Dear Diary: Jackpot.

The Coyotes were the tied-up cheerleader to the Flame's Quagmire last night. I mean they are a really, really bad hockey team. In a slump. Completing a back-to-back-game road schedule...

Not to be a wet blanket or anything, because the Flames did in fact win convincingly by improving on a number of areas they were previously sucking the big, syphilitic bone at, but...I can't honestly remember the last time Calgary played such an utterly incompetent opponent. Check that. Incompetent AND demoralized. By the time it was 6-1 and Curtis Joseph was leaping around desperately in his crease to keep his "team" within 5, I actually felt a twinge of outright pity for Gretzky and his players in general. Well, not Morris, but everyone else. Except Jovo.

MadMac covered most of the positives in his post below. I'll hasten to add a very strong showing in the face-off dot was an additional plus (something I've been harping on), not to mention such an impressive spread of scorers on the night: I can't honestly remeber the last time the Flames had 6 different guys tally in the same evening. Yay for secondary scoring!

The game was hardly a perfect one for the home team, despite the score. Calgary still managed to take 9 penalties on the evening, more than half of them in the offensive zone. While the PK was great, one has to conclude that a stronger opponent would have made the Flames pay for their lack of discipline on any other night. Further, I thought Iginla was thoroughly ordinary for two and a half periods and Tanguay reverted back to the pensive play that he showcased earlier in October. I think a return to the second line is in order for him. He and Iginla seem to think too much when they're paired...

But, enough griping. It was nice to get the tied up cheerleader and even better that the Flames had the offensive potency to do something with her (for a change).

As for the Coyotes, I think they have to go back to Edmonton to face the Oilers again. Ugh. I hope MacT's bunch lubes up first; for Gretzky's sake at least.

Just what the Doctor Ordered!!!!

You couldn’t have asked for a better performance from the Calgary Flames last night. In their 6-1 win over the struggling Phoenix Coyotes, every facet of the Flames game seemed to be unstoppable.

All night long poor Greztky looked frustrated and well he should. His team got their collective asses kicked in a game that was as close to a must-win as you can get in the month of October. Phoenix looked like a basement dwelling team often does; slow, out of synch, soft on the puck, and plagued by poor goaltending. (Although I thought Curtis played rather well in relief, but more on that later).

You have to have some sympathy for the Great One. I mean, he was the single greatest hockey player ever to strap on skates, and now he is the coach and part owner of one of the league's worst teams. His best player left the game with back spasms (Doan), and while I could mention how terrible the rest of the squad is, I won’t...

I won’t go into great detail on how he has some of the least liked hockey players in the professional ranks among his squad. I won’t talk about how loud mouthed JR and former tough guy Owen Nolan are not pulling their weight, even as darkhorses. I could mention that Jovo was chronically overrated when he played in Vancouver and now he is showing his true sub-par colours in the desert, but again, that just wouldn’t be right. I will not talk about how Comrie’s ability to break up a team from within is rivaled only by the size of his huge cantaloupe head. Lastly, I sure as hell won’t mention the former Flames cast-offs of Morris and Saprykin are one step away from working at the same gas station as Rico Fata.

I won’t do that though, I have too much respect for Wayne.

In the past couple of years, when the Flames were facing off against a team as weak as this one, the fans were usually treated to a ‘closer-than-it-should-be’ Flames win of 2-1. Not so on this night though.

The much maligned special teams play had a MONSTER game in particular. It all started just under 6 minutes into the contest when Chucky opened the scoring with the first of 3 powerplay goals on the night. (The Flames would eventually end up going 3 for 10 with the man advantage). Perhaps even better than the PP was the penalty kill, as the Flames shut out the Desert Dogs on all 9 of their powerplay advantages. In addition to being perfect of the PK, the boys in red took it one step further by tallying a short-handed goal on a two on none by Tony Amonte.
The fore-check was devastating, causing multiple turnovers and I am sure more than a few bruises on the Coyotes defensemen. Kipper was outstanding, absolutely robbing some chump dressed in white at one point in the game. (I don’t remember the specifics as I was yelling at the top of my lungs).

Dion was a tank as usual, rocking Nolan just inside the blue line, adding to his already huge highlight reel hits package. (Coming soon – Don Cherry’s Rock ‘em, Sock ‘em all Dion addition). Iggy had one of his trademark ‘faster than a speeding bullet’ wrist shots from inside the blue line to beat Cujo, and although he only garnered 2 assists, Damond was the games first star.

Of all the positives, in my opinion, the top three were:

1. Guys who need to score all notched one – Juice. Amonte, and Hammer all got their firsts.
2. Jarome shooting the puck more, he had a couple of really, really close calls to go with one beauty of a goal.
3. Kipper stopped 26 of 27 shots, and stood on his head whenever we needed him.

The toughest thing that we have to do now is keep this momentum up for three days until we face off against my least favorite team; the Nashville Predators.

GO FLAMES GO!

A Lone Voice

Thanks to a comment in this Mirtle post I've come across what may very well be the only Phoenix Coyote fan-blogger out there. I suggest we support this brave soul as much as possible - it's not like his team is going to provide much sustenance for his spirit or self esteem. In addition, it might be interesting to have an insider's perspective on the train wreck that is the Phoenix organization...

Deja Vu...Maybe

On October 27th of the 05/06 season, the Flames met up with the arguably inferior Phoenix Coyotes in desperate need of a win. Instead, the club turned in a pitiful 11 penalty, 15 shot performance and lost the game 3-2. It was the 12th game of the season and Calgary was languishing near the bottom of the league in most statistical categories. Going into the contest most people thought a big win over the struggling Desert Dogs was both needed and assured at the time.

Fast forward a year later. The Flames are once again floundering in the league's basement thanks to a few weeks of thorough bed-shitting. And owing to their Franchise being a total farce, the Coyotes are once again the de facto "cure-what-ails-ya" opposition. Course, my overwhelming desire is that the Flames do not repeat last season's luckluster performance this evening.

Not that they will have to play particularly well to win tonight. One of the few minor differences about this season's contest is that the Coyotes are probably even worse than they were previously (somehow). Gretzky's band of Misfits have averaged only 2 goals per game over their first 9 games, while allowing a league worst 4.22 goals against. Leading into tonight, Phoenix has lost 3 straight games, two of which were shut-outs. And their special teams have been just as bad as Calgary's...which is saying something.

As if that wasn't enough, The Coyotes are playing the second game of a back-to-back couplet tonight and are starting their back-up goaltender, Mike Morrison (3 GP, 6.00 GAA, .811 SP). They have guys named "Lisin" and "Yandle" playing more than 17 minutes a night. And Derek Morris is a chump.

So, like last year, Im looking at all this and expecting a nice, fat, juicy blow-out win. Course, like last year, the Flames could end up being fed to the bottom-feeders thanks to their penchant for being a back-up goalie's best friend. So, while the Coyotes should technically be a guaranteed win and the first, faltering step towards redemption, they may well end up pushing the Flames to rock bottom...

Mostly it will depend on which Kipper we see tonight: the Vezina winner or the preseason flopper. It also wouldn't hurt to, say, win some face-offs, block some shots, or actually score on the PP either. The latter task will be left up to the new (old) #1 trio of Jarome Iginla, Damond Langkow and Alex Tanguay. Jeff Friesen has been moved up to the 2nd line with Kobasew and Lombardi while Juice has been dropped to the 3rd unit with Lundmark and Amonte. The fourth line will consist of Nilson, Ritchie and McCarty.

Honestly, Im not thrilled with the new arrangements: Huselius may prove useless on a third line and the Kobasew/Lombardi/Tanguay was just starting to mesh nicely. I suppose the potential benefits include a very swift 2nd unit with the inclusion of Friesen as well as a (potentially) potent first line...not that that proved true earlier in the season though...

Anyhoo, grave predicitions based on past behavior aside, I think the Flames will pull out a victory. Whether it'll be thanks to Calgary playing well or Phoenix playing badly is another matter. The margin of victory will reveal which was the case tomorrow.

GO FLAMES GO!

Sutter is Silent, but for how long?

During his tenure as the Flames head coach, Darryl Sutter was known for being the strong, silent type. The one possible exception to that was he never hesitated to call out Flames players in the Media. Jarome, Dion, Damond, Juice, Robyn, Tony, the list goes on and on. In years past, no one was ever above being named when they weren’t towing the line.

Now that he has given up being the bench boss, his time in the media has lessened (probably much to the dismay of every hideous suit and tie producer in Calgary). As a result of less time in front of the microphones, Sutter hasn’t had a chance to call out any of the Flames players in what has proved to be yet another terrible start.
Which brings me to my point; how much longer before Sutter calls out Jim Playfair?

Before we begin, let’s just get a couple of things out of the way up front:

- I understand the season is just beginning.
- I know that Sutter would never have chosen Jim if he didn’t think he was capable of doing a good job.
- I am not panicking about our chances of the playoffs or even the Stanley Cup.
- I am, however, wondering how much longer Sutter will publicly stay silent about the Flames woes.

Let’s look at what has been troubling the Flames thus far this season:

1. Abysmal special teams
2. Inability to win on the Road
3. Top players not producing
4. Goaltending

Sound familiar anyone?
These are the same problems we had last year. However, unlike last year, Jim has decided to do things a bit different than Sutter did:

He has not called out anyone individually.
He has not mixed up his lines.
He has not tried to send the players a message (with a bag skate or other similar unpleasant activities).

Now, Sutter is not an idiot, in fact, despite his terrible wardrobe, he is one smart cookie. He knows that if he steps in and calls out specific players he will be undermining Jim’s authority in the dressing room.

But, what about calling out Jim?

When next he runs into a member of the media, why not talk about how Playfair needs to step up? Although unlikely, here are a couple of reasons why it’s more likely than you might think:

1. Sutter has proven that he is willing to call out any and all folks that need to perform better. What makes the current head coach less of a target than your 7 million dollar forward?

2. Sutter is more than willing to be the ‘big bad boss’ if it will help the team win. Rumor has it that Sutter was extremely well respected when he was the coach, but not particularly well liked. Jim on the other hand, is supposed to be the exact opposite. Well liked, with little respect. Now I know it’s a stretch, but if Sutter called out Jim, he could publicly stand up for himself and earn a bit more respect from the current Flames roster. Think it couldn’t happen? Think again. Sutter knows how to motivate people, at this level, that’s one of the biggest responsibilities of a head coach. If I have thought of this, so has he.

3. Why not? The Flames aren’t playing their best hockey. The four problems I listed have resulted in losses against playoff bubble teams. Playfair looks nervous behind the bench, and, although it’s early, I bet that Sutter feels its time to do something.

Could this happen? It might.
Will this happen? Probably not.
One thing is for sure though, it is something for all you fans out there to think about, and more importantly, comment on.

The Great Sites Just Keep Coming...

"On the Forecheck" is a hockey stats blog I recently discovered thanks to Off-Wing Opinion. The piece that caught my eye was "Wrist Shot Wonders". The Forechecker assembled the top 100 players in terms of wrist-shots taken from last season and ranked them by shooting percentage.

Guess who came in first?

Not that it's helped the Flames a great deal thus far. But at least there's hope...

Interesting new Hockey Site

A new web resource called "hockey-recap" was recently brought to my attention by the site's creator. Take a gander and you'll see there's a wealth of useful information. I find the injury update section of particular interest, although that's just the tip of the ice-berg. As of today, Hockey-Recap will be added to the sideboard.

Mirtle has a more in-depth discussion about it here.

At Least the Trip's Over

Finding a way to lose.

I didn't want to drag this old cliche out. I really didn't. But they've FORCED me to. Three straight games of one goal deficits, brain cramps, shoddy special teams and losses to potential play-off bubble opponents. It's only fitting, really.

And so it went last night. The floundering Bruins not only managed to score on their first shift, but also on their first powerplay of the evening. The Flames penalty-killing is so utterly pitiful right now it took the Bruins a mere 4 seconds to score with the man advantage.

Many of the other issues that lead to losses previously in the roadtrip were front and center last night as well. Another soft goal by Kipper. Oh for three on the powerplay. Friesen's give away at the Bruins blueline lead to the first tally - another PeeWee level mistake on a team that supposedly prides itself on defensive awareness. Let's not forsake the dumb penalties taken by Amonte and Warrener in the 3rd either. During a game in which the officiating was surprisingly lax, Amonte breaks his stick and then waves it at a passing Bruin. Automatic call. Shortly after that, Warrener manages to cap his 12 minute, -1 performance by clearing the puck over the glass from his own end. Automatic call.

Finding a way to lose.

Not that it's all bad, though. Lomabardi and Kobasew are FINALLY getting close to 20 minutes a game. Coupled with Tanguay's continued improvement, it looks like the Flames might actually have 2 legit scoring lines for a change. The challenge that remains is getting all of the team's supposed strengths back on track.

Positives:

- Alex Tanguay. Scores second of the year and looks much more comfortable. Probably best game as a Flame.

- Lombardi/Kobasew. In concert with Tanguay, Lombo and Charles have combined to form the Flames most consistently dangerous unit the last two games.

- Dion Phaneuf. Playing nearly 30 minutes per night.

Negatives:

- Bad end to a miserable roadtrip. Only managed to snag 3 of 8 points against beatable opponents.

- Special teams. Like last October, the Flames are amongst the very worst in the league in both PK and PP. Last night it cost them. Again.

- Rhett Warrener/Andrew Ference. Watching these two guys give the puck away no less than 3 times during a shift that culminated in Murray's 1st goal had me yelling at the TV. Sigh.

- Miikka Kiprusoff. Outdueled by Raycroft, Huet and now Toivenen. Has given up a minimum of one bad goal per game in the last 3 contests.

- Jarome Iginla. Jarome looked really tired all night. For the third straight game, Iginla came up empty when the Flames needed a gamebreaker.

- Face-offs. Only Iginla eclipsed the 50% mark in the circle last night. And he's a fragging WINGER.

- Injury to Yelle. Just when the Flames are sturggling they lose their best defensive forward and face-off center. Early indications are he suffered a fractured ankle, meaning he'll be out for a significant period of time. BOOO!

- Tony Amonte. Starting to approach "totally useless" levels.

The Flames return to Calgary to take on the equally terrible Coyotes next Tuesday. One way or the other, a losing streak is going to be snapped....

Bruise the Beantown Bruisers

trip news and such will be delayed until further notice...

The Flames take on the struggling Boston Bruins tonight. Seems the Chara lead Beantowners have stumbled out of the gate despite the significant additions of Savard, Kessel and the Big Z in the off-season: the Bruins only gathered 3 points from the first 5 games and were outscored 21-10 in that time.

Course, the Flames haven't been "Sabre-ing up" the league themselves either. Thanks to back to back 5-4 losses to Toronto and Montreal, there's some speculation that the team reverted to a more "run-and-gun" system (either through de facto application by the coaches or a du jour implementation by the players), resulting in the Oiler style 5-4 set-backs.

Personally, I think the truth of the matter is much more simple, if less intuitive: mediocre goaltending and terrible special teams. As Matt points out in his Game-day thread, the Flames have been laughably bad on both the PP and the PK thus far this season. Consider the Montreal game: 3 PP and 1 SH goal against. Simple things like losing face-offs and allowing shots from the point were the culprits here - the fact that Calgary actually managed to bury some of their scoring chances for a change is an unsullied and encouraging positive. To the point, I don't believe the Flames have to stop scoring 4 goals a game in order to prevent 5 goals against. The two need not be mutually exclusive. A stellar Kipper and/or average special teams play wins us the game in Montreal - not fear and trembling whenever a forward crosses the threshold into enemy territory.

Individually, there have been some excellent performances from Lombardi, Kobasew and Giordano recently. The fact that the second line (Tanguay-Lombo-Kobasew) was easily the Flames best against the Habs was a required step in the "secondary scoring" direction. Further, although it was discouraging to see him whiff on ANOTHER break-away on Tuesday, Iginla has been playing at a level superior to that which we saw from him a year ago. Once the PP wakes up, expect Jarome and Huselius to start potting a few more.

The disappointing few include Langkow, Kipper and Amonte. Beyond his beauty goal on Saturday night, Langkow has looked rather stunned out there. For evidence, see his awful, awful give-away to Johnson versus Montreal (the result was Bonk's 2nd goal). That was quite simply a PeeWee level error on his part. Amonte has been the blah player he showed he was last year - fast and wily and pretty much useless in the offensive zone.

Kipper hasn't been terrible recently, but he certainly hasn't been great: Sundin's overtime winner, for example, was a pretty stoppable shot. The Bonk, Kovalev goals as well as the second Souray marker were also archetypal "big saves" for Kiprusoff on most nights previously. Like last year, expect Kipper to return to form sooner rather than later (partially dependent on when the Flames get their ST act together).

Overall, color me optimistic about tonight and beyond. I was most worried about the Flames scoring some goals. You'd find me far more pessimistic had we lost the past two contests 3-1 or 3-2...

The Return

6 days, 3 cities, 2 live hockey games and 1 viewed on a fuzzy TV in an obscure hotel corner.

Whew. Too much to catch up on right now to fully update everyone on my time away. Here's a quick and dirty list of my impressions though:

- Offense, Yay!

- Defense, Boo!

- Even-strength, Yay!

- Special Teams, GAG.

- Lombardi, Yay!

- Langkow, Boo!

Details and trip pics will be added soon...

Instant Game Preview: Flames at Maple Leafs

All your Hezbollah are belong to us

Who: Calgary vs. Toronto
When: Saturday, October 14th @ 5:00pm MT
Where: ACC
Why: Is for fun.
TV: CBC

What do the Flames need to do to win?
One of two things: Either score a bunch of goals (and by "bunch" I mean more than the one goal they had against Ottawa) or continue their strong defensive play. To up the offense, they need to forecheck hard and pressure the Leafs to cough it up. This is their most efficient manner in generating offense.

What do the Maple Leafs (shouldn't it be the Leaves? ... dumbasses) need to do to win?
Ummm, other than praying for a miracle ... they should definitely play better defensively. They can certainly score goals but if the NJ game was any indication, they certainly need to shut the door. Raycroft should be an upgrade over Aubin. And somebody from the backend needs to step it up if Wozniewski is unable to play.

Prediction:
Calgary finally manages to score more than two goals in a game. They get three. The third being an empty netter in which Phaneuf body checks the puck into the net from, get this, HIS side of the red line! Final score: 3-1. Toronto loses another defensemen in the second period forcing Ponikarovsky to the third pairing. Poni's father is enraged and demands a trade. He is subsequently flipped to Florida for D-man Branislav Mezei.

Choo-Choo...

Dion's hit on Hamel last night, enjoy!

Game Preview: Calgary at Ottawa

It's the end of April in 1992 and the Flames are out of the playoffs for the first time in their 12-year existence in Calgary. At this time, the Senators do not even exist. Fast forward some 14 odd years and judging by the current NHL standings, things haven't changed. Calgary is once again out of the playoff picture and Ottawa was non-existent in their home opener against the Maple Leafs. It's a good thing there are 79 games to go!

The Flames limp into the arena formerly known as the Palladium with a 1-2 record. Their most recent loss courtesy of a hungry Sharks team that feasted on the Flames' surprising defensive lapses. And once again, their all too familiar offensive ineptitude reared its ugly head. It was so bad, they were booed out of the Saddledome.

On the other side of the tilt, the Sens have an identical record and have stumbled since a sensational debut by newly-signed goaltender, Martin Gerber. Gerber is partly to blame for the consecutive losses and head coach Murray has elected to start Ray Emery between the pipes. It is also a lack of offence that has contributed to the poor start so Murray is reuniting captain Alfredsson with Spezza and Heatley to improve the offensive production (which is currently at 2.33 GF/G and that INCLUDES an empty netter).

Look for the Flames to tighten it up defensively, at least to the level where they did not give up more than two goals a game. As for the offence, Playfair will continue to use Tanguay on the second line and keep Huselius on the top line (although now at this point, it's tough to say which is the top line and which is the second line). For a Flames win, as cliched as it sounds, they need their D to be better than Monday night, their primary and secondary offence to step it up and finally, they need at least another PP goal.

Go Oilers Canadian team!

Go Flames Go!!

Tonight will be a tough game against the Senators but Mr. Knight has the Flames back.

Ontario Adventures Await!

Tomorrow morning I'm taking off with MadMac to Eastern Canada to view the Flames in action against the Ottawa Senators. Thanks to some of MM's favorable work connections we were able to score some excellent tickets for the match. Wicked! It'll be my first trip to our nations capital not too mention my first experience cheering for the Flames in enemy territory...hopefully the boys don't repeat Monday night's performance and make me the object of amusement and scorn.

We also may be able to attend Saturday's match against the Maple Leafs, should all things go according to plan. Perhaps we'll run into hockeygirl while we're there? Shouldn'tbe too hard, considering we may end up being the only fans clad in red in the place...

Anyways, Im leaving the blog in the capable hands of CanteloupeHalves and Alex while Im gone. Game overviews would be great guys, although I won't complain if you post more polls accompanied by women instead.

Expect experience and picture posts upon my return next week!

Upon Fungus and Futility

Ninja from Raking Leafs drew my attention to a recent Mark Spector article on the National Post.

Dubbed "Fading Flames", the article basically says what a lot of people, both inside and outside of Calgary, have been thinking for awhile: Sutter's formula of work hard/prevent goals just isn't going to cut it anymore.

On one side, it seems a valid claim given the Flames inability to score all of last season and their current struggles in early October. Of course, one could also argue that in the last 2 seasons Calgary has enjoyed a large measure of success: they made it to the cup finals and then won a tough NW division title. You could therefore forgive Sutter (and, by extension, Playfair) if he ignores the cries of media and pundits for him to open things up...

However, like Sportak, I am finding it difficult to quiet some of the nagging whispers that float in the back of mind every time the Flames play: this kiddy-bar-the-door system is old news. It made sense when the only option was to outwork the bad guys and hope for some Iginla heorics beyond the opposition blueline - but it's no longer true. Obstruction has gone the way of the dodo, meaning speed and offense are the new dominant species of tactics in the NHL. In addition, the Flames aren't a collection of pluggers and grinders anymore: They have a mobile defense corps, young and swift up-and-coming players and a pair of established NHL quality stars. Mudcrutch raised an interesting point in a post during the summer: the Flames have the best goaltender in the league and a top notch defense crew...why not let the forwards loose? If there's any team that can afford to take risks in the "new" NHL, it's the Calgary Flames. Why is it the Carolinas and the Buffalos that are willing gamble to a bit in the offensive zone? They have neither a Miikka Kiprusoff in net nor a Robyn Regehr on the blueline. I understand playing to your strength - The Flames hardly boast an equivalent set of offensive forwards - however, that's not to say the cupboard is completely bare: a two-time Rocket Richard winner, a career PPG player and a 2nd line of 20 goal scorers is hardly chopped liver.

Sportak mentions that the Flames players will be unlikely to verbally question or deride Sutter system - he's too well respected in the organization and too willful a presence for that to happen. However, the concern is whether the players will silently take to heart what the likes of Sportak and myself are starting to think: that the system is obsolete. Patented "Flames" hockey requires unfailing commitment and work ethic to succeed. Should the troops belief in Sutter hockey begin to flag, the result will be frustration and hopelessness: frustration at being so offensively impotent and hopelessness at being stuck on a team that promises to indefinately systemically castrate them and damn them to lose more often than is necessary.

At the game on Monday night the sense of anxiety wafting from the Flames players and fans was nearly palpable. Everyone, players included, seemed to merely HOPE (rather than expect) that Calgary would score anytime they crossed the blueline...and each time they didn't, you could almost see the doubt growing like an insidious fungus in every person present. Each missed empty net becomes more manure in the dark. Each deficit met with the left wing lock rather than an aggressive or creative attack plan may represent another step towards a team of resigned pseudo-pluggers all awaiting their opportunity to escape to greener, goal-filled pastures.

It remains to be seen, however, if this all proves to be true or not. Calgary won the divsion with a similar game plan last year and with less offensive weapons. Their current struggles may be symptomatic of any number of different issues - good teams like Ottawa and Detroit have also limped out of the gate so far this year...

I'm certainly not panicking, personally. I like the players we have and the organization. I cannot quiet the concerns a seasons plus worth of offensive futility has planted in me though. I can only wait and hope that either the players can make it happen within the framework of the existing systems or the coaches and brainstrust have it within them to adapt should mine and Sportak's fears prove accurate.

Monday Night Steamer

I paid about $40 for both tickets to the Flames/Sharks game and can honestly say I haven't been so ripped off since attending the laughable feature film "Ghosts of Mars" in theaters. Actually, the movie was probably more enjoyable because it was funnier.

Nothing much amusing about last night's loss though. More pitiful and embarassing than funny, really...

While the Flames were still missing open nets and bobbling passes in the neutral zone they also managed to add to their repetoire of ineptitude by taking the night off defenseively as well. In fact, there was a particular sequence that did manage to evoke some chortles of contempt from me:

The teams are playing 4on4. The Flames are established in the Sharks zone. Damond Langkow passes the puck into the skates of an obviously covered Robyn Regehr. Regehr, having a rough game already, mishandles it further, stumbles, and then turns to pursue Patrick Marleau who is suddenly breaking away alone with the puck.

Luckily, Kipper makes the save on the ensuing backhand deke. Unluckily, he's surrounded by incompetent teammates. Regehr overskates the play and ends up in the corner. Langkow, who is in front of the net, manages to swipe at the stationary biscuit once before falling down. A surprised and opportunitic Michalek rifles a top corner goal past a sprawling (and probably frustrated as hell) Kiprusoff.

So akin to a Three Stooges comedy sketch was this series of events that I couldn't stifle a derisive laugh. I mean, this team is supposedly built around it's defensive strength?

the brain cramps didn't start or end there though. The Shark's second goal was gift-wrapped by Kipper himself: at a critical junction in the game (behind 1-0), Miikka decides to casually (mis)handle the puck at the side of the net. Johnny-oh-the-spot Bernier promptly takes it away and stuffs it in the short side. It was that kind of zombie-quality focus from the Flames all night.

Naturally, it wasn't only the defensive side of the game that was out of whack. The woeful PP continued to emit a foul and stagnant odour even though Tanguay did end the Flames string of futility with a meaningless third period PP goal. There was no sign of relief when the Flames finally spoiled Toskala's shut-out, however; just a sort of resigned sigh and shrug of the shoulders.

Ugh. Confusion and indecision are the order the day for the Flames currently. No aspect of their play is done with conviction or authority; the forecheck is flacid , the boardwork is soft and offensive opportunites are basically pearls before swine. Calgary will need to figure itself out in a hurry if it doesn't want the upcoming eastern roadswing to turn into a nightmarish march into doom.

Positives:

- FINALLY score a PP goal.

- Err...Happy Thanksgiving?

Negatives:

- Still can't score. I've counted 4 empty nets in the last 2 games the Flames have failed to score on.

- Robyn Regehr. The Worst night for Reggie in awhile. He was on the ice for 3 of the Shark's goals against.

- Darren McCarty. The only thing of note McCarty managed to do was take a holding penalty 8 second into a Flame powerplay. Looking like washed up veteran flotsam so far this year.

- Andrei Zyuzin. Another bad outing for the former Wild defensemen. Im starting to understand why they let him walk.

- Damond Langkow. Missed goals and checks will equal aplomb!

- Jarome Iginla. Nothing much to speak of last night. During the "Stooges" sequence I detailed above, Jarome was seen coasting around center ice.

- Chuck Kobasew. Utterly wasted on the 3rd line.

- Tony Amonte. Still can't fathom why old Tony is getting so much ice time.

- Marcus Nilson. Another symptom of Calgary's night was: Nilson gives the puck away in his own zone. Nilson takes a hooking penalty to make up for give away. Sharks score on the powerplay.

- Jeff Friesen. Still looking like a total waste of $1.6 million. The Sharks first goal occured after Friesen failed to take proper advantage of a Shark defender miscue at the Flames blueline. Instead of a Calgary break-away, the play turned into a lame dump into the neutral-zone, fast-transition back to the attack for the Sharks thanks to Friesen's boobery.

Next up - The Senators!

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.