Flames end of season thoughts

Its officially the end of the Flames 08/09 year. A season that started badly, but picked up momentum and had people saying things like elite, and talking about catching Detroit for second. For a few months, the Flames played consistent hockey, sticking to a system, with a good powerplay, great penalty kill and solid goaltending.
Then the wheels fell off, in late February, the team had a solid lead on the Canucks. In a horrible week, the Flames lost Giordano for the season, Bourque for 2 months and ultimately their focus. The Flames were facing a 7 game roadtrip to start march, after an ugly 8-6 loss to Tampa Bay at home. Many thought this team could handle it and keep control of the division. After the Olli Jokinen and Leopold deals, they looked like the team to come out of the west, for one game anyways. It fell apart, the system was gone, there was no consistency, something was off most nights. Iginla, Cammalleri and Jokinen all saw their plus/minus plummet.
They got home from the roadtrip still in control of the division, but it was shakey. More injuries hit, the team couldn’t win two in a row and Vancouver played lights out hockey. Regher, Sarich, Phaneuf and Langkow were out, the Flames were up against the cap and had to dress John Negrin and Matt Pelech for their first NHL games. The Flames got lucky as Vancouver blew weekend games against Edmonton and Colorado, but the Flames couldn’t beat Luongo and game 80 cost the Flames the division.
The Nucks swept the Blues. The Flames gave up leads in games 1 & 2 vs the hawks. Then won 2 at home. Things looked good again. Then game 5, the Flames were, brutal. 5-1 loss. In game 6 the beatup Flames tried hard, got 40+ shots on net, but for once a goalie stole a game in the series. The Blackhawks, surprisingly, were the ones in this series that had the killer instinct. Khabibulin played amazing, the Flames had defensive lapses and lost 3-1. at home.

That’s it. A season of players playing to their peaks, then either slumping or getting hurt at the worst of times. For a team with so much talent, it sucks to lose in the first round. Always next year as they say.Interesting to hear maher talk about the injuries the flames sustained last night on the postgame. Here are some he mentioned, as per calgary puck
Giordano - Season ending shoulder surgery. (We knew that one)

Regher - Season ending knee injury - possible surgery (We kinda knew that one too)

Aucoin - So far Undisclosed but Peter Maher stated it was groin

Sarich - Broken foot (Also knew that one - but wow)

Phaneuf - Knee injury could require knee surgery - happened before Christmas - Broken Ribs from game 1 - Hip injury that will most likely require surgery - was an injury from last year that was re-injured early in the year - all these injuries on the left side of his body

Todd Bertuzzi - Knee injury and a undisclosed wrist injury

Rene Bourque - Re aggrivated his high ankle sprain - should not have been playing

Dustin Boyd - Undisclosed leg injury

Craig Conroy - Separated shoulder

Curtis Glencross - Shoulder injury

Jarome Iginla - Suspected Knee injury - though he will not admit it

Daymond Langkow - Broken Hand If true, wow, that is a lot of hurt. Still, the flames blew leads in this series they shouldn't have, they looked disorganized at times, inconsistent, and we all know the powerplay had no power. The guys got out worked everytime out late in the season. Keenan juggled lines but wouldn't let Iggy and Jokinen apart. The Flames tried hard, but game 5 killed them. They weren't prepared. Iginla didn't lead the team to victory, but no one else showed up to play either.
Chicago is a talented team, 3 top 3 draft picks in that lineup. They wouldn't lie down and after game 3 and 4, avoided scrums and skated hard. The Flames just weren't good enough with the guys out of the lineup and injured ones in the lineup to beat a remarkably healthy chicago team. I'm sure some of the chicago guys are also playing through injury, like Barker's finger, but no players missed games, aside from Kane in game 3 with a flu.
Kipper also got outgoaltended by Khabby. Niether goalie was amazing for the first 5 games, both were average, niether got shutouts, but in game 6, when it mattered most. Khabibulin lived up to his billing as a wall the Flames just couldn't bring down. The Flames had over 40 shots in game 6 (though most from the outside) and could only squeak one by.
Bertuzzi was dissapointing the entire series. Badly timed penalties, floating around the outside, getting beat on the boards. Jokinen showed up for a few playoff games, I think you need to stick it out and give him next season. After how long Sutter wanted him, you can’t give up on him already, and no one would want him if the Flames are giving up on him too. Not many of the Flames played amazing in the playoffs, but injuries did play a part.

Its only one day after, but the Flames will need to do lots of evaluation this offseason to decide what they want to do. My feeling is to go with the young guys coming up, considering how close the Flames are to the cap. Maybe then they can afford to resign cammalleri, maybe not. Flush the coaching staff, Keenan and the assistant coaches need to GO. Part of the blame is on the core, part is on the coaches. The coaches are easy to change. The core may benefit if the Flames stop following the Oilers lead and inbreeding the coaching staff. Find a new coach. I don't know who, but it’s a long offseason. The Flames have plenty of young guys who can step up and replace the loss of Cammalleri and Bertuzzi. I’d rather the Flames spend their money to get an elite defenceman, like Jay Bouwmeester. Its him or resign Aucoin. Pardy and Giordano will be back next season, and Pelech will hopefully be what Pardy was this year. The Flames have some great players coming up, but maybe need an agitator type guy like Chris Niel or Steve Ott. Steve Ott would be great, but hard to get. Moss-Conroy and Glencross should stick together. Backlund may be ready for primetime next season and guys like Sutter, Greentree and Van der Gulik should be on the edge. Resign McElhinney or another backup goalie and have them play 20 games. None of this stupid Kipper starting 70+ games stuff. He may want to play that much, but it might not be a good idea. Brodeur and Luongo have shown how important it is to be fresh going into the playoffs. In 04 Kipper played 34 games and was ready for the playoffs. I think McElhinney is not a bad goalie, I would like to see him do well and he has developed in our system.

And get back to defensive hockey. That’s what wins in the playoffs. Play a defensive system that requires the whole team to be responsible defensively. (something Iggy was far from at times this season). If they can play solid defensively, maybe you can limit how good the goaltender is having an effect on the team. When Kipper has an off night, the Flames need to be able to play well defensively, then you can throw in the backup and the system shouldn't change. Clear example here is New Jersey, they make their goalies look good. Brodeur is all-world no doubt, but Clemmonson was great for them while he was out.

The Flames need to take a page out of the books of the other teams in this city. The Stampeders lost in the west semifinal for 3 years before Henry Burris took them to a Grey Cup victory.
The Roughnecks, well this year isn’t finished, but they took care of business in the regular season. Clinching first overall in the NLL.
The Hitmen were one of the best teams in the country. 12-0 in the playoffs so far, and they play Backlund’s Rockets in the WHL final. That’s taking care of business.

I guess the one difference between the Flames and these teams, is the regular season success. The Flames haven’t been able to step up to the elite level of the other 3 big teams in Calgary in the regular season. Maybe we expected to much, maybe not. We all would love another cup run. Even a division win and a first round win would do.
As for next season, I will find it hard to get overly excited over this team unless they can maintain a 1 or 2 position in the conference. They need to step it up, only one team finishing lower than 1 or 2 in their conference has won the cup in the last 15 years. At least that’s what I’ve heard.
Anyways, im done ranting for now, just some thoughts. It should be an interesting offseason!
until next time, Go Hitmen and Go Roughnecks this spring!

Adam

end of february, flames/hitmen rolling

So we are hitting the end of February, time for the playoff race to heat up in hockey. both Calgary teams are pretty secure where they are. the Hitmen will finish first or second in the WHL and the Flames have opened up a 10 point lead on the Canucks for the division lead, and are 8 points back of Detroit!
the Flames have lost a few key players lately, with Bourque out 2 months with a high ankle sprain and Giordano likely out for the season with shoulder surgery. the good news is Iginla has got his game back, he had a 4 point night vs Columbus on tuesday and has played hard in the past 4 games. the Flames are riding a a streak of 6-0-2 in thier past 8, with 22 games left. the flames play home to Minnesota and Tampa bay this weekend before heading out on a crucial 7 game road trip in the east.
the trade deadline is coming up next wednesday and it should be interesting to see what moves are made in the nhl. Flames GM Darryl Sutter said this week he won't be trading any players off the team, so if he does make a trade, it will be a depth trade, which is good. this team had the parts to go all the way in my opinion. we'll see how it shakes out.
in other sports news, the Edmonton Eskimoes will host the 2010 Grey cup.
Go Flames, Roughnecks and Hitmen

GREY CUP SUNDAY!! GO STAMPEDERS GO!

TIME TO BRING THE CUP HOME TO CALGARY.

Lets look at what happened in the division finals last weekend first.

in the East final, the hometown Montreal Allouettes came back from a slow start to defeat the edmonton eskimoes. Edmonton had a strong lead nearing halftime when Montreal took the lead with two touchdowns before the half and one not long after. The Montreal Allouettes (12-6)scored 33 unanswered ponits to defeat the Edmonton Eskimoes (10-8) and claim the East Division championship, the first Home team to play in a Grey cup since Edmonton in 2002(which they lost to the same Allouettes).

In the west division, the leagues best regular season team, the Calgary Stampeders (13-5) hosted the B.C. Lions (11-7). This was the first time Calgary hosted the west final since 2000 when they lost to the BC Lions after a Dave Dickenson injury destroyed thier hopes of playing the the Grey cup at home that year. the Stamps came out slow and BC was able to drive the field several times. The leagues number 1 defence was able to hold them in it by preventing the Lions from scoring touchdowns, allowing 4 fieldgoals. The sold out crowd of 35,650 urged the Stamps D and was a major influence during the game. The Stamps special teams in the first half also kept them in it, creating great field position on every return. The Stamps scored a touchdown near the end of the half, closing the gap to 12-9. in the second half the Stampeders played better on offence, though the Defence still won them the game. after trading turnovers, the Stamps D was able to stop the Lions on a first and goal from the one, another field goal for BC. later the Stamps would get a touchdown to go up by 7 at 22-15. the Lions added a field goal and later drove much of the field in the last 2 minutes before throwing an interception. Calgary had the ball for the last minute, up by 22-18, and almost blew it. on 3rd down with 7 seconds left, Burris threw out of bounds, but one second remained. BC had one chance for a hail mary, but couldnt convert a touchdown. The Stamps got the victory, aided by the crowd, in what is the best atmosphere for a football game i have been to. yes, better than the two grey cups (tho they were fun) because the Stamps were in it, the crowd was into it and had a huge impact on the game (plus i had great seats)The Stampeders will play in the grey cup for the first time since 2001, when they defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

this sunday at 4pm (mt) the Stampeders will play in Olympic stadium for the Grey cup vs the Allouettes, in what should be a sellout (near 70,000) crowd of mostly Montreal fans. It'll be loud. the matchup is perfect, the two best teams this season, two rookie head coaches, the two mvp candidates (Burris and Calvillo), west vs east...this game will be awesome. the Stamps and Allouettes have played in two grey cups in history, with Montreal winning both, most recently in...1970. This year, the Stamps defeated the Allouettes in both matches. with the two best offences and top quarterbacks, this could be an offensive game. although, the Stampeders boast the best defence in the league this season, and defence wins championships....

The oddsmakers wont pick a favourite at this point, Calgary would be favoured except for Montreals home team advantage, almost 70,000 fans at home. The teams have been preparing with loud noise at practice and the teams will be ready to roll on sunday. Montreal last won the grey cup in 2002 in Edmonton, Calgary won the year before in Montreal. the winner of this game will match Edmonton, and BC with 2 Grey cup wins this decade.

my pick for the 96th Grey cup....Calgary 33-Montreal 31.

GO STAMPS GO

in other news, the flames beat colorado 4-1 last night.

Stamps, Flames, Dinos, Hitmen.

so November has begun, and so far, Calgary's big teams have shined.
Today the Stamps defeated the BC Lions 41-30, but lets look back at what happened last week. The Stampeders needed a win over the Tiger-cats to clinch first. easy, right? not really, Hamilton may have struggled in the final half of the season, but they have managed to be close in many games, the Stamps were ripe for an upset, and have had trouble getting wins out of Ivor wynne stadium. This year is different though for the Stamps. they won, convincingly, garunteeing the west final will be played in Calgary on November 15.
after that week, the only thing to be decided was who would host the west-semifinal, Saskatchewan or BC. the Riders needed to beat toronto and BC to lose to Calgary. the Riders had trouble, but with 4 touchdowns in the 4th quarter, managed to come back and beat the Argos with the winning touchdown coming off a botched Argo 3rd down gamble with 2 minutes left. the Argos finished the season losing 8 or 9 in a row. the Riders would become Stamps fans on saturday, with hopes of hosting the west semi. Today the Stamps played decent in the 1st half, finishing up 17-14. In the second half, the STampeders put in backup qb Barrick Nealy, who would run for 3 touchdowns! the Lions tried to make it a bit closer at the end, but they couldnt bring the intensity to defeat the coasting Stamps. As a result of the Lions loss (41-30), the Riders will host the west semi on saturday Nov 8 (2:30 pm), after the Bombers host the Eskies in the east semi (11am). the Eskies were the 4th placed team in the west, so will crossover and play the bombers.
the Stampeders finished the reg season 13-5, won the west division for the first time since 2000, other notables are the STamps finished first in most defensive categories, Rambo was the leading reciever (1473 yards)and Burris finished with over 5000 yards. Barrick Nealy was 1 for 2 for 9 yards, scrambled for 76 yards for 3 touchdowns. kicker Sandro DeAngelis led the league in points scored and Reynolds led the league in rushing yards. the Stampeders beat every team in the league at least once, losing only to Edmonton, Winnipeg and Saskatchewan. impressive
Go Stampeders in the west final!!!

The Flames have put together a 6 game win streak. they defeated the LA Kings 3-2 tonight as Kipper was the best player on the ice. Kipper has played much better lately, and is now the only goalie this season to have played all the minutes for his team. the Flames are now 7-3-1 and tied with Minnesota atop the Northwest division. desipite the hot streak, the Flames haven't played as well in the last few games, and will need to play better to beat anahiem tomorrow.

The university of Calgary Dinos are in the playoff mix also. they play Regina tomorrow at home (1pm) in a Canada west semi final. the winner will host Simon Fraser University next saturday in the Canada west final. the Dinos haven't won a playoff game since winning the Vanier cup in 1995.

The Hitmen are still hot with a 13-4-1 record. thier 27 points are good for first place currently in the WHL.

In Baseball, the Phillidelphia Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays to win the world series in 5 games.

calgary july sports update/predictions

starting off with the number one team in town(calgary is hockey year round haha)
ok so the flames so far this off season have traded zyuzin for aucoin, signed sarich, stevenson and owen nolan. also they resigned iggy and regher for 5 years each. great offseason so far. so here is the flames current roster
Forwards/Cap Hit in Millions of Dollars:

Jarome Iginla/$7.000 (Signed to a 5 year extension worth $35 million)
Alex Tanguay/$5.250
Daymond Langkow/$2.442
Craig Conroy/$2.394
Owen Nolan/$2.000 (Signed to a 1 year deal worth up to $2 million including bonuses)
Matthew Lombardi/$1.817 (Re-signed to a 3 year deal worth $5.45 million)
Kristian Huselius/$1.400
Stephane Yelle/$1.400
Wayne Primeau/$1.400 (Re-signed to a 3 year deal worth $4.20 million)
Marcus Nilson/$1.000 (Re-signed to a 2 year deal worth $2.00 million)
David Moss/$0.575 (Re-signed to a 2 year deal worth $1.15 million)
Grant Stevenson/??$0.500?? (estimate) (Signed to a 1 year deal)

Total Cap Hit for Forwards: $27.178 MillionDefence/

Cap Hit in Millions of Dollars(Only First Seven Counted In Cap):
Aucoin/$4.000 (Trade) (Currently has 2 years remaining, paying $8 million)
Sarich/$3.600 (Signed to a 5 year deal worth $18 million)
Warrener/$2.350
Regehr/$1.875 (Signed a 5 year extension worth $20 million)
Eriksson/$1.500 (Signed to a 2 year deal worth $3 million)
Phaneuf/$0.785
Giordano/$0.750(estimated) (RFA)
Hale/$0.590 (Re-signed to a 1 year deal worth $0.590 million)

Total Cap Hit For Defence: $14.860 Million

Goal/Cap Hit in Millions of Dollars(Only First Two Counted In Cap):
Miikka Kiprusoff/$3.333 (Negotiating extension)B
rent Krahn/$0.540 (Re-signed to a 1 year contract worth $0.540 million)
Curtis McElhinney/$0.750(estimated) (RFA)

Total Cap Hit For Goal (only includes one of Krahn/McElhinney): $3.873

Total Team Cap Hit Currently(20 players): $45.911 Million
this means the flames have enough left to sign another few players, word is that gelinas may come back as a 4th line mentor role(much like lowry did in 04)
i see the flames battling with colorado for the division, these are my july predictions for the west conf.
so something like this:
1. anahaim
2. detroit
3. colorado
4. san jose
5. Calgary
6.vancouver
7. st. louis
8. nashville
9. dallas
10. chicago
11.los angeles
12. minnesota
13. columbus
14. pheonix
15. edmonton
(who will score for this team???)
just a note - the oilers lost there 3 top scorers again this year(smyth, lupul and sykora) and thier captain - smith
as for the cfl, the stamps beat up hamilton on saturday and will visit saskatchewan this week.
here are my pics for the cfl
west
1. bc(still an amazing team)
2. calgary(burris learns how to run)
3. saskatchewan(...third again)
4. edmonton(not as good as the other strong west teams)
east
1. winnipeg(only team in the east that doesnt seem to have qb issues so far)
2. hamilton( the backup timmy chang will be starter by the end)
3. toronto( allen is done)
4. montreal(calvillo is still good, the team and offensive system isnt)
the roughnecks have not made any major changes and the calgary dawgs are in first in the NBL. thats it for calgary sports
go stamps and go flames