This off season was a busy one for the Calgary Flames. Gone, are some of the finesse players like Tanguay and Huselius and in, are several new gritty players like Bertuzzi, Cammalleri, Glencross, and Bourque. This season could prove to be very interesting. What are my thoughts on some of the key moves?

Alex Tanguay
First, I give full props to Alex - this guy is a complete class act and is one of the most talented left wingers in the NHL. I’m sure he knew for a while that he would probably end up being traded, but never once did he complain and he always played with full intensity. He will be sorely missed on the power play as his puck moving, passing, and puck handling skills were fantastic. My only complaint of Tanguay was his lack of ability to finish plays. How many times last season did we see Tanguay in on a 2-1 break and almost EVERY time he opted to pass to his partner. He became too predictable for the opposing defense.

Kristian Huselius
There were times last season that this guy was a magician with the puck. His control and accuracy were unparalleled. The only problem… the rest of the time he was invisible. He could score in streaks but he could also disappear for weeks at a time. I must admit, Huselius grew to be one of my all time favourite Flames and I thoroughly enjoyed watching his creativity. I think the Flames will will miss him greatly this year and realize how important of a player he actually was.

Mike Cammalleri
Any feelings of despair that I had seeing Tanguay leave were quickly replaced with excitement when I heard the news of Cammalleri becoming a Flame. This guy is young, quick, and great with the puck and should fit well into the Flames longterm plans. His obvious downfall is his proneness to injury - if he can stay healthy, this will be a fantastic pickup for the Flames and will easily replace Tanguay in the Flames lineup.

Todd Bertuzzi
Hmmmmm. Based on Bertuzzi’s past, I think this particular signing will go down in Flames history as one of the most controversial signings ever. I know for a fact there were a LOT of unhappy Flames fans as a result. I still am not sure what to think. I am trying to find the silver lining in the situation but sometimes it seems difficult. I cannot say that I like him as as a person, I can only hope that he can contribute to the team as a player and have a successful year. His play alone could make or break the Calgary Flames this year. The Flames are looking for him to put up some big numbers and make some big plays. In order to do this, he will need to overcome and ignore the large amount of media attention that he will receive now that he’s back in a true “hockey city”.

One thing for sure, he will add a huge physical presence and be a constant threat in front of the opposing net. This should increase the Flames power play efficiency as we now have our own “Holmstom”.

Rene Bourque
I don’t think anyone is expecting Rene to come into town and be a superstar. He will, however, come in and play consistantly on the 3rd or 4th line, and add some secondary scoring and depth to the Flames forward lines. I suspect a successful season for him would see him rack up 35-40 points.

Curtis Glencross
Regardless of how well Curtis plays this year, I like this guy simply based on the fact that he was smart enough to leave the Oilers and come play for the Flames. It’s always nice to scoop a player from our provincial rivals. Curtis is will be a solid player that will fit in well on the 3rd for 4th line.

Those are my thoughts, let’s hear yours!

The Vancouver Canucks obviously wanted this game more than the Calgary Flames did. They seemed to win all battles, and were first to all the pucks. The Flames “Jekyll and Hyde” play has plagued the team throughout the entire season and tonight was a terrible time for Hyde to show up. This was a crucial game for the Flames to keep their chances of first place in the Northwest division alive. Now they simply need to focus on making the playoffs.

I have 2 major complaints about the Flames in the game tonight:

First, laziness. Sure they played last night and I am sure they are tired, but all teams have to battle through that so that cannot be used as an excuse. At every turn, the Canucks were faster, smarter, and played harder than the Flames. Naslund’s goal in the first period and Linden’s goal in the second were a perfect examples of this. In both cases, the Flames should have been able to be the first to pounce on the rebound and clear the puck, however, in both situations, the Canucks player wanted it more and demonstrated it by picking up the rebound and scoring.

Second, the Flames played a very undisciplined game tonight. They let their emotions get the best of them and paid the price for doing so. The Canucks (very effectively) got under the skin of many of the Flames players. The team was short handed for almost the ENTIRE 3rd period and the final 6-2 score could have been much worse. Cory Sarich took 5 straight (stupid) penalties in the 3rd period. Even the captain joined in the goonery as he took 3 straight penalties purely out of frustration.

Now, I am an extremely competitive person and I have been known to let my temper flare during certain sporting events. But professionals at this level need to be able to retain their composure and not turn into goons when the get down by a few points. This only makes the team look bad while the opposing team looks like saints. Keenan needs to calm everyone down and come back as a composed group for the critical game versus the Oilers on Tuesday.

Go Flames Go!