Saturday, January 12, 2008

Round up

Chiming in...



I didn't really post during the Christmas break, as I was watching too much hockey. But there are a number of things on my mind, including stuff that has happened recently, that I wanted to at least mention...

Canada wins the Spengler Cup!

This year's version of the Spengler Cup had a somewhat special significance for Calgary Flames fans, as both Mark Giordano and Andrei Taratukhin were playing, albeit for different teams. Team Canada beat Taratukhin's Ufa Salavat Yulaev squad in the final 2-1. The official Spengler Cup site is a bit of a pain to get through, but from what I could discern from the scoresheets (which weren't complete, especially for Ufa's 6-1 win), both Flames prospects (?) got 2 assists in five games. From the lineup sheets I was also able to figure out that Giordano was in the first pairing for Team Canada and Taratukhin was playing on the third line. Which actually makes sense when you look back at how Andrei wasn't really putting points up on the board when I found his stats a couple of months ago. I may have to look up their respective Russian league stats again in the next month or so...

Curtis Joseph shines on the international stage!

Another story to come out of the Spengler was the play of Curtis Joseph, who everyone knows was looking to use it as a showcase for a potential NHL job. The Russian squad in particular was a very good test for Joseph, especially given the abundance of NHL talent on the squad. Which leads to current stories in the mainstream media about Cujo's interest in playing for the Calgary Flames or San Jose Sharks...

I think that at this point in his career, Joseph is more interested in finally getting that evasive Stanley Cup ring (finally winning international gold being good and all, but really...), than he is in finding a starter's job. When you are already this far into the NHL regular season, the only teams that are really looking for a new starting goalie (if there are any), are probably either so far out of the playoff race that they'd be better off just trying out some young talent between the pipes, or they are looking for somebody to take over for an injured netminder. So I'm not of the mindset that he wants to be a starter...

That he wants to go to a legitimate competitor leaves me to believe that he is willing to accept a backup role where he will get limited starts (especially since the two keepers that he's interested in backing both play the very large majority of games in a season). He would obviously just be a rental and would only be around for half the season, probably at an affordable price...

In my opinion, I think the Flames could really benefit from this, as Curtis McElhinney obviously isn't ready for the big leagues yet (and isn't going to get any better warming a bench spot). Plus, the way the Miikka Kiprusoff is playing right now, I think he could benefit from a little healthy competition from a player that is obviously of NHL calibre (which Curtis is not). I love having the Kippper in net, but I can't help but think that he's a little off right now and could use some help. And I don't think having an AHL goalie backing me up would provide me the motivation to take a couple of games off to fix myself...

Canada wins gold at the World Juniors... again!

Congratulations to the Canadian junior team for winning gold again! There were no Flames prospects on the Canadian squad, but we did get to see an impressive performance from last June's Flames first rounder Michael Backlund for the Swedish team. You could tell that Darryl Sutter was extremely impressed with the youngster's performance...

Team Ontario wins the under-17 tournament!

While I realize that a bunch of young kids that aren't even eligible to be drafted until 2009 is of little interest to most of you, the Ontario team beat the American squad in the final game to win gold. This game did hold some interest for me though, as there was a young kid from Haliburton named Michael Duchene playing for team Ontario, and playing quite well. My hometown isn't exactly known as a hockey factory, as we have only had 3 players get drafted to the big leagues (Ron Stackhouse, Bernie Nicholls, and a kid I know that was taken by the Ducks in the 7th round a few years ago), so this is big news back home. Not to mention that we have another kid that is draft eligible this off-season and expected to go in the first round (Cody Hodgson), that I once helped babysit. Hodgson will be playing in the upcoming prospects game. Both Duchene and Hodgson play for the Brampton Battalion in the OHL...

Flames play as of late less than stellar...

Despite not posting for an extended stretch, I did manage to catch pretty much every Calgary game in the last two weeks. I think teams have really been noticing the tendency for our defencemen to pinch in a lot (I noticed it a number of times last night, and I'm sure every other team has noticed it as well). I think you can probably attribute at least one out of every eight goals against the Flames have come from guys being left alone behind a defenceman, which could explain the team's tendency to give up shorties. That and things like Mike Sillinger's breakaway goal last night as well. The defence has been missing coverages like crazy lately...

I've also decided that I should probably stop my habit of calling out opposing teams' players, as it seems to bite us in the ass all the time. Damn you Trent Hunter!

Friday, January 11, 2008

Gameday - Islanders

Friday, January 11, 2007

Pengrowth Saddledome

Long Island @ Calgary

Sportsnet West, FSN-NY






  • The New York Islanders roll into Calgary tonight for the first time since January 15, 2002. Yes, you read that correctly, the Islanders are 4 days shy of not being in Cowtown in 6 years. Of course, if the Edmonton game on Monday is any indication, there's a chance they might not show up tonight either...
  • The Islanders have 3 points in their last 4 games, all from extra time losses. Unfortunately, their most recent 3 games have been against divisional rivals (Colorado, Edmonton, and Vancouver)...
  • Calgary had a five game winning streak snapped by the Coyotes on Tuesday night in the Saddledome, but this may be just the right team to face to start another one before heading out on the road for a 3 game stint...
  • Bill Guerin leads the Islanders in goals with 15, which wouldn't have been as surprising if this game took place 5 years ago. And you can say ditto for team assists (20) and points (33) leader Mike Comrie, but then again he does have a pop starlet to impress. Former rookie sensation Trent Hunter seems to have found a way to extend his sophomore slump into his fourth season...
  • With stunning offence like that, its no wonder that Rick Dipietro was the only one from the fishsticks to make the All Star game (which I plan on posting about tomorrow at some point). Although he did rightfully merit his selection, as he is playing extremely well. Just not Roberto Luongo well (way to go Mike!)...

You could say that the Islanders have much more balanced scoring than the Flames do (since the point differential between the 1st and 8th forward is only 2 points per player), but that would imply that they actually have scoring. Their +/- leader is Blake Comeau with a +4, and that's because he's only played in 11 games (although he did get 4 points, which puts him right up there with the team's ppg leaders). These guys appear to be the Toronto Blue Jays of the NHL, where the only reason that they win games is because of standout performances by their stoppers (I'm comparing goalies to pitchers in this equation, for those of you that I may have lost there), including wins by Dubielewicz while Dipietro was injured a couple weeks ago. Wade Dubielewicz!!!

If there was one game all season that Kipper should most definitely be able to get a shutout in (hell, Mathieu Garon did), its this one!

I pick the Flames to win this one 5-0, giving Kipper the long overdue shutout and topping the goal output from the Oilers. Flames goals by Iginla x2, Huselius, Lombardi, and Smith (dude's putting my last name to shame, even I would have had at least one goal after 34 games)...

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Gameday - Coyotes

Tuesday, January 8, 2007


Pengrowth Saddledome

Phoenix @ Calgary

Sportsnet West, FSN-A



  • Calgary returns home on a tear tonight to face the Phoenix Coyotes, who are in the midst of a 6 game road trip. The Flames has won their last 5 games since the loss in Vancouver two weeks ago. Unfortunately for Calgary, tonight's opponent is also on a bit of a tear, having won their last 4.

  • The Flames are 12-1-4 since the beginning of December and have climbed back from a 10-13-3 start to take over first in the Northwest division (albeit with a couple of games in hand on the Canucks).

  • Phoenix is on an 8-2-1 streak since early December, and have pulled themselves out of the Western Conference basement (now solely occupied by the LA Kings) and are within four points of a playoff spot (and if you made all losses into losses, they would still be 2 games above .500 and would be just out of the playoffs with numerous games in hand on most of the teams ahead of them).

  • Radim Vrbata leads the Coyotes in goals with 24, while Shane Doan tops the scoresheet in assists (23) and points (34).


If the Flames weren't playing so well right now, I'd be a bit more concerned about a hot team coming into the Saddledome, especially one that I'd typically underestimate like the Coyotes. Not that I'm willing to take them that lightly right now, especially with Mueller providing a youthful spark, which the Flames have had trouble dealing with in the not too distant past...

As well as Ilya Bryzgalov has played as of late for the Desert Dogs, I still think Kipper will dominate this matchup. I mean, he has to return to his old form at some point this season, right? Right?

Flames finally get the shutout win (yes, I will keep saying this until it happens) 3-0, with goals from Iginla and Lombardi x2...