Iggy Iggy Iggy!

Sure, the Flames may be done for the season. While still alive mathematically, their 'magic number' is down to 3, meaning that any combination of points won by the Blackhawks and missed points by the Flames totalling three, and they're out.  And with the Blackhawks having five games left, it seems likely they'll be able to secure those points.

But that doesn't mean there isn't a reason to watch the Flames play.  Last night was the Jarome Iginla show, as the Captain scored two goals and an assist, and more impressively, recorded his 1,000th career NHL point.  With a vintage Iggy goal, number 12 was able to pot his 39th of the season from the top of the circle on a break away.

I'm glad team management decided not to follow the suggestion of many fans in December and January, those fans who felt Iginla should be traded because his best days were behind him.  True, he'll probably never score 50 again, but as he's currently 4th in goals, and 6th in scoring, it's clear he's still on of the league's top offensive threats.

Had Iginla been traded, the team might have been able to secure a high draft pick, or perhaps a couple of fine prospects, but we wouldn't have been watching a team flirt with the playoff these past three months; we'd have been watching a team like the Colorado Avalanche, or worse, like the Edmonton Oilers.  Teams in free fall, hoping there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

The 'heart and soul' of the team, Iginla is without a doubt the major reason the Flames have even a sniff of a playoff spot right now, and one of the few reasons anybody is still watching this team with any interest.  I'm glad he's still apart of the Calgary Flames, I'm glad I was able to see him score his 1,000th point in a Flames jersey, and I'm hopeful the situation will be unchanged next year.  That way I'll be able to see him score his 500th goal, hopefully in the Dome, again in a Flames jersey.
-TheRev

Have you seen  jersey foul?
twitter.com/TheRevBW
thesportsroundup@gmail.com
Agree? Disagree? We want to hear from you! Click below to comment

Captain Jarome

With the season just around the corner, I thought I would run down the roster on the Flames one player at a time and prognosticate, if I may, about what lies ahead for each individual player. I would like to start this 22 part series by looking at the one, the only, Jarome Iginla.

¬¬

The Captain. The team’s life blood. The franchise.

These are some of the words used to describe what Jarome Iginla means to the Calgary Flames. Coming off of a self-proclaimed ‘bad year’ though, many people in the city of Calgary have started to second guess if it would serve the Flames best interests to ship Iginla out of town when his value is still relatively high. Trading him before he gets too old and becomes useless has been one school of thought. I, on the other hand, totally disagree with that assessment and of course, if this were to happen, the city might literally go UP in flames; no pun intended. Ok, so it was a little intended.

"Personally, last year was an off year.” –#12

Flames Cap Crunch Continued

After dissecting the backend and goaltending situation of the Calgary Flames I thought I would conclude by taking a further look into the quagmire of grinders and checkers that are the Flames forwards.

Currently the Flames have 10 forwards signed at $28,954,166. The rundown of players looks like this:

Jarome Iginla –Age 31, $7,000,000
Daymond Langkow-Age 32, $4,500,000
Matt Stajan – Age 25, $3,500,000
Rene Bourque- Age 27, $3,333,333
Niklas Hagman – Age 29, $3,000,000
Ales Kotalik – Age 30, $3,000,000
David Moss – Age 27, $1,300,000
Mikael Backlund – Age 20, $1,270,833
Curtis Glencross – Age 26, $1,200,000
Nigel Dawes – Age 24, $840,000

Where do you start?

Well, of those forwards, Iginla and Langkow both have ‘No Movement Clauses’ while Stajan, Bourque and Kotalik all have ‘No Trade Clauses.’ Now, this does not protect these players from being bought out by the Flames; specifically looking at Kotalik who was acquired in the Jokinen deal and put up an astounding three goals and five points in 26 games with the Flames. If you stretch that over an entire 82 game season, he would have almost put up 16 points, roughly $189,000 per point. Buying out Ales’ contract would give the Flames an extra $2,000,000 in cap space with $1,000,000 going towards the cap. Do yourself a favour Sutter and get rid of this useless player.

Side note: If this were to happen and the Flames were to not re-sign Higgins, then the Flames would have traded Jokinen for nothing, which further adds to the horror of the initial Jokinen deal that sent Lombardi, Prust and a 1st rounder to Phoenix. So, basically Sutter would just give the Coyotes those two players and a 1st rounder for a firm handshake…things that make you go hmmmmm.

Now, rumours were swirling that one the Flames core players were asked to waive their ‘No trade/movement clause.’ Much speculation has been that it was Regehr, but let’s just assume it was not and assume possibly that it is Langkow. With the addition of yet another 2nd line centerman in Matt Stajan this past season and the call up of highly touted prospect Mikael Backlund, it would look as if Langks is the odd man out. The reason being is that Stajan is not a first line center and so must play in the 2nd line spot. Backlund would not get sufficient enough ice time on the 3rd line to be developed properly, meaning he would be in line for more 1st line work alongside Iginla. This leaves Langkow with a hefty price tag and no place to play. Expect to see Langkow moved on Draft day, possibly for a couple draft picks.

This would free up another $4.5 million leaving Sutter with further wiggle room when going after some UFA’s.

Getting back to Backlund, he is ready for full time duty in the NHL. He has shown significant improvement in his game and it is time for him to show why the Flames drafted him 24th overall in the 2007 entry draft. I would love to see Sutter utilize him on the first line and on the power play. He has the playmaking ability that would open up room for Iginla and possibly give Jarome that center he has always dreamed of.

Looking at the Flames UFA forwards, Eric Nystrom stands at the top of the list. He has shown drastic improvement in his game year after year and has immerged as a leader on this team. He kills penalties, he scores timely goals, and he cares about winning. Other teams have seen the youth and energy that Nystrom can bring to a team and you can guarantee that he is on many GM’s radar come July 1. Sutter should sign this guy immediately. I would think he would compare with David Moss in terms of monetary value. He hasn’t shown the offensive flare equivalent to Moss, yet he has shown his leadership qualities and strong defensive ability which would counteract the lack of scoring. Sign him in the $1.3 million range for three years.

This all being said, the Flames still lack another top six forward. The Flames other UFA’s and RFA’s should be all non factors in this category. Higgins, Conroy, Mayers…gone, gone, gone and gone. These are all dime a dozen players in the NHL.

You first look at the top of the free agent list where you would find Patrick Marleau and Ilya Kovalchuk. Marleau is coming off of a huge year and will be demanding upwards of $6 million a year while Ilya wants even more. Both unlikely scenarios for Calgary, I believe.

So what about the rest?

There is Alexander Frolov, a talented Russian forward with loads of skill and still only 27 years old. He would add a dynamic element to the Flames power play, something they definitely need and simply provide the Flames with an added weapon. He made $4,000,000 last season with the Kings and would likely be in line for something similar. If Matt Stajan is worth $3.5, than Frolov is definitely his equal and most likely better.

Another option could be Lee Stempniak who is coming off a breakout second half with the Phoenix Coyotes and will probably want a slight raise from his $2,500,000 salary of last year.

What about buying on a low? Well look no further than Alex Tanguay. After leaving the Flames in 2008, he went on to Montreal where injuries hampered his season and was subsequently forgotten about until he signed in Tampa Bay last September. He had his worst year ever offensively, only scoring 10 goals and 37 points in 80 games with the Lightning. He made $2,500,000 last season but would likely take less in 2010-11 and is an ideal candidate for a rebound season.

Tomas Plekanac, Matthew Lombardi, Paul Kariya, Marek Svatos and Pavol Demitra are some other possible candidates. All fast, skilful players who would add some much needed talent to the Flames organization.

Directing our attention to the Flames prospect pool you have a few players that might be ready to make the full time jump to the show.

Brett Sutter would be ideal to fill the fourth line role this year. He is young, at 21 years of age, and he is sound defensively (he has Sutter genes), so he wouldn’t be a liability on the ice like former fourth liners might have been.

Greg Nemisz, Mitch Wahl, and Bryan Cameron are all candidates to challenge for a starting spot on this team. Cameron scored 53 goals this season with the OHL Runner up Barrie Colts. Wahl put up 96 points with Spokane this season, while picking up 4 points in 4 games with the Abbostford Heat at the end of the season. He also picked up 6 points in 12 playoff games with the Heat. Nemisz is coming off of back-to-back Memorial Cup Championships with the Windsor Spitfires. He was relegated to more of a checking role late in the season as he was a little overshadowed by someone else on that team…I think his name is Tom, or Tyler, or is it Taylor…I don’t really recall. Nemisz still picked up 70 points this season and has scored at least 34 goals in three straight seasons.

It is time for the Flames to buy in to the young revolution in the NHL. The Flames are the 7th oldest team in the NHL. By comparison the Chicago Blackhawks are the youngest team in the NHL; seems to have worked out alright for them.

With all the changes I have proposed, the Flames forward core could look something like this:

Jarome Iginla –Age 31, $7,000,000
Alexander Frolov – Age 27, $4,000,000*
Matt Stajan – Age 25, $3,500,000
Rene Bourque- Age 27, $3,333,333
Niklas Hagman – Age 29, $3,000,000
David Moss – Age 27, $1,300,000
Eric Nystrom – Age 26, $1,300,000*
Mikael Backlund – Age 20, $1,270,833
Curtis Glencross – Age 26, $1,200,000
Mitch Wahl – Age 20, $883,333*
Nigel Dawes – Age 24, $840,000
Brett Sutter – Age 21, $600,000*
Brian McGrattan – Age 28 , $500,000*
*projected contracts

(I left McGrattan in there because I know Sutter likes having a goon at his disposal)

With the buyout of Kotalik’s contract, which would count $1,000,000 towards the cap, the Flames would have 13 forwards at $29,737,499.

This would bring my projected total cap number, using my defence and goaltending assumptions, to a grand total of $54,262,499. It would leave Sutter with just under $4,000,000 to play with throughout the season and some flexibility when it comes to trades and free agent pick-ups.

All I am asking for is a change in mindset. The game, as I have stated time and time again, is no longer about grinding and checking. Look at the four teams in the conference finals; every single team relies on their speed and skill to win them games. Every team has various offensive weapons that could strike at any moment.

The Flames, on the other hand, were a very one-dimensional team last year and other teams exposed that. Their power play was very static and has little to no creativity, which resulted in other teams controlling the tempo and breaking up the Flames chances before they even cross the blue line.

I just hope Sutter has realized this. He has been quoted as saying the Flames will be “tweaking” a bit this summer when it comes to the roster.

Tweaking…hopefully he meant fixing.

This has been,

Newman on the Flames


All numbers for this article were taken from capgeek.com. and nhlnumbers.com

Sutter is staying put...for now

''What we want to do here is put an end to the death watch; to other people's speculation. We move forward.'' – Ken King, CEO and President of the Calgary Flames-

The ‘Death Watch’ he was referring to was that of Darryl Sutter’s relationship with the Calgary Flames organization and whether or not he would be the General Manager of the team for the upcoming 2010-11 campaign.

Amid much speculation that Sutter might be heading out of town following a disappointing season in which the Flames missed the playoffs for the first time in 7 years, it looks as if he will be sticking around, at least for the time being.

As it turns out, my wish of seeing Darryl in the unemployment line will not come true. Despite constructing a team full of second and third line plugs and pushing the Flames right up against the Salary Cap while missing the playoffs entirely, Sutter somehow has escaped the wrath of the employment guillotine.

King also came out and said that Sutter will be issued some much needed help when making decisions going forward. This means bringing in one or two assistant GM’s.

On the short list, according to King, is Kelly Kisio, the Calgary Hitmen GM, who just finished capturing a WHL title. The Hitmen are owned by the Flames and thus Kisio already has a very close relationship with King and the rest of the Flames organization. Kisio is deserving of the promotion as he has never missed the playoffs in the 12 years he has been at the helm of the Hitmen. He has won two championships and made the Eastern Conference Final 4 years in a row and the WHL Final the last two seasons.

Kisio would give Sutter another viewpoint and another set of eyes when making decisions regarding the hockey operations. I like the fit for the Flames and Kisio is clearly cognisant of fresh young talent in the world. I just hope he can force Darryl to budge on his love of the third line grinder.

Case in point, the Flames number one priority this summer when it comes to re-signing players is Eric Nystrom. No disrespect to Nystrom, as I think he is a valuable commodity, but he is not the guy that will push the Flames to the next level. He had 11 goals this year and a third line checker for all intensive purposes.

It is the mindset of the the Flames playing style that must change. As I have stated before, this is no longer a league where ‘dumping and chasing’ and ‘grinding’ pays off. This game is about speed and skill, something the Flames drastically lack.

The Flames also announced that Jarome Iginla would not be traded. This ends months of speculation by resident imbeciles that thought the Flames would actually trade away the heart and soul of the franchise. I am glad I do not have to listen to that nonsense any longer. Iginla can not do it by himself and last year he had little to no help surrounding him which resulted in his worst year since 2005-06.

One of the last things King said today while being interviewed on the FAN960 was that, “We are going to make significant adjustments strategically.”

Let us hope he means it.

On a side note, the Flames record against the two teams in the Cup final this year was 0-4-1 and the Flames were outscored 23-8 in those five games. Once again, speed and skill beats old and slow.

This has been,

Newman on the Flames

The Season in a Nutshell

Well, the season finally comes to an end and the Calgary Flames have missed the playoffs for the first time since 2003. What is wrong? What needs to be done? What has transpired that led to this? Well to diagnose the problem we must go back to the beginning.

The season opened in early October with a much hyped match-up between the Flames and their arch rival Vancouver Canucks. The Flames jumped out to a 3-0 lead, only to white-knuckle the steering wheel and hold on for a 5-3 win; a sign of things to come maybe?

The Flames open with four straight wins, scoring four or more goals in each game.

October 12th against the Blackhawks; a game that defined the entire disappointing season. The Flames scored five goals in the first 11 minutes of the game to get some revenge on the Hawks for knocking them out of the playoffs a year earlier. However, the Flames proceeded to give up the lead and lose 6-5 on overtime, being out shot 39-20 in the process.

City of Calgary gasps, “Did that really just happen?”

The Flames shove that game into their subconscious and regain their form for the next 10 games going 8-2-1.

Road block: a 7-1 thumping on home ice to, you guessed it, the Chicago Blackhawks. They allowed four power play goals in this game alone.

The Flames bounce back again and go 5-0-1 over the next six games. Kiprusoff has re-discovered his ‘vezina like’ form and has a shutout streak of 159 minutes and 10 seconds, including a November 30th 5-0 victory over the Nashville Predators.

December 1st : the beginning of the end.

The Flames go 6-6-1 in December while only averaging two goals per game. If not for #34, the Flames possibly lose every one of these matches.

2010 arrives and the Flames dive bomb faster than a Denny’s waitress on Eldrick Woods and go through a stretch where they lose 11 of 12 games, including a 9-1 disembodiment at the hands of the San Jose Sharks.

Rock bottom is officially here.

This stretch of futility leads to Darryl Sutter reaching over to his file drawer and finding a file marked: “Use when you are out of ideas.” Sutter proceeds to give away one of the Flames best assets, Dion Phaneuf, for nothing more than spare parts and replaceable players (possibly exclude Ian White as he is a serviceable player).
Sutter is not done there, as less than 24 hours later he strikes a deal with the Rangers to send “That prized center man we’ve always wanted” away, a year after he had botched a trade to get him with the Pheonix Coyotes. Just to refresh your memory at last years trade deadline, the Flames dealt Matthew Lombardi, Brandon Prust and a 1st Round pick in this years draft for Olli Jokinen.

Lombardi: 19G, 34 A
Jokinen: 15G, 35A
First Round Pick: Something the Flames desperately need

The trades do nothing to spark the offence and they lose three of four heading into the Olympic break and sit on the edge of the playoff picture.

The Olympics end with Flames Captain Jarome Iginla setting up Sidney Crosby for the Golden goal and the country goes ballistic. Flames fans maybe figure it is a good omen for the team and their optimistic playoff aspirations.

After getting embarrassed at home by the Wild 4-0 (one of four games the Flames were shut out on home ice), the Flames run off four in a row to re-invigorate the city’s hopes of seeing playoff hockey again.

Alas, this was just a mirage and the Flames score only 32 goals in their remaining 15 games, and play some of the most un-inspirational hockey ever seen to lose four straight to close out the season.

So, clearly a common theme has arisen here; problems putting the little black piece of rubber into the 4 x 6. Apparently, this is how teams win hockey games, or so the rules are stated.

The philosophy going into the season was that the defence would be better and the offence would not slow down as a result. Well, the defence was alright but the offence disappeared.

With the trades that were made by Sutter mid-season and the moves he made last season (getting Olli and giving up Cammy), he has left the Flames searching for goal-scoring talent.

Let me show you what I mean:

Langkow
Stajan
Bourque
Kotalik
Hagman
Moss
Glencross
Dawes
Nystrom
Backlund

(I have excluded Iginla as he is the whole legitimate threat on the team.)

Can you find one legitimate top line player there? Bourque is growing into the role. Stajan is far too soft. Langkow has lost a step. Backlund has the potential but the guy has only played 20 NHL games. The rest of the Flames are grinders and checkers or soft forwards who can not have a significant impact on the game and are inter-changeable on any rosters 3rd or 4th line.

Sutter is stuck in 2004. The “New” NHL train came and Darryl was in the bathroom dropping off the kids. The game is about skill and the Flames have none, or simply not enough. This responsibility should be Darryl’s and Darryl’s alone.

The 2004 grace period has officially expired and it is time to move on if the Flames ever plan on digging themselves out of this quagmire of mediocre players and ridiculous mismanagement.

Sutter called the Flames a “Good team” on in his press conference on Monday.

I disagree. The Flames have a great goaltender and a decent defence, but far from a good hockey team. A good hockey team averages more than 2.45 goals per game (29th in league) and 2.32 GPG on home ice (Last in NHL). You can not call a team that does not know how to do the most important thing in hockey, a ‘good’ team. A team that can not score is actually a ‘bad’ team, and that is what the Flames have become.

Sutter also used lame excuses like “The East vs. West”, in saying that if the Flames were in the East they would be in the playoffs. Are you kidding? You actually expect fans to buy that bull$%&#? The Flames are in the West and are not going anywhere and what the East does should not concern the Flames. That insults the fan base if anything else.

Basically, the decision lies with Ownership and whether they decide or not to stay the course with Sutter. If they give him one more year, Flames fans can expect a similar fate next year and will be calling for his head again.

I looked back on the blog I wrote talking about the season that was and it read:

“My guess would be is that another mediocre season results in the same drivel us die hard Flames fans have come to expect come spring time. And unless the Flames crash and burn and miss the playoffs then we are stuck with the Viking Flames for some time to come.”

Well I was right on the first point and hopefully now the Flames owners do the right thing and give this team a chance to breathe. ‘Sutter-style hockey’ is way past its due date and must be thrown out immediately.

This has been,

Newman on the Flames

Tradewinds Shouldn't Blow for Iginla

With the season officially over, most Flames fans and media pundits are looking for answers. Why did the Flames miss the playoffs? In yesterday’s press conference, Darryl Sutter auspiciously blamed the team’s home record, but most people who follow the team will say it was their inability to score goals.

The Calgary Flames finished dead last in the league in goal scoring, managing only 204 tallies in 82 games. To me, this seems to be the problem. The home record Sutter points to is a result of only scoring 204 goals, not the cause to missing the playoffs. With an obviously scoring-challenged group, the team will need to make changes next year if they are to contend again in the Western Conference. Listening to the Fan960’s Overtime show the past few days, which allows fans to vent their frustration and anger, I’ve heard an alarming number of calls for Iginla to be traded. I feel this would be the worst possible move the team could make, and if it happened, the playoffs could be a long, long ways off.

The idea most people have when they suggest trading Iginla, is that he’s on the decline from his most productive years, and now is the time to trade him, while he still holds some value. Perhaps a deal could be worked out where the Flames could secure a couple of early picks in the upcoming draft. Those drafted players, it would be hoped, could later blossom into that same offensive machine that Iginla did after being traded for Joe Nieuwendyk in 1995.

The problem of course is that chances are, it wouldn’t work out. Iginla turned out to be one of the top five players of the past fifteen years, but how many times have highly touted prospects fallen short? By moving Iginla, the team trades away its only real offensive talent, making their goal scoring problem even bigger next year. In a best case scenario, the Flames would secure a high draft pick, who after one or two years, (more likely three or four) turns into a goal scoring machine that the team could build on in the future. In the worst case scenario, the draft picks turn into Rico Fata’s, and the Flames are left with nothing, while their offensive struggles continue. So, if the draft picks did work out, the team would still need to suffer through a couple of seasons where they miss the playoffs and really have no chance of accomplishing anything each year. (Think Edmonton Oilers.)

The other problem with trading Iginla, is the team would lose the face of the franchise; their identity. Jarome Iginla has been the Calgary Flames for the better part of a decade, and is without a doubt the most highly recognized player on the team. Trading your only real marquee player away (Kiprusoff is great, but could never be the face of the franchise), would be like taking out the engine in a boat, and then asking the remaining players to start rowing. This is the same situation the Flames found themselves in after trading away Fleury in 1998. Suddenly, the team didn’t have anybody to rely on or anybody to guide them. The team was a rudderless ship, floating through non-playoff waters for several years. It wasn’t until Iginla began to develop into the player he is today, that the team was able to pull itself out of their seven-year funk, and return to the postseason.

Lastly is Iginla’s relationship with the fans and the people of Calgary. Easily the most beloved Flame since Fleury, and probably more beloved than he ever was, Iginla is as important to the city as he is to the team. There would be a public backlash from an Iginla trade, when people realize that the most famous person in the city, an unofficial ambassador for Calgary who’s involved with the community, has been traded away for a couple of draft picks.

Yes, the team needs some draft picks that aren’t in the 700th round, but there are 20 other players who can be traded that wouldn’t affect the team in anyway. Iginla is the only player, who being traded would have a profound effect on the team, and most likely not a positive one. He shouldn’t be traded away simply because he can be traded away. Much like the Oilers trading Ryan Smyth in 2007, this move could send the Flames into a long, downward spiral that most fans aren’t interested in seeing happen.

And now, the end is near

“You're not, you're not good, Al. You stink.”

That was Ty Webb referring to Al Czervik’s golf game in Caddyshack.

He might as well have been referring to the 2009-10 version of the Calgary Flames as they all but sealed there playoff fate Thursday night on the Island with a 3-2 loss to the third worst team in the league.

With only eight games remaining and only one of those games coming against a non-playoff team, Flames fans might as well come to the realization that for the first time since 2003 their will not be a playoff game played in Calgary.

Their powerplay once again failed them when they needed it most, going 0 for 5 on the night. This, against an Islander team with the fourth worst penalty kill in the NHL. The Flames powerplay unit ranks 25th in the league with 16.5% of all chances finding the back of the net, which is worse than last year’s unit that finished 21st in the league with a 17% completion rate.

It was hard to imagine a powerplay worse than last years ‘No practice man-advantage’ unit, but I guess the Flames one upped themselves this time.

What is there to say really? Besides stating that last nights game was simply a microcosm of the entire season; at least the parts of the season that costs the Flames a birth of in the playoffs.

They weren’t able to find goals when they needed them. They were led by their fourth line and Eric Nystrom has emerged as the Flames offensive threat of late. No offence to the man formerly referred to as ‘Nyzerman,’ but he should not be the one counted on late in the season to provide the offensive support.

Jarome Iginla has one goal in his last eight games. A guy who his leaned on so heavily in this city to provide goal scoring simply did not come through when it mattered most. He did not step up to the plate and should hold some blame for this season as Captain and leader of this team.

The Flames have gone through Coaches like water in the last five years so its hard to imagine that Brent Sutter will be handed his walking papers. You have to figure the blames has to fall somewhere else this time.

The players? Definitely! But first and foremost the mastermind behind this whole operation must atone for his mistakes. My eyes are firmly planted on you Darryl.

At least now the Flames will be able to get tee times at Bushwood with Al, Ty, Danny and maybe even Judge Smails.

“Just be the ball, be the ball, be the ball. You're not being the ball Danny.”

The Flames clearly were having a difficult time ‘being the ball.’

This has been,

Newman on the Flames

Scoring Goals turns into Wins

Maybe they were listening when everyone in the hockey world was laying into them for the horrible moves they made at the trade deadline and the atrocious game they followed with that night. The Calgary Flames (32-24-9) were a team that could not score. They have suddenly turned on the afterburners with ten goals in 2 games.

Leading the way is Jarome Iginla who recorded his tenth career hat trick in today’s game and added as assist. Rene Bourque is so far earning that giant contract extension recording 5 points in the last two games. Matt Stajan has 3 points in the last two as well. The newly formed top line of Bourque-Stajan-Iginla combined for 10 points in today’s afternoon tilt. Hey Brent, keep this line together!

Vesa Toskala, the Flames new back-up goaltender, recorded his first win in his first game wearing the red, yellow and black. It took the former back-up a little longer to record his first ‘W’; then again the Flames rarely hung 5 goals on an opponent while he was in net. Nevertheless, Vesa must be applauded for today’s performance as he played well in relief of his Finnish buddy Miikka. I know I laid into the Flames for making this move and I am still not a huge fan, due to Vesa’s horrible numbers, but hopefully that was simply the Leafs and not Toskala himself. One can hope, right?

This is a welcome sign for the Flames who have not had a reliable back-up goalie since…well, it has been a while. And no, Cujo was not reliable even though he stole that game versus the Sharks. He was quite possibly the most awkward and nerve-racking goalie to watch in the history of the game.

Iginla recorded his 30th goal of the season in this game. It marked the 9th straight season in which he has had thirty or more goals in a season. He now has 62 points this campaign and moves into 20th in the league in scoring. The Flames will need ‘Olympic’ Jarome to keep up his strong play if they have any chance of spring time success.

This Flames team has turned into a social chemistry experiment in a manner of speaking. Much like in the Olympics where teams were given little to no time to gel as a team, this Flames team, which includes 8 fresh faces (9 if you include Backlund), has been given the monumental task of climbing out of a non-playoff seed into the elite eight in less than a month. Not to mention the colossal pressure that Calgary has on them if and when they make the playoffs.

The Flames have now won 3 of their last 4 games and are playing better. Each and every game becomes the biggest game of the season; not to sound to cliché.

Tuesday’s game against the Red Wings is, well, one of those ‘big’ games. The Flames are 1-1 against the Wings this season and have out-scored them 4-3 in those two games. Kiprusoff recorded one of his 3 shutouts he has this season against the Wings back in November when he faced 40 shots on goal.

I am sure the Flames will try their best, but as Sean Connery so elegantly put it,

“Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and fuck the prom queen.”

The Flames have tried their best all year and maybe that has been the problem.

This has been,

Newman on the Flames

Follow on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=188492198253

Twitter: http://twitter.com/NewmansFlames

Two for the Money

The Calgary Flames signed Matt Stajan and Rene Bourque to long contract extensions. In my opinion, both do not make a lot of sense.

As much as I like him as a player, Rene Bourque has been injury riddled since he started his NHL career. Only once has he played over 70 games in a season; his rookie campaign in Chicago when he played 77 games and recorded 34 points. The following seasons he has played 44, 62 and 58 respectively. He is on pace to play roughly 70 games this season, as he has already missed 9 contests earlier in the season. I understand the 6-year contract is front loaded, but it still doesn’t make sense.

Why would you take such a risk on a guy who is prone to getting injured? Also, how does he garner that kind of salary? He has eclipsed the 40 point plateau now twice in his career; this season being his second. Yes, his points per game numbers are high, but if he only plays 60 games a season what good is he? I would have way rather have seen a 3 year deal.

The salary cap is only due to come down in the next couple years and this deal could handcuff the Flames for a while if Bourque continues his annual visits to the infirmary.

I would have loved to have seen Stajan’s face when he saw that contract offer. I am sure he could not touch pen to paper any faster.

Similar to Bourque, Matt Stajan has not exactly been an offensive powerhouse as he has had only one season in which he scored over 50 points; that being last season. The difference between the two is that Stajan has been playing in Leaf Land for his entire career and the offensive output on that team has never been anything to marvel at.

Still, you can not grant him that kind of money for the 7 games he has played in a Flames jersey (2G, 2A, 7GP). He is a number two center who is being forced into the number one spot. Does this sound familiar? Langkow, Lombardi and Conroy have all been forced into this role, yet none of them have encompassed enough skill to compliment #12 properly.

Is Matt Stajan really the answer? The simple answer is no.

I guess developers build on ‘spec’ sometimes and I presume that is what Sutter has done here. I am just not sure that either of these two will be worth the cost in the long run.

This has been,

Newman on the Flames

Source of Photos: http://www.thehockeynews.com/imgs/dynamique/photos/300/h030125A.jpg

Let the Games Begin?

So if that wasn’t the most exciting, intense, stressful, awesome, amazing, breathtaking, edge of your seat hockey entertainment, I am not sure what is! This tournament provided some amazing hockey and one of the best finishes ever! You could not write a story better than that! Sidney Crosby scoring the overtime winning goal will go down with Paul Henderson’s goal in 72, Lemieux’s in 87 and the gold medal win in 2002, as one of the greatest moments in Canadian sports history. It was miraculous and it was a lot of fun to watch!

Unfortunately, the Olympics had to end sometime. But do not fret hockey fans as we have a very exciting couple months ahead of us. Here is a look at the Calgary Flames.


With 20 games left on the schedule the Flames must play well above .500 hockey to even think about playing in the post season. They sit with 69 points in 8th position and most would think they need to get to at least the 95 point mark to clinch a position. That means 13 wins out of a possible 20; or a combination of ties and wins to get to that mark.

The schedule ahead is not for the faint of heart either. With games, literally, every other night the Flames better be well rested and ready to go. The thing that scares me the most going into March is the Flames MVP to date, Miikka Kiprusoff. With 20 games to be played and every one of them more important than the last, Kipper is going to be worked like a dog in order for the Flames to come up with the most wins. Kipper has just come out of an intense Olympics where he went through some serious highs (Leading SV % coming into the Semi Finals and a Bronze Medal) and lows (The first period against the Americans). He did not get to rest like a majority of the goaltenders in this league. This includes a bulk of the goalies the Flames are chasing; besides Bobby Lu and Nabokov, but the Flames will not touch the Sharks. That being said, McElhinney will have to provide adequate relief work when Kipper is given the night off. This is yet another reason, I believe, why the Flames are going no where if and when they reach the playoffs. The ‘Mac’ has played decent in relief for Kipper, when called upon, yet is still not good enough to carry any sort of workload. This means Miikka plays more and more and eventually loses steam. This could possibly cause a move for a more experienced back-up this week.

The Flames have put themselves in the precarious position of 8th place going into the break; due in large part to the massive slide they took in January. Coming out of the break, the schedule is not any easier.

The first three games back this week will be critical for this fragile group that has lost 3 of its last 4 games. In these first three contests, they have two match-ups versus the Minnesota Wild. The Wild are one of the numerous teams chasing down the Flames for that last playoff spot in the Western Conference. Until this year the Flames have owned the Wild, but this season hasn’t been the same. The Flames are 0-1-1 against them this season and have been outscored 6-2 in those two games. The Flames face the Wild four times total in the next month and a half; which is 1/5 of their entire schedule. The Flames play against the Wild will be a telling sign as to whether or not the Flames reach the post season.

Are the Flames going to make another move?

With only a couple days left until the trade deadline hits, many Flames fans are anxious to see whether or not D. Sutter will make another move. Given the Flames stock pile of forwards under one-way contracts, you might surmise that a move is imminent. The player to be moved might come from the long list of soon be UFA forwards. A list that includes: Conroy, Higgins, Nystrom, Stajan, McGrattan and Mayers, with Boyd being an RFA. Conroy is pointless to move as he will not bring anything back. Higgins, Stajan and Mayers are unlikely candidates seeing as they just arrived here a short month ago. This leaves Nystrom, McGrattan and Boyd. Boyd has the most upside and would clearly bring back the most in return. The other option would be Langkow who garners a $4.5 million dollar cap hit for the next two seasons. In my opinion, if the Flames deal Boyd, they only give up on yet another up and coming player to early in his career. Like St. Louis, Giguere, Stillman, Lombardi and most recently Phaneuf, Dustin Boyd is a Flames draft pick who is starting to show signs of his potential. Trading another one of our young guys for an older more experienced player (Jokinen last year, Stuart a couple years back, etc.) only sets this franchise further back. I just don’t see a bigger move coming, period. If something happens it will be a player being waived or a smaller deal that opens up more cap room down the road.

That being said, something I do see coming is moving Cory Sarich who has become expendable. His price tag is far too high ($3.6 Cap hit for the next 2 years) and players like Johnson and Kronwall can fill his role at a fraction of the cost.

The Flames have an extremely tough and an exceptionally interesting road ahead of them to finish the season. If the Flames meander about and find their way to get into the playoffs, do not expect a long run as younger, hungrier teams like Chicago and San Jose will crush the Flames in a seven game series.

Kiprusoff is the Flames only hope for success and my guess is that his tank will run out of gas before the season is over.

Pessimistic? Possibly.
Realistic? I think so.

This has been,

Newman on the Flames

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=188492198253

Twitter: http://twitter.com/NewmansFlames

Source of Photo: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61R3AF20100301?type=sportsNews

Next Stop is not Sochi

Unsure if the NHL will be participating in the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia in 2014? Wonder no longer. They won’t. I know I’ve harped on this before, but I think now that we’re over halfway through the Vancouver Games, we can take yet another look.

The reason the NHL got involved with the Olympics in the first place was to increase the exposure of the game in the United States, leading to higher television ratings. With most media outlets covering the games in some way or another and professional hockey being one of the most popular winter sports, it just makes sense that the sport would receive a ratings boost after the games. This didn’t happen after the games in Nagano or Turin, but often the time difference was cited as the reason. Well, it didn’t happen after the Salt Lake Games either, and now NHL ratings are lower than ever. There is no reason to think this will change after the Vancouver games.

The first blow being dealt to hockey was the lacklustre teams participating. Teams like Belarus, Norway, Germany and Latvia are sent like lambs to the slaughter against the traditional powerhouses. It just isn’t that entertaining watching such lopsided affairs. Added to this is the Women’s event, which has no place in the Olympics. Even the most ardent fan doesn’t enjoy watching Canada beat someone 18-0. The lopsided nature of many games is a big turnoff for the casual fan.

The second problem for hockey is that Americans don’t really like it. This was made very clear when NBC opted to show figure skating last night, instead of the Canada-USA game, which was bumped to the nether regions of the dial on CNBC. NBC is the main American network for the NHL in the United States, and they chose not to show the marquee game of the tournament so far. This speaks volumes of the NHL’s problems down South.

Further evidence could be found on the internet, where Team USA’s major upset wasn’t the first or even the second story on most websites. On FoxSports’ website, the network that broadcasts more NHL games than any other, the game was the third story after one about the upcoming NFL combine and one about the art of singing free agents in baseball. On NBC’s sports site, the hockey game was at the bottom of the page. Some of the stories that came in ahead of Olympic hockey were, “NBA and TNT to Discuss Changes to Dunk Contest” and “Vick Offered $1 Million to pose for Playgirl.” That’s more exposure alright, but probably not what the NHL had in mind.

Now comes the big question of why on earth would the owners risk their prized assets, players with whom they have invested millions and millions of dollars into, for the Olympics, where it is clear they aren’t benefiting one bit? The answer is of course, they won’t. Imagine a big time player getting injured in the Olympics, and missing the rest of the season. More specifically, imagine Kiprusoff getting injured in the Olympics and missing the rest of the season. Any chances the Flames had of post season success would be dashed, all so Finland could have a better chance at winning a medal. Who wasn’t a little concerned when Jarome didn’t play most of the third period against Switzerland? Of course some will argue that it should be up to the players, but I’ll say they’re wrong.
NHL contracts already limit players from things like skiing, sky diving, driving race cars, etc. They can do this for Olympic hockey as well. If I had invested $50 million in someone to play hockey, I sure as hell don’t want them risking themselves to play for another team.

Not only are the owners putting their players in jeopardy, but they’re also disrupting their league’s schedule for someone else’s benefit. Any story lines that might have been developing in the NHL season are all but forgotten by most people now, and it almost seems as if the Olympic year is two separate seasons; one season without a championship and a second season that’s only 20 games long. Of course this isn’t as much of an issue in Canada, but imagine what’s going through a Columbus Blue Jackets fan’s head. His team has no chance of winning anything this year and after two weeks without playing a game, he’s probably lost what little interest he had in the end of the season. He isn’t going to tune in on television, and he isn’t going to spend his money going to the game either.

The next Winter Olympics will be in Russia, specifically Sochi, which is eight hours ahead of the Eastern Time zone; meaning games will take place in the morning in Canada. This means even fewer people will be watching Olympic hockey in four years, than are watching now. If it isn’t worth having NHL players right now, it certainly won’t be worth it in four years from now, in Russia.

-TheRev

Iginla Starts Canada's Engine

Canadian fans everywhere rejoiced tonight as Jarome Iginla led Team Canada past Team Norway in the opener of 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic games. Iginla, who officially scored 2 goals (most thought he tipped in another), found his way to the top line with Sidney Crosby and Rick Nash after starting the game on the third line with Morrow and Toews. Not that Morrow and Toews are bad, but playing with Sid and Nash is just a tad nicer.

Iginla capitalized on the move in the second period firing a shot right threw Norwegian goaltender Pal Grotnes. Crosby made the pass to Iginla who made no mistake.

"The first power-play goal, he put it right on a tee for me," Iginla said. "It was a great pass."(Source: NHL.com).

Flames fans everywhere must have had a giant smile on their collective faces when Iginla lit the lamp; I know I sure did. He looked like the Iginla Flames fans were used to seeing. Flames fans would know though, that he had been heating up just in time for the tourney. Iginla had 5 points in the 3 games, including 3 goals, before the break.

I am guessing Jarome was pretty mad that he had been slotted on third line and knew he possessed the talent to be put on the top line with Crosby. He made it happen tonight with his shot and his legs, which never stopped churning. He was hitting those pesky Norwegians from the moment he hit the ice, and his shot opened the scoring for the Canadian team.

Patrice Bergeron, who was the only player to make the team but not be at the orientation camp in August, did not immediately gel with Crosby and Nash and Coach Babcock took no time in making the switch. It’s been debated whether or not Bergeron even deserved to even be on this team. Yes he is a good player, but is he good enough to be one of Canada’s top 13 forwards? I can probably think of another player that might have been a better fit (St. Louis and Stamkos to name a few). Was it the chemistry from the World Juniors a half decade ago, with Crosby that really earned him a spot on this team? Did Crosby make mention to Yzerman that he might make a good pick? How much pull does Crosby really have?

It’s an interesting debate that will prove futile unless this Canadian team does not claim the Gold Medal. If that happens, much like the 2006 team, this squad will be picked apart and overanalyzed for years to come.

It was a great start for the Canadian team. Bring on the Swiss!

How does that bobsled chant go? “Eins, Zwei, Drei” – Little Cool Runnings for you all.

This has been,

Newman on the 2010 Olympics

Source of Photo: http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/hockey/story/2010/02/16/spo-hockey-canada-norway.html

Iginla Leads Flames into Break

The Flames not only won, but they dominated for most of the game tonight beating the Anaheim Ducks 3-1. Jarome Iginla led the way scoring back to back goals in the 2nd period; his 26th and 27th goals of the season. Iginla is now rolling with 5 points in his past 3 contests. He rose to the occasion the way a Captain should. He was skating hard, he was shooting the puck with confidence, and he was shooting the puck a lot more. He has averaged just over 5 shots per game in his past 5 games; the main reason for his recent surge. He has led by example as the Flames have out shot their opponents in 5 of their last 6 outings. Jarome now ranks in the top 20 in the league in scoring with his 2 goal performance tonight.

This was the first time in 5 games that the Flames managed to score more than 2 goals. Tonight also broke a 5 game losing streak against the Pacific division; losses coming against the Ducks, Sharks, Stars, Coyotes and Stars again.

The Flames are 11-2-1 when the game is played on Saturday, which is by far there best winning % on a given day. Sundays are their worst as they are 0-3.

The Flames go into the Olympic break 4-3-3 in their last 10 games. You can look at that in two ways: either they have been able to gain points in 7 of a possible 10 games, which isn’t too bad, or they have lost 6 of 10 games going into the break which is below .500 hockey, and simply not acceptable.

The Flames have the ability to be a good hockey team and I believed it showed in tonight’s performance. The key for them is to fore-check hard and pressure the opposing defence into making mistakes. They need to skate as a team or they will fail miserably. They do not have the talent to take shifts off and win games.

Kiprusoff goes into Vancouver starting the last 13 games; lasting the duration in all but the 9-1 Shark massacre. This, due in part to the Flames trying to lurch their way out of a tailspin and the fact that Kiprusoff has been nothing short of amazing. He has a GAA of 2.08 in the last 12 and a Save % of .923. He has deserved a better record but has not received the offensive support that he has desperately been craving.

I was secretly hoping that Jari Kurri would somehow name Backstrom the starter for Finland just to give Miikka some much needed rest.

Every Flames fan knows that the season starts and ends with #34 and if he goes down the Flames can kiss whatever hope might be left straight down the toilet.

On a non-hockey note: Congrats to Jennifer Heil for winning Canada’s first medal of the games. It’s too bad it was not gold. It’s also too bad those Americans couldn’t be more gracious in victory; arrogant pricks.

This has been,

Newman on the Flames

Follow on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=188492198253

Or Twitter: http://twitter.com/NewmansFlames

Same Old Same Old

I feel like I am in the F$%&ing twilight zone every time I watch this Flames team play hockey. Every game is the same, regardless of who the opponent is. Every goalie is a Vezina trophy winner and every defence is the second coming of the 1995 New Jersey Devils. This Flames team has such ineptitude to scoring goals; you have to wonder if they could find the net against a ‘shooter tooter’. It is so frustrating and boring, I might add, to watch this team try and play hockey. Flames fans must understand where I am coming from on this.

The last time the Flames won a game when the opposing team scored more than one goal was January 9th against the Vancouver Canucks; a span of 17 games. You want to hear something insane? The last time the Flames won a game on home ice when the opposing team scored more than one goal was October 24th against the Edmonton Oilers! Does that give you a sense of how incapable this team is of putting the puck into the net? Struggling is one word I might use…pathetic is another.

Tonight, the Flames came out and absolutely dominated the Dallas Stars for the first 20 minutes of the game. They out shot the Stars 11-4 and apparently out chanced them 10-0. The Flames should have potted at least 2 or 3 goals in the period but finishing a play is not their style. Marty Turco is a good goalie, I will admit that, but so are 90% of the goaltenders in this league. The Flames have to find a way to score goals regardless of who is in the opposing net.

Tonight, a Flames player did not actually get to the feel the gratification of putting the puck into the net, as Stars Captain Brendan Morrow did Iginla the favour on the Flames lone goal by shovelling it past Marty Turco. I am sure Iginla will thank Morrow next week, yet now, Morrow has the last laugh.

There was one positive that I saw out of tonight’s game. Jay Bouwmeester actually did what I assumed he was brought in to do; jump into the play offensively. On more than one occasion he led the rush into the zone and showed that unique ability to use his speed to create some offence. It is a shame he has only started doing this now; possibly a side effect of that Phaneuf guy leaving town.

The play of Miikka Kiprusoff can not go unnoticed either. I feel like I mention his play a lot in my blogs, but then again, I feel like it is never enough. Without #34 between the pipes this pathetic excuse for a hockey team is ‘bumping uglies’ with the mullets up north. He makes numerous jaw-dropping saves in each and every game. If I were him, I would be giving the rest of my team a serious pep talk. I am surprised he has not taken the puck up ice himself at certain points in games.

I am frustrated. I am annoyed, and I think the majority of Flames fans can agree with me when I say this team is going nowhere fast.

This has been,

Newman on the Flames

Source of Photo: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/recap?gid=2010021103&prov=ap

Follow on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=188492198253

Make it Eight

Heartbroken. Disappointed. Frustrated.

All words that describe how the Flames must feel right now. The Flames lost their 8th consecutive game tonight despite holding a lead going into the final period. They fought hard in the 2nd, arguably their best period, but let one squeak by them with only 24 seconds left in the period to cut their lead in half. This event, one of two goals to bank off of Flames defensemen tonight, was the turning point of the evening. The Flames went into their ‘prevent defence’ formation in the 3rd and let Dallas dictate the flow of the period. The Flames managed only 5 shots in the 3rd and overtime before falling in the shootout.

For the first time in 11 days the Flames held a lead going into the final period. However, for the 2nd time in 11 days, they relinquished said lead. They simply have zero confidence in themselves and it shows on the ice. Once their friend ‘adversity’ shows up, the Flames players seem to run for the hills. You can not expect to win hockey games by allowing teams to dominate you in the final period when the game is on the line.

Due in part to a bonehead play by Rene Bourque (you are supposed to drop your stick when it breaks), the Flames were forced down a man. Thirty seconds later Bouwmeester joins Rene in the sin bin, giving Dallas their much needed opportunity to tie the game. They did not miss. The Flames were ‘white-knuckling’ the steering wheel and it cost them the chance to snap the drought. The Flames can not win if they only show up for a half, or two-thirds of a 60 minute affair; they are not that good of a team. The Flames must bear down and play a full game.

A few positives out of this game was the play of the Captain and his moustached comrade, Olli Jokinen. Both players scored goals tonight which was a great sign for a team in desperate need of scoring help. For the first time since November 30th the Flames scored two powerplay goals in a single game. This was thanks in part to Mark Fistric for using Nystrom’s helmet as his own personal Billy club. That had to be one of the most bizarre things you might ever see in a fight. Another bizarre happening was Miikka Kiprusoff getting awarded back-to-back slashing calls in overtime. Kipper clearly getting frustrated but at the same time, they were very, very soft calls.

The silver lining is this: they have a chance to get right back on that dilapidated horse and try it again against the Coyotes. If they can finally get a win and come away with 3 of 4 points on this mini road trip, than maybe, possibly they can turn this runaway train around.

Otherwise they might as well make this their theme song:

“Pants on the Ground, Pants on the Ground, looking like a fool with your pants on the ground!”

This has been,

Newman on the Flames

Follow on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#/group.php?gid=188492198253





Source of Photo: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/stars-rally-to-beat-flames-in-shootout/article1446889/

Feeling the Blues

The Calgary Flames are officially in a slump. They are not playing desperate hockey and are not playing well. After a nice three day break where they could take some time to work out some of the kinks that have been bothering them over this stretch, it seemed as if this would be a perfect game to bounce back in. The Blues, after coming off of big wins in both Edmonton and Vancouver, looked primed for a letdown. However, things did not exactly pan out that way. The Flames applied pressure for the first five minutes of the game, and then let off into their meandering ways that have plagued them for the past couple weeks. The Flames lost in a shootout to a team that they should beat.

Unable to put anything past Blues Goalie Chris Mason in the first two periods, the Flames finally broke the goose egg when Mark Giordano fired a low point shot that snaked its way through a plethora of sticks and skates and found the back of the net. Giordano, who earned first star honours at the game, was Calgary’s best player outside of the crease. He played with confidence all night long and created opportunities and excitement, seemingly, every time he hit the ice. He played just over 26 minutes and scored the tying goal. He has assumed first time duty on the powerplay as well, as Bouwmeester was relegated to second line duty with Regehr. Sutter has been known to reward good players with more ice time, and this seems to be the case here.

The Flames now sit in 7th place in Western Conference, only 3 points clear of 9th place Vancouver. They have lost 7 of 10 games in December. They lost only 9 games in all of October and November! Goal scoring has dried up as the Flames have failed to tally more than 3 goals since November 30th when they pounded the Predators 5-0.

Where did that chemistry go?

It seems like the entire team is ice cold. No one has any confidence outside of Kipper and not one person wants to take the reins. Is Sutter’s mantra wearing thin? It is only 36 games in; what will this team be like after 82 games at this pace? The Flames were labelled to finish in the ‘tops’ of the West this year, yet now are swimming in mediocrity and failing to capitalize on opportunities like tonight. It is scary to think that with the talent this team possesses they can not seem to figure it out. Hopefully it is just a lull in the schedule and that this Christmas break will give the team time to shake the cobwebs off of their sticks. Without Kiprusoff, I hate to think where this team might be as they have become reliant on a single player to win them games.

The Flames now play 4 games in 5 nights starting on the 27th against the Canucks. If they continue to drag their knuckles through the New Year, the Flames could be in some serious ‘Barney.’ Barney Rubble; Trouble!

This has been,

Newman on the Flames

Source of Photo: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/24/AR2009122400184.html

Sky Rockets in Flight…No Afternoon Delight

In a rare afternoon affair at the Saddledome, the Flames failed to gain any momentum on their current home stand by falling to the Nashville Predators 5 to 3. Losers of 4 of their last 5, the Flames, seemingly, were still asleep for the first 15 minutes of this game. Looking sluggish and disjointed from the drop of the puck, save Rene Bourque, the Flames were in a hole down 2-0 midway through the first. However, they managed to fight back on the shoulders of Jarome Iginla who came alive tonight after struggling since his 1st star award winning month of November. Iginla scored his 19th and 20th goals of the season and chipped in with an assist to propel the home team to a 3-2 lead midway through the second period. Unfortunately, the Flames could not hold onto the lead and gave up a late goal to Marcel Goc and went into the 3rd tied at 3. The Flames outplayed the Predators in the third period out-shooting them 10-4 but lost on the scoreboard that matters as a tipped point shot by unsung hero Cody Franson beat Kiprusoff for the game winning goal.

The Flames are not familiar with afternoon games but that is no excuse. They are professional athletes and should come ready to play every game. In saying that, despite the early crater that they dug out for themselves, they outplayed the Preds for a majority of the game; as was evident in the shot total of 25-10 over the final two periods. The Flames power play is looking better as it connected on 1 of the 2 chances it had. They are moving the puck better and creating more chances because of it. The Predators for their part took advantage of their chances and made sure Kipper had traffic to deal with on a majority of their opportunities. Nashville is one of the hottest teams in the league and have now scored 23 goals in their last 4 games. They are firing on all cylinders and the Flames simply are not. With numerous players who are in severe scoring slumps (Jokinen, Moss and Conroy to name a few), the Flames are not finding that depth scoring that had propelled to so many wins earlier in the season. This can not continue if the Flames aim to be contenders come spring time.

Dion Phaneuf is starting to find the net more and has noticeably improved his accuracy on his point shots. With two almost identical tallies in the past two games the ‘Caveman’ is regaining the confidence he once possessed two years ago.

On one broadcaster note, if Peter Loubardias uses the saying, “Some kind of (insert either: shot, hit or save)” one more time I might lose my mind. I counted three times throughout the game where he used it and twice in a span of 5 minutes. It does not have the same ring as “Oh Baby” that the venerable Bob Cole uses and Peter, it sounds brutal, so please stop it. Please switch places with Roger Millions.

The Flames face the Blues of St. Loo on Wednesday before the three day holiday break.

This has been,

Newman on the Flames

Back on Track?

After three straight losses, the Flames came back and beat, what was statistically, the best team in the Western Conference. Coming off of a mini two game road trip where the Flames failed to earn a point, they were determined to gain some sort of momentum heading into an elongated amount of games on home ice. However, they did not manage to exactly blow the Los Angeles Kings out of the Dome.

For the fourth straight game the Flames were outshot by more than 11. In 12 of the 34 contests this year, the Flames have been outshot by double digit figures. A team that had seemingly found its way defensively has strewn off the yellow brick road and found its way back at the beginning of the maze. Consistently, Kiprusoff is forced to bail out the Flames night after night. Quite easily the MVP of the team, and maybe the league, the docile Fin has shut the door on almost every team he has faced. The rest of the Flames, however, have not been mentally present for all of the games. The Flames have failed to score more than 3 goals in any December game. The Flames were number one in scoring at the end of October, yet now sit 12th overall in goals for per game. Where has all the goal scoring gone? Jarome has been a non factor since being named 1st star of the month of November, scoring only 1 goal in his past 12 games. There were rumours swirling in Calgary today that Jamie Lundmark was in town, yet he was not officially called up and was not seen on the ice. He can’t be the solution, can he?

Two Flames defensemen had some of their finest games in recent memory as Dion Phaneuf (yes I said it) and Mark Giordano played quite well. Giordano could possibly be nominated for the best ‘quiet’ player on the Flames for the first couple months. Tonight though, he made his presence felt as it was his mission to keep King Captain Dustin Brown on his keister for a majority of the night. The climax came when Gio laid out Brown right in front of the Kings bench, causing a ‘brew-hah-hah’, which led to a Flames man advantage. Phaneuf chipped in with his 7th goal of the season, a powerplay marker, with 1 second left on the clock in the first period. A timely goal, set up from a nice face-off win by Jokinen and a simple pass over to Dion from Captain Jarome. The goal proved crucial as Kipper was able to shut the door for the second before Nigel Dawes scored the eventual game winner 1:02 into the third period; his tenth goal of the season.

The Flames did not ‘wow’ anyone tonight with their win. Albeit they did beat the top team in the west, but let’s face it, the Kings are playing way over their heads at the moment. The Flames now prepare for a rare afternoon game at the Dome against the Predators. The Flames will have to come with a much stronger defensive effort if they hope to contain the Preds who have scored 20 goals in their last 4 contests; the Flames have scored only 15 goals in all of December.

This has been,

Newman on the Flames

Flames Burn Thrashers

The Flames returned home, after their longest road trip of the season, to face the much improved Atlanta Thrashers on Wednesday night. The Flames did not disappoint their fans as they played a solid game and won 3-1 for their second consecutive win at home, after losing 4 of their previous 5 on home ice. The old cliché of ‘having their best players play like their best players’ was evident tonight as the Jarome Iginla, Olli Jokinen, Rene Bourque and Miikka Kiprusoff were all in top form.

This might have been Olli Jokinen’s best game as a Flame this season. He was flying out there as he contributed with one laser of a goal and one sweet dangle through the Atlanta (Peace up, A-Town) defence. Not to mention he had 4 shots on net, was a +2 on the night and logged more ice time than any other Flames forward (20:26). His confidence is clearly growing in each game and his chemistry with Iginla and now Nigel Dawes seems to be getting better with each outing. Iginla could have had a bundle of goals tonight but was shut down by Thrasher Goaltender Johan “Moose” Hedberg all night. His patent “leg kick” while flying down the right side of the ice was in full effect tonight, but he could not find the twine. He did chip in with two assists including setting up the eventual game winner. He also managed to draw a few timely penalties which helped kill time off the clock, because clearly the Flames are unable to score a goal with the powerplay (0 for last 16).

As mentioned earlier, it seems Iggy and Olli have found a line mate in Nigel Dawes. Dawes, a top prospect coming out of junior, never really found a spot in the NHL. He struggled with consistency in New York and really did not have time in Phoenix to do much of anything. Now it seems he is comfortable and playing well with the added responsibility in Calgary. Already on pace to shatter his career high in goals (14), assists (15) and points (29) in a season, Dawes is giving the Flames the exact kind of support player they wanted when they signed him in July. He has great speed and is able to slip in and out of the tough areas with minimal detection. Another gem signing by Darryl Sutter only a year after he snagged Glencross and Bourque out of heap of available players.

A few ‘notable notes’ from tonight’s contest was Glencross’s spirited fight in the third period; good to see the energy always riding high with him. Regehr was back after missing one game with an undisclosed injury. Conroy, however, was not in the line-up tonight after colliding with Oscar Moller of the Kings on Monday. Cory Sarich also missed his 8th straight game. Coming from an interview on the Fan960 with Coach Sutter, when asked about Sarich, he said, “You will have to ask Darryl about Cory.” Since when does the GM decide when the player is ready? Wouldn’t the Coach be in charge of that? Or better yet, maybe the team Physician?

Just ‘spitballin’ here but I think he is being shopped around and will be dealt before the deadline. It makes sense with his salary, the need to clear space for Bourque and other UFA/RFA’s this summer, and the emergence of Aaron Johnson and Staffan Kronwall on the backend.

This has been,

Newman on the Flames

Source of Photo: http://www.nhldigest.com/images/Flames%20Socks.jpg

A Month to Remember

November; a month that the Flames wished had more days in it. After a respectable opening month of October going 7-4-1, the Flames dominated the month of November going 10-2-2 asserting themselves as one of the teams to beat in the Western Conference. The Flames also hold the best road record in the league going 10-1-3 over 14 games away from the dome. With tonight’s 5-0 shutout victory over Nashville the Flames also just set a team record with points in 10 straight contests on the road. The Flames already have more than half the total road wins they had all of last year, when they mustered 19 wins. Not to mention, they have only 3 less than all of the 2006-07 campaign of 13, when, Former Head Coach Jim Playfair apparently lost control of some of his players away from Calgary, or so the rumours were told.

Who likes numbers?

Goals for: 38. Average of 2.7 per game
Goals Against: 25. Average of 1.8 per game
Shot taken: 399. Average of 28.5 per game
Shots Against: 430. Average of 30.7 per game
Powerplay: 9 for 52. 17.3%
Penalty Kill: 44 for 55. 80%
Kipper’s #’s: 8-2-2. 1.67 GAA. .944 Save % (Is this the Kipper of 2003-04?)
Shutouts at home: 0
Shutouts on the Road: 3
McElhinney’s #’s: 2-0. 2.50 GAA. .931 Save %
Team Record on Saturday games: 4-0
Jarome Iginla: 13 G, 7 A. (3 of those goals were Game winners. Possible First star of the month)
Olli Jokinen: 3G, 11A (Picking it up nicely)
Rene Bourque: 2G, 4A in 8 games before he was injured
Dion Phaneuf: 1G, 3A, +5(Really slowed down from his quick start, but defensively improving)
Jay Boumeester: 1G, 6A, +8
Brian McGrattan Fighting Majors: 3
Brandon Prust Fight Majors: 4
Craig Conroy: 0 Goals since April 11th of last season
Robyn Regehr: 0 Goals since February 26th of 2008! A span of 119 Games

Overall, the Flames have had an astounding month of hockey and are in the midst of a season long road trip in which they have won 3 of the first 6 games. The Flames powerplay has awaken from obscurity these past two games going 3 for 5. The penalty kill has gone 18 for 20 since the Blackhawk massacre in Dome. There are numerous positive signs coming from Flames camp nowadays, including the imminent return of Rene Bourque.

November ends with the Flames in 2nd place in conference, 3 points behind San Jose with two games in hand. The Sharks are also the top team in the NHL. If the Flames continue their road dominance, the upcoming Saturday night contest against those very same Sharks could be a battle for 1st place in the entire league.

This has been,

Newman on the Flames

Source of Photo: http://attoboy.com/atto_wp/category/hockey/page/2/