TEAM CANADA

With Team Canada ready to announce the Olympic team on the 30th, I thought I would make my final prediction for the team and compare it to the team I predicted back in July. Here it is:


FORWARDS(13)

Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins, C
Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames, RW
Rick Nash, Columbus Blue Jackets, LW
Dany Heatley, San Jose Sharks, LW
Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks, C
Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning, RW
Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks, C
Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks, RW
Brenden Morrow, Dallas Stars, RW
Mike Richards, Philadelphia Flyers, C
Jeff Carter, Philadelphia Flyers, C
Shane Doan, Phoenix Coyotes, RW
Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks, C

Definitely a few changes here, most notably with the retirement of Joe Sakic. With strong starts to the season, Joe Thornton and Corey Perry found their way onto the team, replacing retired Sakic and injured Simon Gagne. Martin St. Louis gets the nod over teammate Vincent Lecavalier with his all-around play, while Lecavalier has done nothing but play himself off the team so far this season. Jonathan Toews gets the 13th spot over Patrick Marleau, Brad Richards and Eric Staal. Toews a shootout specialist could become valuable.


DEFENSE(7)

Scott Niedermayer, Anaheim Ducks
Jay Bouwmeester, Calgary Flames
Chris Pronger, Philadelphia Flyers
Robyn Regehr, Calgary Flames
Shea Weber, Nashville Predators
Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks
Mike Green, Washington Capitals

Only one change here with Duncan Keith replacing Dion Phaneuf. Phaneuf was a tough guy to leave off but competition with Mike Green, Dan Boyle and Drew Doughty for the 7th spot, which in my mind should be a PP specialist, I had to go with Green would once again leads the league in defensemen scoring.


GOALIES(3)

Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks
Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins

Any Arguments?(Once Again). There might have been more competition here for the 3rd spot if Cam Ward hadn't gotten injured, but Fleury has been very impressive again this season and I think even with a healthy Ward would have won the spot. Brodeur is the starter without a doubt.


LINES:

1- NASH-CROSBY-IGINLA
2- HEATLEY-THORNTION-ST. LOUIS
3- CARTER-GETZLAF-PERRY
4- MORROW-RICHARDS-DOAN
E- TOEWS

1- NIEDERMAYER-BOUWMEESTER
2- PRONGER-REGEHR
3- KEITH-WEBER
E- GREEN

1- BRODEUR
2- LUONGO
3- FLEURY

CALGARY FLAMES 09-10 SEASON PREVIEW

08-09 RECORD: 46-30-6 98 points
DIVISION: 2nd
CONFERENCE: 5th
RESULT: Lost in 1st round to Blackhawks

OFF-SEASON:
ARRIVALS: D Keith Seabrook(t-WSH), LW Nigel Dawes(PHO), RW Brian McGratton(PHO), C/W Jason Jaffray(VAN), D Staffan Kronwall(WSH), RW Fredrik Sjostrom(NYR), RW/LW Brandon Prust(t-PHO), D Jay Bouwmeester(FLA), C Garth Murray(PHO), RW Riley Armstrong(SJ), LW Colin Stuart(t-TOR), HEAD COACH Brent Sutter
DEPARTURES: LW Todd Bertuzzi, C Wayne Primeau, C Warren Peters, D Adrian Aucoin, D Jim Vandermeer, LW Mike Cammalleri, D Jordan Leopold, D Anton Stralman
NOTABLE CAMP INVITES: RW Theo Fleury

An off-season of change was brought onto the Flames after another disappointing first round exit from the playoffs. Mike Keenan was quickly fired after the Flames were defeated by the Blackhawks in round one. The players weren't responsible for their actions under Keenan, and the team lacked a defensive team system which dropped them to 23rd in the league in goals against and in my mind was their downfall in the end. Too many times, the Flames didn't collapse low around Kipper. Kipper, even though he wasn't his best last year faced a ton of shots and that needed to change. In my mind, Keenan didnt know how to run the bench. Kipper played a league high 76 games and late in games where the Flames were up by only a goal, Keenan repeatdly put guys like Bertuzzi out who is in no way a very defense responsible player. Well this will all change this year with the Flames biggest acquisition, Brent Sutter is the new head coach and the Flames are going to be a much more responsible and discipline team. Already in camp, coach has made a point to talk to everyone, including guys like Iggy and Phaneuf, making sure everyone is on the same page. The Flames will be better defensively which will help Kipper, who coach Sutter has already said will play less games. This all happened before free agent frenzy and the draft so the city was already buzzing before general manager Daryl Sutter made his next huge announcement. The Flames acquired highly touted free agent Jay Bouwmeester's rights from the Florida Panthers on day 2 of the draft and signed him to a 5 year deal worth 33 million dollars one day before free agent frenzy began. Bouwmeester instantly makes the whole Flames roster better. With this signing the Flames had to let go of 39-goal scorer Mike Cammalleri. I loved Cammalleri, so it was sad to see him go, his scoring ability and chemistry with Iggy will be missed. The Flames then had to fill in holes left up front by Bertuzzi and Cammalleri. The Flames picked Nigel Dawes off waivers from the Phoenix Coyotes who played under coach Sutter in the world juniors for Canada and also signed free agent RW Fredrik Sjostrom from the New York Rangers. The Flames finished off the off-season by adding alot of depth in the organization, they signed D Staffan Kronwall, W/C Jason Jaffray, tough guy Brian McGratton and re-acquired Brandon Prust from the Coyotes which saw D Jim Vandermeer go the other way. Finally GM Sutter did a great job dumping some unnecessary salary with trading Vandermeer and Wayne Primeau.

CAP HIT: 56.04 million

FORWARDS:
My Projected Lines:
1- D.MOSS-O.JOKINEN-J.IGINLA
2- R.BOURQUE-D.LANGKOW-N.DAWES
3- C.GLENCROSS-D.BOYD-F.SJOSTROM
4- E.NYSTROM-C.CONROY-B.PRUST
E- B.McGRATTON-J.LUNDMARK-J.JAFFRAY

The Flames will be looking for players to continue on from their break-out years after the Flames lost Cammalleri and Bertuzzi in the off-season. The front line will be patrolled by Iggy and Jokinen who have found some good chemistry in camp after their dismal ending to last season. Joining them will be 20-goal man David Moss, who has a ton of confidence coming out of last year. Moss is a good fit along side Jokinen and Iggy, he has a nose for the net and will create havoc in front as Iggy and Jokinen get the puck to the net. The second line will lack size, but will make it up with heart and speed. Rene Bourque, Daymond Langkow and Dawes have the potential to be a very solid line. Bourque managed to score 21 goals last season after appearing in only 58 games cause of injury. Alongside Langkow who is a very good passer and isn't afraid to do the dirty work, Bourque and Dawes are in line to have very good seasons. The Flames bottom 6 is full of grit and speed while still being able to add some secondary scoring. Curtis Glencross and Dustin Boyd could be the next in line for the Flames to have break-out seasons. Both looked very good in pre-season, espceially Glencross and have all the skill needed to score 20 goals. Sjostrom, Eric Nystrom, Craig Conroy will all be looked upon to add timely scoring but their main purpose will be shutting the other teams top players down. Prust and McGratton will rotate taking on the opposing teams tough guy.

DEFENSE:
My Projected Pairings:
1- R.REGEHR-J.BOUWMEESTER
2- D.PHANEUF-M.GIORDANO
3- C.SARICH-A.PARDY
E- S.KRONWALL-M.PELECH

The Flames need to be better defensively and it all starts will the top 3. Phaneuf, Bouwmeester and Regehr will be looked upon to skate huge minutes and be the Flames rocks on the back end. Phaneuf has to have a bounce back year but will be helped with less ice-time with the acquisition of Bouwmeester and having Sutter behind the bench who coached Phaneuf through junior. Phaneuf is too young and too skilled to have another bad year, too many people have jumped off his bandwagon. With Regehr and Bouwmeester being paired together the Flames who have one of the best defenses as it is will have one of the best shutdown pairings as well. Regehr and Bouwmeester will be awesome together, defensively and offensively, this will not be a fun pair to play against. Cory Sarich adds the grit and toughness every team needs while still being a great shut-down guy. Mark Giordano, Adam Pardy and Staffan Kronwall round out the rest of the top 7 and all three have very bright upsides.

GOALIES:
1- M.KIPRUSOFF
2- C.McELHINNEY
3- L.IRVING

No matter how you look at it, Kipper needs to be better. He ahsnt been on top of his game the last three years and it shows as his goals against has gone up while his save percentage has gone down in each of the past consecutive seasons. Helping Kipper will be the added onus on defensive play by the Flames as a team and having his 3 studs on defense playing in front of him. Kipper has come to camp in the best shape ever since he has become a Flames and will get more rest as throught the season playing less games. Curtis McElhinney will be looked upon to be at his best every single start and appearance. No more will McElhinney be thrown in a game at the end of a long road trip, McElhinney will need to win games for the Flames. He will be put in more, more important games this season and it will be up to him to be ready.


OVERALL:

The Flames are going into a pivitol year with their core players. No more can the coach continued to be fired, the onus is on the players and it all starts with the leaders. Iggy, Phaneuf and Kipper all have to be better and have better year. The Flames will be one of the strongest teams defensively, playing much more the Flames gritty and hard nose with the additions of coach Sutter and Bouwmeester. Many wonder if the Flames will scored enough goals since they are going to more of a scoring by committee style. In my eyes, I dont think it will be an issue. Iggy will score more than 35 goals, Jokinen is good for 30 while Bourque and Moss will continue their development and build on their 20 goal seasons from last year. Other players who could break out will be Boyd, Dawes and Glencross. Bouwmeester will also had some scoring from the back-end as he has averaged 15 goals a season. GM Sutter has put together a very solid line-up this year, one of the best I have seen, Im not worried about the lack of scoring at all, I look forward to watch better defensive hockey and from that the Flames will be a better, more consistent team. Finally, I compare the signing of Bouwmeester to the signing of Brian Rafalski with the Red Wings. The Wings too at that point were going no where in the playoffs and adding the one last top-3 defender to their team is what I think helped them become a Stanley Cup champion again, I hope it will do the same for the Flames. The Western Conference is more competivtive than ever and the Flames will have some great battles with the Canucks for the division, I cant wait for the puck to drop tonight!

PREDICTION: 1st Division, 3rd Conference

THEO, THEO, THEO!!!

Theo Fleury, my hero growing up, my all-time favourite player, announced his official retirement today after an incredible training camp with the Calgary Flames. Theo was very humble and appreciative during his speech today at the Saddledome and I think he made the right decision in retiring. He now retires as a Flame where his heart and his best days were.

Now raises a few questions, Does Fleury belong in the Hall of Fame? And should the Flames retire his #14? The Hall of Fame question is so tough to answer because it is so hard to get in. With this comeback, his 1,000+ career points, his Stanley Cup ring, his Olympic gold medal and being sober for over 4 years now, Theo definitely deserves it. Whether he will get in can only be seen and will be up to the voters. I think it would be absolutely spectacular if the Flames were to retire Theo's 14 this season. He is the second all-time leading scorer, he loves the city, has said he wants to continue to be a part of the organization and can you really see anyone other than Theo wearing the number 14 in a Flames uniform? I didn't think so, with all the fans support Fleury received over the last three weeks or so, its only fitting the Flames retire his number and do it this season.

Theo was my hero when I was young, I went to his hockey camp 2 years in a row and still remember the day he was traded to Colorado. I remember crying, I was so upset. Then going to see him the next season as a Ranger in his return to Calgary and once again being so disappointed when some fans booed him. I remember when Theo broke the all-time Flames scoring record, the picture of him in the Herald jumping around the ice after a multi-point night against the Ducks, it was a great game and a great night for Theo. Theo had his ups and downs and I will admit it was harder to look up to him during those times as I got older and started to understand his problems but in my heart he was and will always be my favourite, my hero. My jersey of his really isn't a jersey anymore, more of a baseball shirt it is so tiny. In my heart I wanted to see him as a Flame again this year but in my head I knew it wasn't going to happen. I'm glad he went out on his own terms, in such an honorable fashion.

Thank you Theo for all the memories and for being a great role model.

You will be missed Primeau....NOT!!

Today the Flames trade C Wayne Primeau & a 2011 2nd round draft pick to the Maple Leafs for F Colin Stuart, D Anton Stralman and a 2012 7th round draft pick.

I think this is another masterful trade by GM Sutter. He has gotten rid of his last bad contract in Primeau, added more depth and most importantly added more cap space. Now I dont think the extra cap space will be used anytime soon but come trade deadline time it is always nice to have some space and after last years 9 forwards in the line-up for a couple of late season games is definitely now a thing of the past. The Flames have added lots of depth for their new farm team in Abbostford, so they too could have a fairly strong team this season. Finally just one last note this has been the second time Stuart has been traded this summer making it pretty interesting for himself.

Team Canada 2010: July Edition

With Team Canada announcing the 46 invitees who will be attending camp in Calgary in late August, yesterday I thought it would be fun to make my version of Team Canada now and then again closer to the Olympics to see how similar they are. Here we go:

FORWARDS(13):

Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins, C
Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames, RW
Simon Gagne, Philadelphia Flyers, LW
Rick Nash, Columbus Blue Jackets, RW
Mike Richards, Philadelphia Flyers, C
Brendan Morrow, Dallas Stars, RW
Jeff Carter, Philadelphia Flyers, C
Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks, C
Dany Heatley, Ottawa Senators, LW
Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning, C
Shane Doan, Phoenix Coyotes, RW
Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche, C
Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks, C

Touch call on last spot, Eric Staal and Corey Perry were tough choices to leave off. Sakic may still retire, but I think he will come back for one more season and another shot at a gold medal and Heatley may not even be on an NHL team next season after this off-seasons fiasco, so he is questionable right now as well.

Defense(7):

Scott Niedermayer, Anaheim Ducks
Jay Bouwmeester, Calgary Flames
Chris Pronger, Philadelphia Flyers
Robyn Regehr, Calgary Flames
Dion Phaneuf, Calgary Flames
Shea Weber, Nashville Predators
Mike Green, Washington Capitals

Once again tough call on the last spot, I dont think you could go wrong with Green, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook or Drew Doughty. Green makes it as a pure PP specialist.

Goalies(3):

Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks
Cam Ward, Carolina Hurricanes

Any arguments?

Lines:

1- GAGNE-SAKIC-IGINLA
2- LECAVALIER-CROSBY-CARTER
3- HEATLEY-GETZLAF-NASH
4- DOAN-RICHARDS-MORROW
E- TOEWS

1- NIEDERMAYER-BOUWMEESTER
2- PRONGER-REGEHR
3- WEBER-PHANEUF
E- GREEN

1- BRODEUR
2- LUONGO
3- WARD

JayBo=Flame

The Flames announced tonight they have signed coveted free agent defensemen Jay Bouwmeester to a 5 year contract worth 6.6 million dollars a season. This comes after the Flames acquired Bouwmeester's rights on the weekend from the Panthers to have exclusive negotiation rights with him and boy did it pay off!

WOW!! What a signing by GM Sutter. I'm unbelievably pumped about this, the Flames have arguably the best defense in the league with a top 3 of JayBo, Reggie and Phaneuf. This signing completely makes up for losing Cammalleri and here is why. Our PP I think will be better with two bombs coming from the point with Phaneuf and Bouwmeester, so teams wont be able to pressure Phaneuf all the time like they did last year. The 40 goals we will lose from Cammalleri will be made up by a committee of players. You can pencil in Iggy for 40 goals after last seasons off year, we have Jokinen for a full season so he should be good for 25-30 goals, while guys like Bourque, Moss and Boyd are only going to get better. Finally Bouwmeester can be penciled in for about 15 goals as well so I dont think we lack any offense at all. Most of all though, our defense with Bouwmeester and coach Sutter will be better, which I have stated so many times was our downfall last season. Bouwmeester makes guys like Phaneuf and Kipper both better while Bouwmeester, Phaneuf and Regehr as a trio will make young guys like Giordano, Pelech, Pardy and Negrin transition and development a whole lot better and easier.

So heading into the free agent frenzy tomorrow which Sutter has stated he wants nothing to do with, the Flames now have roughly 3.5-4 million in cap space. Personally I think they should just sit on it and let the season play out, fill in the holes with guys like Dustin Boyd and Kyle Greentree, see how they do as the season goes on and make moves if needed after Christmas and closer to the deadline. From reports and the newspaper it looks like Bertuzzi would like to come back to Calgary even going as far as phoning GM Sutter himself. Bertuzzi has said he is willing to sign a 1 year contract so if he is willing to play for about 1-1.5 million then I dont have a problem at all. I think there still could be some moves made via trades or waivers and I think guys like Primeau and maybe Sarich could be candidates to be moved.

JayBo

Today the Flames acquired the negotiation rights to Jay Bouwmeester from the Florida Panthers for the negotiation rights to Jordan Leopold and a 3rd round draft pick in today's draft. The Flames have until July 1st to sign Bouwmeester or else he will become a free agent and any team will be able to sing him.

Wow, what a move by GM Sutter, if he is able to sing Bouwmeester the Flames will arguably have the best blueline in the western conference maybe even the league. If this signing does happen we can all but say good-bye to Cammalleri, Aucoin and possibly Bertuzzi, The Flames wont have much cap space throughout the year to add bits and pieces so GM Sutter might have to have a few more moves before the off-season is done. I love this move if we are able to sign JayBo, he is the best free agent in my mind and at only 25 years old he is just entering into his prime. I'm not worried about the loss of offense from Cammalleri and Bertuzzi at all, you have to remember that Iggy and Langkow didn't have their best seasons last year and still managed to score 30+ and 20+ goals respectively, Bourque was injured for the last half of the season and still managed 25 goals while guys like Boyd and Moss are only going to get better. Keep in mind Jokinen will be around for the whole season so you can pencil him in for 25-30 goals as well. From there and added offense from Bouwmeester the Flames will have no trouble scoring goals while keeping the puck out of their own net, their downfall last season. Bringing Jokinen up also brings up the possibility that he could be moved in order to give the Flames some cap space if they are able to sign Bouwmeester. I wouldn't be against this happening as long as we got a cheaper top-6 forward in return. Jokinen is in the last year of his contract and Sutter has always wanted a big top line center like him so I dont like the chances of him moving. Other possibilities of moving could be Sarich or Langkow, wouldn't like to see either of those guys go but I think Sarich would make more sense. The Flames did move Jim Vandermeer to Phoenix later today, re-acquiring Brandon Prust, so that was most certainly a salary dump. Another good move by GM Sutter, even though I like Vandermeer and his toughness alot, something has to go to get another asset and it is too bad it had to be Vandermeer.

There are still lots of things to be determined yet and one of them is the Flames still have to sign Bouwmeester, personally I like their chances but who knows after Bouwmeester has said he wants to test the open market. All we can do is wait!

23rd Overall: Tim Erixon

The Flames were scheduled to pick 20th overall but traded that pick to the Devils in exchange for the 23rd pick and 84th pick. With the 23rd overall pick the Flames selected Swedish defensemen Tim Erixon.

I really dont know much about this kid at all, I am glad the Flames selected a defensemen though. Erixon was originally born in New York, he has good size at 6 foot 2 and 1990 pounds and played in the Swedish Elite league last year for Skelleftea.

Scouting Report:

NHL Central Scouting's E.J. McGuire: "Tim Erixon brings to his Swedish Elite League club team, the same kind of elite hockey skills that perhaps his dad, Jan Erixon, did for over 500 games in the NHL. A smart defenseman who can either lead a rush or support the rush from behind, he was on display at the World Junior Championship in helping bring his team to the final game."

Here is an article from hockeysfuture.com about Erixon.

2009 NHL Draft

Well with the 1st round completed here is a summary of what went on.

- With the first overall pick the Isles select...John Tavares. Great pick in my mind, this guy can score goals like no other, the fans wanted him and on the Long Island they need something to rejuvenate that team. He is going to be a superstar for years to come and exciting to watch. The Lightning and Avalanche then followed suite by selecting Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene 2nd and 3rd overall respectably. Tavares and Hedman should both jump right into the league next season.

- The Flyers acquired D Chris Pronger from the Ducks for LW Joffrey Lupul, D Luca Sbisa and two 1st round draft picks. Only other deals made throughout the night were swapping of picks which was very, very surprising with all the talk ending in.

- 17 of 30 picks were Canadian, way to go Canada!

- The Canadian teams selected as following, 7th Toronto- C Nazem Kadri, 9th Ottawa- D Jared Cowan, 10th Edmonton- LW Magnus Paajarvi-Svenson, 18th Montreal- C Louis Leblanc, 22nd Vancouver- RW Jordan Schroeder, and finally after swapping picks with the Devils 23rd Calgary- D Tim Erixon. Every team seems to have gotten themselves a very nice player, with the steal and maybe the best pick(unfortunately) the Canucks grabbed Schroeder and the pick with the most pressure is no doubtingly Louis Leblanc of the Canadiens.

- Finally Congrats to my buddy Dylan Olsen on being selected 28th overall to the Chicago Blackhawks!!

Mock Draft 2009

With the draft tomorrow, here is my annual Mock Draft.

1. NEW YORK ISLANDERS- John Tavares, C, London (OHL)
2. TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING- Victor Hedman, D, MoDo (Swe.)
3. COLORADO AVALANCHE- Matt Duchene, C, Brampton (OHL)
4. ATLANTA THRASHERS- Evander Kane, C, Vancouver (WHL)
5. LOS ANGELES KINGS- Magnus Paajarvi-Svenson, LW, Timra (Swe.)
6. PHOENIX COYOTES- Jared Cowan, D, Spokane (WHL)
7. TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS- Brayden Schenn, C, Brandon (WHL)
8. DALLAS STARS- Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D, Leksand (Swe.)
9. OTTAWA SENATORS- Nazem Kadri, C, London (OHL)
10. EDMONTON OILERS- Zach Kassian, RW, Peterbrough (OHL)
11. NASHVILLE PREDATORS- Jordan Schroeder, RW, Minnesota (WCHA)
12. MINNESOTA WILD- Scott Glennie, C, Brandon (WHL)
13. BUFFALO SABRES- Dmitri Kulikov, D, Drummondville (QMJHL)
14. FLORIDA PANTHERS- John Moore, D, Chicago (USHL)
15. ANAHEIM DUCKS- Carter Ashton, LW, Lethbridge (WHL)
16. COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS- Ryan Ellis, D, Windsor (OHL)
17. ST.LOUIS BLUES- David Rundblad, D, Skelleftea (Swe.)
18. MONTREAL CANADIENS- Drew Shore, C, USA (U18)
19. NEW YORK RANGERS- Zach Budish, RW, Edina (USHS)
20. CALGARY FLAMES- Dylan Olsen, D, Camrose (AJHL)
21. PHILADELPHIA FLYERS- Tim Erixon, D, Skelleftea (USHS)
22. VANCOUVER CANUCKS- Simon Despres, D, Saint John (QMJHL)
23. NEW JERSEY DEVILS- Jacob Josefson, C, Djurgarden
24. WASHINGTON CAPITALS- Louis Leblanc, C, Omaha (USHL)
25. BOSTON BRUINS- Calvin De Haan, D, Oshawa (OHL)
26. NEW YORK ISLANDERS(SJ-OTT)- Stefan Elliot, D, Saskatoon (WHL)
27. CAROLINA HURRICANES- Nick Leddy, D, Eden Prairie (USHS)
28. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS- Seth Helgeson, D, Sioux City (USHL)
29. DETROIT RED WINGS- Carl Klingberg, LW, Vastra Frolunda (Swe.)
30. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS- Landon Ferraro, RW, Red Deer (WHL)

Some Predictions:

- I think Brian Burke will move the Leafs up to either select John Tavares or Brayden Schenn, Schenn more likely than Tavares, I cant truly see Schenn still being available at 7th to fall right into the Leafs hands.
- I think the Kings will make a strong push for Dany Heatley, possibly giving up the 5th overall pick to give the Senators 2 picks in the top 10.
- I think Montreal will make a very strong push for Vinny Lecavalier, even though the 'experts' dont think it will happen, I think the pressure from the home town crowd and the possibility of the Lightning having a shot at Tavares could bring Vinny to Montreal.
- Finally, even with all the Flames cap troubles, I still like their chances of landing negotiating rights to Jay Bouwmeester. It would take some salary going the other way but I think it is worth it if your not giving up the core (Iggy, Langkow, Phaneuf, Reggie and Kipper).

**Update- I got 6 of 30 picks correct doubling my score from last year.

Sutter & Sutter

Today the Calgary Flames announced the hiring of Brent Sutter to be their new head coach. They also hired Dave Lowry and Ryan McGill as the assistant coaches as well as Jamie McLennan as their new goalie coach. Brent, brother of Daryl(obviously) comes from the Devils after resigning in early June for family and personal reasons. He is the only guy with NHL experience in the group but with only 2 seasons as the Devils head coach. McGill comes from the Flames farm team, really trading places with Jim Playfair while Lowry comes from the Calgary Hitmen after 1 season behind the bench where he was snubbed for coach of the year and finally McLennan has been in the organization for the last couple of years and really just gets a promotion. This was simply the worst kept secret.

I love this move by GM Sutter, even with the lack of experience from the group, every single one of them probably would have gotten a coaching job in the league eventually. Brent in only 2 seasons has become one of the best coaches in the league and has the ability to turn this Flames team around. He has lost in the 1st round in both of his seasons but this year he was minutes away from the 2nd round and still made the playoffs without having Brodeur for 3/4 of the season. Coach Sutter will bring in systems, especially on the defensive side that the Flames were so lacking in the two seasons with Keenan. Systems and lack of communication has been the downfall for the Flames the last couple of seasons, players admitted it and Sutter will change it. McGill, Lowry and McLennan all lack experience but bring good credentials. McGill has been with the baby Flames for 3 maybe 4 seasons now and it is his time, simple as that. Lowry lead a Hitmen team last year in the WHL that at the start of the season was suppose to just compete for a playoff spot, not win their conference and end up 2 wins away from a WHL championship and a trip to the Memorial Cup. Lowry can get the best out of his players, whether that translates to the NHL is something to be seen but along with McLennan all the respect that the players in this organization have for these 2 guys, the transition shouldn't be a tough one.

All in all this is the time to make the huge change in the coaching staff, with or without experience, it has worked in other places(Blysma and Boudreau) and I'm not worried it wont work here. I have alot of confidence in this group, especially coach Sutter, I think and hope he is the key thing this team is missing to becoming a consistent elite team and competing for the Stanley Cup. I cannot wait until the season starts already!! Until then we still have the draft on Friday and free agent frenzy starting July 1st.

2009 Stanley Cup Champions

Congrats to the Stanley Cup champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Well deserved with Sid the Kid and Malkin leading the way. Congrats to Malkin on the Conns Smythe and to Marc-Andre Fleury for proving he can be a big game goaltender, he has worked hard and really, really deserved this. Dan Blysma did an amazing job coming in half way through the year, and leading this team from 6 points out of the playoffs to being crowned the champs. This is a scary team for years to come.

Where have I been???

Well, after roughly 3 months off from posting on this blog, I have finally found myself out the hole I have obviously been in because I have no excuse why I took such a long break from this thing, especially since the weather is FINALLY getting summer like in our beautiful city of Calgary. Where to being.....

- THE FLAMES FIRE KEENAN!!! Shocking isn't it? Well if you are reading this and just find out about it now, you were in a lot larger hole than I was. I will just say that I love the move and if it wasn't done, I would say us Flames fans would be in for another sort playoff run next season.

- Jimmy Playfair will never leave this organization. Playfair was named/demoted? to the head coach of the new Flames AHL team, the Abbostford Heat(what a stupid name!). Sutter says he still believes Nervous Jimmy can be a head coach in the NHL, but when will his time come, even more interesting will Playfair ever get out of our organization before he retires.

- Much more recent news, meaning yesterday, Brent Sutter has stepped down as the head coach of the New Jersey Devils for family and personal reasons. Should we start the count down to Sutter, Brent Sutter being the new head coach of the Flames? I think there is a strong possibility of this happening, I think he will be our new head coach but Sutter, Darryl Sutter will have to get permission from Lou Lamoriello to talk to his brother, as weird as that sounds. Brent will bring in systems, most importantly defensive systems to the team, something Keenan lacked and I feel was the downfall to the Flames season.

- Dany Heatley looks like he has played his last game as an Ottawa Senator. Heatley has asked GM Bryan Murray for a trade so it will be interesting how it plays out. Possible suitors for Heatley, I have heard the Penguins, Sharks and the Oilers. Could the Flames make a play for Heatley? I dont like the chances of it happening at all but it would take a player like a Jokinen or someone going to other way, which I wouldn't mind. Sutter wont give up the core to acquire Heatley.

- Finally, the Stars fired head coach Dave Tippett today, which in my mind is very dumb and mind boggling. I have a weird hunch that he will be the new coach of the Devils.

Anyways there is my 3 month updated post. I will be posting alot more with big things coming this month and into the summer for the NHL. The draft, free agent frenzy is always enjoyable but it all starts Friday, game 7 for the Stanley Cup. Go Penguins Go!

a Little Trade Deadline Madness Mixed with a Little U2!

I sat up last night sitting staring at my computer screen waiting for ANYTHING to happen thinking to myself that I'll go crazy if I don't go crazy tonight. Deciding I needed to breathe and count my losses I headed to bed like a kid on Christmas eve! I woke up early this morning and turned on TSN for a long fun filled day with plenty of moves or so I thought. 2 hours into this bore fest I had seen nothing done and was getting sick and tired of Pierre McGuire thinking there was no line on the horizon and a moment of surrender I decided to head into work. Having to battle another hour then FINALLY I hear Bob McKenzie announce the Flames picked up Jordan Leopold YES! A soild 4th D-man that knows the system and likes the city! I was elated. Then much to my shock a mere hour later Mr. Sutter made his biggest splash on a deadline since taking over as Flames GM and getting Mr. Ollie Jokinen!! And what did he give up? Lombo, Prust and a 1st (conditional) While Lombo is a great guy and the city loves him he's not going to see 35 goals anytime soon. So we finally have a true #1 Center and I think to myself this is Magnificent! Just the thought of that first line should send shivers down the spine of other teams! So Calgary fans get on your boots and get ready for what hopes to be a long and fun Stanley cup play-off run!

I tryed hard to get all of the song names from the new U2 CD No Line on the Horizon into the blog! lets see if anyone can guess how many I got in!! Also make sure you get the CD as it is prob. their best since Joshua Tree! And I can finally get some sleep as it's supposted to be white as snow out there tomorrow.

One Word Trade Deadline...SHOCKING!

Wow what a day to be a Flames fan/hockey fan. Trade deadline, Canadians second Christmas and as bad as it sounds I think I was more excited for this than I was for Christmas, sorry family and friends. Anyways lets get to it. Heading into today in no way did I think the Flames were going to come out as the day's winners/make the biggest impact. I thought they needed to add another puck moving defensemen and other than that be relatively quiet after that and after they snatched Calgary boy Lawrence Nycholat yesterday, I had even more doubt that the phones were going to be busy in Sutter's office. Man was I caught off guard like many other Flames fans and Sutter really didn't waste time either. Both of Calgary's big deals were announced before 11 am our time and were in the first 5 trades of the whole day.

Sutter started it off by acquiring a familiar face, Jordan Leopold. Leopold came from Colorado with the Flames sending recent waiver wire pick-up Nycholat, prospect D Ryan Wilson and a 2nd round draft pick in return. Leopold is the puck-moving defensemen the Flames needed and were looking for. He became an even more valuable pick-up after recent injury to Giordano has him out for the season. Leopold was awesome for the Flames when he played here and truly played his best hockey here. Since his departure the injury bug has haunted him even more than in Calgary and has set his career back a bit. I love this trade for the Flames they gave up barely anything and now we have more than enough depth on the back end. The only question I have with this is does Keenan pair Leopold with Reg, with them having so much success as a pair before or does Keenan leave Aucoin with Reg with them being the Flames best pairing since they have been paired together. Should be interesting

Then Sutter pulled the biggest move of the day. After probably 2ish years of being rumored to be coming here, Sutter finally accomplished acquiring Olli Jokinen. It was a much steeper price then Leopold as expected as the Flames gave up Lombo, Prust and a conditional 1st round draft pick(either 2009 or 2010, Calgary's choice). As much as I like this trade, there are some things I dont like about it. I hate to see Lombo and his awesome speed go and with Jokinen being under contract next season for 5.25 mill, I can almost guarantee unless he takes a huge home town discount, that Cammalleri wont be back next season. I love Cammalleri, he is one of my favourite hockey players so I hope there is still a way to re-sign him in the summer. Anyways we will worry about that later. Jokinen finally gives the Flames a true 'Sutter #1 center'. Jokinen brings his ability to score and produce offense while give the Flames some size down the middle that they really have never had before. Jokinen has never played in the playoffs before but with the leadership from Iggy and Reg that doesnt worry me one bit. Jokinen gave credit to Keenan in his interview today with reviving his career, so Keenan obviously knows how to get the best out of him and that is awesome.

TSN continued to report throughout the day that with those moves, the Flames had put themselves over the cap and would have to make another move to get them under. So for the next couple of hours until Sutter had his press conference it seemed like there was going to be 1 more roster move. Ends up the Flames were still under the cap(more on that in a sec) and finished off the day by in my mind stealing a 4th round pick from Columbus for prospect goalie Kevin Lalande who has played in the ECHL all season. Thumbs up to that.

So it was a good day, other than hearing Big Bert is out at least a month after have arthroscopic knee surgery. Sounds like he will be back for the playoffs which is good so players like Moss, Boyd and Glencross will have to continue to pick up the slack. With Bert going down, though Im not 100% sure on this, is what helped the Flames stay under the cap. Not sure like I said but that's the only way this all makes sense to me. I haven't heard officially if Jokinen and Leopold will be in the Flames line-up tomorrow night against Philly, but I dont see why they wouldnt be.

Potential Lines:

1- CAMMALLERI-CONROY-IGGY
2- LUNDMARK-JOKINEN-MOSS
3- GLENCROSS-BOYD-NYSTROM
4- VAN DER GULIK-PETERS-ROY
INJ- LANGKOW, BERT, BOURQUE, PRIMEAU

1- PHANEUF-VANDERMEER
2- REG-AUCOIN
3- SARICH-LEOPOLD
E- PARDY

1- KIPPER

Anyways that is the Flames trade deadline wrap up, my buddy Jamie will have his opinion on the Flames moves as well in his post. Let's hope for a long playoff run, GO FLAMES GO!!

Trade Deadline Looming

Well we are less than 5 days away from the NHL trade deadline and we all sit and wait for Mr. Sutter to do make a move (or do nothing) With the injuries to Bourque, Langkow, and Giordano I believe that the Flames need to do something. Taking a look at the names that are out there Bouwmeester, Weight, Geurin, Gomez, Spezza, Jokinen. I think the Flames will make a serious play for a few of these guys. Let's take a look at Bouwmeester first this is going to be a long shot however JayBo is building a house in Calgary and is an Alberta boy. The way I see it if you can somehow pry him from Flordia it's not going to come cheap and he might be a rental player unless we decide not to keep Cammalleri plus it would cost us a prospect like Backlund or Neimez, a roster player (someone like Lombardi) and a 1st or 2nd rounder. The big question is this too much for a guy who is only going to be around for 4 months at best. The talk around the league is Jokinen to Calgary. This seems to happen every year at this time and again after July 1st. Again are we talking about giving away the farm? also Phoenix is right in the Hunt and will they end up being sellers? I can see Sutter bringing in a lesser name that likes to play Sutter type hockey. But I guess we will have to wait and see and until March 4th at 12pm mst. it will all be a guessing game.