Calgary ready to move on?

Can the Flames come into this playoffs as a favourite this year? Or are they gonna come in as the 7th seed and have to play the Sharks in the first round again? Positioning is very important in the West. You do not want to have to play Detroit, Anaheim, San Jose and Dallas in round one - you're more likely than not gonna lose.

So Calgary did something about it in the off-season. Imagine if you're Mike Cammalleri and you wake up on draft day to find out that you're gonna be centering a line with one of your idols Jarome Iginla? It doesn't get any better than that. Actually...maybe it does, because Cammalleri can play wing as well, so it could be Cammalleri - Langkow - Iginla. Yikes. These mosters can all play the game - really well.

But...from there it goes all hazy again. Huselius is gone, replaced by Cammalleri, Tanguay is gone, replaced by...Todd Bertuzzi? That's not a good one off. Matt Lombardi is penciled in as a 2nd line center - and if this is gonna work, he'd better produce once and for all. Craig Conroy's lights are dimming, but he could still put up some serviceable numbers as a 3rd liner flanked by Rene Bourque.

Meh, who's anyone kidding, the Flames can score for sure, but their forwards are not great outside of the top 3.

The defense is powerful as well. Phaneuf might be the 2nd best D-man in the league now - and if he isn't he's still gonna get the Flames 20 goals and close to 70 points. Regehr is a big hitter who keeps opponent's at bay and gives Dion an ultra long leash. Acoun and Sarich both bring rich experience to the backend and Giordano is back from Russia, ready to prove himself in the NHL.

Kirupsoff is such an enigma, I have no idea what he brings to the table anymore. He should be one of the top 5 netminders in the NHL, but he had an off-season last year that hampered the Flames chances of landing in the 3rd seed. Still...when the dice are rolled, this is a solid, solid netminder to have.

How can the Flames have an elite forward, and elite D-man and an elite goalie and not have made more noise? Chemistry? Maybe. Lack of secondary scoring? For sure. Kipper struggling? Maybe. But you can't pin it on the defense. They're as sound as they come. This year, they'll be playing the 6th seed.

Team Grade: B-
Prediction: 3rd in the West

WOW!! A line of Iginla, Cammaleri and Langkow... Be afraid...Be VERY afraid!!

Here's hoping Kipper can shake off whatever plagued him at times near the end of the regular season, and quite frankly, I'll be making a point of catching a few Flames games this year as they are yet another Western Canadian team I'll be watching closely.

Kiprosoff was working with Wilson big-time in the off-season. (he is another of Eli's star pupils)

Rumor has it that the biggest impediment to his doing well may end up being his relationship with Keenan - as was a major part of the problem last year.

Why doesn't it surprise me that Kipper (and perhaps OTHER people and players) don't get along well with Keenan... He seems PERFECTLY grounded and nice to me. *insert sarcasm*

They've added quite a bit of toughness with Bourque, Bert, and Glencross.

Good read, Heater. Calgary is sort of an enigma in my opinion. They seem to have the three main components to a championship team -- goaltending, defense, and scoring -- yet, they can't seem to bring it all together. Very weird, but if I was the team president or the GM, I'd start wondering early on in the year if the guy behind the bench is the right choice.

I really expect to see a Pat Quinn or Ted Nolan behind the bench in Calgary sometime this year if they falter out of the gates.

PKC wrote:Good read, Heater. Calgary is sort of an enigma in my opinion. They seem to have the three main components to a championship team -- goaltending, defense, and scoring -- yet, they can't seem to bring it all together. Very weird, but if I was the team president or the GM, I'd start wondering early on in the year if the guy behind the bench is the right choice.

I really expect to see a Pat Quinn or Ted Nolan behind the bench in Calgary sometime this year if they falter out of the gates.

I think you're more than right dude.
Quinn or Nolan would be EXCELLENT choices IMHO. Keenan is just getting a little too long in the tooth in my view. And his methods do NOT appear to work.

I think Calgary will be getting a new HC before the new year...

Cronenbergfan wrote:

PKC wrote:Good read, Heater. Calgary is sort of an enigma in my opinion. They seem to have the three main components to a championship team -- goaltending, defense, and scoring -- yet, they can't seem to bring it all together. Very weird, but if I was the team president or the GM, I'd start wondering early on in the year if the guy behind the bench is the right choice.

I really expect to see a Pat Quinn or Ted Nolan behind the bench in Calgary sometime this year if they falter out of the gates.

I think you're more than right dude.
Quinn or Nolan would be EXCELLENT choices IMHO. Keenan is just getting a little too long in the tooth in my view. And his methods do NOT appear to work.

I think Calgary will be getting a new HC before the new year...

Couldn't agree more... They definitely need a new coach in Calgary... I'm not so sure about Quinn, but I think Nolan could do some good things with that team...