07-08 RECORD: 42-30-10 94 pointsDIVISION: 3rd
CONFERENCE: 7th
RESULT: Lost in 1st round
OFF-SEASON:
ARRIVALS: LW Mike Cammalleri(LA), RW Todd Bertuzzi(ANA), LW Rene Bourque(CHI), LW Curtis Glencross(CBM/EDM), LW Andre Roy(TB), LW Kyle Greentree(PHI), C Jamie Lundmark(AHL)
DEPARTURES: D David Hale, RW Eric Godard, LW Kristian Huselius, G Curtis Joseph, RW Owen Nolan, C Mike Smith, LW Alex Tanguay, C Stephane Yelle, D Andres Eriksson
Our beloved Flames needed to change something after 3 straight seasons of early 1st round losses. The team has switched to more of a offensive style in recent which has seen their goal production become one of the best in the league but doing so they lost their 'Flames style' of play. The Flames have been simply too old, slow and not hard working enough to compete with the best in the league. This summer GM Darryl Sutter looked to switch that in his 6th season with the Flames and started off by trading highly talented but soft Alex Tanguay to the Canadiens then acquiring younger more grittier Mike Cammalleri from the Los Angeles Kings. Cammalleri was injured most of last season and only appeared in 63 posting a decent 47 points. Cammalleri can easily put up as many points as Tanguay can at his best. I love Cammalleri and actually posted that the Flames should go acquire him and trade Tanguay the other way. The Flames then let go of also very talent but awfully inconsistent Kristian Huselius and he signed with the Blue Jackets during the off-season free agent frenzy. To fill that gap the Flames added more youth and most importantly more speed. The additions of Curtis Glencross, Rene Bourque and even Cammalleri will make the team way faster, add them with Lombo and Iggy and you all of a sudden have a much improved skating team. I have been talking about the Flames lack of speed for probably almost a year now and Sutter has finally figured out the 'new' NHL is all about speed. Gone are old and slow Owen Nolan, Marcus Nilson, Eric Godard and Mike Smith.
The Flames added more grit by signing Andre Roy and giving Brandon Prust a one-way contract even after Sutter started the summer off by saying the Flames dont need any guys who can only chip in 5-8 minutes a minute, if that. To finish off the summer, Sutter made the boldest of all moves by signing LW Todd Bertuzzi to a one-year contract. Mixed feelings came from this deal and from my stand point, I didn't like it at all. I first thought it counter-acted all of Sutter's previous moves with youth and speed since Big Bert is known for laziness and floating around the ice but once you break it down it could be worth the risk and here's why. Bert signed for 1.95 million and if you compare him to Nolan who he is essentially replacing, he signed for 2.75 million and a two year contract. I will definitely admit that is a great steal, Bert is younger, and is way more talent than Nolan. Second, Bert knows this could be his final shot and has looked pretty good in the pre-season, not including game #1, so I think we will see a harder working Bertuzzi this season. Finally, there's our great captain Iggy, who really pushed for the deal to get done. Bert is starting the season alongside Iggy and Iggy will push Bert every step of the way.
CAP HIT: 57.09 million
FORWARDS:
My Projected Lines:
1- T.BERTUZZI-D.LANGKOW-J.IGINLA
2- M.CAMMALLERI-M.LOMBARDI-D.BOYD
3- R.BOURQUE-C.CONROY-C.GLENCROSS
4- E.NYSTROM-W.PRIMEAU-D.MOSS
E- A.ROY-J.LUNDMARK-B.PRUST
The Flames will once again be lead offensively by Iggy. Iggy has been remarkable since the lockout, become more finesse and improving his skating vastly while still being tough as nails. Iggy is coming off back-to-back 90+ point seasons and scored 50 goals last year, nothing less should be expected from Iggy even without the play-making ability of a Huselius or Tanguay by his side. This is where Big Bert comes into the scene again. From what I have seen in the pre-season, Bert is a pretty good passer, more than capable of feeding enough to Iggy. Daymond Langkow has been one of the most consistent Flames in recent years and has created pretty good chemistry alongside our captain. The second line should be full of speed with Cammalleri and Lombo. Cammalleri if healthy should be good for at least 75 points while the will be a ton of pressure on Lombo to finally become a top-6 forward. I have Dustin Boyd on the second line only becuase I think it is only a matter of time before he gets there. He was easily the best player in pre-season and I was fumed when I heard that he was sent down to Quad Cities yesterday, but it sounds very temporary so that definitely makes the situation better. Calgary's third line should be full of speed and add some extra scoring depth as well. Bourque and Glencross will be alongside Craig Conroy. I like this line alot but it could see alot of different names with David Moss and Boyd in the factor as well. Wayne Primeau is the only remaining dead weight left on the club while Eric Nystrom, Prust and Roy bring the toughness and grit to the line-up.
DEFENSE:
My Projected Pairings:
1- D.PHANEUF-J.VANDERMEER
2- R.REGEHR-C.SARICH
3- A.AUCOIN-M.GIORDANO
E- A.PARDY-R.WARRENER(INJ.)
The pairings are kind of up in the air at the moment, except for probably the Robyn Regehr, Cory Sarich duo. Dion Phaneuf and Regehr give the Flames one of the best 1-2 punches in the league. Phaneuf brings the offense and toughness while Reggie brings toughness as well along with the ability to shut-down the elite players of the league. Like I said the Reggie, Sarich pairing should be in tact and will be counted on to be the Flames shut-down pairing. Phaneuf could see time with pretty much anyone else who is left including Adam Pardy who made the Flames as the seventh defensemen and all I have to say to that is that it is 'PARDY TIME'. The biggest addition to the back-end is Mark Giordano who comes back after playing one season in Russia. Giordano is a much needed puck-mover from the back-end and should help on the PP. Adrian Aucoin and Jim Vandermeer return for another season. Many Flames fans eyes will be on Aucoin this season with his ok play and his huge salary cap hit.
GOALIES:
1- M.KIPRUSOFF
2- C.McELHINNEY
3- M.KEETLEY
The most pressure going into the season is one Miikka Kiprusoff who is coming of s sub-par year. He will have to bounce back to his old self to help the Flames become legitimate contenders again. He came into camp more fit but did let in a few softies during pre-season but I think he will be ok. His relationship with Keenan better be ok, cause that is what I'm more worried about because elite goalies are tougher to find than good coaches. Curtis McElhinney was given a one-way contract in the off-season and will back-up Kipper this season.
OVERALL:
Personally, I'm not worried about Kipper at all. I'm more worried about guys like Aucoin and Sarich on the back-end to do their job and earn their contracts. With the added offensive production the Flames defensive game hasent been so great and that is what I think has effected Kipper more than anything. If Kipper is as good as he was when he won the Vezina trophy, the Flames will be a team to be reckoned with. With additions of Big Bert, Glencross and Bourque the Flames will be a once again be a extremely tough team to play against. It should be an exciting and interesting season.
PREDICTION: 1st Division, 3rd Conference
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