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.

Thoughts on the Draft, another Sutter, and more…

Draft: Darryl Sutter takes a defenceman in the 1st round… big surprise!? He loves his defence and it’s gonna be a good ride for this young kid in the Flames organization.  With that said, the Flames did take 4 forwards and a goalie in rounds 3-7 (no pick in round 2) so it wasn’t a big splash of a draft but we’ll see how the Flames develop these kids!

Brent Sutter: As the THIRD Sutter brother to coach this team, I’m finding it hard not to give props to the NJ Devils for letting him walk and negotiate with another team… At least we’re in the other conference.  With that said, Brent has the best pieces to be the most successful of the Brothers to coach this team.  With his focus being leadership and defence, the Stars WILL be held accountable.  Brian Sutter was a great coach (Like MIke Keenan, probably wouldn’t fair that well in the ‘New’ NHL) but Brian was given Dwayne Roloson; Tyler Moss; and Rick Tabaracci in his first year… Fred Brathwaite; Ken Wregget; (an unproven) J.S. Giguere; Andre Trefilov; Tyler Moss and a kid named Tyrone Garner as goaltenders in his second season and finally, he had Brathwaite; Giguere and Grant Fuhr in his third season… With Kiprusoff and McElhinney, he’ll have stability and a slew of young ‘tenders in Matt Keetley and Leyland Irving.  Any Sutter coaching in Alberta has enough pressure in itself, I’m thinking Brent’s up for the job!

Free Agents: What to do? Darryl made it clear that he’s not counting on the FA market, and by trading the rights to Leopold (who they couldn’t come to terms with) for a chance at Bouwmeester, that was a great move to have a top four defence potentially look like Regehr, Phaneuf, Bouwmeester and Sarich with Giordano and Pardy filling things out. (we still have guys like Matt Pelech and John Negrin as solid prospects.)  Hate to see two-way Vandermeer go but we get back a decent young player who knows the organization and is well liked.   Finally, would you let Cammalleri and Bertuzzi walk? I say yes… WIth Jokinen here, no room for Cammi and no chemistry… Bertuzzi, unless he takes less money, no worth it…  Aucoin is a solid D but money speaks too loud and too high so let him walk… Lundmark may be the only Cgy UFA I go after if I’m Darryl Sutter… Among the RFA’s, Pardy and Boyd are a no brainer for the price and years you get for them.

Always a Pleasure!

Naoto Yuki

I’ll keep this short and sweet…

1) Darryl Sutter - Simply put, he put this team in a tough position cap wise and put too much faith too soon in young Dion Phaneuf to carry the defence.  Every knowledgable fan I’ve spoken with says we were better off with Lombardi who has too much promise for a high rental like Jokinen.

2) Mike Keenan - Darryl Sutter’s hand picked coach to replace Jim Playfair has had two full seasons and there was just no stable element to his coaching… Pulling Kipper in Game 7 of the 2008 playoffs when the Flames only had 8 shots for and 30+ against; line juggling like he was rolling the dice; playing his goalie 75+ games… call it what you like, he didn’t get the job done.

3) Mikka Kiprusoff - His stats have dipped every year since the Cup run and 85% of fans will say it’s his work load and that comes back to Sutter but he didn’t steal any games in the playoffs and the cracks were more visible than ever.

4) Dion Phaneuf - Was it the increased work against better players? Dating Elisha Cuthbert? Whatever the case was, you don’t become the whipping boy in Calgary if you’re a smart, heads up player but he wasn’t… I like the previous entry by Josh that may have pointed to the hidden secret of his downward play… http://calgaryflames.net/2009/01/11/explaining-phaneufs-performance/

Always a please and there’s Always next year (Geez, I’m sounding like a Leaf fan…)

naoto

Random thoughts on the game…

Tonight, the Calgary Flames finally came prepared to play a full 60 minutes and played some of the best hockey that I have seen all year. They were finally able break down the “Bulin Wall” and contain the Blackhawks first line scorers.

While talking with some co-workers this afternoon, we were discussing the importance of the “energy guys” for the Calgary Flames and what they needed to do to help the Flames succeed. Players like Glencross, Moss, Nystrom, and Bourque needed to have more significant roles and provide some secondary scoring. Wow, did they ever pull through tonight. They all looked amazing and played with great intensity.

I still think there are some guys out there on the ice that need to change their game drastically. Todd Bertuzzi has been frustrating to watch this entire series. I have lost count of the number of times he has made blind drop passes, only to be intercepted by the Hawks and hurried up the ice on an odd man rush. Dion Phaneuf, although playing better of late, seems to lack any sort of emotion. Dion is at his best when he harnesses his emotion to battle against the opponents top lines.  It also baffles my why they continue to play him incessantly on the power play. The power play is struggling tremendously right now and I think that Dion is one of the major reasons why

Lastly, the needless goonery by the Blackhawks in the final minutes of the game was a disgrace to their team. While it may have increased the intensity heading into game 4, a player like Adam Burish (and his coach) must be penalized for their wreckless actions. In the end, it just made the Chicago players and coaching staff look bad.

That being said, game 4 should be a dandy!

At beating themselves…

I will not give credit where credit is not due and the Blackhawks are NOT the stronger team in this series… The Flames have played great hockey… but have yet to find the magical line combination.  I remember a good 12 years back when the Philly Flyers had their Legion of Doom Line, (John LeClaire-Eric Lindros-Mikael Renberg) which was an unstoppable force ’til they played Detroit in the finals…  Similarily with the Flames in 2004, if Conroy, Iggy and Marty (Gelinas) were on the ice, good things happened.  In my earlier blog, I mentioned Line chemistry as one of the keys to a Flames series win and I’m more convinced than ever that certain guys need to play together to be successful.  My Lines you ask? (maybe you didn’t)

(RW-C-LW, Bold = Keystone player for that line)

Line 1: IGINLA-Conroy-Cammalleri (Iggy simply needs to be the best of the best)

Line 2: Glencross-Jokinen-BOURQUE (Olli needs the size, speed and protectin of a guy like Bourque, plus the grit and hands of Glencross to be successful… Other possibility is to put Bertuzzi in for Glencross)

Line 3: Bertuzzi-LANGKOW-Moss (Langks is the keystone player of this series… if Langkow can get it going, the team plays well behind him.)

Line 4: NYSTROM-Lundmark-Roy (I can see Eric Nystrom getting a similar goal like dad did for the Islanders because of his style of play and determination… he can fit into any line and give it the gusto it needs)

Defence: I’ll leave this part blank ’til Regehr and Sarich are back playing at a 75 - 80% level…

I’m still in the agreement that Calgary will win this series but Chicago moves the puck up faster than most teams but that hasn’t stopped Calgary from dominating teams like that in past series’.  The Bulin Wall has many cracks and he’s been more lucky than good in this series.

Flames in 7!

Always a pleasure!

naoto