Flames vs. Panthers--Mr. 1000

The Calgary Flames have won two of their past three games. That puts a positive enough spin on things, doesn't it?

In a 4-1 win over the Hurricanes on Wednesday night, the new Flames finally got the warm welcome they deserved after a less than inspiring effort against the Flyers on Monday night.

Now, they hit the road for a three-game tour of the Eastern Conference, starting in the Sunshine State with games against the Panthers and Lightning. Matt Stajan scored a beauty for his first as a Flame, which also proved to be the game winner, and Ales Kotalik set the tone with a hard hit on the 'Canes Andrew Alberts to start the game (this is actually a video of Regehr sending Kotalik flying into the Sabres bench, because I couldn't find a video of the other hit. Entertaining, nonetheless)

Today, however, is not about the new Flames. Quite the opposite. Today is about the man who has set franchise records for most games played, most goals, and most points. The man who, since a mid-nineties trade brought him to the Flames as a young prospect, has arguably been the face of this franchise. The man who twice scored fifty goals with little to no offensive support and came within one win of leading his team to its second Stanley Cup. Today is about Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla, Mr. 1000.

There are many memories that stand out when thinking of Jarome Iginla's NHL career: His first game as a Flame, a playoff game against the Blackhawks in 1996, in which he registered an assist. His fifty-two goal season, culminating in him being awarded the Art Ross, Lester B. Pearson, and Rocket Richard trophies.

Being named captain in 2003 and subsequently leading his team to Game Seven of the Stanley Cup finals, leading all playoff scorers with thirteen goals.

During the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons, Iginla broke franchise records for most games played, most goals, and most points, surpassing Al MacInnis and Theoren Fleury, respectively. He scored his four-hundredth goal in a losing effort against the Tampa Bay Lightning in March of '09.

In 2007-08, Iggy would go on to score fifty goals in a season for the second time in his career, culminating in one of my all-time favourite memories. After scoring his fiftieth goal in the final game of the season, Iginla lead his team in a salute to an outgoing Trevor Linden (around the 4:50 mark).

This game cemented Iginla's status as one of the best players in hockey. This moment cemented his status as one of the best people in the game. I will always remember coming home from vacation just in time to catch the last few minutes of this game, watching in speechless awe as Linden received a rousing standing ovation, and Iggy skated towards him and led his team in shaking the retiring veteran's hand, one by one. Players that had already entered the dressing room reemerged to follow their captain's lead in one of the greatest displays of sportsmanship in recent memory. The fans at GM Place reciprocated, cheering when Jarome scored his fiftieth goal and when he was named the second star of the game. In the storied and nasty Flames-Canucks rivalry, this moment stands out as one of the more warm-fuzzy variety in its history.

The 2008-09 season was largely a forgettable one for Iginla and his teammates, and some began to wonder if, at age 32 and having played the way he has for thirteen seasons, he was starting to wear down. His goals and points now seem to come in bunches, but he still has the ability to change a game with one pass, one shot, or one fight. He has survived playoff droughts, trade rumours, contract negotiations, and personnel changes, and through all of it has grown into the calm, classy, well-spoken leader that Flames brass envisioned when they acquired him from the Stars fifteen years ago.

Here's to you Jarome; 1000 games, and many more to come.

Puck drop is 5:30 on Sportsnet West. Jay Bouwmeester will be celebrating his 400th consecutive game against his former team and Curtis Glencross, his 200th NHL game. It is indeed a night of milestones that will hopefully culminate in a "W." I'll be at work serving wine to a bunch of pretentious suburbanites, so indulge in nostalgia and cry your eyes out for me.

Go Flames Go.

The Flames' counseling session: What you didn't hear

As you may have read on Calgary Puck, a counsellor was apparently summoned into the Flames' dressing room recently, presumably to mediate between certain players/coaches and get to the bottom of whatever is plaguing this team. Part of me really wants this to be true, only because of the hilarity that would surely arise from a situation involving the Sutters and various Flames players hashing out their innermost feelings with a bunch of shrinks. Adrian Dater would be all over this shit. As with most of the scuttlebutt surrounding the Flames this season, we will probably never know if this is true or not, but why not take the opportunity to elaborate on a potentially humourous event?

This is how I imagine the counseling session went:

Visitor's locker room, Jobing.com Arena, Glendale, Arizona. January 28th, 11:15 AM

Shrink: Hey guys, as you all know, I was brought in today to help you work through some of the problems you've been having as individuals and as a team. There's no sense in keeping it all bottled up inside, as it only causes stress, anger, and resentment; so who wants to start?

Langkow: I will. Dion, you're soooo selfish! It's always all about you, and you have this stupid-looking scowl on your face all the time. Go to hell.

Phaneuf: I don't give a shit, I'm dating Elisha Cuthbert. Fuck you guys. Everyone on this team is so fucking boring. Nobody ever wants to go out or sing karaoke with me. Why can't we be more like the Blackhawks?

Shrink: Mmmhhmm, and how does that make you feel, Daymond? I think we're really getting somewhere here...

Conroy: WELL, I for one---

Shrink: Craig, I'm sorry, I'm going to have to interrupt--you just spoke for twenty minutes; please, let someone else talk.

Iginla: (on the verge of tears) I'm...I'm playing on a line with an AHL call-up and a...and a...a...PUMPKIN HEAD! (sobbing). He's so CLUELESS...he hits the post like, every shift and can't pass to save his life! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!? PLEASE HELP ME!

Shrink: (comforts Jarome) There, there...Ssshhhhh. I am familiar with this. And what do you think, Jay?

Bouwmeester: Well, y'know, it's disappointing, but, we just gotta stick with it, produce a little more offensively, y'know...

Shrink: I don't see how that's relevant here...?

Bouwmeester: Sorry, what was the question? I thought we were talking about me not making Team Canada....

Giordano: (sighs) I should've stayed in Russia...

Shrink: Let's move on. What's your take on this, Eric?

Nystrom: Dude, my head still hurts.

Shrink: Ok, ok...interesting. Miikka, what about you?

Kiprusoff: Mhergfhssdshfkm (walks out).

Shrink: I see. Curtis, any thoughts?

McElhinney: Why am I even here?

Backlund/Lundmark: Umm...yeah...can we go back to Abbotsford now?

Shrink: Good point, good point. I'm sensing some tension here. What about you, Rene?

Bourque: I'm playing for a contract here. I'm the only good left-winger on this team.

Iginla: (gasping) I...m..m...miss...Alex...T..T...Tanguay...

Shrink: Right, yes. Can't argue with that. David, what's your opinion?

Moss: Everyone always talks about how I'm supposed to be "big" and "tough" and a "net presence," but I just don't feel like that's what I'm meant to be, y'know? Like, what does that even mean? They're all like: "score twenty goals, David, go to the net David!" I'm just so confused. I feel like I don't know who I am anymore.

Shrink: (nods) I think we have a real breakthrough here. Brent, do you have any ideas as to why this might be?

B. Sutter: Too casual, I don't like it.

Shrink: Mmmmkay, Darryl?

D. Sutter: I don't care what you think. I ain't making no stinkin' trades.

Shrink: Okay...(looks at watch); Look at the time! I think it's time to wrap this session up, to whom should I send the bill?

D. Sutter: (approaching Dion Phaneuf from behind with a rag doused in chloroform) I'll take care of that.

Shrink: (shakes head and mutters something, leaves the room)

(Silence)

Regehr: So...what d'we do now?

McGrattan: Rent a limo and get wasted?

Glencross: I'll drive.

Wanna get really depressed?

On the surface, a six-game losing streak and falling out of a playoff spot is extremely disheartening, but if you want to get really depressed, I suggest you take a peek at the Flames' real time stats so far this season. I dare you. I'm no stats buff, but even I know when a team's numbers are in the toilet, and the Flames are in the bottom half of the league in nearly every statistical category. Normally, I avoid Sportsnet's articles because, well, they're not all that good, but it's hard to deny the merit of these two scathing indictments written by columnists Mark Spector and Mike Brophy.

I know that statistics are not always indicative of a team's play/record, just look at the Avalanche this season, but it's the fact that the Flames are weak in areas where they are supposed to be strong which bothers me the most, and their losing ways of late don't do much to de-emphasize that. Sixteenth in the league in hits is not acceptable for a team that is supposed to be punishing and tough to play against at both ends of the ice. Thirteenth in team +/- , and a -3 on home ice, twenty-fourth in the league in giveaways, and fifteenth in blocked shots do not indicate the makings of a good defensive squad. Thirtieth in faceoffs is an abomination for a team whose coach is hell bent on puck possession. A six-game slide has seen the Flames fall to tenth in penalty killing. Poor stats can be masked by an overachieving team, as we saw with the Flames early in the season, but in this case, there seems to be a clear disconnect between philosophy and results.

On the offensive side of things, the numbers aren't surprising, but still appalling. The Flames are near the bottom of the league in all categories--twenty-sixth on the powerplay, twenty-eighth in shots per game, twenty-sixth in goals per game. Even during stretches when these numbers appeared to be on the upswing, it wasn't enough to vault the Flames out of the offensive basement.

As for Brophy's article, his assertions that the Flames lack firepower up front/on defence and are built like a pre-lockout club certainly have some truth to them, but it is not for lack of trying. Sutter tried to build what he thought would be a more mobile defence, and has had success with Bouwmeester and Giordano. He tried to add what he thought was skill and speed with Jokinen, Dawes, and Sjostrom, and tried to give his young drafted players like Moss, Boyd, and Nystrom a chance. Perhaps he was naive and stubborn in believing that these players would make up for the offence lost through the departure of Cammalleri, et al. in the offseason, but weren't we all? Brophy argues that Bouwmeester has not produced as much as was expected of him offensively, which is true, but as a defenceman, that is not necessarily in his job description despite past offensive success with Florida.

He points to the goal Sidney Crosby scored against the Flames earlier this month, where he split the defence and went around Bouwmeester to the front of the net, as evidence for why Jay was rightfully left off of Team Canada. I think Crosby has made nearly every NHL defenceman look silly at some point in his young career, even if Bouwmeester has been victimized by Sid on more than one occasion. One play hardly summarizes his defensive play so far this season, and it's hard to argue that he hasn't played as well as expected in his zone when he leads the team in +/- at +10, which, when you think about it, is a little sad.

Even more so is the stats comparison between the Flames' "Big Three" on defence--Regehr, Phaneuf, and Bouwmeester--to the Capitals' Mike Green. Green has fifty points so far this season, one less than these three players combined. While Green is considered an "offensive defenceman" and scoring on a regular basis is expected of him, the same thing can be said of Phaneuf, based solely on his first two seasons in the league. Regehr has and never will be counted on to score goals, while Bouwmeester is expected to contribute offensively, but not at a detriment to his well-rounded defensive game. The only top-four defenceman to escape criticism this season has, coincidentally, been the only one who has exceeded expectations thus far--Mark Giordano.

It's nearly impossible to defend Darryl Sutter's decision to trade for Jokinen, given his downward trending stats and his performance since arriving in Calgary. This is only amplified by the season that Mike Cammalleri is having in Montreal. With twenty-six goals and fourty-six points, he would be the Flames' leading scorer had Sutter opted to resign him instead of completing the ill-fated deadline deal that signaled the beginning of the end for Cammi in Calgary. As much as Sutter contends that he signed Bouwmeester over Cammalleri vs. Jokinen over Cammalleri, the absence of Jokinen's 5.5 million dollar salary would have probably allowed him room to sign both Cammalleri and Bouwmeester in the off-season.

Brophy rightfully points to Miikka Kiprusoff, who, aside from a few blips, appears to be having another MVP-calibre season, as one of, if not the only, saving graces for this year's Flames squad, but emphasizes that he is desperately in need of assistance, which has been apparent in most of this team's recent losses. With Dawes and Moss placed on Injured Reserve yesterday, the Flames are now lacking forward depth more than ever, and at a time when offensive production has all but shut down completely.

Now would obviously be the time for any potential trade to be made. It doesn't have to be a flashy, Kovalchuk-esque deal; the slightest addition could bolster this team's offensive attack, perhaps in the form of a player like Ray Whitney or Colby Armstrong, both of which have been mentioned in trade rumours involving the Flames on separate occasions this season. But we all know Darryl's MO--he has once again stubbornly overestimated the skill and depth of his team, and he will likely ride it out to the bitter end, regardless of results, regardless of obvious deficiencies.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

St. Louis tomorrow. The Blues sit just six points back of the Flames, now tied for eighth in the West with the Red Wings.

Go Flames Go.

My wish list for the 2009-10 Flames

Hockey season is rapidly approaching, my friends. Starbucks has reintroduced their pumpkin spice latte, the leaves are beginning to turn, and season preview magazines are hitting the shelves harder than a Robyn Regehr body check. As we all know, 99.9% of these are, well, crap. So, with pre-season less than a fortnight away, I present to you my list of hopes and expectations for the 2009-10 Calgary Flames:

• I hope for lots and lots of wins against division rivals
• I expect lots of wins against division rivals
• I hope the Flames are able to avoid one of their trademark slow starts
• I expect Dion Phaneuf to return to form as the promising young defenceman he once was
• I hope Bouwmeester lives up to lofty expectations
• I expect Jokinen to live up to lofty expectations
• I hope Kiprusoff manages to curb his downward trending stats
• I expect similar (if not better) levels of production from Bourque, Glencross, and Moss
• I hope the kids are alright. Increased production from the likes of Boyd, Dawes, and Nystrom and the continued development of Adam Pardy. Maybe an appearance or two from Backlund
• I expect team defence to improve. Lots of blocked shots, sound defensive positioning, you know the drill
• I hope McElhinney starts 20 games
• I expect McElhinney to appear in at least 10 games
• I hope Iginla finally reaches the 100-point plateau (and goes about it more consistently)
• I expect Iginla's production to remain about the same
• I hope special teams improve
• I expect special teams to be practiced on a regular basis
• I hope this team finds its elusive "identity" and sticks to it
• I expect a consistent effort, every game, no matter the score
• I hope key players stay healthy
• I expect a playoff berth
• I hope that Daymond Langkow and Cory Sarich finally get the respect they deserve instead of constantly having their names tossed around as trade fodder
• I expect this season to be challenging
• I hope Brent Sutter and Co. are able to rally the troops and exorcise their collective playoff demons once and for all

And, last but not least, I hope for a Stanley Cup championship.

Here's hoping.

Flames stars fail to stand out at orientation scrimmage

As I was flying home from Toronto during last night's sold out conclusion to Team Canada's 4-day camp with my brand new Olympic jersey (in red) stowed safely away in my carry-on bag, I couldn't help but wonder how the Flames' four invitees would perform. Turns out they were far from spectacular. 

Iginla was outshone by linemates Sidney Crosby and Rick Nash until he was replaced by St. Louis, Phaneuf committed a glaring defensive zone error which led to a goal for Team White and was limited by the game's lack of physical play, as was Regehr. Bouwmeester, who like Scott Neidermayer, is at his best when he goes unnoticed, took an unnecessary tripping penalty against Jason Spezza. Is this simply off-season rust, or should Flames fans be worried? After all, Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo, Ryan Smyth, and even embattled winger Dany Heatley seemed to have no problem making an impact on Team Canada's management. 

What could be the cause of this lackluster showing? Pressure to perform? Surely veterans of one or more Olympic games like Iginla, Regehr, and Bouwmeester wouldn't be intimidated by the competition and watchful eyes and expectations of fans and Canada's coaching staff? Could it be lack of motivation? Every Canadian player at any level would kill to lace up the skates for Canada, especially to avenge the Turin debacle that participants such as Iginla have been citing as a source of motivation all week. And the threat of injury? Regehr and Phanuef both claim to have fully recovered from late-season injuries, and Hockey Canada purchased full-coverage insurance policies for each player attending the camp in the event of an injury. 

So what could possibly be deterring four of our best players from giving their all in an effort to impress the men who will ultimately determine their Olympic fate? The only one of that elite group who is considered a lock for the team is Iginla, drawing on his previous international experience and veteran status. Considering Canada's depth on defence, the other three are easily replaceable. If these players who account for the majority of Calgary's core are unable to commit to a system that will simply require a consistent effort and responsibility at both ends of the ice over a two-week period, how will they respond to Brent Sutter's similar coaching style come training camp?  

Perhaps I'm overreacting to a game that will probably prove to be insignificant in the grand scheme of things (and I really wish I could've been there, it sounded awesome), but I feel as if Flames players could have used this opportunity, on home ice, to prove to their fans that they're not only ready for the Olympics, but ready for the season. On the contrary, I got the impression that we should expect another slow start to the 2009-10 season. With the Canucks shoring up their defence today with the additions of Schneider, Ehrhoff, and Lukowich, competition in the Northwest will be stiff. Training camp is quickly approaching, and the Flames will need Iginla, Regehr, Bouwmeester, and Phaneuf to be in top form if they are to make any noise in the West, let alone at the Olympics. 

Because it's a rainy August afternoon

Dear Dany Heatley,

Please stay out of the Northwest Division. If you could avoid the Western conference altogether, that would be great too. I know you're supposedly head-over-heels for some girl out here, but if she feels the same I'm sure she'll make the trip to Ottawa or New York or wherever you end up. 

Yours truly,

Hayley xoxo

The Canucks have reportedly rescinded their interest in Heatley because the asking price was too high. Now, in a bizzare twist of fate, the Minnesota Wild are supposedly preparing to take a stab at landing the star winger. The only Northwest Division teams that haven't been in on the Heatley bidding wars are the Flames and Avs. 

Now onto the daily Tanguay Report: he has apparently narrowed his list down to the Lightning and the Coyotes. Excellent choices, Alex. The decision making process must be taking so long because he is unable to determine which franchise is losing less money.  I can't imagine what is more attractive to a player--bankruptcy or internal squabbling? Looks like Mr. Tanguay likes a little drama with his hockey. 

Reading The Hockey News' Ultimate Fantasy Pool Guide has got me motivated to do much better in my playoff pool this season. The Ultimate Guide to Skaters has projected both Phaneuf and Bouwmeester to enjoy bounce-back seasons with 61 and 51 points respectively.  Interestingly enough, their goalie projections have McBackup earning 7 wins this season; not sure if this will be due to improved defensive play, improved coaching, or more opportunity (unlikely). 

NHL Countdown: 48 days