So far it looks like the Flames have grabbed a couple of players to make the push toward the playoffs and to strengthen the injury-depleted lineup...
Calgary re-acquired blueliner Jordan Leopold from Colorado for a guy they claimed off waivers yesterday, a prospect that's playing in the 'O', and a second round draft pick they got off of Montreal in the Tanguay deal. Which is a little of a full circle thing, since the Flames sent Leopold to the Avalanche in a trade for Tanguay in the first place...
Can't really complain about this deal at all, since the boys didn't really give anything up from the current roster...
The Flames also picked up Olli Jokinen from the Phoenix Coyotes in return for sending Lombardi, Prust, and a conditional first rounder back to the desert. Which re-unites Jokinen with Mike Keenan, who should be able to control Olli's apparent clubhouse cancer reputation...
Its tough losing Lombardi, but he wasn't really living up to the potential we all had for him (although he has been playing well of late, which may have helped in the deal). Prust is out for the season, so it doesn't really take away from the Flame roster at this point. And the first round draft pick is at Calgary's option as to whether its this year or next year, but I'm thinking you take that option for this year (given the fairly high finish they are looking at), rather than take the risk of placing even better next year (which they would be very hard pressed to do). The only way you don't is if you have a player that you really want still left in the draft this year, but when you are picking in the 24-27 range, I don't really see that happening...
Also of note is that the Flames still have to do something to clear up the cap overrun that they just created...
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Deadlines...
To Deal or not to Deal
With the arrival of trade deadline day, I figured it was time for me to ignore one deadline to concentrate on another. The last couple of months I've been working towards a huge deadline at work, where I've been asked to do 3 years worth of work in only 6 months...
So you'll have to excuse me for not chiming in lately, what with working overtime and still playing hockey five days a week. My mind just wasn't into it. I could probably have written something while watching the games, but at that point I was just content to sit there and not think...
So over at Five Hole Fanatics, Kent has a little contest going to see who can guess the first player that Darryl Sutter trades for leading up to the deadline. Now this 'contest' started over a month ago, but as everybody knows there hasn't been a whole lot of action on the trade front since then...
The major problem being that there isn't a whole lot of separation when it comes to the playoff bubble and the teams at the bottom of the rankings. At one point in the Western Conference a few weeks ago, the 15th place team was only 5 points out of a playoff spot. So most teams are still trying to figure out if they are a buyer or a seller...
Even now, there is only a 10 point difference in the Western Conference between St Louis in 12th (64 points) and Vancouver in 5th (74 points). Even Colorado at the bottom of the West is only 11 points out of 7th place, but with only 18 games remaining and that many teams left to jump, they are essentially out of it...
The Eastern Conference is a little bit easier to figure out, with a bottom tier of 5 teams including the Islanders, Thrashers, Lightning, Senators, and Leafs all being pretty much out of it at this point. But that still leaves 10 teams vying for 8 spots with only a month to go in the season, and there is only 9 points separating Buffalo (69 points) and Philadelphia (78 points)...
If I had to make a decision in regards to buyers, sellers, and standing pat, the lists would look like this...
Standing pat: Sharks, Red Wings, Bruins, Blackhawks, and Devils...
Sellers: Islanders, Thrashers, Lightning, Senators, Leafs, Avalanche, Coyotes, Kings (okay, those were the easy ones), Blues, and Ducks (they are on the bubble and have been dropping a lot lately, not to mention that they have the fewest games left)...
Buyers: Flames, Canucks, Blue Jackets, Oilers, Predators, Stars, Wild, Capitals, Flyers, Canadiens, Panthers, Rangers, Penguins, Hurricanes, and Sabres...
Monday, January 19, 2009
They don't look so bad...
While watching the Flames get beaten by 'a team that they should destroy' on Saturday night, I couldn't help but notice that this year's Phoenix Coyotes squad looks a lot like last season's Chicago Blackhawks...
A lot of young, early first round draft picks surrounded by some experienced guys that you feel are still a little bit too young to be called veterans. When a team is so bad for such a long time, you know that one of these years, if they make decent draft choices, they will eventually get out of that basement and become a legitimate contender (note: not a favourite)...
It happened with the Penguins a few years ago (although they seem to be struggling a little right now), then it happened with the Blackhawks last year, and this year it seems to be happening in the desert...
Granted, you occasionally get those teams that can't seem to pick up the right guys and seem to stay on the bottom for eternity, like the Islanders, Kings, and Thrashers, but those teams also don't tend to hang onto their young guys long enough to see how they can mesh together. Either that or they tend to draft players that start their careers off overseas instead of in the North American farm system...
The Phoenix roster only has six players over 30, the oldest being Ken Klee, born in 1971. And two of them just turned 30 in the last 6 months (Derek Morris and Olli Jokinen). The other three guys, all born in 1976 (the same age as me, incidently), are Steve Reinprecht, Ed Jovanovski, and Shane Doan. Not a bad bunch of 'veterans' to have on a team at all..
And three of those 'over the hill' guys have expiring contracts (Reinprecht, Morris, and Klee)...
Not to mention that a good chunk of the key young guys (Turris, Mueller, Boedker, Hanzal, Tikhonov), all still have at least one year left in their entry contracts...
This team is going to be very good next year, and I'm actually thinking that they will be a tough team to face down the stretch, as they start to gel more and more...
No longer just another notch in the win column...
A lot of young, early first round draft picks surrounded by some experienced guys that you feel are still a little bit too young to be called veterans. When a team is so bad for such a long time, you know that one of these years, if they make decent draft choices, they will eventually get out of that basement and become a legitimate contender (note: not a favourite)...
It happened with the Penguins a few years ago (although they seem to be struggling a little right now), then it happened with the Blackhawks last year, and this year it seems to be happening in the desert...
Granted, you occasionally get those teams that can't seem to pick up the right guys and seem to stay on the bottom for eternity, like the Islanders, Kings, and Thrashers, but those teams also don't tend to hang onto their young guys long enough to see how they can mesh together. Either that or they tend to draft players that start their careers off overseas instead of in the North American farm system...
The Phoenix roster only has six players over 30, the oldest being Ken Klee, born in 1971. And two of them just turned 30 in the last 6 months (Derek Morris and Olli Jokinen). The other three guys, all born in 1976 (the same age as me, incidently), are Steve Reinprecht, Ed Jovanovski, and Shane Doan. Not a bad bunch of 'veterans' to have on a team at all..
And three of those 'over the hill' guys have expiring contracts (Reinprecht, Morris, and Klee)...
Not to mention that a good chunk of the key young guys (Turris, Mueller, Boedker, Hanzal, Tikhonov), all still have at least one year left in their entry contracts...
This team is going to be very good next year, and I'm actually thinking that they will be a tough team to face down the stretch, as they start to gel more and more...
No longer just another notch in the win column...
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Yes, I may have a problem
So a friend of mine sent me an email on Monday afternoon, asking if I would play net for a friend of hers on Tuesday night for a pickup hockey game on some ice they'd rented. My Tuesday night hockey league doesn't start up until next week, so I said "Sure, why not!"...
At which point you are probably thinking, "yeah, that sounds rational"...
But maybe I should be more specific...
The pad of ice that they had booked was from 8:30 to 10:00... outside... down by the beach, where its nice and windy... and the windchill took it down to a nice and toasty -25C... and did I mention I'd be playing net, which meant very little moving around for extended periods... and I was travelling over an hour to go do this... and it was just pickup...
I was actually all ready to go, with my bags packed and everything, when I called to ask if my brother could come too (he's not a goaltender, so he's not quite as crazy), when my friend told me it was cancelled since there was a mixup with the permit... but some people were still going to head there regardless...
If I lived closer, I most likely still would have gone...
And now you are probably wondering why I told this story and what it has to do with the Flames...
Its quite simple really, when you think about it...
As I sit here typing the Flames-Sharks game is playing on the TV beside me. If I'm home and Calgary is playing, its on television, I don't care what time it is. This game didn't start until 10:30 EST, and yet I'm going to stay up until its over, blowout or not...
Oh yeah, I also play hockey four nights a week, sometimes five. I actually PVR'd the CHL prospects game. Last year I went to a hockey game in Aurora because a kid my brother teaches is supposedly a phenom in the vein of Tavares or Spezza (did I mention he's still only 10)...
So yes, I may have a problem...
At which point you are probably thinking, "yeah, that sounds rational"...
But maybe I should be more specific...
The pad of ice that they had booked was from 8:30 to 10:00... outside... down by the beach, where its nice and windy... and the windchill took it down to a nice and toasty -25C... and did I mention I'd be playing net, which meant very little moving around for extended periods... and I was travelling over an hour to go do this... and it was just pickup...
I was actually all ready to go, with my bags packed and everything, when I called to ask if my brother could come too (he's not a goaltender, so he's not quite as crazy), when my friend told me it was cancelled since there was a mixup with the permit... but some people were still going to head there regardless...
If I lived closer, I most likely still would have gone...
And now you are probably wondering why I told this story and what it has to do with the Flames...
Its quite simple really, when you think about it...
As I sit here typing the Flames-Sharks game is playing on the TV beside me. If I'm home and Calgary is playing, its on television, I don't care what time it is. This game didn't start until 10:30 EST, and yet I'm going to stay up until its over, blowout or not...
Oh yeah, I also play hockey four nights a week, sometimes five. I actually PVR'd the CHL prospects game. Last year I went to a hockey game in Aurora because a kid my brother teaches is supposedly a phenom in the vein of Tavares or Spezza (did I mention he's still only 10)...
So yes, I may have a problem...
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Getting the bounces
The Flames are in Detroit tonight for a game against the Red Wings after a tough loss in Montreal last night. Which was made even tougher for me, given that I was watching the game with a Habs fan…
When the Flames played the Red Wings a couple weeks ago, I thought that they played a pretty solid game, even carrying the play at times against one of the more solid teams in the league. The final 5-2 score of the game didn’t really reflect what was happening on the ice that night…
The same could easily be said for last night’s 4-1 loss to the Canadiens. At points in the game Calgary easily looked like the better team on the ice, but then they would get into penalty trouble and les Habitants would take over the momentum. Between a hot goaltender in Halak, and some bad bounces for the Flames, they lost by three goals again in a game that they were not overpowered in…
Which means that one of these days they’re going to get the bounces, right? It’s a rule of nature, isn’t it? You can only have bad luck for so long…
Having games on back to back nights in cities that are over 800 km apart (over 500 miles) has got to be rough, not to mention going from playing one of the top teams in the league to playing one of the top teams in the league. And there’s the question of whether Kiprusoff will be between the pipes for a second game less than 24 hour of finishing his last one, or if Keenan will opt to go with McElhinney, who didn’t exactly shine in his last outing…
I’m not expecting a lot tonight (kind of like how I haven’t expected a lot from Bertuzzi this season), but if the boys play like they’ve been playing the last few weeks, and they finally start getting the bounces, they could actually pull of the upset…
That being said, I still think the Red Wings take this one 4-2…
When the Flames played the Red Wings a couple weeks ago, I thought that they played a pretty solid game, even carrying the play at times against one of the more solid teams in the league. The final 5-2 score of the game didn’t really reflect what was happening on the ice that night…
The same could easily be said for last night’s 4-1 loss to the Canadiens. At points in the game Calgary easily looked like the better team on the ice, but then they would get into penalty trouble and les Habitants would take over the momentum. Between a hot goaltender in Halak, and some bad bounces for the Flames, they lost by three goals again in a game that they were not overpowered in…
Which means that one of these days they’re going to get the bounces, right? It’s a rule of nature, isn’t it? You can only have bad luck for so long…
Having games on back to back nights in cities that are over 800 km apart (over 500 miles) has got to be rough, not to mention going from playing one of the top teams in the league to playing one of the top teams in the league. And there’s the question of whether Kiprusoff will be between the pipes for a second game less than 24 hour of finishing his last one, or if Keenan will opt to go with McElhinney, who didn’t exactly shine in his last outing…
I’m not expecting a lot tonight (kind of like how I haven’t expected a lot from Bertuzzi this season), but if the boys play like they’ve been playing the last few weeks, and they finally start getting the bounces, they could actually pull of the upset…
That being said, I still think the Red Wings take this one 4-2…
Friday, December 5, 2008
HD or not HD?
That is the question.
Whether tis nobler to suffer through the hard to watch Flames broadcast on Sportsnet in something below regular definition, or to take advantage of a Blues broadcast in HD on Fox Sports Midwest...
Actually, there is no question...
Sportsnet West has HD, I've seen it. And if they had tonight's game in HD I'd choose that broadcast over the brilliantly clear one that I'm watching right now. Maybe...
As has been mentioned numerous times by WI (hmmm, actually looking for a recent reference, but can't seem to find one), the Flames team on Sportsnet just seems to be a little less than par. John Kelly and Bernie Federko in the press box? Okay, why not. Its always nice to hear people that aren't Charlie Simmer, John Garrett, or Roger Millions. Sure Kelly seems a little lacking in his hockey knowledge, but how is that any different from Millions?
The funny thing is that I'm relatively new to the Calgary broadcast team, only starting to watch games with regularity last season. I guess in some aspects I wasn't missing out...
But this is just one of the few bonuses I get from living outside of the broadcast zone. I'd much rather the chance to watch with fellow Flames fans, like is happening in Calgary tonight, even if they do have to suffer through the Flames broadcast team and don't get commercials for the casino with the world's loosest slots (don't read that too fast or you might get the wrong idea)...
Whether tis nobler to suffer through the hard to watch Flames broadcast on Sportsnet in something below regular definition, or to take advantage of a Blues broadcast in HD on Fox Sports Midwest...
Actually, there is no question...
Sportsnet West has HD, I've seen it. And if they had tonight's game in HD I'd choose that broadcast over the brilliantly clear one that I'm watching right now. Maybe...
As has been mentioned numerous times by WI (hmmm, actually looking for a recent reference, but can't seem to find one), the Flames team on Sportsnet just seems to be a little less than par. John Kelly and Bernie Federko in the press box? Okay, why not. Its always nice to hear people that aren't Charlie Simmer, John Garrett, or Roger Millions. Sure Kelly seems a little lacking in his hockey knowledge, but how is that any different from Millions?
The funny thing is that I'm relatively new to the Calgary broadcast team, only starting to watch games with regularity last season. I guess in some aspects I wasn't missing out...
But this is just one of the few bonuses I get from living outside of the broadcast zone. I'd much rather the chance to watch with fellow Flames fans, like is happening in Calgary tonight, even if they do have to suffer through the Flames broadcast team and don't get commercials for the casino with the world's loosest slots (don't read that too fast or you might get the wrong idea)...
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Busy, busy busy...
So its been a while since I last posted (again), but I have been keeping up with the goings on of the blog world, as well as catching as much hockey as I can. Sometimes your schedule just gets too full and you end up being home only one night a week (if that), and you just want to sit around and not think while watching the players skate around on the screen in front of you...
The last two months have been like that for me. I've been watching the games, pleasantly surprised by the play of this team as of late. They are applying a lot of pressure on the opposition and seem to be outplaying most teams, even if the scoreboard doesn't represent it. I thought they played extremely well against the Red Wings a couple weeks ago and the loss was a hard one. The 5-2 final score was not indicative of how the Flames played...
You can see the farm boys, especially Moss and Boyd, are playing well, and I was even impressed by the play of Pardy the other night. Its beginning to appear that Keenan finally has the team running the way it should after almost a season and a half...
I'm even impressed by Conroy and Primeau's play in the face-off circle(s). Its nice to see Lombardi finally getting to centre the top line after missing a month. The new guys that came in (Cammalleri, Bourque, and Glencross) are all contributing in their respective roles, and I'd even say that Bourque is doing much better than I expected him to coming into the season...
I'm going to be gone for the latter half of this month (away from the internet and even farther away from all Flames games), but I felt I should at least touch base...
The Flames are exciting to watch again, even when they lose. Prairie hockey is back in Cowtown...
The last two months have been like that for me. I've been watching the games, pleasantly surprised by the play of this team as of late. They are applying a lot of pressure on the opposition and seem to be outplaying most teams, even if the scoreboard doesn't represent it. I thought they played extremely well against the Red Wings a couple weeks ago and the loss was a hard one. The 5-2 final score was not indicative of how the Flames played...
You can see the farm boys, especially Moss and Boyd, are playing well, and I was even impressed by the play of Pardy the other night. Its beginning to appear that Keenan finally has the team running the way it should after almost a season and a half...
I'm even impressed by Conroy and Primeau's play in the face-off circle(s). Its nice to see Lombardi finally getting to centre the top line after missing a month. The new guys that came in (Cammalleri, Bourque, and Glencross) are all contributing in their respective roles, and I'd even say that Bourque is doing much better than I expected him to coming into the season...
I'm going to be gone for the latter half of this month (away from the internet and even farther away from all Flames games), but I felt I should at least touch base...
The Flames are exciting to watch again, even when they lose. Prairie hockey is back in Cowtown...
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