers be able to hang on for a Game 7 with the help of the hometown crowd in Rexall (I hope so!)? Hang on for a good game tonight!

Go Oil Go!!!

Carolina in 6?

Game 5 was incredible. The hits were hard and the goals were fantastic. However Carolina gave it away on a careless pass in their own zone and Fernando Pisani made them pay for it. Game 5 recap here (courtesy of NHL.com).

Flames Suck!

I know Flames Fans will enjoy this one ;)

http://www.flamessuck.com/

Carolina in 5?

Well I personally hope that Carolina does not win it in five tomorrow but I'm sure that a lot of die hard Flames fans won't be too sad to see the Oil lose. Do I think the Oil can pull it out of their ass to get a game 6 in Edmonton? No. But I do hope they do, it would make the series a lot more interesting. I can't comment much on this series as I have not watched a game since the series opener. But I leave with this picture and hope that the Oil can pull off a W.

Go Oilers Go!!!

One Small Item of Flames News...

According to TSN, Sutter signed Chuck "the punching bag" Kobasew yesterday (terms weren't disclosed). Next up? Juice and then ELIAS pls!

Booing the Canadian Anthem...

Well leave it to some degenerate fans in San Jose to boo the Canadian National Anthem at Game 5 last night. So disrespectful was this act that the Mayor of San Jose issued a comment about it. You can find it here. Hopefully fans in Edmonton are more respectful than this for Game 6 in Edmonton.

P.S. San Jose, you would be nothing without your star CANADIAN players (Joe Thornton, Jonathan Cheechoo, Patrick Marleau and Scott Hannan)

Something to Talk About

Daniel Ryder is fast becoming a 3rd round steal for the Calgary Flames.

The younger brother of the Hab's Michael Ryder, Daniel lead the Peterborough Petes of the OHL in scoring during the regular season and just recently won the Wayne Gretzky 99 award as most valuable player in the play-offs.

The Petes completed a sweep of the London Knights on Thursday to claim the OHL Championship.

Ryder had 31 points in 19 play-off games, including 15 goals. He was featured on the Pete's top power-play and penalty-killing units and was one of their top face-off men.

Ryder is probably a few years away from challenging for a spot on the big club, but it sure is nice to see a Flame's FORWARD prospect making some noise at the junior level...

Flames Going Forward

The X-Factor is, no doubt, Sutter's to shop around for free agents during the summer...

the rest of Metrognome's barely-educated guesses regarding the Flames future are here.

The Hollow Men

This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

The rest of my pretentious lamentations are here.

Golf Anyone?

This pretty much says it all.....
Alex

Well everyone in Canada got to see the Flames choke tonight *sigh*

Thanks for the great season though. Us Flames fans are looking forward to seeing what you guys have in store for us this upcoming season.

Enjoy the links!

Stay tuned for commentary from Metrognome.

WIN! WIN! WIN!...

Im too choked with anxiety to post anything worthwhile. We all know what the Flames have to do to win tonight...all that's left are the nawing hours in between now and when we get to see if they can actually do it.

Yup...approx. 240 minutes till puck drop. Then a mere 60 minutes more will determine whether I take part in racous celebration or have to eat a heaping bowl of crow in the face of insufferable Oiler-fan-gloating.

I guess Im going to need some beer either way.

GO FLAMES GO!

Flames vs. Ducks - Game Six Review: Whip or Leash?

Flames need to make a decision: wield the whip or wear the leash.

the rest of the rant is here.

 

Just One More...

Another lone victory would extend and augment my shameless addiction. Think "Requiem For a Dream":



For the full blather, go here.

Flames vs. Ducks - Game Five Review (brief)

Despite falling two goals short (of their series high 5 goals in a game), I felt that the Flame's victory on Saturday night was probably their strongest game of the series...

For the rest, go here.

Flames vs. Ducks - Game Four Review

Besides a tied series, the Flame's loss to the Ducks yielded a couple of controversies as well...

For the rest of Metrognome's bitter rantings, click here.

Cripple the Quackers!

Chance for the Flames to deal a crippling blow to the Ducks tonight...

Go here for Metrognome's set-up of game 4.

 

Smarter Not Harder

That's more like it!

The Flames burned the Duck's last night...

Metrognome's take on the Flame's victory is here.

Visual Symbols Are Fun

Flames vs. Ducks, Game 3 - A Brief Summary:

Sweet.

The Bell Tolls...for Crawford

Not surprisingly, Marc Crawford was axed by the Canucks today...

TSN story here.

Any guesses on the potential replacement?

Round-up Review

I figured I'd go "macro" for a bit and focus on all of the various play-off series going on...

To waste some of your valuable time, click.

Play-off Pool Picks

Time for a little self-indulgence...

Go here to laugh at Metrognome's fantasy play-off picks and strategems...

Flames vs. Ducks - Game Two Review

Looks like the Flames forgot how to play the kind of hockey that got them to the play-offs in the first place yesterday...

For the rest of Metrognome's recap, go here.

Flames vs. Ducks - Game One Review

I'd be lying if I said I was satisfied with last night's game...

find the rest of Metrognome's review here.

Ducky Distraction

Flames Fans - Restless before the big game tonight? Amuse yourself here with this aptly symbolic golden oldy.

Sweet, Sweet Anticipation

Yes, it's finally here.

Game 1, series 1. Play-offs.

Metrognome looks at the Ducks and Flames here.

The Dion Underneath Your Bed

Three guesses as to who Pierre McGuire picked as his "Monster Performer" of the year...

(Hint - it's not Chris Pronger).

Link.

Say Goodbye Quinn..."Goodbye Quinn".

I don't post much (or at all) but after hearing about the dismissal of Pat Quinn today, I had to rejoice by posting the link to the article to share my joy of Quinn's firing.

Article from TSN can be found here

Eastern Conference Predictions...

Time to step-up and spin the wheel.

Metrognome's eastern picks and prognostications here.

An Introduction...

Ducks Fans: get used to seeing stuff like this.

Flames - A Year in Review

I figured a regular season wrap-up was in order before the inevitable Calgary/Anaheim play-off preview. So, without further foreplay...

For the complete article by Metrognome Click Here

Upon Closer Inspection...

I was taking a look at the Colorado/Edmonton stats from last night's contest...

For the complete article by Metrognome Click Here

Western Play-off Preview...

With the season basically over and the Western Conference standings firmly established, I figured a "play-off round 1 preview" was in order. Here are the western match-ups and how I see them playing out...

For the complete article by Metrognome Click Here

Every Ending is the Start of Something New

Flames versus the Ducks tonight in a potential first round preview - to a certain extent anyways....

For the complete article by Metrognome Click Here

Convert Heathens!

Just to add fodder to the claim that Calgary is nothing without Kipper, a New Religion has popped up at Calgarypuck.com.

Avert thine eyes Oilers fans!

The Kings are Dead...Long Live the Kings!

The cheeky title above refers both to the demise of this evenings opponents play-off hopes as well as to Calgary's ascension to the NW Division throne (captured Thursday night in the victory over Colorado)...

For the complete article by Metrognome Click Here

What's the Point...?

I'm going to forgo a Flame's game preview post for now. Instead, it's "criticize the murky editorial" time...

For the complete article by Metrognome Click Here

Hockey's "T.O."

Here's an interesting fact: jerks with small brains and big mouths don't do well in team sports.

Just ask Sean Avery.

Game Review: Roast Duck

Another list-o-accomplishments post...

For the complete game review by Metrognome Click Here

100 and the Title...?

I've been rather busy the last couple of days. As a result, the blog has lacked a certain orginality and flair, Im sure. I apologize.

Let's start off by mocking the Vancouver Canucks...

For the complete article by Metrognome Click Here

Back on the Dancefloor!!

To be as plain as possible - the Flames "got 'er done" during the weekend. Despite losing half a dozen regulars to injury and playing a bunch of games in a short span of time, Calgary managed to ensure a play-off berth for the second straight year!

The Minny game on Friday was everything I expected it to be: boring. Aside from the performances of Lombardi, Lundmark and Kipper plus the notable (fluke) ending of Amonte's scoreless streak, the Wild game was anything but...however, Iggy and crew got what they wanted, ultimately, so yay for that.

As for the Vancouver contest...I'll admit, I was pretty convinced that Calgary was done for in this one: 3rd game in 4 nights versus a rested and desperate team lacking a lot of your veterans typically = blowout loss. And after the first 2 periods, I was fairly certain I was right.

Wrong.

Thanks to the heroics of Kipper and Iginla, Calgary managed to claw back into the game and garner the play-off clinching point. The fact that we eventually lost this game doesn't bother me a whit - by all rights we shouldn't have been in it in the first place...

Positives and Negatives (combined)...

Positives:

- Play-offs! YEAAHHHH BABY!!

- Amonte finally scores. Although, really, Wes Walz scored with an Assist from Bones. But that's nit-picking.

- Lombardi/Lundmark/Amonte. By far the most dangerous forward unit against the Wild.

- Lundmark versus Minny. 2nd GWG in as many games.

- Jarome Iginla. Plays a ton and is a difference maker in the 3rd period against Vancouver.

- Mark Giordano (Canucks). The leading scorer on the farm stepped-up his play big time. Scored (assisted..?) the first Flames goal and had a number of big hits.

- Kiprusoff. Simply superhuman in both games.

- Byron Ritchie (Canucks). Tireless forchecker is finally rewarded with a (very important) goal.

Negatives:

- Thoroughly lack luster powerplay against Minny. 0-6 on the evening.

- Lack of killer instinct versus Wild. Lead most of the contest, but needed a last-minute goal to seal the deal.

- Dion Phaneuf/Roman Hamrlik (Wild). None too effective on the PP and allowed the Rolston shorthanded goal against.

- Discipline (Vancouver). Wayyyy too many penalties taken. Some of the calls were odd, but still need to find a way to stay out of the box. Fatigue probably a factor here, however.

- PK in Vancouver. fatigue and lack of Leo/Warrener were definate factors.

- Andrew Ference (Vancouver). On for all 3 opposition goals. Yup, again. *Sigh* Could have drawn assists on the first 2 Canucks tallies...oh, Leopold! How I miss thee and lament thy ailments!

The next goal facing the Flames is to clinch the division. Colorado helped out with that one a bit last night by losing to the Wild. Also, accoring to mudcrutches numbers, the Flames are a 92% lock to win the NW anyhow. Impressive!

Now we just need to get healthy before the first round starts...

Ruin the Ruiners

I'd be a liar if I told you I wasn't looking past tonight's game to tomorrow's HNIC date with Vancouver. With chance a to kill the Canuck's play-off dreams again, I just can't help myself.

Not that a win against the Wild this evening isn't important. It is. Until the play-offs are assured (along, perhaps, with the NW division) every point is precious. Which means I hope the players aren't thinking the way I am about the game tomorrow.

As for the Wild, their play-off hopes are all but gone. Instead, they are looking to play "Ruiner" (as Manny Fernandez put it) for all those Western teams still battling to make it to the dance. Something they did to a degree last night against the Oilers, with a little help from a mis-handled video replay.

As a result of the Oiler's S/O loss, marvel at the continuing Western log-jam here.

As you can see, the Canuck's play-off chances are growing dimmer. In contrast, if the Flames gather 3 points over the next 2 games, they'll be a lock for the post season and be within a mere skip and a jump away from the NW division banner. Yay!!

As for tonight, Mark Giordano has apparently been recalled from the farm. There's talk that both Leopold and Hulse are injured now (as well as nearly half the team it seems), which means, barring a return of Rhett Warrener, we may see both Giordano and Mush in the line-up tonight. Uh-oh...

On the positive side, it looks like Lundmark has recovered from his puffy-eye-thing and will draw back into the line-up. That will probably mean the exit of Lynn Loyns. Other "come back" potentials include Darren McCaty and Mike Leclerc, though it's fuzzy if that means they'll return against the Wild or the Canucks. Whatever happens, let's just pray Leopold isn't too badly hurt. Also, pray that the Flames continue to score like they have recently. The latter comment may not be related to the injury thing, but I thought I'd throw it in there.

If Calgary has anything going in their favor, it's that the Wild played a long, relatively hard fought game last night. Meaning they may be tired tonight. Not to mention the fact that the Flame's home record (27-7-4) is vastly superior to the Wild's road record (14-18-5). Yay!! (again)

Hopefully the Flames pull out two points today and set themselves up for an incredibly gratifying victory tomorrow night over the Canucks.

Go Flames Go!

Mr. Sandman...Bring Me a Dream...

Besides the usual warm fuzzies that accompany a win, the Flame's also managed to hit a number of significant milestones yesterday:

- The Dion scored his 19th goal of the season, surpassing the previous franchise record for goals by a rookie defensemen set by Gary Suter.

- Kipper tied (with Vernon) the franchise record for wins by goalie in a single season (39).

- Beetlejuice recorded his 46th point of the season, besting his previous personal high of 45 (2001-2002 season). This despite having scored only 8 points in the first 24 games with Florida this year.

- The Flames garnered their 95th point of the year, beating last season's 94 point total with 6 games to play.

- And, not insignificantly, finally won a contest while I was in the 'Dome. It's been a LONG time.

Yup, this most recent victory was a beauty all around. I haven't even mentioned yet that with the Av's losing to the Sharks last night, Calgary stands 5 points clear for the NW division and the Canucks are currently outside of the play-off picture!

Don't wake me up if Im dreaming.

Positives:

- The offensive re-awakening continues. Another 3 goal win, another 3+ goal night. Calgary has managed to score 16 goals in their past 4 games.

- Powerplay. 3 for 8 on the evening. An added bonus - the PP actually looked like an NHL caliber unit against the unfortunate Coyotes. Also, all three goals were beauties (Phaneuf from the point, Iginla one-timer, Huselius/Langkow 2 on 1).

- Basically a lock to make the play-offs barring some total collapse by Calgary in concert with some incredibly improbable run by the Canucks or Sharks.

- Calgary's first line. The trio of Iginla, Huselius and Langkow looked downright dangerous last night. Langkow had an excellent game all around (2 assists) and has quietly gathered 12 points in his last 11 games.

- Dion Phaneuf. Pastes that pest Nash and scores another PP goal. Not to mention the record setting stuff.

- Miikka Kiprusoff. Wasn't terribly busy all night, but made one or two incredible saves at key times in the game.

- Deny Sauve and Rhino any kind of satisfaction by convincingly beating up on their new team.

- Andrew Ference. No major gaffes this night out and he stepped up in the third so Leo could rest his ailing groin.

Negatives:

- Penalty Killing. 2 for 6 on the night. Lombardi looked like a chicken with his head cut-off as the lone forward on the Coyotes 5 on 3 advantage.

- More injuries!! Kobasew didn't return after the 1st period thanks to an apparent "groin strain" and Leopold didn't play the third. No word on how serious either situation is.

- Officiating. A very minor complaint, but the "tripping" call on Phaneuf in the first period was absurd. Reinprecht (the "victim" on the play) wasn't tripped in that he didn't even fall down!

- Shean Donovan. Actually played a decent game (scored the 4th goal). However, both 'Yotes goals were scored with him in the box thanks to two needless hooking infractions.

Gonna be hard to top this game, methinks...course, should the Flame's beat Vancouver Saturday night and basically eliminate them from the play-0ffs (again), it could very well happen

The Curse is Broken!

Incredibly, the Flames won last night while I was in attendance. I can't honestly remember the last time that happened (2 previous games this season were losses to Nashville and LA in December).

Wrap-up later. For now, bask in the glow of mudcrutch's play-off probability table...

Revenge of the Ex's?

Flames will be battling their ex-back-up and ex-centerman and the Phoenix Coyotes tonight in the 'Dome.

The two "former Flames" have had different levels of success since being dealt to 'Yotes - Sauve has remained the marginal back-up 'tender that he was in both Colorado and Calgary while Rhino has taken full advantage of his re-assignment, blossoming into the offensive threat everyone hoped he'd be here in Calgary. In fact, Reinprecht recently won offensive player of the week honors from the NHL.

Anyways, despite their humiliating 7-1 drubbing at the hands of the Oil Stains the other night, the Coyotes have put together a surprisingly decent run over the past 10 game (7-3-0). This suggests that:

a.) Phoenix might be playing "loose" and relaxed since their play-off hopes are all but extinguished and,
b.) Some of their newly acquired players might actually be helping the team out, unlike some other clubs that shall remain nameless (*AHEM* Vancouver).

Speaking of newly acquired, the Desert Dogs winger Oleg Kvasha won't be in the line-up tonight (or, indeed, for the rest of the season) according to TSN. While I dont think his lack will exactly hand the game over to Calgary, he has had 10 points for Phoenix since being dealt by the Islanders. So it's in no way a bad thing that he's injured.

So what might hand the game to the Flames? Word is, Sauve will be in the nets for the Coyotes tonight. While there is always the possibility that Sauve will be highly motivated to show-up the team that gave up on him, I consider it highly unlikely that he will out-duel Kiprusoff. Course, there's been other marginal back-ups we've had problems with this year, so I guess anything's possible.

As far as Flame's issues go, it sounds like a lot of their injured are almost ready to return. According to Peter Mahr this morning, Leopold, Lundmark and Warrener are all skating with the team. It would be exceedingly beneficial to Calgary if they could re-insert either Leo or Warrener or both back into the line-up. That would (probably) mean no more Mush hobbling around and the return of Ference to the 6th defenesman role (where is far more effective). There were no real indications if anyone will be returning for certain for the game tonight, so I guess we'll have to wait and see...

On the Line:

First in the NW and a play-off spot. Until Calgary passes that "96 point" threshold, every point is precious. In addition, the Flames can maintain or increase their 3 point bulge over the Avs with a win tonight.

So here's hoping the boys come out with a big effort this evening. Besides all the really important stuff listed above, we simply cannot lose to a team that Edmonton beat 7-1...

Where Have all the Flames Blogs Gone?

More props for this humble blog from the venerable Battle of Alberta.

The question raised in this recent post, however, is a good one: why aren't there more Calgary Flames blogs out there?

If anyone knows of any other decent Flame based blogs floating around cyberspace, please let me (or Matt of BofA fame) know about it.

Otherwise, more Calgary commenters and fans over at the BofA would be appreciated. The Oilers fans that frequent that blog sure can talk some good smack!

Gotta But Coulda

Not much to say about this one, really. Played well, got a point, coulda won...

As expected, the Detroit game was as close as they come. Low scoring, but with lots of scoring chances and anxiety producing moments, last nights contest resembled a play-off match in many ways.

Besides, of course, the shoot-out.

I think Calgary played a decent game - they generated a lot of scoring chances and held a high powered opponent to a single goal. After so many games recently and with so many injured, I think garnering a point against the #1 team in the league is nothing to sneeze at...

Positives:

- Dion Phaneuf scores his 18th goal, tying Gary Suter for the Flame's franchise record for goals by a rookie defenseman. Kudos!

- Jarome Iginla. Lands on both lists today. Was Calgary's most dangerous forward and killed penalties with a fury. Collected 6 shots on goal and 26+ minutes of ice!

- Penlaty Kill. Held the #1 powerplay in the NHL off the scoresheet.

- Miikka Kiprusoff. Simply outstanding. His repeated stoning of Henrik Zetterberg was something to behold. If only he was better in shoot-outs (not that that will matter in about 3 weeks).

- Mush and Hulse. More props for the two stand-ins. Still no royal screw-ups.

- Chuck Kobasew. Fast and aggressive all night. It was the Lombo/Kobasew/Amonte line that established the tenacious forecheck that lead to Calgary's only goal.

Negatives:

- Shooting blanks. Only one goal for on Detroit's back-up goalie.

- Powerplay. Went 0 for 6. Looked less than organized most of the time.

- Jarome Iginla. Had a good game what would have been a GREAT game had he capitalized on just one of his numerous good scoring chances.

- Andrew Ference. Back in the negatives. Author of several bad give-aways, including one in overtime that lead to his hooking penalty. Looked very much like a 6th defenseman pressed into 2nd defenseman duties. Come back quick Leo!

- Flames and the shoot-out. We just plain suck at them all around.

Next up...the Rhino 'Yotes!

I Hope Im Not Dreaming

It honestly felt like my birthday and Christmas had come early and were occuring simultaneously on Saturday night:

- 6-3 win over Colorado on Friday!

- 4-1 win over Edmonton on Saturday!

- 10 goals scored in 2 games and 2 consectuive 3 goal victories!

- The Edmonton crowd's gnashing of teeth over at the Battle of Alberta (see comments).

- Move 4 points up on Colorado for the division lead.

- Move ever closer to the "play-off clinching" point total of 96.

Yes, it was a wonderful, wonderful weekend. It wasn't "Stanley cup" winning wonderful. It wasn't even "knock out Vancouver in the first round" wonderful. But damn good, nonetheless.

Gotta say, the Flames as a whole surprised me. After their none-too-good road trip, I was starting to get a tad worried. However, even with a dense schedule and a bunch of significant injuries, the boys pulled through in great fashion. Heck, they're even starting to score some. If THIS is the team that's going to appear in the post season this year, color me satisfied, win or lose.

And now...

Colorado P/N

Positives:

- 6 goals for! That ever elusive killer instinct arrives!

- I mentioned in the pre-game write-up that the team that got a better performance from their support players would win. I was right. Donovan, Lombardi, Simon, Macdonald...everyone was contributing.

- Dion Phaneuf. Changes the feel of the game with 2 huge hits in the second period. Seemed to ignite the Flames.

- Shean Donovan. Covered briefly above. Scored one of the nicest goals by a Flame all season and assisted on Macdonald's goal. Best game of the year for Dono.

- Tony Amonte. Still didn't score but was playing his ass off. It was his great pass that set-up Lombo's short-handed break-away.

- Mush and Hulse. Pressd into action thanks to injuries, the pair weren't humiliated by the talented Avs, which is saying something. Did all we can expect of them.

- Jarome Iginla. Was really strong along the wall and set-up a Gift for Langkow.

Negatives:

- First Period. Gave up a one goal lead thanks to goals 20-odd seconds apart by Sakic. I hate it when they do that!

- Andrew Ference. On for all 3 goals against. 2 Miscues lead to Av's 1st and 3rd goals. Made me wish for Leopold to come back as fast as possible...

- Kristian Huselius. Invisible for most of the game.

Edmonton P/N

Positives:

- Take the game and the season series! Another season of dominating the Oil!

- Miikka Kiprusoff. Made the big saves when we needed him to. The break-away stop on Peca comes to mind.

- Kristian Huselius. After some mediocre performances, Beetlejuice shows up to score another game winner against the Oilers. Was robbed of a hat-trick by the cross-bar.

- Jarome Iginla. Played a complete, all-around game. Has quietly put together a 6 game point streak.

- Damond Langkow. Scored his 22nd of the year and added an assist. Seems to be clicking with Jarome a bit more.

- Andrew Ference. Okay, I pick on this guy a lot. But he managed a decent game in his own end and even added the back-breaking PP goal in the 3rd to seal the deal.

- Mush and Hulse. The two back-benchers came through in the clutch again.

- Powerplay. 2 for 6 on the night.

- Penalty Kill. Denied all 5 Oiler chances.

Negatives:

- Officiating. Nominal penalty calls half the time and then the "delayed penalty" debacle in the third.

- First 10 minutes. Calgary was pretty much totally outplayed at the start of the game before turning it around.

- Simon losing to Big Georges. The fight was a little anti-climatic thanks to Simon's little stumble that basically lead to his waving his hands in the air and then falling down. He didn't return after being cut in the fight.

Anyways, it's on to Detroit tonight. The Flames have a chance to climb further atop the NW while coming ever closer to ensuring a play-off berth. Here are some of the factors:

- Calgary still has a full sick-bay. Leopold, Nilson, Lundmark, Warrener and McCarty are all still out. Which means more of Hulse, Mush, Germyn and Macdonald...while they have performed admirably thus far, the Flame's luck can only last so long.

- Detroit has clinched just about everything and is playing out the stretch. This is their 3rd game in 4 nights (I believe) on this road trip. They may just mail one in, especially if Calgary starts hitting them early and often.

- Detroit is also playing without noteworthy regulars Manny Legace and Matthew Schneider.

- Calgary is going for their 4th win in a row for the first time since January. Conversely, Detroit hasn't lost in regulation in the last 10 games (7-0-3).

- The Red Wing's impressive away record (27-6-3) is about the same as the Flame's impressive home record (26-7-3).

It all adds up to a head scratcher. Detroit is the best team in the league in terms of points, but have had the benefit of feasting on the weak sisters in the central division all year. Plus, Im fairly certain the Flames have won the last couple of meetings between these two teams...

Let's just hope for another solid performance. Im still all a-glow from this weekend's fun-ness, so I wouldn't be terribly depressed by a loss tonight (especially given all the injuries).

That said I still would vastly prefer a win...

GO FLAMES GO!