Post-Game: CGY vs. SJ

Other than the last 4 minutes of the game, I really liked what I saw from the Flames last night.
They kind of fell apart in those last four minutes, but I thought the overall effort was awesome. The Iggy line has been really struggling lately but it has shown that we do have some depth on the other three lines as they have continued to win, hence the 5-4 win and the 4 game winning streak.

I really liked what I saw from the Tanguay-Conroy-Nolan line. Tanguay showed why he shouldn't be traded. He played great, he was the reason for two of Nolan's goals especially the third one and his defensive game is top-notch. Nolan I thought had a terrible first period but really showed some jump after that. He deserved his hat-trick even though one was handed on a platter to him, thank you Nabokov. I think if he can continue to put the puck in the net, with the help of Tanguay, along with his toughness which we all saw as he pumped Grier, he could be very valuable in the playoffs. Lets just hope he keeps this up. I thought Boyd played well for the little he did play and I thought the duo of Phaneuf and Aucoin was also very solid.

I do however still think that the Flames like I have said since almost the start of the year need another top-4 defensemen. Someone to get Hale out of the line-up and then have him, Warrener and Eriksson rotate through for the 6th spot. Guys that could maybe be available are John-Michael Liles, Rob Blake, Brad Stuart, Marek Malik, Dan Boyle, Michal Rosival, Mike Commodore, Barret Jackman and maybe even Brian Campbell. Liles is very unlikely with Colorado being in our division and Campbell's and Boyle asking price would probably be high. Campbell or Boyle would be the ideal situation. Otherwise I think Rosival, Jackman or Commodore could be a very good fit.

Finally a report from TSN is saying that the Flames and Dion Phaneuf are very close in signing a long-term contract extension. This is very good news with Dion just playing better and better every game and for the future of the Calgary Flames. I am extremely happy with this news and will be even more happy when it is official.

LEAFS NEW GM!!!

Well, with the all the struggles and the constant 24/7 Leafs talk on TSN, me and my friends where talking and we came up with the perfect replacement for either their full-time GM position or to replace Paul Maurice.

Welcome Coach Bombay, from the Mighty Ducks movies. He was an all-world coach in those movies. He took a bunch of kids who couldn't even skate, let alone pass or shoot a puck and turned them into a championship team in one just year. He taught them a ton of stuff, from passing crisply with eggs, to skating by roller skating through malls, even the triple deke. Man this guy would be perfect for the Leafs. He could teach McCabe, Gill and Kubina how to play defense. He could teach the forwards the triple deke so maybe guys like Tucker and Blake could live up to their money. Man, he could probably even turn this team into a Stanley Cup Champion by next year. He is the man for the job. Coach Bombay was a legend and the Leafs need someone like him, plus I dont think anyone else even wants the vacant GM job anyways.

Man I hate the Leafs with a passion almost as much as I hate the Oilers. Every Saturday we have to turn on the tube and watch them lose over and over again and I am just so sick of it. How many other people agree with me?

All-Star?

Very shot post today I just wanted to mention one thing that has been bothering me. I am all for the All-Star game I think it is a ton of fun, great entertainment of all hockey fans. The one thing I have a problem is the selections. I like the fans voting for their favourite stars to start the game and they usually get all the guys who deserve to be there but the selection for the injury replacements is where I dont get it. Whoever chooses these guys, I dont know should really give their head a shake.

First reason, now this is definitely a biased Flames opinion but why isn't Kristian Huselius there, he has been having a awesome year. He should be, in my mind anyways been there way before Ribiero and Perry ever should of gotten consideration. Plus with the new judged shootout, points for creativity thing, the NHL should have been all over in brining this guy down to Atlanta and show the fans what he can do. I think this is crazy.

The second reason is how is Scott Niedermayer there????? He has played 19 games this year. This is absolutely ridiculous. He is no doubt a world class player but in no way he is an NHL All-Star, well just definitely not this year. Other guys like Robyn Regehr, Brian Rafalski and Dan Hamhuis all got passed over for Niedermayer and I cant figure out why. This is the ultimate brain scratcher.

Solid Effort

I had the pleasure of going to the game last night and was very happy with the win. Other than the first period which wasn't that bad just alot of turnovers, I thought the Flames played a pretty good game not their best but who cares they got the W.

I liked the line combo's(even though they didn't stick at all), that Keenan put together at the start of the game. Obviously the Iginla line but I liked the look of both the CONROY-TANGUAY-MOSS and the NOLAN-LOMBO-BOYD line but since the start of the game was a little sloppy, Keenan made some changes. The one change that Keenan made that I think should stick was the Yelle and Lombo combo, they played great last night and seem to have some chemistry going. Here are what I think the rest of the lines should look like after the break.

1- HUSELIUS-LANGKOW-IGINLA
2- TANGUAY-CONROY-MOSS
3- YELLE-LOMBO-NOLAN
4- PRIMEAU-BOYD-SMITH
E- GODARD, NILSON

Anyways overall it was a pretty good game. I also have to give kudos to Conroy cause at the start of the year I really questioned his play and I thought he was going to be really bad but he has been no where close to bad this year especially recently. I love what he brings to this team and hopefully he keeps it up. Good Luck to Iggy and Phaneuf at the All-Star game and hopefully they light it up. Finally one last note, Eric Nystrom was sent to back to Quad Cities today, mostly because we have alot of bodies up here right now. I dont like the move at all cause I thought he was a very good 4th liner and provided the Flames with way more energy and talent than Smith, Nilson, Primeau or Godard. Hopefully a couple of these guys are moved so we can make room for Nystrom full time.

Rumor Rumblings

With the Trade Deadline approaching the trade rumor winds have begun and the most talked about one involves our beloved Flames. The Montreal assistant GM has been at the Flames last couple of games and that has things stirred up that the Flames and Canadiens could be stirring up a deal. According to the rumors Calgary would send LW Alex Tanguay to the Canadiens receiving RW Michael Ryder in return.

In my mind this would be a huge mistake for the Flames. I understand that we are close to the cap going into next year and have to re-sign Phaneuf and possibly Huselius and Langkow or their replacements and that some salary is going to have be dumped in order to do this. Here are a few reasons why getting Ryder in return would be such a huge mistake and maybe other possibilities we could go with without making our team any worse now nor in the future.

1)Ryder for Tanguay is just a terrible trade. Tanguay does have a huge contract and hasn't produced like we would like him too but you also got to look at who he has been playing with. He is a wicked playmaker and really just needs a RW who can put the puck in the net, sorry Nolan you aren't the man for the job. Ryder has a whopping 7 goals this year to go with an outstanding 16 points. Just terrible. Also he is a UFA at the end of the year and with the Flames already having to sign the guys I already mentioned, Ryder would definitely just be a Stuart type rental player. This is just an overall waste of a trade.

2)Five Hole Fanatics suggested maybe Tanguay for Higgins and Komisarek would be a more reasonable trade. I don't think that would happen but it definitely looks alot better going into next year and into the future for the Flames.

3)Another point with the Flames needing more money is that guys like Nolan, Conroy and Yelle are all coming UFA's too at the end of the year. Conroy is making almost 3 million, while Nolan is creeping up on 2 mill and Yelle is just over 1 million. That is way too much for all of those players and if any of them re-sign it will be for significantly less, well at least lets hope so. So there's some extra money there plus Smith, Godard and Hale are also UFA's and even though their contracts aren't huge every little bit helps. Finally the NHL has already announced that the cap is going up so once again more money will be there.

4)So now lets look at the one possible trade that would make sense for the Flames to make so that they could dump some salary for next year but still leave them with some good talent going into the future.(08/09 contract numbers in brackets)
-Flames trade LW Alex Tanguay(5.375 million) to the Los Angeles Kings for RW Mike Cammalleri(3.6 million). This trade I think would make sense. The Kings might be a little hesitant to give up Cammalleri but it is not like they aren't getting a good player in return. Also the Kings have their #1 duo with Kopitar and Brown on the top line, so why not put another playmaker like Tanguay on the second line to pair up with Alexander Frolov. Plus the Kings will probably end up selecting first overall so they could land C Steven Stamkos who would look awfully good in between Tangs and Frolov in the future. This would save Calgary some money for next year but still leaves them with some very good talent. Things against this trade is that Cammalleri becomes a UFA at the end of the 08/09 year so once again you would be looking to sign a big name, but guys like Aucoin(4 million), Warrener(2.5 million) and Eriksson(1.5 million) also become UFA's that same summer so there will be lots of money to spend. Also Cammalleri is out with a rib injury and is probably out another week to 2 weeks so this deal might have to be put on hold but it still could be done before the deadline. Just image Lombardi and Cammalleri on the same line, beautiful.

All in all I dont mind Tanguay at all, I think he is a very good player in just a very unfortunate situation. Like I said before I understand the Flames need to dump some money so they can re-sign Phaneuf, Huselius and Langkow or some one to replace Huselius or Langkow and right now with no one likely to take someone like Aucoin and his 4 million dollars off our hands it looks like Tanguay is our only option, and it really is too bad. If we were to get someone like Cammalleri or a combo of Higgins and Komisarek then that would obviously be the ideal situation for the Flames and all of us fans.

Anyways to get a way from that nothing has happened yet and there is still games to be played including one tonight. The Kings are in town and have been hot lately winning 3 in a row with hot play from Brown, Kopitar and LaBarbera. The Flames will look to continue on their hard fought SO win on Wednesday against the Wild and try to get a little bit of a streak going.

Nystrom and Nolan are both out with injuries while Warrener's ankle is still acting up so I dont think he will go either but you never know. So that means either Primeau or Nilson with be drawn into the line-up. UGLY! The third and fourth lines will need some help especially the fourth, lucky the Flames are at home and have last change. Finally Kipper does get the start over newly signed Cujo but that really is no surprise since Cujo has only gotten in 1 day of practice with the team. Look for him to get some action after the all-star break.

LINES
1- HUSELIUS-LANGKOW-IGGY
2- TANGS-CONROY-MOSS
3- NILSON/PRIMEAU-LOMBO-BOYD
4- SMITH-YELLE-GODARD

1- PHANEUF-ERIKSSON
2- REGEHR-SARICH
3- AUCOIN-HALE

1- KIPPER
2- CUJO

Catching Up!

It has been a rough past month for me and writing on this blog but I am looking to get back on track. With semester ending, diplomas coming up, Christmas, hockey and the computer being broken for a short period of time I haven't written on here for almost a month now. Oh well what can yea do, I will have to redeem myself for the rest of the year.

Well the most recent news coming out of Flames camp was the signing of Curtis Joseph to a pro-rated 1 year contract worth 1.5 million dollars which comes out to about 650k for the rest of the year. Cujo will be looked upon to give some much needed rest for Kipper during the stretch run towards the playoffs. I dont mind the signing since the money isn't that much and I do think it is a much improvement over McElhinney, even though he was never given a chance but what can yea do, I have seen him play before and he didn't impress me at all. I dont think you can consider Cujo's play in the recent Spengler Cup cause that tournament is really full of washed up NHLers so the completion will be alot stiffer.

Other wise, excluding the Flames recent 3 game losing streak, they have been playing alot better hockey. I watched a ton of the games while they were on the big winning streak but haven't watch much recently so I dont know what has happened and why they have even gone on this losing streak. The best news out of all of this is that they are in the division and playoff hunt, big time and have really improved since the end of November. I still think they could use another top 6 winger and a puck moving defensemen and with the Cujo signing yesterday, I think Sutter is just getting started.

An interesting note today is that defensemen Brian Campbell has cut off contract talks with the Sabres till the end of the year. The Sabres aren't out of the playoff hunt yet but definitely aren't helping themselves with their poor play lately. Now this brings up the question, if the Sabres continue to slip, do they move Campbell at the deadline? This will be an interesting thing to watch if the Sabres do continue to slip since we all know what happened last year when they waited to sign some very important UFA's. I think the Sabres fans are all hearing the whispers of the names Drury and Briere after the news today. Now, do the Flames have enough to acquire a guy like Campbell who would fit in perfectly on the Flames blue-line. A prospect, draft pick and roster player and I think a deal could be swung, but who could those players be? A prospect could be someone like a Boyd or a Moss, a 1st round draft pick would definitely have to go and a roster player could be anyone from Nilson to a Primeau. I think this is worth it especially if you are able to sign Campbell before he becomes a UFA, highly unlikely but you never know.

Tonight the Flames are in Nashville and with their recent success on the road and against the Preds, it looks good for the Flames if they come out firing on all cylinders.

Finally I would like to congratulate Dion Phaneuf and Jarome Iginla on being named to the Western Conference roster for the All-Star game in Atlanta.