Gameday - Ducks

Saturday, December 29, 2007

8:00 p.m. MST

Pengrowth Saddledome

Anaheim @ Calgary

CBC (HD), FSPT

• The defending Stanley Cup champions roll into Calgary on a four game winning streak.
• Last time the Ducks were in town, they beat the Flames 4-1 to close out November.
• Scott Niedermayer came back out of retirement a couple of weeks ago, but has only supplied two assists in his five games, although you can't discount how his presence back in the lineup has been a boost to Anaheim.
• Gigeure is averaging less than a goal a game against in regulation over those five games.
• Calgary seems to have lucked out a little bit, in that Samuel Pahlsson will not be dressed tonight for the Ducks, as he is out due to an abdominal injury.
• Since finishing off a sweep in a 6 game road trip last week, the Flames have lost two overtime games at home, and then most recently lost to the mailto:f#@kin Canucks on Thursday night.
• Corey Perry leads the Ducks with 20 goals, while Ryan Getzlaf paces the team in assists (25) and points (38).

Kipper has been talking about how he needs to step up his game, so I'm thinking this is the game he does it. With Pahlsson out, it gives the Flames a chance to take advantage of the Ducks a little, although the blueline scares me more than a little...

This may sound like a bit of a broken record, but I pick the Flames to win 3-0 tonight, with goals by Iginla, Lombardi, and Tanguay, plus a shutout for Kipper...

Are YOU watching?

Am I the only person that knows about this?

I'm not sure if anyone else follows the Spengler Cup, but tomorrow morning's game holds some special significance for Flames fans (but I'll get to that in a bit)...



For those of you that are unaware of the Spengler Cup, it is an invitation-only club tournament held in Davos, Switzerland every year over the Christmas break. The host club (HC Davos of the Swiss league), invites one team from three other European leagues (usually from amongst the Swedish, Finnish, Russian, German, Czech, and Slovak leagues), as well as a team made up of Canadian players that aren't playing in the NHL (most are either playing in the European leagues, or aren't currently playing anywhere at all). In addition, the host club is allowed to grab 5 other players from the other teams in the Swiss league...



Each team plays four round robin games (one against each other team), and the two teams with the top records play for the championship...

I've been watching the Spengler ever since I found out about it about 10 years ago...

This years version (in addition to HC Davos and the Canadian team) has clubs from the Czech league (HC Moeller Pardubice), German league (Addler Mannheim), and the Russian league (HC Salavat Yulaev Ufa)...


Which brings me to the main point of this whole post. For those of you that have read my blog with anything resembling consistency may know, Andrei Taratukhin plays for Salavat (who, I feel the need to point out, wear bright green from head to toe). And those of you that have been watching the Spengler, if there is anyone besides me, probably know that Mark Giordano has suited up for the Canadian squad. I realize that Giordano and Taratukhin may have played against each other in the Russian league already, but none of us can get those games...

Tomorrow morning the Canadians play Salavat, which means that we get to see the two Flames that we all wanted with the big club this year face off against each other on national TV. Of course, the game is on tape delay (don't read the sports sites!), so it won't be on until 3:30 pm EST (1:30 pm MST), but that just means we don't have to worry about sleeping in...

Unfortunately, this is a little bit of a conflict with the junior game (vs Sweden at 2:00pm EST), but those of us with a PVR (YAY, THAT'S ME!!!), can catch both in HD. The rest of you may have to settle for catching the second half of the Spengler game (or switch back and forth)...

Gameday - Canucks

Thursday, December 27, 2007

8:00 p.m. MST

GM Place

Calgary @ Vancouver

CBC (HD)

• Calgary returns to play in Vancouver for their first game after the Christmas break.
• If you don't know about my personal loathing of the ocean going spawns of satan, then feel free to check my archives from last February.
• Hopefully the Flames can continue their play from their last road trip, and not reproduce their recent home stand where they lost both games in overtime.
• I'm running late with this, so I'll just say that Luongo is the only player on the Canucks roster that actually scares me in the slightest.

This is brief as the game just started, but I'm thinking it'll be a Flames 3-1 win, with goals by Iginla, Lombardi, and Tanguay...

Gameday - Devils

Sunday, December 23, 2007

7:00 p.m. MST

Pengrowth Saddledome

New Jersey @ Calgary

Sportsnet West, FSN - NY

• New Jersey comes into Calgary tonight, after beating the Oilers in Edmonton on Friday.
• Calgary is coming of a tough overtime loss to the Dallas Stars Friday night, in a game were they seemed to dominate play for the last two periods, but had difficulty with a red-hot Mike Smith in net for the Texans.
• Zach Parise is the Devils lead in goals (15), assists (20), and obviously points (do the math). Which obviously points to a low scoring team, as everyone knows.
• The big player for the Devils is Martin Brodeur, and it seems that it is solely his plays that determines if the team wins or loses. They either win a low scoring game, or they get blown out. There doesn't seem to be an in between.
• Iginla was kept of the scoresheet on Friday night (except for his -2), so look for a big game from him tonight.

I won't be able to catch this game, as I'm heading up to Haliburton and my parents don't have Centre Ice (Boooooo! j/k)...

I debated recording it, but I wouldn't be able to watch it for a week, so I'll just catch the highlights...

Given the Devils propensity to avoid scoring goals, I'm thinking this will be a low scoring game...

Flames win 3-0 in a good, old-fashioned, New Jersey barn burner. Kipper finally gets his first shut out of the season, with some support by goals from Lombardi and Iginla x2...

Go Flames!

Postgame - Stars

Ribiero? Really?

Hmm, I may be partially at fault for the loss last night...

Maybe I shouldn't have made fun of Ribiero...

Although I think Mike Smith played way over his head last night. The guy was phenomenal, and also pretty lucky, as the Flames dominated the last two periods of the game...

The Stars stole one, but we'll get them next time...

We did get a point out of it...

But too many games have been stolen from the Flames this season, so sooner or later they have to start getting the bounces...

And one final thing about Ribiero...

Suck it up and get off the ice, you pansy!

Gameday - Stars

Friday, December 21, 2007

8:00 p.m. MST

Pengrowth Saddledome

Dallas @ Calgary

TSN, KDFI

• The Flames return to Calgary after winning all of their games in a six game road trip, to host the Stars.


• Dallas is at the end of a four game road trip, with a 2-1 record coming off a loss in Vancouver last night.


• Mike Ribiero is the goals (16) and points (34) leader for the Dallas Stars, with Zubov holding the lead in assists (18). Yes you read that correctly, Mike Ribiero, the Habs cast-off is leading a team in scoring. Maybe the guy does have some skill, but he's probably just faking it...


• Marty Turco usually plays well against the Flames (career 1.83 GAA), but you have to keep in mind that he also played against the pre-Campbell trophy winning Flames as well...


• Apparently Dallas is the Western conference team against which Kipper has his worst record, so I can't think of a better time for him to steal a game.


• Lombardi scored the game winner when these two teams met early in the season.

I'm not a fan of Dallas, with the possible exception of whenever they play the Oilers in the playoffs. Cause then they take up the mantle of 'Second Favourite Team in the Calgary Flames Universe'...

This game figures to be rather low scoring, as I don't see much offense coming from Texas, and the shutdown style of play from the Stars will probably be pretty efficient against a one-line team...

I watched the game on FSN-O on Tuesday night (c'mon, Roger Millions in regular definition or some Columbus homers in HD, which would you choose?), which was interesting. I got to listen to them complain about Nash not drawing a penalty when Hale decided to stop letting him lean on him and Ricky hit the ice. They must have shown it ten times from twenty different angles (or something more mathematically probable), and even my indifferent brother could tell what had actually happened. Heck, I'm sure that if Ricky decided not to take the dive (I'm not sure what kind of dive it was though, the closest thing I could come up with was a cannonball), he may have actually gotten a shot off. Stupid homerism...

Actually, I kind of like homerism. It gives opposing fans something to rant and laugh about...

Yay homerism!

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to get the Stars feed (as much as I like Darryl Reaugh's work), and I don't think it'd be in HD anyway...

I'm thinking that the Flames winning streak continues tonight and Kipper gets his first shutout of the season (I have to be right eventually, right?) against a low-scoring 'offense'. Flames win in a one-sided barn burner, 7-0. And Lombardi gets a hat trick, including a shortie (doubling the team's output on the season in the category), while playing with somebody other than Conroy and Boyd (Tanguay?). The other Flames goals come from Tanguay (who finally has a centre that can skate), Iginla, Huselius, and Godard (hey, the rest of my prediction is just as unlikely)...

Oh, and somebody will make Ribiero cry (Dion!)...

Go Flames!

Gameday - Blue Jackets

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

5:00 p.m. MST

Nationwide Arena

Calgary @ Columbus

Sportsnet West, FSN-O (HD)

• The Flames roll into Columbus on a five game winning streak and have a chance to set a team record with six consecutive wins on one road trip...
• The Blue Jackets are in the middle of a 9 out of 10 homestand, coming of a 2-0 shutout loss to the Bruins in Beantown (which was their first away game since beating the Flames in overtime at the Saddledome on the first of this month, and their last until the 27th)...
• Calgary has actually gotten points in their last 8 games, but in my mind the 2 extra time losses are still losses (but I'll take the points!)...
• Columbus is all over the place lately, with wins and losses interspersed all over their record. To look for anything resembling a pattern would be counter-productive (although counter-productivity is a specialty of mine)...
• Its a toss-up as to who will be playing in net for the Blue Jackets tonight (well, without actually checking to see if its been posted), as Norenna is coming off the loss to Boston, but Leclaire (who looked so good to start the season), has been more bipolar than the team itself. Which bodes well for our Flames (leading to the next bullet)...
• The Flames' big guns have really been producing as of late (I'm sure everyone at least caught the box score for the Tampa game), with the top 4 (Iginla, Langkow, Huselius, Phaneuf), combining for 15 goals and 18 assists in the last three games (including 16 out of 19 points awarded in the Tampa Bay game)...
• Kipper has been showing flashes of brilliance (especially in the first two games of the road trip), but still doesn't look like he has rounded into form as of yet...
• Rick Nash is obviously the leader of the Blue Jackets, with team highs in goals (18), assists (13), and points (31). He is also in a bit of a drought, not having gotten a point in the last four games, which is either a good thing (streak continues), or a bad thing (it has to end some time). Here's hoping for the former...
• Given Columbus' 4th overall penalty kill ranking and the tendency of the Flames to give up short handed goals lately, lets hope for a relatively penalty free game (like the last one, although it did mark another Gordie Howe Hat Trick for Iggy)...

When I first saw that the game was on FSN-O, my first thought was 'Alright, Fox Sports Net Ontario! And in HD!'. Which lasted about two seconds, wherein I made the correlation between Fox Sports Net and Rogers Sportsnet. Which made me feel a little down for a second, until I realized that I'll probably get the HD feed through my Center Ice! Now I'm pumped (and seemingly as emotionally volatile as Leclaire)!

Debating a live blog, we'll have to see how my brother responds to the idea (the Habs play tonight as well, although I don't know if he's going to be home or not). It will likely be a game time decision, but if you see me start, feel free to join in!

Actually, I'd like to take a moment to thank the screenwriters way down in Hollywood for striking, thereby saving me from the contemplation involved in deciding whether to watch a new TV show episode or a live sporting event. I haven't seen this many hours of sports in a week since... ever!

Which is a point of contention for my brother, as he can't sit and watch me yell at the television for 10 1/2 straight hours on Sundays and usually has to go upstairs...

Serious lack of devotion to sports on his part, as its the best reality programming on television!

Wow, I'm feeling good right now, back in the swing of things...

Flames win in Kipper's first shutout of the season, 4-0! Goals from Tanguay, Iginla, and Lombardi x2...

Go Flames!

I used to have readers...

Introspection

I haven't been updating this site nearly as much as I'd like as of late, and I was trying to blame it on apathy about how poorly the Flames were playing (and something about not having enough time right now, which clearly isn't true). But as the Flames are currently on a five game winning streak (WOOHOO! And on the road, no less!), that clearly isn't true either. My original idea for this blog (or niche, if you will), was to inject some humour and silliness into the hockey blogosphere, since there was plenty of excellent statistical analysis already being done. But I seem to have lost my way a little at some point and tried to make up for it by posting about things I was doing, or meaningless posts about things like power rankings, which nobody cares about (and if they really wanted to know, they could just check them out themselves)...

Wow, I think this post is the most boring one yet...

And a little bit depressing...

I somehow did twice as many posts last February alone, than I've done through the first two and a half months of this hockey season...

And February's the short month!

The ironic thing is that I only got to watch about one in 6 games last season (as opposed to all of them this season)...

Actually, by looking back at the end of last season, I think I may have found the problem...

I seem to have deviated from the path I was on last season, while hockey was on hiatus for the summer...

Time to get back on the path...

Gameday - Chicago

Wait, didn't I just do this?

You know, I could have sworn that Calgary just played Chicago...



What's that? You say that was over two weeks ago? Really?



Huh, where have I been then? Odd...



I've really been meaning to write more, especially since I added that nifty little widget you can see on the right hand side (or not, if you are like my brother, where he just gets a blank space). Any comments on the widget are more than welcome, by the way...



Anway, I've been pretty busy as of late, not to mention that my free time has been taken up with my planning for a vacation at the end of January (going on a cruise and I'm trying to sort out what all I want to do, which is more fun than talking about how the Flames still can't really play more than one good game in a row)...



My Center Ice cut out midway through the last Chicago game, and I haven't really done much with my blog since. At least with that Nashville game earlier this season, I knew the game wasn't being shown at all, so I was only off-put for a minute and then I got over it. It's a little different when the screen suddenly goes grey and doesn't change no matter how many times you flip back there from the Thursday night NFL game...



I've watched at least parts of pretty much every game since, but I'm beyond wondering how they are always getting caught up on the power play, leading to short-handed goals. With all the bad luck the Flames have had so far this season (hit posts, pucks deflected in off defencemen, the injuries that keep on coming), you just know that it can't last much longer... can it?



I was actually amazed that the game against the Penguins made it to the shootout after Regehr went down and there were prolonged lengths of time with Sarich and Eriksson out on the ice together...



Everyone knows that it takes time to get adjusted to a new coach, but I think that after two months, things should really be sorted out by now...



Which makes me really concerned for Kipper. I don't know what's going on with him, but there is no way he should have a lower save percentage than guys like Dipietro and Fluery, let alone Mason, Holmqvist, and Bryzgalov. Something has to change here though, its just too bad that we don't have an experienced backup that can challenge him a little...



I'm not overly optomistic about the game tonight, as I think the injuries will really show up on the scoreboard, as I see the Blackhawks coming away with a 3-1 win...

Gameday - Chicago

Hey, that's new!

So some of you may be wondering what that thing I've installed on the side of my blog is (or not, I don't know if anyone else really cares what I put on my site). I received an email yesterday from a company called Schmap, which creates widgets that show a team's schedule, as well as a map of where the team's games are (were). I've never been one to think of myself as a corporate shill, as I usually figure myself to be a bit undermotivated to do things for myself, let alone somebody else, but some things require an exception. Most of the emails I receive about putting things on my blog are asking me to promote something, which sounds a lot like work on my part. But this will save me time and effort (and probably you too), which I think is a good thing. If you want to know the upcoming schedule without navigating your way through other sites, or if you want to know when the Flames are coming to a town near you, its pretty easy. It also lets you know where the Flames won't be playing this season (the Northeast and Atlantic divisions), since they don't show up on the map. In addition, if you click on the game it will take you to the ESPN preview for the game (ESPN still previews hockey games?). All in all, a very handy tool to have...

They are going to use me as a sample site, which mean I could use some feedback from my readers (I do have readers, right?). Of course it also means that I will have to forego my occasional reluctance to post when the team is performing poorly (did you miss me the last couple of weeks?), and I will have to keep the language above board (not that I swear all that often anyway)...

End of corporate spiel... ; D

The Flames have won a couple of games of late (including finally topping the Avalanche), so I'm a little less disgruntled than I was a week ago, and from their performance on Tuesday night, I think they might actually be rounding into shape (of course, I also said that a few weeks ago)...

Actually, on the topic of Tuesday's game, I'm wondering how often Roger Millions over-anticipates a play. At one point in the second period (or maybe the third), when the Flames were in the offensive zone and the Avs got a hold of the puck, he assumed that they would get it out and said that the Avs cleared the puck out of the zone. But they didn't. Rhett Warrener kept it in at the line and dumped it back up the boards to where Tanguay and a Colorado player were battling it out, causing the Rog to proclaim that Warrener kept the puck in the zone for a couple more seconds. Obviously he was assuming that one of the two Colorado players between Retro and Tangs would get the puck and clear it out again. But they didn't and play continued in the Avs zone for another twenty seconds or so, until Theodore eventually covered it. I know that anticipating a play is part of the play by play guys job, and they do guess incorrectly on occasion, but I would think that two sentences in a row is a bit much. You'd think he would have learned after Rhett stopped the clearing attempt, not to assume on the next play, wouldn't you? I'm sure that anyone that was listening to that on radio would have thought that Calgary kept on regaining the zone...

Of course, most of you probably all know all about Mr. Millions already, and I may just be showing off my new and limited exposure to him...

I have mixed feelings heading into tonight's game. The Nolan line is the one that has been producing as of late, which is good, but the top lines have all but disappeared. Iginla is obviously still putting up numbers, but what of Tanguay and Langkow? We need the big guns to get back on the scoresheet with greater frequency. Especially in tonight's game, with one of the only goalies with numbers comparable to Kipper's horrendous start is coming into the Saddledome. The Blackhawks are probably one of the only teams comparable to the Penguins in terms of youth and talent, so the Flames will need to find their feet, as this should prove to be a fast flowing game (unless our blueline can slow them down)...

Flames win 3-2, with goals from Lombardi, Tanguay, and Iginla. Toews and Keith answer back for the visitors...

Gameday - Vancouver

Excellent!

Time for a little housekeeping before the Flames host the Vancouver Canucks tonight...

I'm not sure if any of you caught any of the pay per view the other night with Theoren Fleury on it, but it was pretty amusing. Somehow it took my brother about 5 minutes to figure out that it was Theo doing the colour (he wasn't talking all that much, and when it did, it was with his typical prairie boy charm). I'd already known that Fleury had gotten into the concrete flooring business and that it was for quality finishes (as opposed to just pouring floors), but I was unaware of this little bit of info...

Are you a fan of Theo Fleury’s? Theo will sign your floor, driveway or walkway – just ask before we seal it!

I don't think I've ever been more inclined to move to Calgary and buy a house (or at least a small piece of land I can pave over)...

I was watching the end of the Detroit - Nashville game the other night and I think I figured out why the attendance is so bad at Joe Louis lately. Once the game was over (Detroit won in a shootout), as the teams were leaving the ice they began to blare this really bad song over the loudspeakers. It was kind of like the Wayne's World theme (the one the studio made for them), but with the words 'Red Wings' in place of the show title. I had to watch it a few times to be sure, but I know that if I was a wing fan, I'm not sure if I'd want to sit around an arena that plays crap like that all night. At least if I watch it at home the play by play and colour guys could drown it out a little bit...

Rascal Flatts covered Tom Cochrane's Life is a Highway for a car commercial that played near the end of the Carolina game the other night. I'm still not sure how I feel about that...

For those of you that are curious, Irene Ryan played Granny on the Beverly Hillbillies...

I had a bunch of other things on my mind, but I can't remember them right now. I may have to update later...

The boys come home after a brutal stretch of games that saw them lose three consecutive times by a score of 4-1. I think the Ocean-going Spawns of Satan back at the Saddledome is just what the doctor ordered...

Of course, I think I'm as curious as anyone as to just who the doctor is that orders all the weird stuff like a beer on a hot day, or a an easy opponent after a hard stretch, or a one night stand after... uh, nevermind...

Anyways, I think the boys are most definitely due for a big game. I'm thinking 6-1 and Lombardi pots a couple...

Gameday - Minnesota

On the road again...

After a fairly successful 7 game home stretch, the Flames are back on the road again tonight in Minneapolis. The Flames were within a point of the Wild before the loss to the Red Wings on Thursday night (which was one of the worst games I've seen them play this season), but have since lost some ground (as well as being passed by the Avs)...



Not much to report on for this game, and I won't be around to watch it (although I will probably record it). Looking for the defence to step up, as Gaborik and Demitra are back for the Wild so they have a bit of a challenge ahead of them. Its not looking to be the most exciting game, but as long as the top two lines can pot more than 3 goals we have a good chance to take it...

And yes, I did reference a Keanu Reeves movie...

Gameday - Detroit

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I've done this before...

Its been a couple of weeks, so I thought I'd check in to see how the Flames have progressed in regards to the power rankings around the sports pages. And yes, as I've said before, these don't mean anything...

TSN now has the Flames at 14, down from 11 last week, but up from 20 the week before. Seeing as I have only missed one Flames game in that time, I'm pretty sure that Scott Cullen has missed them all...

Sportsline put Calgary at 10 this week, as well as last week, up from 13 two weeks ago.

ESPN jumped the Flames up to 8th from 10th last week, but has them at the same spot they were two weeks ago.

Fox Sports seems to be all over the place, having Calgary at 13th this week, down from 11 last week, but an improvement on their 20th place ranking two weeks ago.

Sports Illustrated has the boys from Cowtown at 10th this week, down from 9th last week, but right in line with where they were the week before.

Finally, I've added Yahoo to the list, where they have the Flames at 15th, up from 18th a week ago. No wonder I didn't check them out before. They are also the only site to have the Red Wings at number 1, as opposed to number 2 (despite missing Hasek). And you can't say it has anything to do with their record, as Ross McKeon also has the Penguins at 6th with a worse record). It should be interesting to see where they put the 15th ranked Flames after a win over #1 Detroit tonight...

Overall, Calgary is ranked approxiametly 12th (11.67), down slightly from 11.5 last week, but up from 14.2 two weeks ago. And it should only be going up from here...

Excellent game from Kiprusoff on Tuesday night, as the Flames rolled through the Nashville Predators for the second time in as many games this season. Maybe the contract extension was all Miikka needed to get out of his early season funk...

The Flames host the Red Wings tonight, in what should be an entertaining game. Hasek is out with an injury, but Osgood has been playing well in his stead. Looking for the top two lines to keep rolling and for a little better performance from the blueline than what we've seen previously this season. And somebody needs to stop Zetterburg, as he's scored at least a point in every game so far...

Gameday - Nashville

So... anything big happen lately?

As I'm sure that everyone in the hockey universe is aware, the Flames have signed Kipper to a contract extension. Details and reactions to which can be found in the Flames blogosphere here, here, here, here, here, here, and here (oh, and here)... [and from Matt]

Good move that keeps him here for what should be his most productive years, although it remains to be seen who else we can keep around after this season. We'll just have to hope that there is a significant cap increase (which I don't really expect), or we're going to lose at least one of Langkow, Huselius, or Yelle and be forced to rely heavily on what we have on the farm. But I do expect Sutter to sign Phaneuf to an extension before the season is out (the better to keep him far away from the open market)...

I'm not going to get too into the game from Friday night, beyond saying that if the rumours are true that McGeough is retiring after this season, it will be at least three years too late...

The Nashville Predators roll into Calgary tonight to take on the Flames. The Flames apparently won the last matchup in Nashville 7-4, but until I see visual evidence I refuse to believe that game ever happened (although I will keep the 2 points regardless)...

Gameday - Colorado

Just checking in...

As everyone knows, Mark Giordano and Andrei Taratukhin both chose to play in the Russian Superleague this season. As a matter of curiosity, I figured I'd check to see how they are doing over there. Unfortunately I couldn't find a site that would give me anything apporaching in depth stats for players over there, but here's what I did find...



Mark Giordano is playing for Moscow Dynamo. The team is currently sitting in 5th place in the 20 team league with a record of 8-5-5-3 for a total of 39 points (the Russian league uses a 3-2-1-0 point system with regulation win, OT/SO win, OT/SO loss, and regulation loss). Some of his fellow players on the team are Daniel Markov, Fedor Federov, Dmitry Afanasenkov, Jamie Lundmark, and Alexander Kharitonov (leading scorer).



Giordano's stats line is 16 gp 0 g 4 a 4 pts 10 pims ? +/-



Andrei Taratukhin is playing for Ufa Salavat Yulayev. The team is currently sitting atop the Russian Superliga with a record of 16-0-1-4 for a total of 49 points. Fellow players on Andrei's team are Konstantin Koltsov, Alexander Perezhogin, Oleg Tverdovsky, Stanislav Chistov, and Vladimir Antipov (leading scorer).



Taratukhin's stats line is 20 gp 4 g 4 a 8 pts 10 pims +6 +/-



I'm sure that this is a higher level of competition for them than they would get in the Quad Cities, but these numbers aren't exactly blowing me away. I'm very curious about how much time they are getting, and what kind of minutes those are. I realize it is much more than they would be getting in Calgary right now (Taratukhin at least), so I'm not to worried about that, I'm just wondering how its helping their advancement as hockey players. What kind of help are they getting to develop their games?



On to tonight's game where the Flames get to make up for blowing 4-0 lead in Colorado last week. I don't have much of a pregame, as I think most of you have at least as good of an idea as to how Coloardo is doing heading into the game as I do. I am curious to see if Hejduk is back tonight though...



With only one road win for the Avs in four starts (and it was against the Oilers, so it doesn't really count), I'm feeling pretty confident about the boys chances, especially if they can play a complete game...



Flames win 4-1 while I'm out doing some scoring of my own...

Postgame - Wild

ST's Wide World of Sports

This isn't really a column about the game last night, although it may contain some post-game comments. Its more of a chance for me to reflect on a few things going on in the sports world right now that have caught my interest. I'll start off with the Flames and hockey and work my way out...

Flames news

I was near ready to forget watching the last couple of periods of the game last night after the Flames were down 3-0 after the first. Luckily my brother came home and wanted to watch Tuesday night's episode of House, so I decided to record the last couple of periods of the game and watch them afterwards (so that I could fast forward through it if I felt the need)...

Unfortunately I was watching the FSN North broadcast, which meant that I had to listen to the play-by-play of one Dan Terhaar, who is in his first year in the majors. Normally the comments as to what was good and bad is left to the colour guy (you know, the guy that usually actually played in the league, in this case Mike Greenlay, who did a bang-up job). During the Wild broadcast, Terhaar (coming off a stint as the play-by-play guy for the Golden Gophers as well as other regional college teams) seemed to be stunned every time that the Flames scored a goal, insisting that each one had been tipped or Backstrom had been screened in some horribly illegal way. Dude needs to relax and let Greenlay (a former NHL goalie) do his job. I can't believe there is actually a guy out there that could take lessons from Roger Millions...

It was nice to see Tanguay pot a couple of goals, and Dion's fight was pretty sweet (although unfortunate that he had to go to the box opposite some scrub from the Wild)...

Also annoying was my brother's hinting every time that Calgary was about to score a goal. I may have to do the same thing when his beloved Habs play again some time in the near future (tonight?)...

Hockey news

You know how most channels have a give away during the hockey game where fans can win a phone or a vacuum cleaner or a million dollars if a certain players scores? Well, I was watching the Carolina game last night, and apparently down there you can win a John Deere is somebody scores a hat trick. Granted its a lawn mower and not a tractor, but still... stereotypes exist for a reason...

I was also made aware for the first time last night that the incoming head of the NHLPA, Paul Kelly, is also the guy that prosecuted Alan Eagleson. How was this not considered a big deal? He should have gotten the job for damn near that fact alone...

In a related news story, Eric Lindros will most likely become the first ombudsman (person?) for the NHLPA, meaning that he has decided that his playing career is all but over. He just has to hope that, as the liaison between the NHLPA management and the players, somebody doesn't get mad at him for something and punch him in the head during an argument...

Sports News

I'm sure that everyone is aware that the Red Sox beat the Rockies 13-1 at Fenway last night. I actually kind of saw this one coming, not that I wanted to. My only question is that, if the Yankees are the Evil Empire, representative of the empire from Star Wars, who do the Red Sox represent? They sure as hell aren't the rebels. Maybe we have it mixed up and the Red Sox are actually the Empire, while the Yankees are the Trade Federation? Am I thinking into this a little too much? Uhmmm... Go Rockies!!!



My beloved Chargers are being forced to move their home game against the Houston Texans for this coming Sunday due to the fires in Southern California (Qualcomm Stadium is being used as a shelter for the misplaced). The current leader in the quest for an alternate site is Dallas (Texas Stadium, where the Cowboys play). Which makes me wonder if there isn't a better alternate location that would be more agreeable to the Charger faithful, and not quite as favourable to the Houston fans (not that there are that many hardcore ones, as can be seen by the empty stadium last Sunday after the third quarter). I realize that there are a number of colleges and other teams in the Southwest that would be using some of the larger stadiums (as well as other events, such as a motocross event at University of Phoenix Stadium (where the Chargers are practicing this week). With the LA Colesium, the Rose Bowl and numerous other college stadiums just to the North, there should be something just up the San Diego Freeway. There should at least be something closer than Dallas! I do realize that Dallas is an airline hub, but you don't go tailgating in a rental car (how do you take a barbecue with you on a plane?). This would be like the Flames having to change a home game against the Phoenix Coyotes to Los Angeles because the scoreboard at the Saddledome collapsed and there was a circus at the rink in Winnipeg...

Postgame - Sharks

Random Observations

I recorded last night's game (the PVR is no longer a source of confidence, as its record of late is the opposite of stellar, and I'm too lazy to look it up and find out what that word is), and after finally finishing watching it tonight I thought I'd share my thoughts from the broadcast...

How can you talk about somebody taking a skate blade to the neck and not reference Clint Malarchuk? (Rob Davidson apparently took a skate to the neck in practice, but obviously it wasn't serious)...

Apparently the Sharks are the heaviest team in the NHL this season (And Roger Millions pointed out that is by weight... as opposed to some other measure...)

The potential $1,000,000 winner for the Safeway Score & Win tonight is Kiki Kaketsis... poor kid never stood a chance in life with a name like that...

Nice of the refs to blow the play dead as Jarome was starting off on a breakaway...

Wow, that was a nice hit by Regehr on Roenick though... JR is a little stunned from that one...

Godard almost had his second goal of the season (and boy would it have been ugly if it counted), yet they reveal the disturbing fact that his ice time is increasing as the year season progresses...

Holding the stick has to be one of the stupidest penalties to get... I'm pretty sure the refs will notice almost every time... bad time to take a penalty Lombardi...

And the Sharks score a minute later, right near the end of the first period... somebody should have had Clowe...

That's not fair! You can't throw your fight opponent into the players box... Semenov, you cheap bastard...

And Calgary gets another penalty before the end of the first... grrrr... Discipline boys!

Bad time for Tanguay to mess up on the powerplay, just too bad that Kipper's rebound bounced right back out to Michalek...

And Keenan lives up to his reputation for pulling the goalie (in the literal sense)...

McElhinney has a pretty cool mask with the skeleton gunslinger, but I think its the first goalie mask that I've seen with a graphic on only one side... It looks uncomplete... Maybe he's waiting to see if he gets to stay up when Krahn is healthy...

It seems that the Flames didn't offer to pay the refs as much as the Sharks did (which is obvious after they miss the call on Nabokov and give him a stern warning instead)...

I think Curtis needs to learn to stay in the net more often...

I'm starting to wonder if all the trade rumours and the diminished ice time are affecting Tanguay in a negative way (mentally)... he seems like he's trying too hard to do something big and not quite getting there...

Roger Millions just called Miilan Michalek a fine looking young man after he scored his second goal of the night... I'm starting to think that Roger's spending too much time at the rink...

What kind of fighter wears a visor? At least his helmet came off easily...

Nice punch to the face by Godard! Its a small victory... And it gives Nystrom some more ice time as gets gets to skate across the playing surface to the penalty box...

Wow, Ron Murray has some bad teeth...

And Nystrom gets some time on the top line... In the two seconds it takes to skate to the bench from the penalty box...

I always find it a little amusing when the Colour guy will make a statement that seems like a question, but the play by play guy has to keep his head in the game so he pretty much just ignores him... Poor Charlie Simmer...

Its always nice to see a shutout get broken in the final minutes of the game... A little "Yeah, you're going to win, but here's a little 'fuck you!' as a parting gift"...

Every time I hear Mark Vlasic's name I have a craving for pickles...

Roger Royer won a Eureka Boss Rug Saver Upright... another poorly named bastard... One letter away from being a joke in the movie 'Airplane'...

And the Sharks are off to a spa in Banff for a couple days... have fun with your group mudbaths boys, but I wouldn't recommend the teal and orange paint for your toenails...

Gameday - San Jose

Yeah, yeah, I know...

Yes, I do realize that I didn't do a gameday post for the Oiler game on Saturday, but there is a perfectly good explanation... I was drunk...

Actually, if I had done one when I was drunk, it would most likely be a lot more entertaining than the seemingly mindless drivel that I usually put up here...

I was at a birthday party at a bar on Saturday night and by the time the Flames - Oilers tilt started (10:00 PM, my time), I was probably about 5 pints and 3 shots into it...

But I was coherent enough to get the bartender to change over from the baseball game (it was 10-1 at the time, so I wasn't worried about some mindless baseball fan complaining), and I do roughly remember the game, but as I stated, I was at a birthday party. And the drinks didn't exactly slow down after the puck dropped in Calgary...

But the boys won, so I'm not going to dwell on it anyway (not that I really could if I wanted to, as I forgot to record the game), but I'm sure that Torres hit was dirty (as we've all come to expect from him)...

But on to tonight's game! The Sharks are in Cowtown for a 9:00 PM (EST) start at the Saddledome!

I'm not sure what to think of the fish this season, as I haven't heard a whole lot about them, with the possible exception of how Nabokov has been up and down in my fantasy pools. So I'm figuring the team is playing about the same way in front of him...

I could do some actual research, but that's not really my style...

It seems like the boys have begun turning it around already and we haven't even gotten to Halloween yet, woohoo!

Flames win 3-1 and I don't care who scores at this point, as the streak has already ended...

Gameday - Los Angeles

Why pay more?

So I get to watch the Flames hosting the Kings tonight, which is a benefit of not living in Calgary since I don't have to worry about paying for it on pay per view. Although I do get the same ppv broadcast through Centre Ice...

My first reaction as I just turned to the game is 'Why aren't they doing this in HD?'...

People are paying money for something they normally don't get, so shouldn't they do more than just have their own graphics? I realize that the costs aren't being absorbed by a big national sports channel, but then I also wonder why they would broadcast 14 games of the season only on PPV in the first place? Wouldn't it make more sense to have a broader audience? How many people are actually going to a movie theatre tonight to watch a hockey game? It may just be me, but I don't see the motivating factor. The one thing I will say in favour of the Leafs on this issue is that at least the 13 games that are on Leafs TV can be had for $3 a month...

Maybe they reduce the quality of the broadcast on Centre Ice...

I'm hoping...

Colorado postgame

In regards to the game the other night, I don't really know what to say. You can see my gamut of emotions by looking over at Open Ice Hits in the comments section for that game. I sort of made Dave liveblog it with me...

I wonder who's around and watching the game tonight... : D

Gameday - Colorado

Uhm, okay then...

The Flames are in Denver tonight to take on the Avalanche and are coming off a couple of road wins in Dallas and Nashville. Luckily this game will actually be televised...

Just out of curiousity I decided to take a look at sports sites to see what the rankings for the Flames (and the Avs due to them being the opponent tonight)...

TSN has the Flames ranked 20th, down from 8th even after winning the last two games. Their reasoning is that they think the team lacks scoring depth, which I find a little odd given the team's scoring last season and the fact that the forward lines only seemed to get stronger coming into this year. They have the Avalanche at 13, down from 12, and one spot ahead of the Predators (who have a worse record than the Flames and have some serious goaltending issues, not to mention the loss on Saturday)...

Sportsline has the Flames at a more reasonable 13, up from 14 last week. Which seems a fair bit more reasonable. Above the falling Predators and pretty much in line with how everyone has played the last week. The Avalanche dropped from 4 to 9, which is reasonable as well, since they are half a point up on the Flames...

ESPN is a little behind the times and still has their rankings from last week up, but they have Calgary at 8, down from 7 (and this is before the road trip started). Colorado is at 5, up from 8 (as they were at 2-1 at the time). I think the ESPN site is a little more in line with their idea of how they feel things will end up, with a weekly tweaking...

FOX Sports has the boys at 20th, up 7 points from 27th (!?!) last week. Wow, apparently Fox sports puts a lot more faith in the preseason than I do. Tonight's opposition dropped from 10th to 11th in the last week, obviously benefitting from a better preseason...

Sports Illustrated also has rankings up, but they are also a little behind. Calgary at 10, down from 5, and Colorado at 7, up from 13. Scott Wraight appears to be the only one to recognize the start of the season as nothing more than an anomally, as opposed to the norm. This is the only ranking that I read where the author fully admitted at the beginning that its nothing more than a crapshoot...

This gives an average ranking of 14.2 in the 30 team league...

What does all this mean? Sweet fuck all, as these things are always subjective. I just though I'd get an idea of where everyone thought the Flames would end up at the beginning of the season...

Gameday - Nashville

Prove it!

Yeah, I know that the game was 'apparently' on Saturday night, and it is now the following Monday, but since it wasn't aired ANYWHERE, I feel I can do my gameday post today anyway...
Actually, I just didn't want to deviate from the pattern that I set up by doing gameday posts for the 'D' games...

Not that I was home on Saturday night (I was at a country bar doing line-dancing with some friends for the first time ever, which my brother is ridiculously bad at), but I still think that if I'm paying for Centre Ice, I should still have had the option of seeing that game. How hard would it be to grab one of the two dozen Jim-Bobs in attendance and tell them 'Here, just look through this little hole thingy and keep the other end pointed at the ice.' I wouldn't even need commentary or anything, just the ability to see what's happening. I could even provide my own play-by-play, if I really felt the need. 'Huselius stickhandles around the Predators defence', 'Lombardi speeds down the ice', 'Eriksson looks like his skates are stuck to the ice, as the Nashville forward dekes him out again'...

I mean seriously, in this day in age when you can watch you tube videos of some random person crying about the bad press that Britney Spears gets or showing how quickly some guy can funnel a beer, how can you not get some Dwight Yoakam wannabe with a little handheld video camera to follow a game that already has an audience interested in watching it?

Although I do find it a little ironic that I was at a line-dancing bar (the only one in the greater Toronto area, so far as I know) on a night when the Flames were playing in Nashville (in a bar that was until recently called 'Nashville North')...

Oh yeah, and the Flames won the game 7-4, but you probably already know that...

That is two road wins in a row in arenas that the Flames had previously had some trouble in...

Next up is the Avalanche in Denver tomorrow night (I don't include it as one of the D's, since the team uses Colorado in its name)...

And before somebody gets all hot under the collar, I feel the need to point out that I grew up on a farm listening to country music, and I still do to this day. So I'm sorry if I offended anyone...

But if you are getting all offended by something in a blog, you probably have bigger problems...

Looking at travelling to Calgary in early March, possibly during my brother's reading week (he's a teacher), to catch the Blues in town...

Gameday - Dallas

Only two things come from Texas...

Alright, so the Flames head into their 4th game of the season in Dallas tonight and still haven't won a game yet. This does not phase me, as they seem to be getting some bad bounces and its not like they've been blown away in these losses. Plus, its October, and as much as I like beating a dead horse, they always suck in October. And they have a new coach, so growing pains are to be expected...

YAY OPTIMISM!!!

Keetley has been called up to replace McElhinney, who should probably think about skipping team warmups for a while. I mean, what are the chances of having two injuries before the puck drops within two weeks. He might be better off going into games cold...

Of course, we are dealing with back to back games tonight and tomorrow, so there is a decent chance that Keetley could actually see some game action (think Curtis is jealous?). Especially if its a blowout, but lets not talk about that...

Tonight Modano tries to prove that he's not over the hill yet and Aucoin tries to prove he's worth the money... again...

Good luck with that...

Gameday - Detroit

Steal Thunder vs Styles

The Flames visit Detroit tonight to take on the Red Wings and their 'Fire on Ice' theme...


Seriously, how dumb is that... Maybe 'Wings take flight' or 'Flying Monkeys' would be more appropriate... After the 'Red Wave' from last year I think that the Wings slogan for next year will probably be something like 'Flaming Pucks' or 'We're Burning Up'... Maybe they'll redo the 'Young Guns' theme... or worse...


Obviously this is a rematch of the 2007 first round playoff series where the Red Wings dominated on home ice. If you found your way here, then you obviously must have passed by that information at least a couple of times already, so I'm not going to get into it...





The matchup that will provide the most interest and debate tonight (in my household, anyway), is which game gets the most airtime in the Smith household. Thanks to my subscribing to Centre Ice before the season (a bipartisan act to see more of my Flames and my Chargers, while letting my brother catch his beloved Habs games), there will be a bit of a conflict tonight on the television. Calgary at Detroit and Montreal at Pittsburgh both tip off at 7:30 and young netminder Carey Price will be between the pipes for Les Canadiens against Crosby and the rest of the young guns from Pittsburgh (they're like fire on ice)...


I would do a poll as to which everyone thinks we should have to watch, but he doesn't have a blog, so I don't think that would really be fair... in an entirely unrelated note, keep your eyes peeled for a new poll going up in my right hand column shortly... just kidding... kinda... ; )



Although I wouldn't mind catching some Gary Roberts intensity...



Maybe my brother and I will have to have a Guitar Hero showdown to determine which puck drop we watch...

And I have no idea as to why his friends call him Styles...

Finally!

Start me up...

After a long wait the Flames season finally starts tonight at home against the Flyers. It doesn't seem like it could have come soon enough. Between my extremely intermittent posting over the summer and general lack of interest in the preseason (mostly due to my inability to actually see what's going on there), things are about to get back to normal. Which is a relative term, as I haven't even been around for a full season yet...

The big thing for me heading into the season is the addition of Center Ice to my cable package, (meaning I don't have to fret about Sportsnet blacking out Flames games here in Ontario) so I can actually watch most of the Flames games on my big screen and not just follow the boxscores on CBS Sportsline...
Of course, I'm meeting up with some buddies tonight to finalize my keeper league team for the season, so there is an outside chance that I will miss part of the game. At least there would be, if I didn't have my trusty PVR! No commercials for me!

Roster

I've never been one to list my ideal lineups, and things aren't about to change now. I'll leave that kind of stuff to more capable hands, and instead just concentrate on who made the roster. A few weeks ago I was asked by the pensblog to do up a season preview of the Flames, which I happily agreed to. And if any of you are planning on sifting through it, just be aware that the boys over at pensblog aren't exactly known for being completely serious at all times (though it is a fun read every morning)...

Goal

#34 Miikka Kiprusoff and #31 Curtis McElhinney

Kipper will obviously get the vast majority of the starts here, and McElhinney only got the backup job because Brent Krahn is currently on the IR. Which is actually fortunate for Krahn, as I personally think that McElhinney would have beaten him for the job out of camp anyway. There are also rumours that the Flames may resign Noodles, as they may not have been significantly impressed with any of the young netminders out of camp (which I think would be a mistake due to the backlog of young talent the Flames already have). Mind you it doesn't really matter who the backup is, because he won't be playing all that much anyway...

Defence

#33 Adrian Aucoin, #8 Anders Eriksson, #21 David Hale, #3 Dion Phaneuf, #28 Robyn Regehr, #6 Cory Sarich, and #44 Rhett Warrener

Darryl Sutter appears to be taking a more defensive approach to his blueline this season (which kind of makes sense, doesn't it?), grabbing a couple of guys that are a little stronger in their own zone than the players they are replacing. It would have been awesome to have seen Giordano get a chance at a spot, but apparently Sutter thought that a non-productive veteran presence was more important. Not pleased with this decision (like pretty much all Flames fans), though I do expect the Flames to bring Gio back next year (although the idea of giving Eriksson a two year deal is looking a bit like an abatross right now... trade bait?). The defence should be pretty solid, and hopefully the new pairings (whatever they end up being) can develop some chemistry as October progresses...

Forwards

#24 Craig Conroy, #17 Eric Godard, #20 Kristian Huselius, #12 Jarome Iginla, #22 Daymond Langkow, #18 Matthew Lombardi, #25 David Moss, #26 Marcus Nilson, #11 Owen Nolan, #63 Warren Peters, #19 Wayne Primeau, #16 Mark Smith, #40 Alex Tanguay, #7 Stephane Yelle

As I said before, I'm not about to speculate on the lineups for the game tonight, but I'm pretty sure that Godard will be one of the two forwards in the press box tonight. He's become a little redundant with the addition of Warren Peters to the lineup (also a capable fighter, but also has some hockey ability) so I figure it is only a matter of time until some other team needs an enforcer and he can be traded for future considerations or an AHLer. Although he will most likely be on the gameday roster for all Wild games, since he seems to own the 'Boogeyman'...

Owen Nolan appears to be another reclamation project by Sutter (the Friesen project was essentially a failure last year, as was Amonte the year before), but Nolan has actually put up some very solid numbers in his past for a sustained period of time. If Playfair was still the head coach, Nolan would most likely be on the ice at the end of every period if he played well that game or not...

The top 6 forwards (in no particular order), should be Iggy, Juice, Langkow, Lombardi, Tanguay, and Moss. With Nolan possibly replacing Moss on right wing, and Conroy may occasionally get some top 6 time in lieu of Lombardi. Which I'm okay with, just as long as its when they are playing well and the young guys are still getting plenty of ice time...

And yes, for some reason I decided to link to the player profiles on the Flames' site as opposed to the NHL site. Don't ask me why, I just felt like it...

Front Office

Mike Keenan takes over behind the bench for the Flames this year, which should be interesting to say the least. I'm not about to get into Iron Mike's history, as you most likely know it, and if you don't then click here. At least we know that he dresses fairly conservatively and will have the balls to actually make in game changes. Of course, I just hope that those in game changes don't include changing the goalie 4 times...

Darryl Sutter is obviously still the GM, but it will be interesting to see how he gets along with Keenan. The two have been said to be very similar, so hopefully we have a repeat of the 2003-04 season (but with a better start)...

Overall I'm pretty optomistic about this season. Let's just hope that we don't have to deal with yet another crappy October to start the season...

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Seeing as I haven't had anyone comment on one of my posts since the end of July, I'm starting to think that I could write almost anything here and nobody would notice it (or at the very least, nobody would comment on it)...

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Norv Turner is killing my Chargers...

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Debating heading out to Calgary for a game next year, possibly on a weekend in March...

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I've been known to cheer for the Leafs on occasion...

New Jerseys Revisited

On Second thought...

I don't think that any NHL team fan has the right to complain about their team jersey as long as this eyesore is allowed to take the field...


No wonder the Eagles beat the Lions so badly yesterday, Detroit was trying not to look directly at the Philly shirts...

Housekeeping

Where did I put that dustpan?

The (Un)Balanced Schedule and Expansion


Apparently at the recent Board of Governors meeting, they decided that the current schedule needs to be changed, but they are putting that decision/ thought process on hold until November. Bob McKenzie over at TSN has a good blog up about it here...


Also in the blog, McKenzie touched on the possiblity of expansion being brought up with potential locations being Las Vegas and Louisville. Which actually brings me to this most recent post from Metrognome where it appears that the Nashville Predators are going to get to Kentucky by hook or by crook...



Flames get new threads (and so does everyone else)

I figured I might as well comment on the new Flames unis before the season starts and there are other more pressing things to discuss. I don't mind the jerseys at all. I like how they used a red lace in the away jersey, maybe its what the boys needed to get over the hump on the road, a little more red. The shoulder flashes seem a little excessive, but I hear its only a one year thing for now, so I can live with it. I was previously unaware that Calgary is in both Canada and Alberta...


For a complete run down on all of the new jerseys for this season, visit NHL Logos...

Preseason update

Let me know when the games start counting...

Yes, I do realize that the preseason games are important for looking at how the young guns are coming along, as well as topping up the roster, but I refuse to let myself get bothered by a loss to Florida in a game of mixed rosters. Yes, they beat us 3-0 the other night, but in the grand scheme of the season, isn't it more important that we got a good look at a couple of young guys like Dustin Boyd and Matt Keetley (who apparently played awesome), than what it shows on the scoreboard? Boyd is a player that could make the Flames roster and Keetley is looking like he'll be taking a legitimate stab at a starting goalie position in the Quad Cities (and with the injury to Krahn, may even see some time on the Calgary bench at some point this season)...

I have no problem losing all of our preseason games if it means that the coaching staff gets a good look at all of our young players and get a chance to play around with line combinations to see what might work...

Of course, since I won't be able to see any of these games (or practices), its a little easier for me to just shrug the preseason off. For a more in depth view of the preseason, I'd suggest Metrognome, Walk Invisible, or Leanne's breakdowns...

Wow, that was a little more serious than I'm used to...

August Rundown

Wow, that was exciting...

Okay, the summer is almost over and I haven't posted yet this month, so I thought I'd best chime in on a couple things while I still remember. This time I'm going to post the more pressing issues first...

Its a hockey pool!!!

For those in the Flames blogosphere that are interested and haven't noticed yet, Dave over at Open Ice Hits has posted a link for a fantasy pool using a points based system. I'm more of a head to head and rotisiree veteran myself, but I don't see why my hockey pool dominance can't extend to another format...

Giordano heading to Moscow

I didn't notice this until this morning, well after many a blogger had already put their two cents in, so I'm a little late in this, but here goes...

I'm more than a little disappointed to see Gio go after he showed a fair bit of promise last season, but I've talked myself into a similar camp to conroytoiginla when it comes to the whole thing. Yes, it sucks that he won't be playing for the Flames this year, but he's not going anywhere else right now either. I don't think another season (or partial season) in the AHL was going to do a whole lot for him, and with the number of blueliners that the Flames have signed on for this year already, I don't know how much playing time he would have gotten with the big club anyway. At least in Europe he will get to see plenty of ice and he can work on his finesse skills while he's over there. From what I understand the Flames still have his rights, so its like we are getting him to develop while not having to pay him this season (kind of). If we have somebody go down with a long term injury later in the season, it would be impossible to get him to come back over, especially with the lack of a transfer agreement. But a more plausible end result is that we have a chance to bring him back next season when we have more space for him...

Note to self: check on d-man contract status after this season...

Ed Belfour to play overseas as well

Eddie the Eagle has signed on to play hockey in Sweden next season. I think he still has something to offer the hockey world, and he obviously hasn't lost his love for the game, so I can't see this as anything but a good thing. Let's just hope that he doesn't get his hands on a golf cart after a drinking binge...

Numbers to change

If you head on over to Flames Daily, conroytoiginla has an interesting post up regarding the numbers that some of the Flames will be sporting for the upcoming season, the most interesting of them being Yelle switching to numbers to allow Owen Nolan to wear the number 11 for the second time in his career. I wonder what NHL players give each other for switching numbers, does it work similar to the NFL?

My best post of the month!

And also my worst...

Yeah, there really isn't too much going on with the Flames since the draft and the opening of free agency. But I will try to shed my own personal light on what the Flames have done lately, some things of interest, and maybe a couple of shots at the boys to the North while I'm at it...


Draft Recap

I actually taped the NHL draft this year (as the first round was on a Friday night, which I think is a BAD idea), but they didn't get to the Flames first pick near the end of the first round, which means that it was pretty much all for naught, with the possible exception of seeing two of the bigger names fall to a point where they got picked up by the Rangers and Penguins (no fix going on there, eh fellas)...

Mikael Backlund, 24th overall

I don't honestly know much about him, but what I've heard from various sources has been encouraging. As always with European players there is a chance that they will choose to stay over there through their developing stages and may have trouble adjusting by the time the cross the Atlantic. Hopefully Backlund will make the move over here early (if not this year, then next year) and he can spend a year or two on the farm. It sounds like he has many of the qualities that Sutter looks for, and I'm sure he would like to play on a Flames team that should be a contender for at least the next 5 years (if the Iginla and Regehr contracts are any indication)...

John Negrin, 70th overall

Another Western Canadian defenceman picked up by Sutter, which is a trend of the last couple of years. Defencemen seem to be safer picks in the later rounds, and Negrin seems like he could develop into a 2nd line pairing offensive defenceman that could get some powerplay time. Although there are questions as to his play in his own zone...

Keith Aulie, 116th overall

At 6'6", Aulie is your typical WHL defenceman and is probably a pretty well-rounded guy (WHL scholastic player of the year and also saved his father's life after he fell through the ice at the family homestead in Rouleau, Saskatchewan two years ago). Although with a weight listed at only 208 lbs, it sounds like he has a considerable amount of bulking up to do before making the move to the big leagues...

Mickey Renaud, 143rd overall

Renaud has good size for a centre (6'2", 217lbs) and was the Windsor Spitfires' player of the year, but with only 54 points in 68 games in an offensive league, its hard to imagine him getting anywhere near the first line at this point. He will most likely be spending at least the next two years in the Quad Cities, unless he chooses to go back to the OHL...

C.J. Severyn, 186th overall

As a part of the U.S. national under 18 program, there isn't a whole lot I have heard of Severyn, beyond what has been posted on a couple of sites. But with only 6 goals and 16 points in 48 games last year, along with his attending The Ohio State University next year, I don't expect him to be in the Flames plans for the next 3 years at least...

Resignings

Obviously some of the biggest news over the last few weeks was the resigning of both Jarome Iginla and Robyn Regehr to 5 year deals. I don't know how this can't be seen as a good thing, as we now have 2 of our marquee players under long term contracts. The only question now is how much space will be left under the cap for Phaneuf and Kiprusoff, and how much they will be asking for...

Free Agency


The Flames have been moderately busy this off-season, with three free agency pickups which should fill out the lineup a little bit, but I'm not sure how they will address the need for scoring up front...


Cory Sarich ($18 million over 5 years)

Sarich is one of those unheralded defencemen that do their job without attracting a lot of attention to themselves. And I'm sure that being in Tampa for the majority of his career hasn't helped his exposure much either. I think he will fit in well with the team that Sutter has put together (especially given the fact that he is a good ole prarie boy) and should do well on a pairing with a more offensive minded defenceman. Of course he will be 34 by the time that the contract expires and they could probably have gotten him for a little less, but I don't have any real problems with this signing...


Owen Nolan ($1.75 million for 1 year, with a bonus structure)

This is one of those signings that always brings back the nostalgia when you hear a name of what used to be one of the better players in the league. Then you see that its only going to cost you less than $2 million a year and its only a one year contract, so there isn't a whole lot of risk. Then reality kicks in a little and you remember that most of these signings don't work out as well as everyone hoped. Let's just hope that the performance bonuses will keep Nolan motivated, as will the chance to be playing for a contender and being out of the desert...


Anders Eriksson ($3 million over 2 years)

I honestly don't know that much about Eriksson, beyond that he played for the Blue Jackets last season and he was previously a prospect in the Flames system (but never made the big show). He actually put up a nice +/- figure with a sub-.500 Columbus team (+12), so I'm thinking he is obviously an upgrade over the likes of Zyuzin. It just makes me wonder where we are going to play all of these defencemen and who is going to be the odd man out...

Goalie problems (the good kind)

With Noodles going off to Russia to play hockey next year, you would think that would simplify things in the Flames crease. But with both Leland Irving and Matt Keetley potentially coming out of junior this year, along with the resignings of both Brent Krahn and Curtis McElhinney, you have to wonder who is getting promoted to the big club, and who is the odd man out in the Quad Cities (read 'who is going to Las Vegas and not in the good way'). I think Krahn will get the chance in Calgary, while it will be McElhinney and Keetley in the Quad Cities, with Irving being kept down in Everett and James Spratt continuing his education at Bowling Green. Kevin Lalande is most likely the odd man out in the whole situation, as he will turn 21 next February, meaning he will no longer be eligible for the OHL's Belleville Bulls...

Defensive Deficiencies

Okay, here's a question for everyone...

If you have a couple of offensive-minded defensemen signed, you've just traded away your most reliable d-man, and you have a questionable number one goaltender, what type of player should you go after next? I know what you're thinking, another stay at home blueliner, right?

Wrong! The Oilers decided to complement Dick Tarnstrom and Joni Pitkanen with Sheldon Souray. Something tells me that Dwayne Roloson will be seeing a whole lot of rubber this season, and will have to be sure to put sunscreen on his neck before each game...

Hall of fame bound

Al MacInnis will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this year, which brings up the question of whether he will be remembered more as being a Flame or a Blue. I realize that its not really a big question one way or the other in the NHL, as opposed to Cooperstown where they go in wearing one team's cap, but I think its still one worth asking. As I'm sure that most will always think of Gretzky as an Oiler first, MacInnis had his most success as a Flame, especially being the team's only Conn Smythe winner...

And now for something completely useless...

Over on the Battle of Alberta website, Matt seems to have found a site that rates your blog according to the suitability of the content to all ages. I've posted my little disclaimer on my sidebar, although I'm not sure how long I'll be leaving it up there. I do find it interesting that the reasoning behind giving it the PG rating that they did was that the word 'steal' appeared 8 times and the word 'ass' was in it once. I mean seriously, its part of my screen name. But I will give them credit for the ass...

And one more question for the Oiler less-than-faithful...

Since the Oilers could only get Pikanen to sign a one year deal, are they a little concerned that he may want out after one season and didn't want to be stuck trying to trade away his contract for less than fair market value?