Calgary Flames

Talk to Me About Depth Sutter

September 10, 2010

People who know me or read my blog, understand that I do not care much for Darryl Sutter and the way he has chosen to run this franchise. Well, Sutter’s comments on Thursday at the Flames Charity Golf tournament struck a chord with me, as they tend to do. Before I rant though, let’s start with a good quote from the farmer himself: "This is going to be the best training camp since I've been here; somebody isn't going to be happy." He was of course referring to the abundance of players the Flames have signed under one way deals and the negative balance the Flames currently hold in reference to the Salary cap. This was a good statement, albeit a little contrived, but still it...

The Flames Speak

September 2, 2010

Derrick Newman

4 Comments

It’s the start of September 2010 and summer is over. Well, in Calgary, it never really began weather-wise, but that's neither here nor there. For the Flames, it was time to give their “Hot House” members (people who are on the waiting list for Flames season tickets) an update on the team. The Flames invited all of their HH members to a lunch with Ken King - the Flames President. He answered questions on the team for about an hour, as well as the potential for a new ‘Dome, the new TV contract, and the waiting list for season tickets amongst other things. My friend/fellow blogger and I had the opportunity to grill him about the issues we cared about - Olli Jokinen and Ales ...

Flames Add Depth in 'Office' Positions

August 20, 2010

Derrick Newman

3 Comments

With the addition yesterday of Michel Goulet as their Western Professional Scout, the Calgary Flames have slowly surrounded Darryl Sutter with some much needed help for the upcoming season. Sutter has been on the hot seat with many fans, including myself, since the end of the season due to the Flames disappointing finish in last years regular season. With the addition of Jay Feaster as an Assistant GM and now Goulet as one of their top professional scouts, the Flames have surrounded Sutter with not only good hockey people, but winners, in every sense of the word. “You win, you always do!” Goulet has been with the Colorado Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques franchise for the better part...

Conroy is back...unfortunately

August 12, 2010

Derrick Newman

1 Comment

The Flames signed Craig Conroy to a two-way contract today. He will make the league minimum $500,000 if he plays in the NHL. He is 38 years old and in the twilight of his career. He scored all of THREE goals last season in 63 appearances. Now, I don’t mind that the Flames stay loyal to someone, but stay loyal to him by making him a coach or a consultant or something, maybe a man-leader (that’s a man cheerleader for those confused). The only thing he was good for last year was face-offs and I think that was the reason we traded for Matt Stajan in the first place. Plus, if you need extra help on the dot, your Captain is pretty darn good at winning the puck duels. This just c...

Flames TV...I have some issues

August 11, 2010

Derrick Newman

4 Comments

The Flames and Roger’s Sportsnet just announced a deal on Tuesday that would see the cable outlet broadcast Flames games until the year 2020. They will broadcast at least 58 Flames games every year and be the clubs Official Television Broadcaster and digitial service provider. It was also announced that fans won’t have to “rely” on Flames Pay-per view for games not broadcast on Sportsnet West; hopefully meaning RSN took up the PPV games, so the team doesn’t have to rip fans off by making them pay $15.99 to watch ONE game on television. The front page headline on the Flames website read: “NEW DEAL, MORE FLAMES ON TV.” Now doesn’t this sound odd, “MORE FLAMES ON TV.” T...

Back to the Future?

August 8, 2010

Derrick Newman

2 Comments

Marty: "Oh, this is heavy, Doc. I mean, it's like I was just here yesterday." Doc: "You were here yesterday, Marty, you were." Remember this? When Marty and the Doc were forced to go back to 1955 to steal back the ‘Grey’s Sports Almanac’ from young Biff so that he wouldn’t become rich and powerful and eventually kill Marty’s Dad George and marry Marty’s Mom Lorraine. Marty was experiencing a bit of deja-vu as he was back re-living November 12th, 1955 but, this time, from a different angle. Well I have this sneaking suspicion that Olli Jokinen will probably have a very similar reaction when he touches down in Calgary for training camp in September. A guy that was, for al...

Hitmen Nyren in Flames prospect camp

July 27, 2010

Derrick Newman

0 Comments

Calgary Hitmen defenceman Giffen Nyren does not belong to any National Hockey League team; not yet at least. After being invited to the Minnesota Wild camp last summer, he finds himself in a familiar place in the summer of 2010; on Saddledome ice. The only difference is that he is wearing the flaming ‘C’ on his chest and not the menacing emblem of the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen. Nyren clearly turned some heads in Calgary during the Hitmen playoff run as he was granted the invite by the Flames soon after the WHL Champions returned home from the Memorial Cup. He became one of the Hitmen’s most dangerous weapons from the blue line as he potted 5 goals and added 13 assists during Ch...

What if Kipper plays bad?

July 19, 2010

Derrick Newman

0 Comments

When the Flames gave up three or more goals, they only won 10 of 37 games; proof that scoring goals was a serious issue for the team. However, despite the inability of the Calgary Flames to put pucks into the opposing net, rarely did they have too many issues with keeping the puck out of their own net. They ranked 5th in the league in ‘goals against per game’ with 2.48; which ranked them 1st amongst non playoff teams. They ranked 7th in the league in shots against per game and they had a goaltender who defied gravity for most of the year. Miikka Kiprusoff was a Vezina worthy goaltender last season. I know, I can be a little biased but anyone who watched Kipper in any number of games w...

The Flames Did What?

July 2, 2010

Derrick Newman

5 Comments

I woke up on Canada Day feeling like it was Christmas day as the NHL Free Agent Frenzy was upon us and all sorts of excitement was about to unfold. Some big moves right off the bat that saw Gonchar sign with the Sens. I saw that Vancouver had thrown a pile of money at Manny Malhotra. I had to look twice when I saw that New York gave Derek Boogaard $6.5 million over 4 years; he hasn’t even scored a goal in 4 years. I didn’t think it was possible for Sutter to top Sather in the race for dumbest GM’s in the league. Little did I know that before the day was out, the entire hockey community would be pointing and laughing at the Calgary Flames. First off, the Flames signed Alex Tanguay t...

Flames Cap Crunch Continued...looking at the forwards

June 17, 2010

Derrick Newman

0 Comments

After dissecting the backend and goaltending situation of the Calgary Flames I thought I would conclude by taking a further look into the quagmire of grinders and checkers that are the Flames forwards. Currently the Flames have 10 forwards signed at $28,954,166. The rundown of players looks like this: Jarome Iginla –Age 31, $7,000,000 Daymond Langkow-Age 32, $4,500,000 Matt Stajan – Age 25, $3,500,000 Rene Bourque- Age 27, $3,333,333 Niklas Hagman – Age 29, $3,000,000 Ales Kotalik – Age 30, $3,000,000 David Moss – Age 27, $1,300,000 Mikael Backlund – Age 20, $1,270,833 Curtis Glencross – Age 26, $1,200,000 Nigel Dawes – Age 24, $840,000 Where do you start? ...