Headers, Summaries and Previews

First off, take a second to marvel at the new FHF header created by our resident computer wizard CateloupeHalves. Notice it's both stylish AND useful!

On to the good stuff...so The Flames managed to pull out an all too familiar 2-1 victory Saturday night against the Oil. From a Flames perspective, there was lots to like about the win - as well as the odd concern as well.

Good to see support players like Yelle and Nilson contributing on the scoresheet. Unfortunately, much like last season, most of the primary cast failed to record points in concert with the grinders. The Flames have suffered from this kind of "one-or-the-other syndrom" for awhile - either the scorers score or the checkers score, but almost never both in the same game. A consistent and unified attack is part of the challenge facing this club this season...

Kipper played another excellent game, helping to further dispell any Flames fan's anxienty about a repeat slow start for him this year. He made a number of key saves in the third period to conserve the lead and eventual victory. At least one part (and major strength) of the Flames game is performing well.

Which brings me to the limp and abhorrent Calgary PP. Zero for 15 in the first two games, the Flames seem rather pensive and unsure when they have the man advantage. While there were a couple of opportunitues generated and wasted, the bulk of the Flames PP was spent chasing the puck back into the defensive zone. Areas of improvement for Calgary in this regard include:

• Developing a more dynamic system. Calgary still seems focused on point shots driving the action. Thus far, of course, that has proven ineffective because Edmonton employed a high pressure PK that cheated towards the point. Coupled with their penchant for blocking shots, this strategy almost totally neutralized the Flames attack. Calgary has a number of players that can excel down low in the offensive zone - Iginla, Huselius, Tanguay - and should therefore be looking to make that the fulcrum of their attack.
  
  
• More time for primary scorers. So far this season, Jim Playfair has frequently used secondary PP units at the onset of the man advantage. Usually this results in one or more minutes being needlessly pissed away. I'd like to see the likes of Iginla and Tanguay on the ice at the start of almost every man advantage - and for a majority of the time. In addition, I'd prefer to see a Juice/Iginla/Tanguay top unit, with Jarome at center. Not only does this combine your three most skilled forwards, it also puts Iginla in the face-off circle where he has so far been very effective.
  
  
• Continue to generate traffic in scoring areas. While this aspect of play was highly improved on Saturday night over Thursday's game, the next step is to adequately bear down and bury the chances that present themselves. Calgary missed something like 3 open nets last game - a nightmarish case of deja vu for any fan who watched chance after chance go unfulfilled last season...

Positives and Negatives Time -

Positives:

- Even up the Battle of Alberta at one a piece. Not sure I could have endured the insufferable Oiler fan gloating should we had lost two in a row to the Grease.

- Jarome Iginla. Looking strong, determined and dangerous. Thankfully his inept doppleganger, Jarmoe, has yet to make an appearance in this young season.

- Alex Tanguay. Definately started to look more comfortable in the second half of the game. Made a nifty pass to set-up the Flame's second goal. Was a siginficant presence during a few dominating shifts by the first line in the third period.

- Kristian Huselius. Was frequently the most dangerous guy on the ice. Made a series of highlight-reel dipsy-doodles in the offensize zone during one impressive sequence. Is bound to start putting up points.

- Dion Phaneuf and Robyn Regehr. Still leading by example.

- Stephane Yelle. Scores a goal and assist and continues to block shots with every part of his body. Great game for the third line center.

- Kiprusoff. Came up big when he was needed the most.

Negatives:

- The PP. Completely toothless currently.

- Lack of finish. Lots of chances, only two goals to show for it. Gotta start finishing around the net.

- Andrei Zyuzin. Made a number of junior quality blunders during the game. The puck seems to bounce off his stick whenever it comes near him. Seems to have a Denis-Gauthier like ability to shoot pucks into defenders shin-pads as well.

As for tonight, the goal will be to continue the good stuff while correcting the bad. Most significantly, the sharks have 2 very dangerous lines, as showcased by their preseason pounding of the Flames, so a more potent attack will be a must this evening. Actually scoring on the PP would no doubt be a big step in the right direction - as well as, you know, shooting pucks into empty nets when the opportunity arises.

In addition, a good performance out of secondary defenders Hamrlik and Zyuzin will be a must. Regehr and Phaneuf will most likely be matched up against Thornton and Cheechoo, leaving Hammer and Andrei the somewhat daunting task of containing Marleau's unit. If Zyuzin continues to struggle, the Flames will no doubt suffer for it...

Anyways, let's make it 2 in a row boys! GO FLAMES GO!

Emilio Says It Best

This handy-dandy 60 second version of the Breakfast Club pretty much sums up my feelngs about tonights game (around the 25 second mark, to be exact).

Go Flames! WIN WIN WIN...

Is about all I have to say about last night's contest. Though anyone familiar with the Flames probably knows that they almost invariably drop the season opener. Hell, I'll take yesterday's showing over the 6-3 beating we absorbed at the hands the didn't-make-the-play-offs Wild last October. So I guess there's that...

Before I get started on the rant, I'll clarify that the Oliers played a decent game - they attacked with speed and crashed the net. They played a high tempo forecheck and executed on their PK very nicely. Roloson was solid.

There. Credit where credit is due.

So now after being to 4 pre-season games and watching the contest last night I have to say Im thus far unimpressed with the Flames coaching:

The preseason was mishandled - rookies who had no chance of making the team were liberally mixed with veterans all the way up to the final match. As a result, there doesn't seem to be much familiarity among the members of the starting line-up.

Further, all the systemic issues that deter offense seem to still remain firmly in place - Calgary hasn't scored more than 3 goals in the last 8 games (including exhibition) and there still doesn't seem to be much creativity or drive once players enter the offensive zone. By all accounts, the old mindset of "defense-first, defense-second, hope-for-Jarome-to-make-something-happen" still dominates the X's and O's. And while that was an appropriate mindset to have when Iginla was the only weapon the Flames possessed, it's just not the case anymore. Calgary has a great goalie and solid defense - let the forwards lose for frig sake.

On a connected issue, Playfair's roster and lines from last night smacked of "cautious defense". He loads up one offensive line - Iginla-Langkow-Tanguay - with vets that can play at both ends of the ice and then demotes Kobasew to the 3rd line (where he is pretty much useless). Amonte gets promoted to the 2nd line, more because he is defensively responsible then offensively capable, and Jamie Lundmark is sat out in favor of Byron Ritchie...

The result? Kobasew and Lombardi are basically neutralized because they don't get much ice (10 minutes and 13 minutes respectively) and Lundmark watches Ritchie skate between the bluelines without purpose all night. Watching the likes of MacDonald, Eaves and Bernier play with Selanne, Heatley and Marleau makes me even more certain of the fact that we need to give our kids a chance - put them on top lines with top players and let them take risks and score some goals. Stop trying to shelter them from risk all the time...they need icetime and opportunity to produce.

So yeah...color me unimpressed. Im hoping there'll be a different look to the Flames roster and systems (particularly that PP - yuck!) come Saturday.

Positives:

- Kipper - played well and made some great saves. Can't really be faulted for any of the goals against.

- Iginla - Made things happen all night and scored the lone Flames goal. Still terrible at penalty shots though.

- Juice - crafty playmaker was the lone Flame trying to make something happen on the PP. Was robbed of a goal by the post. He was even put out on the PK at one point!

- Regehr - Stalwart was tough to beat last night. Absolutely plowed Hemsky into the endboards.

- The Dion - Played 30 minutes and made some big hits.

Negatives:

- Same old scoring woes. Lots of chances, no finish.

- Abysmal powerplay. Zero goals on 9 chances. Playfair frequently started each PP with the 2nd unit (Amonte, Juice, Lombardi) which typically resulted in 1+ minutes being wasted. Also, it seemed like the Flames players were literally tied to the boards during the man advantage. No one in scoring position or crashing the net. Bah.

- Mark Giordano. Struggled most of the evening. Was badly beaten by Hemsky on the first Edmonton goal.

- Roman Hamrlik. Lame clearing attempts and lame wrist shots during the PP. Got a little better as the game went on, but not much.

- Chuck Kobasew. Did nothing to play himself back into the top 6 forwards. Pretty much invisible.

- Lombardi. Largely a non-entity as well.

- Tanguay. Looks rather confused when he's on the ice. Not sure whether he's unused to his linemates or the systems or both. Was benched during small portions of the evening.

- Amonte. I said this last year and I said this during the summer and Im saying this now - Amonte is NOT a top six forward anymore. He works his ass off but his hands have abandoned him. We need Kobasew to have 18 minutes a night, not Tony.

Next up - Revenge!

PS - Just for an extra kick in the crotch, check out Rhino's point totals from last night...

Lord that was a terrible trade!

BoA 3/10 Preview - Season Opener Edition!

Can't think of a better way to start the season than a good ol' fashioned Battle of Alberta! Especially since we've been kicking the Greaser's collective asses in regular season play the last couple of years or so (I think they've won 2 of 18 contests in regulation).

Tonight, the Flames will be looking to prove that last season's early play-off exit was an aberration. Scoring some goals on a spectacularly unimpressive Oiler defense group would be an excellent way to start. In contrast, Edmonton will be looking to prove that their extended cup run was NOT a fluke - and that Chris Pronger wasn't the main horse dragging along a broken carriage.

Keys to the match:

• Flames have to score more than 2 goals. The Oil can roll 3 lines of tricky forwards, so grinding out a 1-0 win probably isn't in the cards.
• Kipper. Let's face it - if Miikka plays the way he did during the preseason, this game's going to be a very long one for the Flames.
• Line match-ups. Calgary's 2nd line - Huselius, Lombo and Amonte, is probably their weakest defensively. MacTavish will no doubt look to get the Horcoff line out against Lombo's unit whenever possible. Unfortunately the Oilers have last change being the home team, so Calgary will have to find creative ways to counter.
• Secondary attack. Playfair has put all his eggs in one basket by combining Langkow with Iginla and Tanguay. The Flames will have to find a way to generate scoring chances with the other lines to stay competitive.
• High pressure forecheck. After Staios and Smith, the Oilers have a lot of young and inexperienced d-men (Greene, Hejda, Smid). The Flames should look to exploit this weakness by applying pressure as swiftly as possible whenever they cross Edmonton's blueline. turn-overs should ensue.

Also, best players need to the best players. If the likes of Iginla and Phaneuf can't out-class Edmonton's best player - the venerable broken stick - then the Flames are in trouble. Unless, of course, the ref does his job and actually removes garbage from the ice surface (which would unfortunately elminate most of the Oiler players).

Go Flames Go!

Who's going to win Tonight?

Based solely on "hotness" of these two models (Flames and OIler model) who will win tonights game? Flames Oilers    Free polls from Pollhost.com

HHF Sportingnews Pool

Short notice, I know...but...

I cordially invite everyone to take part in the Hello Hockey Fans! Sportingnews hockey pool! You get 7 players, a $30 million cap and dynamic player values based on which players are being picked the most and 2 trades per week. I've played it the last couple of years and it's great fun.

Anyways, just go here and create an account and choose to join the "Hello Hockey Fans" league (password: fiveholefanatics).

Hope to see you there. The more the merrier!

PS - it's free.

The Macro-Prediction Post

I guess I should get this out there before the season starts:

I like Ottawa to take the Eastern crown. They have a capable duo of goalies, the most dangerous first line in hockey and a mobile crop of young defenders on the back-end. Buffalo will probably challenge them for the NE divsion, however.

Carolina and the Rangers will each win their respective divisions. The Hurricanes will again dominate the likes of Washington and Florida all season while the Rangers have improved by adding Shanahan, Cullen and Rachunek. Another stellar season from Jagr doesn't hurt either.

My SURPRISE! choices include Atlanta and Boston. I think Atlanta will benefit from a full year of Lehtonen in net and Kovalchuk will no doubt be a Rocket Richard finalist. The Bruins have two decent scoring lines backed up by a very solid blueline (Chara, Mara and Stuart). Their only issue may be in net, but only time will tell.

And, yes, I think NJ will be on the outside looking in. To be honest, I made up this list before Lou magically extricted himself from the Cap Mess, but Im too stuborn to change it now...

Many of the other selections are self-explanatory, aside from perhaps Montreal. I don't see the necessary depth at any position for the Canadiens and the Huet thing is a big gamble.

In the West, Detroit will again reign supreme, if only because they haven't taken enough steps backwards (or their divisional rivals, enough step forwards) to be unseated. I don't think they'll be quite as dominant this year, however.

The second spot will either go to Anaheim or San Jose - it all depends on whose strength prevails in the Pacific: the Duck's defense or the Shark's offense. Either way, both teams will beat up on the likes of Phoenix and LA all year.

Calgary in third by virtue of winning the NW. further discussion of that topic can be found a few posts below.

Nashville may be able to challenge Detroit for the Western conference crown if their young defensemen hold up for the entire year. If so, swap the Red Wings with the Predators in the chart.


I definitely think the Wild will make the post-season this year - they had decent special teams previously (including the best PK in the league), have significantly upgraded their offense with Demitra, Parrish and Johnson and a couple of their divisional rivals (Vancouver, Colorado) aren't as strong this year.

I think all of Colorado, Dallas, Edmonton and Vancouver are on the play-off bubble. An injury here or a slump there could have the Oilers in 7th and the Stars in 10th.

The rest are fairly obvious. Columbus will be better, but not better enough: trading Denis was a mistake and they still have depth issues, especially at defense. The Kings have almost no offense to speak of outside of Conroy and Frolov, but have a solid blueline. I don't think Cloutier will be a difference maker here. Chicago got a little better in the off-season by acquiring Havlat and Handzus and a rebound by the fallen Bhulin Wall may garner them a few more points...but not enough to make the post-season. The Blues are the Blues and Phoenix, well...their mishmash of ruffians, cast-offs and the frequently injured aren't going to fare particularly well in front of a 40 year old CuJo.

Bang the Gong!

NWD Breakdown: Calgary Flames

All the pieces appear to be in place for the Flames heading into this season...

More biases and mis-placed assumptions here.

NWD Breakdown: Edmonton Oilers

The Oil are a difficult puzzle to crack in terms of predictions this off-season...

The rest of my biased take on the greasers here.

Lombo is out; Langkow is in!

As most of you know for the past few years Sutter has been the bench boss for the Calgary Flames. During his tenure, the combinations of the Flames lines has been tenative at best. In fact, during certain spells of the '05 season it seemed that Sutter was far too egalitaritan with this line up, and, much like a pee wee hockey team, everyone got to have a go on the first line.

Since then, Sutter has moved into the GM role full time and passed on the coaching duties to Jim Playfair. Although Sutter led our squad to hieghts not seen since the late eighties, one change that has some fans looking forward to this year is more consistant lineups. With the off-season aquisition of Alex Tanguay, the big question surronding the squad is; who will play with Iggy and Tanguay?
Earlier today that answer was made public by the Flames website (Calgaryflames.com) and the news is positive.

Positive that is, unless your a Matthew Lombardi fan.

Damond Langkow has been tapped to play the first line center position between two of the leagues elite scorers. Neither Iggy nor Alex had a spectactular pre-season, and could the calming influence of a vertern like Damond could be just what these two need? I certainly hope so.

Lombo, who has shown brillant play as often as he has struggled, will be holding court in the middle between Huselius and Amonte on the club's second line. An interesting note for all you fans out there; Amonte is slotted to play right wing, despite the fact that he shoots left. In fact, everyone on the second line is a lefty. Friesen, Nilson and last year's 20 goal man Kobasew round out the forwards on the third line.

A question that springs up in my mind; has Chuck fallen out of favor?
He is a natural right winger, has blazing speed (as evident from him constantly crashing into the boards), and a bit of a goal scorers touch. Yet he finds himself on the third line, while a natural left winger is up playing on the second. Most Flames fans will tell you that Chuck's inconsistancey is his worst quality. On a team of streaky players, he is stands out as the team's classic hot and cold guy. When he plays well he is a hurricane of activity, constantly skating hard and always around the puck. When he is cold, one must check the program to make sure that he was even on the ice at all. Perhaps Jim has decided to use this as a motivation tool for the young forward. Or perhaps he has been paired with two of Flames better defensive forwards in an effort to find a line that can shut down the oppositions big guns. In either case, it will be interesting to see if Chucky plays his way into more ice time, or falters and is an in-and-out man in the lineup.

The defensive pairings hold no surprises to anyone who has watched the Flames in preseason action. The top two will be Robyn Regehr and Dion Phaneuf, followed by A. Ference and Giordano. The final two spots of the Flames reargaurd will be filled by two talented verterns in Roman Hamrlik and Andre Zyuzin, both of whom stuggled during exhibition play.

To no ones surprise, last years 'All world goalie' and Vezina trophy winner Mikka will be between the pipes.

I am not naive enough to think that this is going to be the lineup for the entire season, (especially with Yeller out of the lineup with an injury) so I am left with only one question; how long before we see a significant change to these three sets?
We will have to wait and see...

Waive Bye Bye Brad

Calgary placed goons Eric Godard and Brad Ference on waivers today. I won't hold out hope that anyone will actually take the likes of Ference off our hands, but you never know. Not sure what will happen once they clear...AHL demotion perhaps?

A Merciful End and Other Flames News

The only really good thing about the preseason for the Flames this year is the fact that it's over.

Over the weekend, Calgary fizzled against the Canucks (3-2) and the Sharks (5-1) sinking their exhibition record to a less than sparkling 3-3-1. And while preseason wins and losses are hardly worth losing sleep over, some concerns did manage to rear their heads during the Flames exhibition play:

- Lack of offense. Calgary never broke the 3 goal mark in any of their 7 games. While the powerplay was relatively impressive, the Flames were again unable to generate any sort of significant output at even-strength.

- Unimpressive defense. Calgary allowed 21 goals against in 7 games played, an average of exactly 3/game. Veteran defenders Roman Hamrlik and Andrei Zyuzin struggled mightily, finishing with (-5) and (-4) rankings respectively. In fact, the only Flame who managed to stay in the black was the injured Rhett Warrener (+1). Also, Kipper's stats through his 2 1/2 games are too ugly to publish here. One can only hope he's reverted back to superhuman status by Thursday.

- Chuck Kobasew. There are high hopes for Charles this coming season. Unfortunately, his performance thus far has done little to quiet the concerns regarding his inconsistent play. Chuck played great in the first pre-season tilt against Florida and then vanished without a trace afterwards.

- Alex Tanguay and Jarome Iginla. Both put up some okay offensive numbers (4 goals, 5 assists combined) but they hardly seemed a dynamic duo. Tanguay was downright terrible in his first game as a Flame and has yet to find a comfortable rhythym with Iginla. Jarome seems to be shooting as well as I can remember, but has yet to figure out how to best work with his newest linemate.

I can't tell you whether these are legitimate issues or not. Inconsistency of rosters and lack of interest from veterans tends to skew the validity of preseason stats, thereby almost completely nullifying their predicitive power. Probably of most concern is the lack of offense thing - only because we have a whole season of ES scoring futulity to look back on and cringe...

Flames preseason stats and such over at CBS.

Other News:

- Predictably, the Flames assigned rookies Richie Regehr, Dustin Boyd, Bradon Prust, Andrei Taratukhin and Brent Krahn to Omaha yesterday. Mark Giordano will remain with the big boys to fill in for the currently invalid Rhett Warrener. Also, it looks like Godard is going to stick with the big club, Im guessing to sub out with the likes of Darren McCarty every other contest. Eric Nystrom is still officially a Flame, though Im guessing he'll get dropped back down to the farm as soon as he's healthy.

- Sutter signed Andrew Ference to a three-year contract extension over the weekend as well. The fiesty but sometimes mentally challenged defender was scheduled to become a UFA after this season. No word yet on what the terms of the contract were.

My thoughts? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!....uh...prove me wrong, Ference. Prove me wrong.

This doesn't make ANY sense....

In a surprising move today, the Edmonton Oilers have aquired the rights to Former Muppet and upcoming prospect; Cookie Monster. Since Pronger left the Oilers earlier this summer, Edmonton has been looking for a dominate physical presence on the blue line, and they feel that they have addressed that concern with the move today.

McTavish was quoted as saying;

"Although he doesn't have a lot of NHL experience, he has a huge upside. This kid is a real leader, and has a real appetite for the game"

Cookie Monster's own thoughts echoed what the Oiler Benchboss had to say; "Cookie!"

No word yet on how the other GM's in the league are taking the news.

PreSeason Game Number Second Last Preamble

The Flames visit the canucks tonight in the nearly but not-quite-final exhibition tilt of the year. Vancouver will be looking to...well...actually win a game for a change while Calgary will try to tighten up things in their own end and maybe score more than 3 goals (a couple at even-stength would be a bonus).

Both clubs have whittled down their respective number of rookies, so the rosters will be significantly better than the ones we saw earlier in the preseason. On Calgary's side, it looks the Flames will be dressing their REAL top 2 lines (Lombo-Iggy-Tanguay / Langkow-kobasew-Huselius) for the first time. The DION and Robyn Regehr are suppossedly suiting up this evening as well. As for in goal, it's uncertain whether Kiprusoff will be playing tonight or tomorrow night against San Jose. Which ever it is, Im hoping the legitimate Kipper shows up (rather than the beach-ball dodging, unreasonably hand-drawn facsimile who has played in his stead up to this point).

Vancouver preseason stas here.

Flames stats here.

Flames Site write-up here, including Flames roster and such.

Game on!

Flame Rookies That Aren't in Camp News

Daniel Ryder, a Calgary draft pick I've been up on for awhile now, had a big game in the OHL last. In a contest against The Oshawa Generals, Ryder picked up 2 goals and 4 assists to lead his club to a 7-2 victory.

Ryder has had an excellent start to the season thus far, notching 2 goals and 8 points in just 3 games. Not bad for a third rounder hey? Kudos Daniel!

(Hat tip to Mr.Mastodon Farm for finding the link).

Just When you Thought it Couldn't Get Any Weirder...

...The Hurricanes dump their blue-chip prospect Jack Johnson for a 6th d-man. WHAT??

According to TSN, the Hurricanes have traded the rights to Jack Johnson plus deadweight Oleg Tvderdovsky to the Kings for (get this) Tim Gleason! Tim-friggen-Gleason! Twenty-one points last year Tim Gleason!

Okay, granted, the terrible Tverdovsky contract was needlessly inflating the 'Canes cap number - but Jack Johnson seems a pretty steep price to pay to get someone to take it of their hands. And it's not like Carolina needed another 5th/6th defenseman THAT BADLY (nor is their cap situation that desperate).

On the other end of the scale, what a steal for the Kings. They're relatively flush with experienced d-men right now (Blake, Visnovsky, Norstrom, Miller, Sopel) meaning they can bear to part with a guy like Gleason. So the cost of adding a former 3rd choice overall and bluechip prospect is basically nothing. Two more years at 2.5 million/year worth of nothing...but still...

I just don't get this deal from a Hurricanes perspective, however. Someone down there must know something I don't, because this looks like a huge misstep on the face of it.

EDIT - Apparently Eric Belanger is going the other way with Gleason as well. Meh. Changes nothing about my assesment of this trade.

Giordano A Go-Go

Scott Cruickshank has a column in today's herald confirming my suspicions that Mark Giordano is going to make the team out of camp.

The article also briefly discusses rookie stand-outs Dustin Boyd, Brandon Prust and Andrei Taratukhin.

Enjoy!

"The Salary Site" Updates

CanteloupeHalves has been quietly and diligently upgrading his invaluable salary site for the last little while.

He recently added some rows and columns to each individual team page, including "bonus" and "comments" (injury-type) columns. In addition, the site now has a section where you can rank the teams according to cap dollars spent, cap space, # of players signed and average age of players.

Great work CH!

Could a Flame Win Every Major Individual Award? It’s more realistic than you think…

Most hockey fans that read this will think that I have gone completely mental. Most people that know me think this already. Oiler fans that read this will instantly scoff, roll their eyes, and remind us that it has never been done before. Not even when Wayne, Mark, Paul, Jurri and Grant were all playing on the same team.
Will it happen? Not likely. In fact, it’s pretty bloody unrealistic.
Could it happen? You’re damn skippy it could, and here’s why;

Art Ross Trophy & Hart Memorial Trophy (Top point scorer in the NHL, and MVP):

Winner – Jarome Iginla

First off, almost every time a forward wins one, he wins the other. In the last 5 years, this has been the case. That isn’t the way I made it, it’s just the way it is. The only exception during that five year run was when a crappy second string goalie picks up the pity vote cause he plays for an original six team.

Iggy is an elite scorer in the NHL, everyone knows this (EVERYONE!). Even those that reside 287km north of here understand that Iggy is among the top forwards in the game. Remember 2002? Iggy took home this very award that year. Thanks to his best season to date, tallying 52 goals and 44 assists for 96 points. Last year, Thorton had some decent reuslts before moving over to San Jose, but that’s where he really started to light it up. Playing with a highly skilled sniper in Cheechoo did nothing but help out Joe, and I believe that Tanguay will do the same for Iggy. Again some might question my claim that Tanguay is as dangerous as Cheecho. To those people, I say this; prior to last year (where Cheechoo won the Rocket Richard trophy) how many of you would have picked Cheechoo higher in your hockey pools than Tangs...?

That’s what I thought; none of you. Tanguay has put up consistant numbers for a number of seasons, and playing with another superstar in Jarome certainly shouldn't harm his production. Iggy is about to embark on a season in which he will be playing with the most talented surrounding cast of his NHL career, and he could put up enough points to win both of these.

Frank J. Selke Trophy (Top Defensive Forward in the NHL):

Winner – Stephane Yelle

This is easily my least favorite award that the NHL gives out. Prior to last season (I didn’t mind Rod the Bod winning it), it always seems to be a goal scoring contest between the leagues top five ‘defensive’ forwards. That’s right folks, a goal scoring contest for a defensive award!

Last year ol’ Sandpaper (Stephane’s nickname) blocked 721,567* shots, constantly sacrificed his body, and won a huge number of face-offs. Despite his low goal total, Yelle was re-signed by Sutter immediately. Sutter doesn’t own a suit that isn’t hideous, but he does have a legitimate defensive stud in Yeller.

James Norris Memorial Trophy (Top Defenseman in the NHL):

(*approximate)

Winner – Dion Phaneuf

Nicklas Lidstrom, you had a good run, but now its over. You're getting older and hell, you have won this bloody thing 4 out the last 5 years, but it’s time to face facts.

Fact: Dion scored 20 goals (16 on the PP) and 29 assists for 49 points last year, and I see no reason that he won’t continue to improve these numbers.
Fact: Dion is one of the most exciting players in the NHL right now. In fact, no one has led the league in OHMYGOD hits like this guy since Scott Stevens.
Fact: If you don’t give him this award after he was passed over for the Calder, he will eat each and everyone of you.

Vezina Trophy (Top Goalie in the NHL):

Two words.
Mikka Kiprusoff.

Calder Memorial Trophy (Top Rookie in the NHL):

Winner – Andrei Taratukhin

Okay, even I don’t really think this could happen, but…
Malkin is everyone’s pick prior to the season, because, well, he is awesome and happens to play with some guy named Sidney. However, currently he is hurt and not expected back for the beginning of the season.
Taratukhin is not hurt. He has a chance to play right off the gate, and maybe get some points together.

Also, he's Russian and last year a Russian won it. So there.

That’s how I see it.
Feel free to post a comment on any of the following:

How much I rule.
How completely out to lunch I am.
How Edmonton will regret the loss of Ty Conklin before the season is out.
How I did not include the Lady Byng trophy as a major award.

San Jose/Flames Wrap-up

That about sums up the Flames defensive capabilities last night. Vets Hamrlik and Zyuzin were consistently bad all evening and Kipper turned in his 2nd big stinker of the pre-season (5 goals on 21 shots, 0.76 SP). The Flames, especially the three guys mentioned, should be grateful the Shark's top line of Bell, Cheechoo and Thornton weren't there to make them look even more foolish.

Some positives can be taken from last night's shellacking, however:

Kristian Huselius scored a couple and was a threat for most of the contest. His linemate, Jamie Lundmark, turned in his best game so far as well. Lundmark set-up both of Juice's goals and showcased some fancy stickhandling throughout the contest. Amonte, the right-winger of the unit, was the probably the only veteran to work his ass off all game.

Also, Andrei Taratukhin was mildly impressive. His experience and hockey sense shone through in the neutral and offensive zones, especially during the first two periods. If he'd had better linemates, he probably would have generated some points.

The checking line of McCarty, Yelle and Nilson was probably the most consistent and cohesive forward line for Calgary. They didn't get into a lot of trouble in their own end and actually managed to apply some good offensive pressure at times during the game. Yelle hit the post on a two-on-one during the 2nd period.

Tanguay and Iginla hooked up for the Flames 2nd tally on a pretty break-away passing play. Aside from that, they were thoroughly average. Tanguay is still trying to force plays that aren't there. Also, neither of the vets were terrbily interested in getting invloved in the defensive zone. Dustin Boyd was good at times but clearly a raw rookie in others. Still needs some time in the minors to bulk up physically.

I thought Mark Giordano was the 3rd best d-man on the ice for Calgary behind Regehr and Phaneuf. He was paired with Regehr 2.0, a coupling that was occassionally overwhelmed by the Sharks forecheck, but I was still struck by Giordano's overall solid play. Easily better than both Zyuzin and Hammer last night.

I finally noticed Friesen as well. He used his speed to beat an icing call and actually had a couple of chances on net. Yay!

Final Thoughts:

Im not terribly worried about Kipper's play. As frustrating as it is to watch the vezina winner let in 3 rather questionable goals, one has to remember that this is what preseason is for: practice, working-out-kinks and such and such.

The only thing that is a little anxiety provoking is the fact that the Flames still haven't scored more than 3 goals in a game. Just like the first 15 contests last year. Also, we can't seem to score at even-strength. Just like, well, nearly all the contests from last year. At this point, I care more about Calgary scoring some preseason goals than I do about them winning some preseason games.

Hamrlik better step it up. He's been quite terrible the last 2 games I've been to. He doesn't get the same leeway Kipper does, because, well, Kipper's proven a lot more to me than Hammer has.

Next up - the Canucks!

New Mask, New Lease on Life?

Not too sure if this was ever brought up in these neck of the woods but over the summer, the Los Angeles Kings addressed one of the many issues that plagued them down the stretch in 05/06: goaltending. Neither Labarbera nor Garon were able to keep the Kings afloat in the playoff picture so Dean Lombardi went about his business and picked up Cloutier from the Vancouver Canucks for a bag of pucks picks.

Will this be the guy who puts them over the edge (and into the playoffs)? Or will he be a non-factor?

Well, judging by the next picture (and also by events of the recent past), I can almost guarantee the team that Marcel built will be in for another long season. As much as I hate to rag on players who don't deserve it, I can feel absolutely no guilt in picking on Dan "The Man" Cloutier, or "Clouts" as he is known to his closest of kin. Known as the guy who pretty much destroyed Vancouver's playoff chances in '03 (or was it '02?) by letting in a goal from the Detroit's own blueline, the Canucks are now a "better", and I use that term very loosely, team without him. And Nonis, and the rest of the league who are not affiliated with the Kings for that matter, can all giggle like the Pillsbury doughboy when they hear that their favorite sieve has signed a $6.2 million, 2-year contract extension, effectively icing any hope of hockey in May and June for the Kings.

San Jose Foreplay

The Flames are finally return to the ice this evening to take on the San Jose Sharks. Rumors are Calgary will be icing the most veteran-laden roster yet, including GAMBLOR-enslaved grinder Darren McCarty who has yet to see any action.

Also, it looks like Dustin Boyd will get another turn centering the top line of Iginla and Tanguay. Other rookies expected to dress are Brandon Prust, Richie Regehr, Andrei Taratukhin and Mark Giordano. The latter is making a strong case to make the big squad thanks to the lingering knee injury to Rhett Warrener. Expect Giordano to be slotted into the 6th spot on the blueline come October if he contiues to impress.

Finally, Kipper will be looking to bounce back from his horrendous previous outing against the Oilers. No doubt he'll want to put on a better performance in the face of his former team.

Flames site write-up and roster stuff here.

The Hockey Pool Post

It's the most wonderful time of the year - the start of hockey season and, therefore, hockey pools!

Go here to see the Five Hole Fanatics pool strategies and oddities.

Domi: Sucked at Hockey - Sucks more in Life

I guess Mrs. Domi isn't very happy (and who would be?) after finding out that her hubby Tie has been cheating on her with the liberal Belinda Stronach. Story here. However this isn't the first time Tie has cheated on his wife, the first time was with Tia Carrere (of Jury Duty fame). You sure know how to choose your women Tie. As for Belinda, you sure know how to add to your well known name. Now you are a floor crossing, family wrecking liberal.

NWD Breakdown: Vancouver Canucks

It's rebuilding time in the land of the Canuckleheads this year. Gone are ex-core pieces Bertuzzi and Jovocop while in comes new franchise man Roberto Luongo. The question(s) facing Vancouver this year are:

- Can Luongo finally prove he can take a team into the post-season?
- Is there enough forward depth behind Naslund and the Sedins?
- Will the Canucks thin d-ranks hold up?

2005/2006 Stuff -

92 points, 9th in the West

252 Goals For
251 Goals Against
18.2% PP (11th)
81.8% PK (17th)

Top Scorers -
Marcus Naslund (79 points)
Anson Carter (33 goals, 15 PPG)
Henrik Sedin (57 assists)

Forwards:

Subtractions - Bertuzzi, Carter, Park, Ruutu.
Additions - Bulis, Chouinard, Pyatt.

The loss of Bertuzzi and Carter represent a deletion of 127 points, 58 of which were goals. Carter, riding shot-gun on the brother line, lead the Canucks with 33 tallies last season. Park and Ruutu accounted for 17 and 18 points respectively, a negligible sum which should be replaced by the likes of Pyatt and Chouinard.

Jan Bulis is not a likely candidate to replace high-end production. He's a 28 year old guy that has never topped 20 goals or 40 points in 9 NHL seasons. At best, The Canucks have a 40 point player who can fill out a 2nd line role if need be.

It looks like Vancouver will be banking on a return to form from Naslund and increased production from the Sedin twins to fill the hole. The former had a relatively poor season last year: his 32 goals were the fewest he's had since 1999/2000. The Sedins, on the other hand, enjoyed career seasons, both breaking the 70 point barrier. Indications from training camp are that the trio of Naslund-Sedin-Sedin will form the #1 scoring unit - probably in an attempt to re-ignite Naslund (and probably in response to the fact that the Sedins+Carter ended up being the de facto top line last season). If all three can bank 80-90 point seasons, the offensive impact of Carter's and Bert's departures should be effectively mitigated.

After the top 4 or so forwards (Sedin-Sedin-Naslund-Morrison), the talent pool thins considerably. Bulis and Cooke may each be pushed into a top 6 role, even though the latter has never scored more than 15 goals in 7 seasons with the Canucks. The bottom end looks to be composed of Chouinard, Kesler, Pyatt, Linden, Burrows, Reid and Shultz. Kesler, he of the offer-sheet controversy, is a first rounder coming off of a 23 point season. He has potential to be an effective 20 goal, two-way forward, although it's debatable whether he'll make that kind of leap this year. A modest jump in production, say to 35 points, is probably more reasonable. Chouinard is a big, 29 year old centerman whose 14 goals and 30 points represented a career season last year. Unless he's a late bloomer, the Canucks can only hope for the same from him again in 06/07. Taylor Pyatt is often injured and never seems to fulfill his potential. He gathered all of 12 points in an injured-shortened season with the Sabres previously and Im guessing he'll do the same this year - he's never played more than 80 games in his career and never scored more than 28 points. Basically big-body, checking-line fodder. As for the rest, Linden has slowed WAY down and probably should have retired. Burrows, Reid and Shultz are minor league guys who probably won't have much of an impact either way.

The Skinny: The Canucks are top heavy and thin depth wise. A step back by the Sedins or a major injury to anyone on the first line would put a massive dent in their production.

Defense:

Subtractions: Jovanovski, Allen, Baumgartner, Carney, Brown, Weinrich
Additions: Bourdon, Krajicek, Fitzpatrick, Tremblay, Mitchell

A highly suspect group after Ohlund, Salo and Mitchell. In terms of production, gone are Jovo's 0.75 PPG, as well Baumer and Allen's combined 51 points (12 goals). Baumgartner looks to be a surprisingly significant loss, considering his 34 points and +11 rating. On the other hand, Allen averaged more than 20 minutes per game and was probably the 3rd best defensive d-man on the squad last year behind Ohlund and Salo. Jovo played a lot as well - about 24 minutes a game - although his ability to contribute in his own end is highly suspect.

Combined, the Canucks lost about 84 points and approximately 61 minutes (!) worth of d-man flesh this offseason. That is a very significant blow, especially considering their top 2 guys (Salo and Ohlund) already play about 25 minutes per game and therefore can't be expected to absorb much more. Mitchell should help, he averaged around 20 per contest last year and he's been a plus(+) player for the last 3 seasons. No doubt he'll be be expected to bump that average closer to 25 minutes.

The bottom 3 will consist of Krajicek, Bourdon and Fitzpatrick. Krajicek played 67 games last year, the most in his career, and scored 16 points while averaging 18 minutes of ice. Bourdon is a celebrated prospect, though Canuck fans shouldn't expect a Phaneuf-like contribution from Luc this year - Not only is Dion an extremely rare case, he was also relatively sheltered thanks to the Flames defensive depth. The heavy lifting will be done by the likes of Ohlund and Mitchell this year and Bourdon will probably hover around 15-18 minutes per game. Finally, Fitzpatrick managed 16 minutes/game average in 56 contests for Buffalo in 05/06 and still managed to be an abysmal -18. Rory is a 31 year old career bubble guy who's never played more than 60 games in a season (in fact, his average is 23). If he gets any kind of significant ice-time this year without a top quality partner, he'll get eaten alive.

The last option for Vancouver is Yannick Tremblay. He hasn't played in the NHL since 03/04 when he put up 10 points in 38 contests for the Thrashers. That year, he played a respectable 21 minutes per night, though it would be folly to expect him to manage those kind of minutes against quality opposition this coming season. Considering he hasn't faced NHL caliber players for a couple of years, Tremblay will be in the press-box most nights no doubt.

Carney, Brown and Weinrich were late season rentals. Their impact was nominal, although Im sure some Canuck fans would have liked to see Carney stick around considering their *ahem* "depth" chart.

The Skinny:

Basically, the Canucks added 25 minutes (maybe) of quality defensive ice-time in Mitchell to assuage the near 61 minutes lost in Jovo, Allen and Baumgartner (37 if you consider Jovo a liability in his own end). The highly suspect bottom 4 of Bourdon, Krajicek, Fitzpatrick and Tremblay will only be servicable if they are highly sheltered. It looks like Kajicek will be expected to absorb some tough PK time (in light of Vancouver's other options) which may or may not prove overwhelming for the sophomore. An injury to the likes of Ohlund or Mitchell spells doom for this club.

EDIT - I suppose Kevin Bieksa is in the mix here as well. Not sure how he slipped my mind...
Bieksa played 39 contests for the Canucks last year and managed 6 points with an average of 16 minutes of ice. In short, he's fairly redundant and won't make a big difference over, say, Fitzpatrick.

Goaltending:

Luongo is a world-class talent who's used to being shelled game in and game out. The question remains, however, whether he can take his team to the next level and make the play-offs. Roberto has never seen the post-season, largely due to the lousy teams he's been stuck behind his whole career. Unfortunately for Luongo the squad in front of him this year doesn't look that much better than any he's been part of previously.

The Skinny: Luongo will have to exceed his previous season's stats (2.97 GAA, .914 %) if the Canucks are to have any hope whatsoever. Keep in mind he'll be meeting the likes of Gaborik, Demitra, Iginla, Tanguay, Sakic, Svatos, and Edmonton's half dozen 25 goal scorers 8 times (each) this year. Uh-oh.

Conclusion:

A lot of things will have to go right for the Canucks to make the play-offs come spring. While Nonis removed the distraction of Bertuzzi from the dressing room and added a top 'tender, he now has limited depth at all positions and almost 0 cap room to work with should he need to add pieces during the season. In addition, Vancouver will have the added burden of adjusting to high player turn-over while learning whatever new system is implemented by Vigneault. Definitely going to be a tough go.

Prediction:

Luongo can win some games on his own and the Sedins continue to improve, but it's not enough. 9th in the converence, 4th in the division.

BofA Wrap-up -2/10

I neither saw nor heard the match last night so my knowledge of the game is limited to reading the newspaper and purusing boxscores.

Looks (and sounds) like both Amonte and Tanguay had bounce back performances, which is encouraging. It's also nice to see Lombardi get another point and Giordano rewarded for his good play with a goal. Finally, it's nice to beat the Oil after losing to them on Thursday (preseason-schmeseason).

Official Flames write-up including lines and stats.

More Camp Cuts

Sutter decided to drop the blade on some rookies today, sending 19 players down to the farm team in Omaha.

Im fairly surprised Adam Cracknell and Carsen Germyn were sent down without a least one more exhibition game under their belts. They both seemed to do well in the single games they played. Further, it's odd that Matt Keetley has been demoted to Omaha rather than the WHL - he's still junior eligible AND there are already 2 'tenders tabbed to be playing in Omaha this winter (Krahn and McElhinney). Either there's an error here or something's happening with one of the two guys mentioned (trade? Krahn making the big team?): it certainly wouldn't be a prudent move, development wise, to have 3 guys crowding the AHL crease. Especially seeing as Keetley would be a starter in the 'dub. I guess we'll have to wait and see

There's only few bubble guys left after the big chop today. The remaining hopefuls include: Dustin Boyd, Brandon Prust, Richie Regehr, Mark Giordano, Andrei Taratukhin, Eric Godard and Brad Ference. Of those listed here, I would expect Giordano, Boyd and Prust to stick around the longest based on what I've seen thus far.

BofA 1/10 Wrap-Up

It was a highly polarized evening of extremes - an odd mix of great and terrible performances. Unfortunately, the former were far outnumbered by the latter, thus resulting in the overtime loss.

Ironically, the fact that the Flames dressed more vets than the Oil turned out to be more of a detriment than an advantage. Actually, each veterans performance seemed to be inversely related his expected output - the bigger the star (wearing red), the harder he fell.

Also, the loss featured a couple of bad habits from the Calgary Flames 05/06 version. Specefically:

- A terrible second period.
- The two-goal lead curse.
- Inability to score more than 3 in a game.

Hopefully, last night was an aberration and not a sign that last year's mal-adaptive tendencies are returning to haunt us once more.

Anyways, on with it...

The Best(s):

- Matt Lombardi - Best performance by a Flame forward so far this preseason. Vastly outplayed his two "star" line-mates, Iginla and Tanguay. His 5on3 shorthanded marker was a beauty. Almost ended the game in overtime with another drive to the net, but was foiled by Markkanen.

- Eric Godard - Played well in his limited role and engaged in one of the best fights I've ever seen live. Seriously.

- Dustin Boyd - Ended up -3 on the night, but was never at fault for any of the goals. Played well enough to garner some time on the top line again. Clearly one of the best rookies in camp.

- Mark Giordano - Solid again and garnered an impressive 23 minutes of ice-time. Unless his play takes a sudden nose-dive, I'd say he has the 7th spot all but wrapped up.

The Worst(s):

- Miikka Kiprusoff - Obviously very rusty, Kipper turned in his worst performance since last October. Every legitimate Oiler chance got by him (including one that luckily hit the post). Allowed 3 goals on the first 9 shots.

- Roman Hamrlik - The Flames worst defenseman last night, it was Roman's ill-fated pinch that lead to Stoll's goal in the 2nd. Later in the third, Hamrlik tripped over his own feet trying to retrieve the puck in the defensive zone. It was that kind of night.

- Tony Amonte - Another bafflingly bad outing by a vet. Amonte gave the puck away on a rush when he seemed to trip over the Oilers blueline. The give-away lead to a 3on2 and the Oilers 2nd goal. Was pretty much useless besides that.

- Jarome Iginla - Don't let his 2 points fool you, Jarome was bad last night. His goal was a crease scrambler and his assist was all Lombardi's determination. His lame stickhandling attempts could have been stopped by a pylon with a stick propped-up against it. The one time Tanguay did manage to set him up, Iginla whiffed on the chance about as badly as I would have in the same position. His game high 5 give-aways were matched only by Tanguay. Definately a mailed-in performance.

- Alex Tanguay - Talk about a nightmarish debut: not only was Tanguay the worst Flame player on the ice last night, his was the worst showing by a Flame thus far in the preseason. Tanguay gave pucks up left and right. He tried to force plays that weren't there and frequently made soft, lame passes that were bound to be interecepted. I actually groaned when he was put on the ice in overtime during the PP. Sure enough, Tanguay coughed it up not once but TWICE in a 30 second sequence that culminated in Horcoff's game-winner. Truly an embarrassing night for Alex, even in his own evaluation:

"That's pretty much as bad as I can play," said a very straightforward Tanguay. "Nothing was working.

The bright side is he can only get better from here on in.

The Rest:

- Jeff Friesen - Friesen doesn't seem to do anything in particular.

- Richie Regehr - Still makes the odd rookie mistake here and there. Not up to Giordan's level.

- Andrei Taratukhin - Aside from one shift where he controlled the play in the Oiler's end and set-up Godard a couple of times, 'tuke had a forgettable night. Not quite ready for prime-time.

- Eric Nystrom - I always notice Nystrom after I've been watching guys like Boyd and Prust for half the evening. Seems to panic with the puck whenever he's away from the boards. No real accomplishments to speak of so far.

- Chuck Kobasew - As is his penchant, Kobasew followed up his impressive showing against Florida by being a complete non-entity last night. My brother didn't even notice that he was playing until I pointed him out.

- Dion Phaneuf - Played a decent game, although his one gaffe in the third on the PK lead directly to a point-blank Oiler chance that was only denied thanks to an excellent stop by Krahn.

- Brent Krahn - Solid night, outplayed Kipper. Would have been nice if the the gamewinner didn't squeek through his legs though.

- Andrew Ference - Was average. Meh.

The rematch is on Saturday in Edmonton. Hopefully, the Flames rookie squad can avenge last night's vet-induced loss.

Official write-up here, including line combos.

Stupid Messageboard Post of the Day - #2

Today's candidate, like dozens of future candidates no doubt, comes from the offical Canucks.com forum. Bask in the genius of member "flat_line":

...I think Calgary will score a lot of goals with the first line, the D will be s***, and Kipper won't have a fantastic season but not a bad one. Canucks have better D core, better forwards, and I'd say an equal goalie, same with Nashville (even better D though), Anaheim or SJ (although they're goaltending isnt as good, they have depth).

(emphasis added)

BWAHAHAHA! Fish in a barrel I tells ya. Actually, this might be a more realistic prediction if you swapped "Calgary/Kipper" with "Canucks/Lunogo" in the above.

Battle of Alberta - 1/10

It's the first of 10 meetings with our hated rivals tonight. Yes, it's preseason and yes the the Oilers aren't dressing a terribly impressive squad (moreso than normal) so a win is basically meaningless...still, it's difficult not to get a little excited.

Adding to the significance of this evening's match is the expected unveiling of the Tanguay/Iginla duo. Judging from some of the hype surrounding Calgary's biggest offseason acquisition, one might expect fans around here to be disappointed if each player doesn't record a hat-trick tonight. Personally, Im not as concerned about points as I am with chemistry - if Tanguay/Iginla/*other* manage to generate scoring opportunities on a regular basis, that'll be enough for me.

Other vets dressing tonight, judging by the roster sheet, include Kipper, Lundmark, Nilson, Kobasew, Friesen, Amonte, Hamrlik, Robyn Regehr and THE DION. While Warrener is listed, he won't be playing - it's expected he'll be out for a couple of weeks with a knee injury.

Notable hopefuls include Nystrom, Germyn, Boyd (again!?), Taratukhin, Richie Regehr and (ugh) Brad Ference. Only three natural centers are listed (Taratukhin, Boyd, Lundmark) meaning Tanguay or Nilson may be moving into the middle for the evening. Expect one of Friesen, Lundmark or Boyd to line-up with the Tanguay/Iginla, depending on who's playing center.

The Oilers, on the other hand, are going with a rookie-centric squad. Horcoff, Stoll, Pisani, Staios, Bergeron, Tjarnqvist and Markkanen are the only established NHLers listed. Rookies battling for the right to play and lose with the big squad this year include junior PP wizard Robbie Schremp, MA Pouliot, Jan Hejda, JF Jacques and Brad Winchester. I was hoping the Oilers were going to be dressing their own defected russian, affectionally dubbed "Traktor Boy" by the Oiler faithful, but it looks like he's staying up North tonight. Oh well.

Meaningless as it is, I earnestly hope for a Flames victory tonight. Considering the lop-sided rosters I don't think I could endure all the inevitable Oiler-Fan-gloating should the Greasers somehow come out with the "W".

The Pervasive Preseason PPG

If you glance at the Flames first two preseason game sheets you'll notice there hasn't been a lot of even-strength scoring. In fact, of the 8 goals scored, only 2 have been at 5on5.

Since two games isn't really a big enough sample to be drawing any conclusions, I took a cursory glance at the other boxscores over at nhl.com. I discovered that the PPG is thus far the ruler of this young exhibition season: Of the games I looked at, there was a total of 71 goals scored, 42 of which were on the PP. Twenty-seven were even-strength tallies and 2 were short-handed. That's 60% of scoring coming with the man-advantage (versus about 38% at ES). The Flames themselves have only potted one ES marker in the last 2 games (not that that's anything strange for Calgary mind you).

I haven't been able to come up with any solid theories explaining the preponderance of PP goals, except perhaps:

- Power play scoring may be always markedly higher in the preseason (though I haven't noticed it before) thanks to the number of rookies in everyone's rosters. Power-play save percentage for decent NHL starters is typically somewhere in the .800-.900 range so it wouldn't be surprising if rookie and bubble net-minders were siginificantly worse than that - say in the .700-.750 area. Especially when the team in front of them is peppered with inexperienced defenders.

- There are a lot of penalties being called, putting a strain on the PK units. This could be due to an impetus from the league to crack-down on a certain infraction (I've seen 3 diving penalties already) or the fact that rooks just take more penalties for a variety of reasons - can't keep up, overly aggressive, etc.

Just a thought on something I noticed and found odd. There's lots of games left and as more and more veterans are inserted into the line-ups one would assume that PP scoring is going to be appropriately oppressed as the exhibition games wind down. Still, I'll be interested to see if this trend peters out entirely by October 4th...

Flames vs. Canucks Wrap-Up

Last night's contest was certainly sloppier and choppier than the Sunday night affair against the Panthers. Five fights and over 100 minutes in penalties marred the contest (or made it more interesting, depending on your perspective). The Canuckleheads dressed a lot of hopefulls who gathered a lot of penalty minutes in the minors last season, so the rough play was hardly a surprise...

Anyways, on to the good stuff.

Rookies I noticed:

Dustin Boyd - A fast and crafty player, Boyd oftens looks pretty close to NHL-ready. He gets clobbered occassionally, but it never seems to slow him down. The trio of Ritchie, Boyd and Amonte generated a lot of scoring chances over the course of the match.

Warren Peters - I wasn't expecting anything from Peters, but he showed a penchant for solid boardwork down low and even made a couple of nifty moves at the opposition's blueline. The rookie unit of Peters, Maki and Couture actually managed to apply decent forechecking pressure during certain points of the evening, partially due to Peter's solid body work.

Andrei Taratukhin - Wasn't spectacular but wasn't bad either. Was able to frequently find open ice and the puck seems to follow him around. Not the fastest guy on the ice, though.

Mark Giordano - Making a big push to be the #7 d-man on the team. Was typically solid defensively and made a great move along the blueline during the powerplay in order to get off a shot.

Tim Ramholt - Still needs some seasoning as he occassionally seems a step or two behind the play in his own end. However, showed great presence of mind to hop into the play during a penalty-kill to create a two-on-one. Hit the outside of the post on the ensuing rush.

Adam Cracknell - Solid on his skates and has a nose for the net. Not the swiftest guy around, but seemed to get better as the night went on. While he hit the post on an empty net in the first period, he made up for it with his seeing-eye snapshot goal in the third.

Vets I Noticed:

Tony Amonte - Scored one, should have had three. Nothing I saw made me think he's in line for a major resurgance, however, he may very well thrive on the 3rd line.

Phaneuf - Scary.

Robyn Regehr - Was involved in both ends of the rink. Crushed some hapless Canuck in the 3rd.

Damond Langkow - Was going at about half speed all night, but still quietly managed 2 points AND asserted himself well in a scrap.

Andrei Zyuzin - I was pleasantly surprised by how mean Zyuzin was in the corners. Cleaned up after Ramholt in the defensive end when they were paired together. Not as slick as Leopold, but probably more physical.

Players I didn't Notice:

- Maki and Couture gave it their all but never really made any impact.

- Byron Ritchie just tries so hard but is just so mediocre.

- Jeff Friesen did nothing to impress me against a squad made up almost entirely of rookies. Didn't seem all that fast to me. Got in a couple of scraps.

- Eric Nystrom was equal parts poised vet and nervous rookie. Would make an obvious gaffe one shift and then look totally comfortable the next. In the end, didn't do anything in particular that would set him apart.

- Nilson looked kind of rusty.

- Warrener played a tiny bit and then injured his knee, apparently. I bet Giordano was secretly pleased.

Anyways, here's the official gamesheet and a write-up from the Flame's site that includes the line combos.

Next up - The Oil!

Good Work (For an Oiler Fan)!

I stumbled upon this great post by Vic Ferrari over at Irreverent Oiler Fans recently. In the piece, Vic uses his vast store of stats and shift charts to construct a theory on how game experience(s) may bias a coach/GM in favor of certain players.

It's an interesting thought and a an excellent read...

Pre-Season Game #2 Preamble

Calgary takes on Vancouver in the 2nd exhibition match of this young pre-season. While I'd like to say it's going to be a high-tempo, put-em-up, duke-it-out, barn-burner of a game, the general lack of NHL calibre players in tonights Canuck's roster makes me think otherwise. Joe Rullier? Vladimir Kutny? Matt Cooke looks to be the only top 6 forward dressed!

As for Calgary, tonights line-up will feature a few more regulars: Marcus Nilson will see action for the first time since injuring his knee back in April. Damond Langkow, Robyn Regehr, Tony Amonte, Rhett Warrener and THE DION will also be suiting up. In addition, new guys like Zyuzin and Friesen will be playing their first shifts as Flames.

Rookie notables playing tonight will be Andrei Taratukhin, Eric Nystrom, Tim Ramholt, Tomi Maki and Adam Cracknell. I will be particularly interested in the play of Taratukin, Nystrom and Ramholt, so I'll keep a close eye on them this evening. Other guys, like Boyd, Giordano and Godard are also listed although I'd be surprised if they actually see the ice (since they played in the previous contest).

While the outcome of the game will be totally irrelevant, it'll be worth watching for the performances of the aforementioned hopefuls as well as the newer vets - Im hoping I'll be able to assess, to some degree, the potential for guys like Zyuzin and Friesen to make some sort of impact when the regular season play starts up in October.

Flames/Panthers Hilights

For those of you who were unable to attend.

Stupid MessageBoard Post of the Day

Something new Im trying to add some levity to the ol' blog...

and nothing is funnier than the stupidity and blind bias that tends to dominate hometeam messageboards. I occassionally lurk on the odd one now and then chuckling faintly at the barely literate cheerleaders and kool-aid drinkers that seem to populate such places. I figure I might as well start sharing the worst (best?) ones I find here.

Today's entry comes via the edmontonoilers.com board. While the thread starter is worth a gander thanks to it's rambling incoherence, the one-liner by "MaxPower" 3 replies down takes the cake:

"I'd take Sykora over Tanguay any day."

Riiiigghhht. The almighty "guys wearing my team's sweater are automatically superior" principle. On that note, my reply would be:

"well...well...I'd rather have Friesen than Lupul!"

Awsome.

Flames vs. Panthers Wrap-Up

It was nice to plunge head first back into hockey last night, even if the Flames team that took to the ice was a mere shadow of the one we'll see in October. Not that that stopped them from winning, though.

'Course, it's pre-season so the outcome is largely meaningless. The real value of the upcoming two weeks of foreplay is to evaluate the hopefuls and develop game legs in the vets. To that end, here are my impressions from the contest yesterday:

Bubble Guys I noticed:

1.) Brent Krahn - Was steady and solid in the nets. Handily out-dueled the senior citizen at the other end (who gave up 3 goals on 11 shots BTW) and certainly staked a claim to the back-up position. Not that it's going to do him any good this year...

2.) Dustin Boyd - Was a bit jittery at first. However, his game seemed to turn around after he got hammered into the end boards by Ric Jackman. Playing on a line with Juice and Kobasew, Boyd was one of Calgary's better centers for the remainder of the game. Was rewarded with a goal in the second.

3.) Brandon Prust - Prust also seemed to get better as the night wore on. He played a high tempo game, especially when forechecking. He also won the tilt against Panther hopeful Anthony Stewart hands down...was named the "Hardest Working Flame" by the talking heads on the radio after the match.

4.) Mark Giordano - Paired with Warrener, Giordano played the most of any rookie d-man. He jumped into the play a couple of times and never made any glaring mistakes.

Bubble Guys I didn't notice:

David Moss and David Van Der Gulik were pretty much shrug-worthy. And, like the rookie intrasquad game, I had to specifically look for Chucko to make sure he was actually playing. When I did finally watch him for a couple of shifts he did little aside from lumber around uncertainly. I gotta say, I've had a couple of looks at Chucko now and Im really starting to wonder what the Flames scouting staff saw in him - if he doesn't make some pretty significant strides in Omaha this year he's going to be a big time first round bust.

Like Rico Fata before him, Chucko is rapidly becoming an object of my derision.

Notable Vets:

1.) Kristian Huselius - Was the most dangerous player on the ice most of the time and he was only going at about half speed. Easily Calgary's best forward.

2.) Charles Kobasew - I hope we see more of this Kobasew during the year. Sniped a PP goal and drove into the zone with authortiy most of the evening.

3.) Jamie Lundmark - Made a couple of "WHO WAS THAT?" worthy moves in the offensive zone. Picked up an assist on Germyn's goal, but probably would have had more points with better line-mates.

4.) Rhett Warrener - Steady vet was solid as expected, but he also set-up Boyd's tally with a dandy pass through a couple of defenders.

Guys I noticed for the wrong reasons:

1.) Brad Ference - Not very fast or physical. Made a couple of errors and some wayward passes. He also took a shot from the point on the PP that would have been knocked down by a stiff breeze. Basically, after Krahn, Giordano, Ri.Regehr, Warrener, A.Ference and Hamrlik, B.Ference was the Flame's best defensemen. Maybe. Also, got pummeled by Nathan Horton (of all people) late in the third. Useless.

2.) Matt Lombardi - Lombo set up what should have been a tap-in in the third period (the rook in position blew the chance) with a seeing eye pass from the corner. Aside from that, Lombardi managed to get a couple of hooking penalties and that was it. May have done more with better line-mates, however.

That's about it from me. Go here for the offical Flames-site recap and line combinations.

Next up - Vancouver!

2006-07 Flames Pre-Season Roster

I Just got back from the Flames pre-season opener at the Saddledome vs. the Florida Panthers and I thought that I would post up the Flames pre-season roster for all to see. The game wasn't bad at all (Metrognome will probably write up a summary of the game sometime on Monday), and it was nice to see the Flames back in action again after their early exit from the 2005-06 playoffs. Next game is vs. the Canucks, I wonder if we will get to see Tanguay and Iggy? Enjoy my buck fifty (how much I paid for the friggen roster)!

Click on the image for the bigger version.

Pre-Season Begins Today

The Flames open the pre-season against the visiting Florida Panthers tonight. I've heard the Panthers plan to give Ed Belfour the opportunity to prove he's not simply a "dried-up mummy husk" this evening while Todd Bertuzzi will be given the night off.

As for the Flames, it looks like they'll be dressing hopefuls Brent Krahn, Mark Giordano, Brad Ference, Richie Regehr, Dustin Boyd, Eric Godard, Kris Chucko, David Moss, Brandon Prust, Carsen Germyn and David Van Der Gulik. That's a pretty healthy dose of bubble players, especially considering the Florida roster will include veterans Joe Nieuwendyk, Martin Gelinas, Olli Jokinen, Nathan Horton, Gary Roberts, Ruslan Salei and Bryan Allen. None of Calgary's top two forwards (Iginla, Tanguay) or top two defensemen (Robyn Regehr, Phaneuf) will be in the line-up.

I'll be attending the contest tonight, so expect a game wrap-up tomorrow. I'll be particularly interested in how Krahn handles himself in the nets tonight, and I'll make an effort to assess the efforts of rookie camp stand-outs like Brandon Prust, Dustin Boyd, Mark Giordano and Richie Regher.

New Rules

The NHL Board of Govenors approved some rule "tweaks" today. The 3 changes include:

- Increase to the allowed maximum curve on a stick.
- Alterations to curve violation penalties (including near draconian measures against teams complaining about an opposing player's stick during shoot-outs)
- Enhanced diving penalties/fines.

Basically, it looks like the League is trying to increase shooter power and decrease diving.

Works for me.

Bobby Clarke's Rant

TSN interviewed Flyer's GM Clarke in the wake of his somewhat controversial decision to offer the Canucks RFA Ryan Kessler a $1.9 million one year contract. Apparently, this is the first time in 8 years that someone has bothered to pony up an offer sheet to a RFA - partially due to the facts that the player's original team is free to match the offer and, also, the compensation due to the original club (should they choose not to match) can be prohibitive, depending on the level of the player in question.

Course, there seemed to be an additional deterrent in the mix - you see, GM's kinda think its an asshol-ish thing to do. Largely because pursuing another team's RFA's either means that:

a.) You're stealing away a young guy and therefore development investment, or
b.) You're unnecessarily driving up the other's teams payroll.

The result was a sort of "unwritten rule" among the NHL team's brass - RFA are OB.

Cue the Clarke rebuttal:

"I don't give a (expletive deleted) if nobody likes me, I could care less," Clarke told TSN. "But they shouldn't be getting mad at me, I didn't put the (offer sheet) rule in the collective bargaining agreement. If they're mad, they should call Gary Bettman and complain to him. Get mad at Gary Bettman. He's in charge of the rules, not me. I didn't realize there were some rules we're not allowed to use."

And he has a point. Technically, Kesler is fair game according to the official CBA rules. Maybe Vancouver should have done a better job of wrapping up Kesler to begin with?

Further, I kind of think this is a savvy move by Clarke. He has nothing to lose and a lot to gain. If the Canucks don't match, he gets the guy he's after - it may be for a tad above market value (Kesler scored 10 goals last year), but since the dollar figure involved is low enough and the potential of the player is high enough, the overpayment thing becomes a nominal issue. However, if the Canucks DO decide to match the offer, the 1.9 million will serve to drive the Vancouver organization periously close to the salary cap, thereby enabling Clarke to deal from a position of power and potentially get Kesler in a trade from the Canucks anyways. At the very least he's causing a significant inconvenience to a rival NHL hockey club.

So if Clarke ended there, I'd have no quibble with him. But of course, he doesn't.

"To me, our thinking is completely backward," Clarke said. "I lost Kim Johnsson to (unrestricted) free agency because the Minnesota Wild gave him $4.8 million. Well, the Flyers had to give (revenue sharing) money to Minnesota and other teams and I don't like that but it's the rules. And then Minnesota takes that money and signs my player and there are no rules to say I can keep him if I match. I wish I had all the options with Kim Johnsson that Vancouver has with Kesler. They can match and keep him or they can let him go. It's up to them."

C'mon Bobby. You're just pissing in the wind with this kind of stuff. For one, I doubt Minnesota received any kind of payments from the "big market" teams last year. Blessed by a ravenous fanbase, the Wild have been selling out since their inception. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if they were in the upper half of the revenue earners in the league. Secondly, you could have matched or even exceeded the Wild's offer to Johnsson if you didn't have a couple of 500 pound anchors named "Hatcher" and "Rathje" weighing down your payroll ($3.5 million each). Who's fault is that?

Anyways, Clarke's tirade does end on an interesting note:

"I'm just playing by the rules that are there. To be honest, I'm surprised more teams aren't doing it.”

Which makes one wonder if this will spark the end to RFA's being sacrosanct in the NHL. Currently, there are a couple of relatively desirable RFA's lingering in the League's contract-less purgatory, including:

- Brian Gionta
- Paul Martin
- Dan Hamhuis
- Nikolai Zherdev
- Tim Gleason

Hell, if I was Carolina I'd be tendering offer sheets to the likes of Hamhuis, Martin and Gleason rather than looking to deal blue chip prospect Jack Johnson. And why hasn't anyone taken a run at Brian Gionta? He's a 48 goal scorer who currently belongs to a team that has precisely 0 cap space - thereby making it near impossible for the Devils to match any reasonable offer made to the diminuitive sniper.

Hmmm...should be interesting times ahead if Bobby has truly opened the "Offersheet" floodgates...

(For those interested, check out the more educated thoughts of Tom Benjamin and James Mirtle on the Clarke/Kesler situation).

True Story...

So I ordered a pizza the other day. On my way to pick it up I heard on the local radio sports talk that Zherdev and the BJ's had moved farther apart on their contract negotiations. The announcement prompted the thought "I wonder if Columbus will pursue Carter to fill the hole left by Zherdev. Hell, if they can get him for less than $3 mill for a one year contract, I don't see why not."

An idle thought, didn't take it too seriously. I ate my pizza and promptly forgot about it.

Until today. Apparently Im a prophet. Course, since I didn't bother to mention my prediction to anyone I probably seem more like a bullshit artist in the eyes of anyone reading this.

Sigh. Lesson learned. From here on in I'll post each and every one of my idle musings. Kinda like Eklund, I suppose, except they'll have some measure of thought behind them...

Gathering Reactions

Besides my own lame attempt at satire, the signing of Rick Dipietro to an absurd 15 year deal has engendered a number of posts and comments around the 'net.

James Mirtle points out that the Islanders have locked up a goaltender for the next eternity that hasn't really proven anything - his career stats and win record do nothing to inspire confidence anyone in besides, apparently, Charles Wang...

2005-06 saw the 24 year old struggle, and he posted a far worse goals-against average (3.02) and save percentage (.900) compared to his prelockout efforts. In his career — all 137 starts of it — DiPietro has a 58-62-8 record with a 2.85 goals-against average and .900 save percentage.

The deal also made Chris! from Covered in Oil temporarily frothing-at-the-mouth crazy with incredulity:

JESUS CHRIST, ARE YOU GUYS INSANE? ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY OUT OF YOUR FREAKING MINDS?? DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT YOUR YOUNG, STILL UNPROVEN GOALIE IS GOING TO CONTINUE TO BE YOUR BEST OPTION IN NET FOR THE NEXT DECADE AND A HALF? HOW LONG HAS THAT GAS PIPE BEEN LEAKING OVER CHARLES WANG'S DESK? AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WHY HASN'T IT KILLED HIM YET???

It must be a slow leak, Chris. Frankly, I hope Wang persists for years to come. I find his ineptitdue grandly entertaining.

Colby Cosh has been gathering reactions for himself from the Hf boards. He points out a couple of amusing comments from the anonymous posters, including this one from a cynically optimistic Islander fan - "I finally own the jersey of a player that won't get traded. Why am I not happier?"

Ingmar Bergman uses his photo-altering skills to look into his crystal ball and determine what the future holds for Rick. (*Reader Beware - disturbing images).

Finally, TSN.ca has a story from the Canadian Press that details a number of NHL GM's reactions to the deal. One of the more interesting comments comes from an unnamed managed near the end of the piece:

''How's (Dipietro) going to react to all this?,'' wondered one GM. ''He's never going to have another negotiation in his career, how motivated will he be? If this Rick DiPietro isn't a completely passionate athlete, he's going to sleep. He has to, that's just human nature.''

Good point. Unless Dipietro is Tiger Woods (hint - he's not) and winning matters more to him than comfort, one can reasonably expect his performance to drop off...simply because he knows, come rain or shine, win or lose, that he's GUARANTEED 67 MILLION DOLLARS. As Guy Incognito points out above, it's pretty much human nature.

So, come to think of it, I guess the one true benefit the Islanders may reap from this deal is the first overall draft pick next summer. In fact, I bet Rick is shopping for the best golf clubs money can buy right now.

Flallison? - UPDATED

While there's been some speculation over the summer that Jason Allison could become a Flame, there's apparently at least one blogger out there that thinks the deal has actually been consummated.

link.

I have no idea how credible this source is, so I'm going to take a "I'll believe it when I see it (on tsn)" tact to this "news". And should this abomination actually be confirmed, I might be tempted to take a gun to my TV (Elvis style). I have absolutely no wish to see jason Allison in a Flames jersey, whatever the price of his contract. I'll leave it at that until the deal is cemented or denied...

UPDATE - Another post has recently been added that includes possible terms of the alleged deal ($800,000 - $1,000,000).

The Long Island Tea Party...

Peter: I'll give you $40 for that coffin.
Store Owner: Sir, this casket is $1,000.
Peter: I'll give you $2,000.
Store Owner: Sir, that's double what it costs.

Inspired by this family guy episode and the recent baffling events on Long Island, I figured I'd draft up my own Wang/Dipietro "negotiation script". Enjoy!

Setting:

A small, barren office somewhere in Long Island. The room is dimly lit and the walls are blank. Charles Wang, Mike Milbury and Garth Snow sit at a black, wooden, lacquered table that stretches nearly the width of the entire office. Across the table is Rick Dipietro and his agent.

Wang is wearing an expensive business suit and a firm expression on his face. Snow, to his left, has on a disheveled "Im with Stupid--->" t-shirt and looks about nervously. Milbury, to Wang's right, is garbed in a preposterously high collared jacket with a giant bow-tie and a towering top hat which has "In this style 10/6" written across the side. He sips tea from a small, delicate china cup and giggles intermittently.

Wang: "We want you both to know that the NY Islanders organization values what Rick brings to the table...however, I and my staff are prepared to play hardball in these negotiations. A fair and sensible deal is all we're after here."

Agent: "Understood. Now, we all know that Rick hasn't put up stellar numbers in the NHL so far, however we feel that..."

Mad Mike: (interrupting) "Do you care for tea?"

Dipietro & Agent: (confused) "Errr...no. No thanks."

Mad Mike: "Well, you could at least make polite conversation!"

Wang: "You better have some tea..."

Diepietro: "Mike's got the only cup."

Wang: "Are we short on cups?"

Mad Mike: "Ho ho! A challenging riddle! But answer me this: how is a Raven like a writing desk?"

Snow looks at his collegues in confusion.

Wang: "Good question. A two million dollar bonus to the first of my eployees that can answer it! Garth make a note of that."

Snow makes a note on his hand with a marker.

Wang: "Now, back to the issue at hand. Let's forgo all this hockey mumbo-jumbo and start throwing out some numbers. You know well enough that I can't make rhyme or reason of these so-called "statistical comparisons". And all this "salary-cap" nonsense Garth here keeps telling me about makes my head hurt..."

Mad Mike: (giggling and sipping tea) "Rhyme or reason. Reason! Reason!"

Snow is chewing his fingernails.

Agent: "Uhh...ohhhkayyyy...As I was saying, the basis of our demands rests on the fact that..."

Wang: "Three Million! Wait! Three point five! For 5 years!"

Agent: "three point five for five? Well that sounds..."

Wang: "...four million! For seven years!"

Agent: (looks at Dipietro and smiles) "eight years!"

Wang: "Ten!"

Mad Mike: "10/6!"

Snow: "Uh...Mr. Wang, sir, I don't think that's how this is supposed to..."

Wang: "Shut up Garth! I didn't hire you to make these kinds of decisions."

Snow digs the heels of his hands into his eyes.

Agent: "We're willing to go as high as eleven years at four million per year."

Wang: "Twelve years!"

Dipietro: "TWELVE?"

Mad Mike: "Tea?"

Agent: "Thirteen Years!"

Wang: "Fifteen! Four point five per season!"

Snow's head hits the table with a thud.

Wang: "That's our final offer. If you want less than that, I'm afraid we can't accomodate you."

Mad Mike Giggles. Dipietro's agent's pants are visibly tenting.

Dipietro: (thoroughly confused): "less than that...?"

Agent: (aside to Dipietro): "Shut up." (To Wang): "You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Wang. Rick and I both know when we're licked. We grudgingly accept your offer."

Wang: "Excellent. My associates and I knew you'd come around to our way of thinking eventually."

Mad Mike: (giggling): hehe...thinking!...More tea?"

Dipietro: "We haven't had any yet."

Snow: (resigned sigh) "If they've had none, they certainly can't take any less..."

Mad Mike: "More then. You can always take more than nothing."

Wang: "Yes. Take more."

Agent: (As Dipietro signs the contract) "More it is then."

Everyone shakes hands amicably. The deal is celebrated by all mentioned when Mad Mike throws Rick Dipietro an "Un-Birthday Party" that night at a high-class bar (all expenses paid by the NY Islanders).

Rookie Intrasquad Game Notes

...trying to diligently follow two full teams of nameless players during a game is akin to counting grains of sand while the tide's coming in...

Metrognome's first person take on the Flames rookie training camp here.