So it would appear I’m not the only one that thinks Al MacInnis deserves a little recognition for his accomplishments in a Flames sweater.

Over at Inside the Flames today is a guest blog from Bill Dunphy, sports editor of The Inverness Oran, a community newspaper in Cape Breton. He’s put together a much more thorough argument than I did the other day. I’d encourage you to give that article a read for yourself:

http://communities.canada.com/calgaryherald/blogs/insideflames/archive/2009/10/19/guest-column-why-flames-should-honour-macinnis.aspx

Another season has started, some great posts have appeared and the Flames as of this post are 5-2-1.  I won’t be going into the meltdown in the Windy City but  I was at the last game vs. the Canuckleheads and the enigmatic Luongo and the entire night, I was thinking about the play of Iggy.  Jarome Iginla, heart and soul of the Flames since Theo left and he’s been everything that the Flames asked him to be.  But what’s happening now?  The Jokinen experiment is put on hold as they were separated and he was on a line with Connie and Curtis, he has 2G-2A-4Pts. and has seem to lost the spotlight… what’s going on???

My Answser: NOTHING

Iginla for the most part is still Iginla.  He still has his speed, he still fights for the puck in the corner, he still has eagle eyes for passing the puck and can still find the net.  Is it because he’s a slow starter? Not at all.  Something that happened last year was that often times, it was up to Iginla to put up the dukes and it was Iginla being baited into fights he needed not be in… (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmEDbTi7XOs this fight was a doozy when he fells Willie Mitchell) However, this year, there are solid troopers like Brandon Prust and Brian McGratten to take up that mantle (By the way, Congrats to McGratten for the Gordie Howe Hat-Trick, sorry Darcy, gotta show it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj7gb9AKE_w). Every great team has guys to throw down so that the talented top players need not to… From the Cup run in 2004, we’ve seemed to have lost the edge on guys that can fight or at least take that burden away from Iginla.  Krysztov Oliwa was the last Flame to amass over 200 PIM and that was back in 2004, since then we’ve had Darren McCarty, Dion Phaneuf, Jim Vandermeer and Eric Goddard all try to relive Iginla of that role but none have really done it well.  Don’t get me wrong, I love to see Iggy throw down when the team needs it but lets face it, we’d rather see him score!  The 2006 Jim Playfair year had NO Flame with over 100 PIM… go figure, with guys like Husselius and Tanguay… yikes!

Iginla has the target on him every game and that’s great! He works just as hard as he did before but now he is surrounded by guys who take the burden of the little jobs Iginla shouldn’t have been doing so that he can concentrate on his all around play.  I still belive that Iginla has just as much talent as the Ovechkins and the Crosby’s but he’s more than that, he fights, checks, and pours his heart out every shift and so I don’t look at numbers and wonder what is going on, I see Iginla for what he’s always been, the heart and soul of the Calgary Flames leading by example and walking the talk.

Always a pleasure!

Naoto

Again, eh? I know the last time they met was pretty unforgetable.

The poll is on the NHL web site if you’re interested in voting.

So let me get this straight.

Al MacInnis has been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He has his number retired in St. Louis. A statue has now been erected in his honour outside of the Blues’ home rink. And somehow, despite all of these accolades, #2 still isn’t hanging from the rafters at the Saddledome.

The St. Louis Blues, with whom MacInnis played the final nine seasons of his career (plus 3 games in 2003/04), have bestowed numerous recognitions on the all-star defenceman, known for possessing one of the most powerful slap shots in hockey. The first 12 seasons of his career, however, were spent in Calgary. It was in Calgary that Al MacInnis won a Stanley Cup and a Conn Smythe Trophy. It was in Calgary that he scored more than 70 points in five separate seasons (something he never accomplished in St. Louis). In 1990/91 he scored a whopping 103 points. To put that in perspective, Theo lead the team that year with 104, and he had 18 points more than 45 goal man Joe Nieuwendyk. His 103 points was dwarfed by league leader Wayne Gretzky’s 163, but it was a pretty sharp drop off after that, with Hull at 131, and Oates at 115. I don’t care what era you’re playing in, 103 points for a defenceman is outstanding.

How about some other stats from that season? MacInnis was a +42, second only to Theo and Marty McSorley at +48 (McSorley? Really?). He was on the ice for 185 goals for, second again only to that Gretzky guy at 200. His 75 assists were second only to Gretzky (122!) and Oates (90).

And somehow, despite the most productive seasons of MacInnis’ career taking place in Calgary, #2 isn’t yet hanging from the Saddledome rafters next to #9 and #30. If Al MacInnis is such a hero in St. Louis, how come he isn’t getting his due in Calgary?

A few days into the NHL season, I’ve got a couple of questions that I’d like answered.

Who turned the central division standings upside-down?

Who’s been wearing Roberto Luongo’s jersey?

I’m sure things will average out over the course of the season, Luongo will put up all-star numbers, the Red Wings will content for the conference title, and Jarome Iginla will score a truck load of goals. But for now it’s fun to look at the early-season anomalies.

Just a few quick hitters after tonight’s game:

• Looks like Kipper and Phaneuf are back on form. Two of the three Canuck goals off of deflections and the other after a bad clearing attempt. 39 saves in the winning effort is a promising start. Phaneuf seems to be playing with that edge he was lacking last season.
• Coach Sutter said he likes to keep shots against to around 25. We’ve got a ways to go to get that. The guys need to be stronger on the clearing attempts, better at clearing rebounds, and more effective at getting into shooting lanes. I’m seeing a lot of guys going to block shots, but most of the chances still getting through.
• At 2-for-3, the powerplay is showing big improvements.
• Already getting good value from the depth guys. Bourque, Dawes, Prust, Sjostrom, Nystrom, Pardy, and Giordano all found the scoresheet tonight.
• Still can’t believe we picked Dawes off of waivers. I think this guy’s underrated and could do this year what Bourque did last year.

Hopefully we can see more of the hockey that was played in those first 20 minutes consistently this season. If we play like that against the Oil on Sunday, it’ll be a whitewash. Make it so, boys.