To get things started…

Today’s NHL is not without it’s holes but overall it’s a great game right now… With that said, I have a few things I would love to see changed or modified… off the top of my head…

Let the Ridicule or Praise begin!

1) HOME ICE ADVANTAGE… Being a fan of Sports Architecture, I love the idea of every baseball field being different giving the home team a certain advantage having 81 games to play at home (Boston has the Monster, Wrigley the Ivy and Comerica the distant outfield walls. For the NHL, I would like to see a framework of Rink Dimensions so any team can build their rink from a Standard NHL size to as big as an IIHF size rink (for European based teams like Detroit, build a bigger arena). Further to this, the characteristics of the rink in terms of design should benefit the home team… Bench colours, Goal colours (instead of the standard red, black posts for the Flames… Green for the Canucks…etc.), Rink trim colours…etc.

2) GOALIES… I don’t mind the equipment size but I’d like to see those NO-GOALIE zones removed because that plays to strengths of Goalies who can stick handle and the pace of the game picks up… I also like to see Goalies who can’t handle those areas get stuck and look foolish on the goals they give up… I’d also make a “No Check” zone for Goalies around the net but if they leave this area, it’s open season for skaters to check goalies… seeing the Swedish Goalie in the World Juniors with his ‘entitlement’ attitude of skating wherever he wanted without consequence sickened me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrH0ukdOG-c 

(For a good montage of clips, click above… Jacob Marcstrom of Sweden is in Sean Avery Category)

3) PLAYOFFS… Simple but a game changer… Top Eight teams from each conference, with the top four point-getting teams ranked 1-4 (Division leaders guaranteed a spot in the top 4).

4) ALL-STAR GAME… Any sport, the fans are given too much say for a starting lineup. EAST: Crosby; Malkin; Kovalev; Komisarek; Markov; Price… WEST: Kane; Toews; Getzlaf; Niedermayer; Campbell; Giguere… ANYTHING WRONG WITH THIS??? As distressing as this is, the Media seems to have a good grasp on who should start with the Coaches/GM adding the rest. The Fans should have a say in who participates in the Skills Competition. My Picks? EAST: Crosby; Malkin; Ovechkin; Markov; Streit and Thomas… WEST: Thorton; Datsyuk; Getzlaf; Boyle; Rafalski and Backstrom…

For a read of the NHL Official Rule Book, please go to the following link.

http://www.john-gates.com/popups/rules/index.htm

The amount of debate in the NHL right now on a variety of potential rule changes has gotten me thinking: what would the ideal NHL look like?

Obviously there are going to be wide and differing opinions on this question if it is presented to different people, so, I’m presenting it here to different people. Bring me your wide and differing opinions!

I’d like to invite my fellow CalgaryFlames.net bloggers to post their own thoughts here. If you aren’t a CalgaryFlames.net blogger, you can email me at schrojo@gmail.com and I’ll post the insightful comments in another post in a week or so.

So, have at it? Want to change the rules or equipment? Maybe the buildings. Even the culture of the sport is fair game. I’ll post my own here soon!

Wow, what a game! The Calgary Flames hand the San Jose Sharks their first regulation home loss of the season. In fact, it’s the first time the Sharks have lost in regulation in the Shark Tank since February 14 of last season (that is truly unbelievable). This game was intense and had everything you would expect from two of the premiere teams in the NHL. It felt very much like this game was being played in May.

Watching the Oilers vs. Wild game just prior to watching the Flames vs. Sharks was like watching a WHL pre-season game prior to an NHL playoff game.

I don’t recall seeing a Flames squad with this much confidence. They seem undaunted. They are calm, cool, and collective in any situation and don’t seem to panic when they fall behind by a goal or two. This speaks to the maturity of the club and the fantastic job being done by the coaching staff.

Curtis Glencross (one of the phenomenal off-season pickups by Sutter) was incredible at both ends of the ice in the game. It’s unfortunate that his name didn’t show up on the score sheet - he very much deserved a point or two tonight. I am curious to know what the Oilers management was thinking when they let this guy go. It was also nice to see Phaneuf get that monkey off his back. A hard working goal and a game winner to boot.

Kipper continued his stellar play tonight. His confidence level seems to be rising exponentially along with the rest of the team. After his shaky start to the season, he has really picked up his game. He leads the NHL with games won and is now 4 games ahead of Nabokov in second place. I know Kipper really likes to play a ton of games, and he seems to be handling the pressure fine. I only hope he can continue to perform at this level while playing so many games.

This weekends games should be amazing!

Thoughts from tonights game at the ‘Dome…

It was a messy game by both teams as players blew tires (falling) and the Flames just couldn’t get it out of their own end.

Harvey the Hound was quite busy busting his drum and making my section jump three times like a gun was going off…

Flame fans know good Hockey and tonight they knew both teams played like the Toronto Maple Leafs.

I think Kipper made the team look better than they really were…

Keith Tkachuk got sandwiched between two Flame players and played dead…

The officiating got worse as the game wore on…

Curtis Glencross scores Calgary’s first goal, but it was on his own net… hey, what goes around comes around as the Blues’ Jay McKee scores on a nift crease pass by David Moss on his own net…

No Bertuzzi, which meant that Jim Vandermeer got back into the lineup as a forward and was ejected on a misconduct penalty in the second period… Welcome Back Jimmy!

I was actually impressed with the way Andy Murray is having this undermanned Blues’ team play… pesky and annoying hockey a la Ken Linsman

Funny Stat… Kipper outscores Iggy (Mikka with 1A and Iggy with no points) It’s amazing to see that the Flames no longer rely on Iggy the way they used to because of this years balanced scoring.

I’m thinking that it was the 4 days off that lead to the sloppy play tonight because their skating, shooting and overall play seemed off in the timing department.

Mike Cammalleri has some moves! Great one on Barret Jackman for his 2nd of the night!

Looking ahead… an Away then back to back Home and Away games this week, I have a good feeling that Calgary can hand San Jose their FIRST home regulation loss, but need to be careful of letting down their play against Phoenix when they come home and they’ll face a hungry Avalanche team who is improving their play as of late.

Always a pleasure!

If you follow the Flames, I probably don’t need to tell you that Dion Phaneuf’s numbers have been disappointing this season.

In 41 games, Dion has put up 3 goals, 23 assists, 26 points, and a -8 +/-. Let’s extrapolate that over 82 games so that we can compare it against the first three seasons of his career.

A good thing to note here are that Phaneuf doesn’t miss many games. So far he’s missed a grand total of three regular season games over three and a half NHL seasons. Pretty impressive for a guy who plays as physical as Dion. We also see a positive trend in terms of the assist and point totals; however, the goals and plus-minus totals show a shocking drop-off through the first half of this season.

At his current pace, Phaneuf’s goal total would be a third of his previous worst total. Worse than that, though, is a +/- that is 21 goals worse than his career-worst. And this is on a team that is currently winning their division and performing as one of the better teams in the NHL.

I’ve spent some time trying to explain the reason for these numbers. It was late Friday evening when I fired up NHL 09 on the Xbox and realized what Dion’s affliction is: it’s the “EA Curse” (known to football fans as the “Madden Curse“).

Who else has been afflicted by the NHL version of the curse?

Owen Nolan (NHL ‘01) - Nolan’s went from playing 78 games in 1999/2000 to only 57 games in 2000/01. He also saw his goals-assists-points totals drop from 44-40-84 to 24-25-49.

Mario Lemieux (NHL ‘02) - After his comeback to the Penguins in 2000/01 that saw him score 76 points in only 43 games, Lemieux was hampered by injury through much of the 2001/02 season, only playing 24 games (although he did tally an additional 31 points in that time). Maybe leading Canada to an Olympic gold medal could overshadow the curse here, but it was the beginning of a decline that saw Lemieux only score 36 goals in the parts of the coming three seasons that he participated in before retiring for good.

Jarome Iginla (NHL ‘03) - Phaneuf’s teammate was coming off of a 52 goal season in 20001/02 where he was a Hart Trophy finalist and an integral part of Canada’s Olympic gold medal win. Expectations were high, and Iginla’s numbers dropped off: 35 goals and 32 assists in 75 games, 29 points fewer than the previous season. It took a few seasons, but by 2006/07 Iginla found his way back into the 90+ point range and has kept on that pace ever since.

Dany Heatley (NHL ‘04) - 41 goals and 48 assists in 2002/03 had expectations high for Heatley in 03/04 until the car crash that took the life of teammate Dan Snyder. After recovering from the injuries he sustained, Heatley managed to play in 31 games, scoring 13 goals. He never played for the Thrashers again after that, heading to Ottawa for a change of scenery.

Markus Naslund (NHL ‘05) - Averaging 93 points in he prior three seasons, Naslund played only 13 games in 2004/05, all with Swedish club MODO, during the NHL’s lockout season.

Who wasn’t hit by it?
Vincent Lecavalier (NHL ‘06), Alexander Ovechkin (NHL ‘07), and Eric Staal (NHL ‘08) - No curse for these guys, unless you call Ovechkin’s drop from 106 points to 92 points a huge slide. His +2 to -19 slide is worth noting.

As the Flames continue to win night in and night out, we can hope that Phaneuf overcomes the effects of the EA Curse to better help the team to continue that roll.

Thoughts on the Sharks vs. Flames…

Probably the most disciplined, energetic, close to perfect period I have ever seen from the modern day Calgary Flames (Post Lockout)… They jumped on the Sharks, were hungrier and stole the puck in the neutral zone a half dozen times.

I don’t get excited when Bertuzzi carries the puck into a zone but give it to him behind the net and good things happen… the first Daymond Langkow goal looked like it was scored in slow motion… as Don Cherry would say, “Kids, keep your stick ON the ice and good things will happen!”

Funny scene was 4 Maple Leafs fans in full Maple Leaf wardrobe sitting a row behind us…

This Sharks team doesn’t get discouraged easily and a lot has to do with their new Head Coach… Todd McLellan is the Anti-Wilson and will not call out a player publicly and you can see the team enjoys him as a coach…

Kept on hoping for a repeat of the Corey Sarich hit on Patrick Marleau but instead got 2 rounds of Alexei Semenov vs Andre Roy and although the first one was a quick tussle that ended in a 2 minute roughing call for each, the second tilt in which Roy landed a nice left to knock back Semenov, that was also 2 minutes each for roughing… Roy won the fight but the Sharks LOVE their 4 on 4 hockey…

Kipper stops ‘em when they need him to…

Mike Grier took a nasty tumble after scoring his goal, head first falling back into the boards… ouch!

Dion Phaneuf is clearly fighting some mental battles and Darryl Sutter mentioned a point that he’s now playing against the best of the opposing team game in and game out, which he wasn’t doing in his first 2-3 years… and also that he’s now paired with a guy like Adam Pardy where before he’d have a guy like Bryan Marchment or Roman Hamrlik to guide and protect him.

Who’s gonna sit when Vandermeer returns? Or should they keep things status quo? My bet is that Pardy and Giordano will take turns sitting.

Who would you rather have now? Husselius, Nolan, Tanguay, Nilson and Yelle OR Bertuzzi, Cammalleri, Glencross, Bourque and Roy??? AWESOME pick-ups for Darryl Sutter…

Michael Backlund (Swe) was in attendance tonight, wonder if he was irked when they showed highlights of Team Canada at the World Juniors (by the way, the Flames have 9 players that have played in that tournament… Iginla, Aucoin, Langkow, Cammalleri, Boyd, Phaneuf, Regehr, Nystrom [USA] and Kipper [FIN])… Backlund is headed for the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL but is eligible to play in Quad City and also Calgary if the chance ever materializes… as confirmed by Darryl Sutter today.

Notable stats: Jarome Iginla had NO POINTS; Corey Sarich and Mark Giordano were each +3 and Dion Phaneuf a whopping 26+ minutes on the ice…

David Moss is impressive with his speed and quick shot, but comes with the odd lapse in judgment…

Adam Pardy is making the most of his opportunities, although Darryl Sutter wasn’t impressed with him in the Chicago game (pointed to 2 goals that were a result of bad play by Pardy)

Had a great guy and his wife sitting next to me from Red Deer, Alta. Just cherrished every minute he was at the Dome…

Flames Alumni night as they honoured Lanny McDonald and it was funny when the crowd stood to it’s feet for Lanny, he just lay back in his club seat and waved indifferently… maybe his heart is still with the Maple Leafs? Nah, he won the Cup with Calgary! Good to see him at the Dome!

Thoughts for the remainder of the homestand… Will the Flames lower their intensity against the Islanders? It’s happened too often where Calgary will play down to the opponents level… (see losses vs. the Stars, Jackets, Coyotes…etc.) Same question when the Blues come to town… The last time I saw St. Louis play at the Dome, Jason LaBarbera was their goalie and Jarome Iginla got the shootout winner!

Iginla Shootout Winner March 12, 2007 vs St. Louis  (I took this bad quality video myself…)

Always a pleasure!

500pts couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy!

But what is it that Connie brings to the Rink game in and game out? A friend of mine we’ll call MKB is zealous about the Flames. A season ticket holder for some time now, he was here when the Flames acquired Conroy from the Blues (with a draft pick that ended up being David Moss) for Corey Stillman. For every game I attended and sat next to MKB, I would hear stories of the players they meet and who signs autographs while leaving the players parking lot and who doesn’t… stuff like that. MKB developed a closer relationship with Craig Conroy, why? Because Conroy appreciates every fan that comes to the rink to support the team. MKB met a family at the Saddledome and the families’ daughter was the biggest Craig Conroy fan so they took her after the game to meet him and he didn’t disappoint. Not only, did they get a poster and stick signed, but they also got pictures and spent a good 20mins talking with him (MKB was entertaining the Conroy kids and even gave each of them a pink Flames touque!).

Craig Conroy brings passion, energy and a ‘lead by example’ mentality that is contagious. Reporters and fans alike LOVE him for his quotes and interactions but coaches like Keenan (coached Conroy in St. Louis), Sutter, Quenville and even Jaques Demers know exactly what they’re going to get. A guy who brings it to every game and doesn’t make excuses when things slump or look grim. Someone who delights in the success of his teammates over his own and someone who can thrive under hard nose coaches like Quenville, Sutter and Keenan.

Was it a coincidence that Iginla scores 96pts (A Rocket Richard Trophy winning 52 goals) in his first full season with Conroy (who had a career high 75pts)?

500pts may not get Conroy a ticket to attend the HOF induction ceremony but when it’s all said and done, Craig Conroy will never be declined for a free dinner at Flames Central and while he’s there, he will never decline a person who wants to sit and talk shop or thank him for playing is heart out for the city of Calgary. I’m sure he won’t forget the fans like MKB who have a deep love for athletes that offer nothing but their best to the team, the city and the fans!

Congratulations on point #500, Craig Conroy!

Always a pleasure!

Thoughts from my FIRST Battle of Alberta at the ‘Dome!

Before I could even get comfortable in my seat, the Oilers score and their fans make sure to turn to every Flame fan and let them know they scored.

The Flames kept their composure coming back from every 1-goal lead the Oilers took.

The difference between the Oilers and Flames? The Flames seem to EARN every goal they scored last night.

I found out why Zack Stortini has the name “Huggy Bear” (the good ‘ol Clutch and Grab)

Wasn’t impreseed with Craig McTavish sending out Stortini for the last minute of the game… Thankfully the Flames ignored his calls for a fight… what a BUFFOON! (Both McTavish and Stortini)

Flame fans were there for the challenge! (For every “let’s go Oilers” chant, they would immediately respond with “Oilers Suck!”

I had the honour of seeing my first Oiler fan vs. Flame fan fight (although the Flame fan seemed to be the instigator, the Oiler fan was ejected… hehe)

I always have room for a Mike Cammalleri one-knee, one-timer… love those!

The Saddledome Scoreboard crew need to update their sports information because they still have the Oklahoma NBA team listed as the “Sonics”

Thankfully, Dwayne Roloson does not play for the Flames… PAGING Tommy Salo! PAGING Tommy Salo! (Salo’s still 37 yrs old, why not give him another chance?!)

 Best Video of the night: Oiler fan with a mullet is discouraged in Edm with a ball and chain and stops at the “City of Champions” sign and drinks, then tries to cut off the ball in Chain in Red Deer and finally, gets to the ‘Dome and has Harvey cut his hair, change his clothes and the final scene is a newly rejuvinated Flame Fan entering the ‘Dome with 2 Calgary Ice Girls!

Mike Keenan chews through ice like a Coffee Grinder…

Do the Flames need a 3rd Jersey?

Never get tired of hearing Johnny Cash at the end of the game! (Ring of Fire? Timeless!)

What’s one area the Flames need to upgrade? Backup Goalie… Still not convinced McElhinney can do what Joseph did in last years playoff… come in to hold the fort.

Was VERY impressed with Dustin Boyd’s goal… flashes of his World Junior HC days…

Still kind of nervous seeing Pardy paired up with Phaneuf… can’t wait ’til Vandermeer gets back!

Who leads the Flames in HITS? Curtis Glencross (who’s second? Rene Bourque!)

Eric Nystrom can play for me anyday… a player who knows his limited role and excels in it!

Quick thoughts on the Oilers… Craig McTavish is probably gone at the end of the season… Sheldon Souray is overrated and the core group of Horcoff, Moreau, Cole, Souray, Visnovsky, Pisnani, Staios and Garon are all 30yrs or older… Will Hemsky be around when he becomes an RFA or UFA?  Gagner is fast but he’s struggling this season…

Thoughts moving forward… The Preds start a 5 game homestand against Vancouver and Calgary is next on Jan. 3… I don’t see the Preds in the Playoffs this year and they’re having a very ‘average’ season… Wouldn’t be surprised to see Curtis McElhinney get the start to see if he can get his 1st win!

The Flames play a back-to-back with their 2nd game against a rested Blackhawk team who remind me of the 2006 edition of the Edmonton Oilers (slightly overachieving and very FAST!).  They will have a stinging after a GREAT outdoor classic game against the Wings and will be rested to play the Flames at the United Centre.

The Flames finally come back home but take no comfort in taking on the San Jose Sharks.  Nabakov is playing about 5 games less so far this year compared to last year and is always a headache for Flame fans… no Torrey Mitchell and no Jeremy Roenick as of this blog and I’ll have the honour of being in attendance again for this game and hopefully Conroy will have point no. 500 by that time and we’ll be on a 6 game win streak gunning for no. 7!

Always a pleasure!

Iginla doesn’t score and Kiprusoff saves the day…

Sounds like we were transported back to the days of Darryl Sutter’s coaching… It literally was on many occasions with the relentless checking by everyone and commitment to good ‘ol fashoined elbow grease.  Knowing that Minnesota just played the night before and got creamed by an up and contending Blackhawk team, Calgary took to the body and didn’t let up except for the occasional break here and there.  Phaneuf started the hit parade dishing out a vintage check early in the 1st period and the Flames didn’t get lulled into Minnesota’s neutral zone trap (Agh! Lemaire!) but kept on getting the puck deep into Wild territory and won in typical Darryl Sutter fashion… a throw-the-puck-to-the-net goal that went off Langkow’s skate and a hustle play by Nystrom that lead to a SHG!  All the meanwhile, Mikka looking calm and collected while standing his ground against a late onslaught by the Wild.  It’s not that Iginla was struggling, far from it but it wasn’t on him to carry the team to a victory… I’m sure if we ask him, a hat-trick with a loss vs. no points and a win, he’d take the latter.  Being in Calgary since the summer of 2004, I’ve seen this team with three different coaches and I can honestly say that this years squad is the one that resembles the Cup-run team of 2003-2004, only this year, there is more talent and more strength.

When you replace Donovan, Leopold, McAmmond, Gelinas, Clark and Saprykin with Phaneuf, Moss, Cammalleri, Glencross, Bourque and Bertuzzi, you’ll see that you haven’t lost grit but you’ve simply added talent and consistency to Iginla, Regehr, Conroy and Kipper!  I can say this much after watching tonight’s game at the Dome, many fans weren’t that worried with a 2-1 score because the tenacity and grit and a solid Kipper held the crowd together.  Although there was much outrage when the ref’s called a delay of game penalty to Mark Giordano, after the tying goal was scored… (the Ref’s blew it and knew it! and hoped it wouldn’t affect the game in anyway… this according to the Hot Stove Lounge on the FAN 960 post game show)

Good to see that we don’t need to rely on Iginla to bail us out when we have 3 solid lines that can contribute consistently with a fourth line that keeps opponents on their toes.  Looking forward to watching my first Battle of Alberta at the Dome on Wednesday!

In closing, I’d hate to be a season ticket holder for the Minnesota Wild… that neutral zone trap tempts you to slip into a coma… It almost happened tonight ’til Langkow ignited the crowd!