Warning: This review contains spoilers that may affect your enjoyment when reading the book yourself.

It’s taken me a month, but I’ve finished reading Theo Fleury’s autobiography Playing With Fire. Trevor and I made a lunch-hour trip on release day to pick up the book from our local Chapters, and I promptly began reading it. What awaited were dark revelations about a player I had once idolized.

I’m going to be a little critical here, so I will start off by saying that I do recommend this book. It provided an enlightening glimpse into the struggles and personality of one of the Flames’ marquee players. You are unlikely, however, to be encouraged or inspired by this book. If you grew up admiring Theo Fleury, the portrait of a heroic hockey player that you may remember is likely to be tarnished.

A number of things in the book resonated with me in terms of my perception of Fleury and his character. Immediately, with the image of Fleury holding a loaded gun in his mouth, the book sets a sensational tone. At times, especially early in the book, such as when discussing his childhood arm injury, it seems as though he could be exaggerating things for dramatic flair. I’m not suggesting that Fleury’s account is not factual; however, the storytelling comes across as hyperbolic.

The story quickly reaches the point that I expected to enjoy the most: a long chapter chronicling Fleury’s NHL rookie season and the Flames’ 1989 Stanley Cup victory. Sadly, most of this chapter read as though Fleury was narrating the 1989 Flames video yearbook (A video that I enjoy a couple times a year). Most of the highlights he spent time discussing may have been taken straight out of the transcript of the video. From this point through the remainder of the years spanning Fleury’s time in Calgary, the pace slows as Theo laments the state of the Flames organization through much of the 90’s. At one point he even asserts that if it were not for him there would not be an NHL team in Calgary today. I would suggest it is at that point that the reader gets the full impression of the size of Fleury’s ego, a trait that is on full display throughout the book.

After Fleury’s departure from Calgary, we get to experience his rapid unravelling. From a purely voyeuristic standpoint, this is where entertainment value of the book picks up again. The excitement wears off as the destructive cycle becomes repetitive, with Fleury bouncing in and out of rehab and back into an assortment of addictions.

As the book winds down, we reach a familiar storyline of redemption where Fleury gets clean, gets involved with his kids again, and becomes a successful member of the Calgary business community. While still carrying the impression of Fleury being cocky and self-serving, I encountered one of the most memorable quotes of the book. When telling about his return to hockey after a stint in rehab Fleury recalls still being an agitator on the ice and states that he quit drinking, he didn’t get a personality transplant. Theo Fleury is who he is, and despite his sizeable ego, he has accomplished great things and overcome great adversity. That, I think, is the overarching theme of this book.

It may sound like I’m being harsh and looking to pick the book apart, but that’s not my goal here. I believe this was an important book for Theo to write for the sake of finding closure. In that regard, I don’t think this book is written for us as fans and readers, but more as a way for Fleury to tell his story. Further to that, I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for him to write this book. I respect the bravery to put his life out in the open like this.

Perhaps the most redeeming moment in the book was contained in the epilogue when Fleury recalls his first full reading of the entire book and realizing how selfish he’d been. Maybe there was a personality transplant somewhere along the way after all.

Buy Playing With Fire at Chapters

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.

Prominent Flames blogger D’Arcy McGrath has summed up Theo Fleury’s return hopes nicely in a piece today over at CalgaryPuck.com. Since I’ve been following the Fleury storyline so closely, I was interested in D’Arcy’s thoughts, and I think he hits the nail on the head:

The Theo Story captured Calgary, and the little bugger’s shoot out goal and then two point performance did nothing to make the tale go away. However, don’t count on Sutter over looking his struggles defensively or his inability to keep up with the play. He’ll be cut sometime next week and start off his return in Abbotsford, but has shown enough that we may see him again. In the end the whole thing was a win win for Fleury and the Flames. He went a long way through this story in mitigating some of those old wounds from his departure and struggles off the ice in other NHL centers.

Beyond that, it’s done wonders for getting Flames fans fired up even in the pre-season. The seventh man is warmed up and ready to go for the regular season as well. It’s likely that Theo will be a big draw in Abbotsford as well, so there is still a benefit to keeping him in the organization. I do sincerely hope we see Fleury play in some regular season games this season, but not at the cost of icing a competitive team. That boils down to: I hope Fleury can bring his game up to the level required of the NHL.

McGrath has some other good thoughts regarding Backlund and some of the other prospects. Of course, if you’re reading my writing, you’ve probably already been to CalgaryPuck, but if you haven’t, today’s a good day to start.

Training camps are now open in the NHL, and the pre-season gets underway in just a couple of days. Now seems like a good time to do a little re-cap of what has been a rather eventful NHL off-season.

Let’s start with the news our Flames made:

• Signings - Obviously a move towards a stronger team defence this summer, adding Jay Bouwmeester and the likes of a solid 2-way forward in Sjostrom. Generally speaking, I think the forwards should be a pretty good bang for the buck, which will be necessary with what’s being spent on blue-liners. Nigel Dawes seems the type of player who will fit in well with this organization.
• Coaching change - Brent Sutter could make this team immensely successful with his intense and seemingly hands-on coaching style. No doubt that he will shift the focus of team play to the defence and make good use of some of the new player acquisitions.
• The vintage jersey and 30th anniversary crest - Thumbs up to the jersey and down to the crest. Not that the crest is so terrible, but it looks out of place on the jerseys that are otherwise absent of black. I’d have preferred the white vintage jersey, but the red is good, too. And is it just me, or does a 30 year anniversary crest seem like we’re just trying way too hard? The 25th year crest was elegant and fit nicely on the uniforms of the day, but that was only 5 years ago. Let’s give it a rest with the anniversaries already.
• Fleury’s comeback bid - For a guy that was the face of the franchise through most of my childhood, I don’t like the thought of his parting memory being assaulting a mascot and being suspended for substance abuse. It’s good to see Theo clean, and I hope he’s got the ability to crack the lineup in Calgary this year. How awesome would it be to see #14 in those vintage reds again? Maybe not quite this good as this, but still something to bring fans to their feet. And in case you’re wondering, yes #14 is currently unclaimed.

And in case you hadn’t heard, there was some other big news in the NHL this summer:

• Dany Heatley became my new hero - Honestly, I thought that maybe this whole trade request was just an elaborate scheme to punk the Edmonton Oilers. You know, make them think that they’re going to get an elite goal scorer and dump Dustin Penner’s contract in the same deal and then pull the rug out from under them. I don’t know why Heatley was booed during the Olympic orientation camp, because I would’ve gone down for his autograph after that one. End result is that Heatley goes to San Jose today for Michalek, Cheechoo, and a second round pick (in my opinion, a better deal than Smid, Penner, and Cogliano).
• The Phoenix Coyotes - This storyline is best described as a soap opera, and it hasn’t done much for the image of the league. I’d rather see this team in Hamilton (or Winnipeg, for that matter) as much as the next Canadian, but I still don’t like the way Balsillie’s gone about this. The NHL is a collection of franchises with a set of by-laws governing their operations. If you don’t want to play by those rules, you’re going to have a tough time getting into the game. I don’t [entirely] blame the NHL for this one.
• Misappropriated funds - Boots gets eight years for the financial shenanigans he pulled to become an NHL owner, and Len Barrie may be in hot water, too. Apparently, as long as you follow the league’s by-laws you can become an owner, regardless of whether or not you choose to abide by the criminal code.
• Hudler bails for the KHL - And the loophole that caused the IIHF to allow it was that his agent signed his arbitration request, not Hudler personally. Not that he’ll really be missed.
• Habs sold back to Molson family - Good to see local hockey-passionate owners taking the reigns again. Also, glad it’s not Celine Dion.

Now comes the fun part: playing some hockey. Bring on the season, and Go Flames Go!

It seems fashionable among hockey bloggers to take shots at Eklund these days, and I don’t want to pass up an opportunity like this.

Prior to free agency opening on Canada Day, Eklund provided a list of predictions over at Hockey Buzz. Let’s dissect what Ek saw as he was looking into his crystal ball a few short days ago.

* There will be less than 15 signings on the first day due to cap restrictions, but there will be several trade rumors and at least 3 trades that make signings happen…

According to TSN, 49 players signed contracts on July 1, and 33 of those are players changing teams. Eight of the players signed July 1 will earn an average of in excess of $5 million per season over the course of their contract (and that doesn’t count Bouwmeester, who signed on June 30). Cap restrictions be damned.

* Beauchemin to either Montreal or Tampa

He hasn’t signed yet, so Ek could still be right on this one.

* Ohlund to LA, NJ, or Anaheim (or maybe a real surprise)

Ohlund was the first free agent to move, and using “maybe a real surprise” to say “or any of the other 27 teams in the NHL” is cheating. Ohlund signed in Tampa.

* Saku Koivu to Anaheim

Nothing to report here. I’d be surprised if he ends up there.

* Knuble will re-sign with Philly

Signed with Washington.

* Hossa will be a domino after Heatley decides if he wants to go to Edmonton or NY

No waiting on Heatley. Hossa signs long-term in Chicago.

* Martin Biron will sign with Avalanche or Oilers

Nothing yet. Likely to be with the Avs, though.

* Cammalleri will sign with Buffalo, Nashville or Toronto

No, no, and no. The sniper goes to Montreal.

* The Sedins will sign in Montreal

The twins decide not to test free agency and opt to stay in Vancouver.

* Komisarek will sign in NJ or the New York Islanders, but don’t rule out a return to the Habs.

Toronto’s first big move was acquiring Komisarek.

* The Hawks will attempt to move Huet and bring back Bulin

Edmonton loses Roloson and doesn’t give Chicago a chance at Khabibulin.

* Havlat will not be signed today, but will likely end up back in Chicago

He was, and he didn’t. Headed to Minnesota on the first day of free agency.

* The Rangers will attempt to spend their money. Although I dont see it happening, expect Vinny rumors if Heatley goes to Edmonton.

They did spend a big chunk of cash on Gaborik.

* The Thrashers will make a few really solid signings, that no one will expect.

I’m not sure if I consider Antropov to be a “solid” signing, but we’ll give Ek the benefit of the doubt here.

* The Wild will get in on Hossa and make another play for Heatley (and possibly Vinny)

Not sure if they took a run at Heatley, but they did get Hossa.

* The Islanders will make a play for a major player as well. if not Komisarek, maybe Ohlund

No, Roloson doesn’t count as “a major player”.

* Kaberle to Boston for Kessel will be revisited.

I’ve got nothing to confirm or refute this.

So, out of 17 predictions, Eklund scores correctly on 3 (the Rangers attempting to spend their money, the Thrashers making a big signing, and the Wild getting Hossa). Four are still up in the air, and the remaining 10 are flat-out wrong.

I don’t want to be too critical; making predictions is tough business, and in the end, all it really does is fuel smart asses like myself in writing posts like this. But that’s the business Eklund is in, so of course I’m going to keep the scorecard on it. Maybe next year I’ll make some picks too, and we’ll see how “insider information” does against my random guesses and SportCenter education.