Flames Escape Hurricane of a Finish

By Derrick Newman

Well that was different...

Scoring seven or more goals for the first time since Valentines Day last year when they beat the Avalanche 9-1, the Calgary Flames squeaked by the just as desperate Carolina Hurricanes 7-6 on Tuesday night in Calgary.

The offence came alive scoring two in the first, two in the second, and adding on three in third, including Jarome Iginla’s empty net goal which proved to be the eventual winner.

The line of Iginla, Jokinen, and Brendan Morrison combined for 10 points on the night and were the driving force behind a much needed win – regardless of how ugly it got in the dying seconds.

The Flames also threw the 10,000 pound gorilla off their back when Mikael Backlund scored on the power play halfway through the third to break a string of 27 straight chances at home on the man advantage without a single goal – a streak that dates back to October 26^th.

Flames Moves: Youth Movement

By Derrick Newman

Some quick hits on the recent Flames moves...

In a flurry of activity on the Flames front Niklas Hagman was placed on waiver today and if, when, he clears he will be sent to Abbotsford. This move was made because Mikael Backlund will be activated from the IR tomorrow morning after sitting out the first 14 games with a broken pinky.

Also, Paul Byron was recalled from the Heat because Brendan Morrison was placed on the IR with what is basically being deemed as a failure to recover from knee surgery properly – or in English terms, he came back too soon.

Further to all this was the activity yesterday with Anton Babchuk being placed on the IR with a broken hand and TJ Brodie being recalled.

So with all this the team just got significantly younger and quicker with the likes of Brodie on the back end, and Backlund and Byron up the middle.

Seeing Hagman sends a serious message from ownership in that the dollar figure beside a players name means little to nothing as Hagman’s $3 million cap hit will be buried in the AHL.

The team is in need of a serious energy boost after starting the season a very mediocre 6-7-1 record and having recently scored only three goals in their past three games.

The team holds almost an identical record to 2010-11 version of Flames at this point in the season. 

The Flames are a league worst 2-for-34 on the powerplay at home this season, thanks large in part to Tuesday’s 0-for-7 outing, which included a five minute powerplay.

Sutter called out Alex Tanguay, saying he is too “soft” on the power play and very easy to play against because everyone knows what he is going to do. You can’t really disagree with that assessment as everyone in the Dome knows he is looking for #12 at all times.

They need to instil some much needed creativity into the man advantage unit and maybe with the addition of Backlund and possibly Brodie, you see that. Both guys will be chomping at the bit to make an early impact.

The Flames play the Blackhawks tomorrow night. The season series last year was 2-2 with the home team winning each time.  The Flames had great success on the PP versus the Hawks last year going 6-for-20 over the four game span. Maybe the Hawks are just what the doctor ordered.

The Flames are 3-3 on the road this season.

JERSEY FOULS!!!!


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The Path Less Travelled

Backlund is one of only two players playing for the Flames
that was drafted by the team.

By Guest Blogger Greger Buer

When you hit a fork in the road, you must choose a path. Left. Right. The Calgary Flames have been sitting at the crossroads for the past five seasons. At the end of each year, the Flames either came off a crippling first round defeat or missed the playoffs entirely. After each of these disappointments fans, media, and folks in the organizations themselves would try to explain what they thought the team needed to do to improve. Most of the time the problems these groups found were definitely viable, but the fundamental problem is this was a veteran team that gets older every year.

The Calgary Flames are so desperate for youth that everyone around them reacts in utter shock on those few occasions when a young player cracks the roster. Look at the hype when Mikael Backlund broke through, when T.J. Brodie had a solid training camp, or when youngster Roman Horak was named to the season opening squad. 

For most other teams an injection of youth is expected and at least one or two rookies make the jump each season. A quarter of the Nashville Predators seem to turn over each year, yet that team consistently makes the playoffs despite a payroll that is dwarfed by Calgary.

Flames Thoughts

41 games down, 41 games to go – and they are going to be long 41 games at that.


Sitting 14th in the Western Conference, six points back of 8th place, hopes for a miracle run are fading in a hurry. It doesn’t help the situation when a majority of teams ahead of the Flames have played fewer games than them, making it doubly hard to gain any sort of ground.

Did I mention that you have to actually win games to gain ground as well? Right. Another stopping point in their quest for legitimacy.

Jay Feaster is apparently conjuring up two separate master plans for the future of the Flames organization: one if they are out of contention and one if they are in contention. Well, Jay, you may as well just focus on the prior, and stop wasting time on the latter.

Watching the Canucks dispose of the Flames last night was difficult to say the least. Yes, they outshot the Northwest division leaders 44-21, but it never really seemed as if they EVER had a chance. Maybe the goal 1:10 into the game had something to do with it.

Quick Hits

Heading into tonight’s game with the perennial bottom dwelling Florida Panthers, the Calgary Flames are faced with a few interesting decisions.


1. Which veteran defenceman will suit up in place of Adam Pardy: Sarich or Staios?

Well I have to believe Cory Sarich gets the nod here but I have been wrong before. I personally don’t like either option and would rather see Matt Pelech recalled but that is not going to happen just yet. Both Sarich and Staios are very similar in style. Sarich provides possibly steadier defence, while Staios might provide you with a little more offence, but either way both players are interchangeable and might I add very overpriced at this current juncture. With Kotalik eventually having to come off the LTIR, Sutter will have to make a move to free up cap space. One of these two d-men will be either waived/demoted or traded in the not too distant future.

2. Will Matt Stajan actually suit up?

With Bourque set to sit out the Panthers game, it would be a definite plus to have Matt Stajan back in the line-up to help fill the void left by Rene. Stajan was centering he second line with Hagman on the left and Morrison moved over to the wing. Morrison has played wing before so that’s not a huge switch for him and shouldn’t cause too many problems. On a related note I sure hope they move Morrison out and Backlund in when it comes to the powerplay. The unit has yet to score with a goaltender actually in the net, so adding some young creativity might actually help the situation. I know I have stated this time and time again but I’m just hoping that Brent Sutter might read this and he might realize that what he is doing is not working. You know, 1 for 12(really 0 for 11) is good and all but maybe you should try something different. Just saying, either way...

Those were my quick thoughts. Also check out my game summary of the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen’s third win of the season here: http://exm.nr/cNqOlG

Newman
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Bloodied and Beaten

What a start to the 2010-11 National Hockey League season for the Calgary Flames.


They looked fast, they looked hungry, and their power play was really clicking. Oh, no wait, that was the Edmonton Oilers. Damn.

I don’t really know where to begin.

How do you describe such a pathetic effort? How do you wait five and a half months to redeem yourself for a disappointing season with an effort like that?

Mikael Backlund: The Time is Now

Answer: Trevor Kidd, Niklas Sunblad, Cory Stillman, Jesper Mattsson, Chris Dingman, Denis Gauthier, Derek Morris, Daniel Tkaczuk, Rico Fata, Oleg Saprykin, Brent Krahn, Chuck Kobasew, Eric Nystrom, Dion Phaneuf, Kris Chucko, Matt Pelech, Leland Irving, Mikael Backlund, Greg Nemisz, and Tim Erixon.

Question: Name the Calgary Flames first round picks for the last 20 years.

Not many gems on that list are there?