08-09 RECORD: 46-30-6 98 pointsDIVISION: 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
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