Burning Down the House

Negrin and Pelech Debut Tonight

I’m coming out of hibernation because I think this is pretty interesting news.

Due to continued injuries to the Flames defense, they today summoned top blueline prospects Matt Pelech and John Negrin from the team’s AHL affiliate in Quad Cities.

The 21 year old Pelech was the team’s first round selection, 25th overall in 2006. The pick was panned by many critical fans who were looking for a “sexier” pick, but after watching the big, 6′4 stay-at-home defenseman during preseason, I think Flames fans will eventually be happy with the pick. If Pelech continues to develop like he has, he could one day replace Cory Sarich as the Flames’ #2 shutdown guy.

John Negrin (3rd Round, 70th overall in 2007) is a lanky, smooth skating puckmover who just wrapped up his junior season with the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos and was on his way to join the AHL team for some pro experience.

Negrin looked nervous and raw to me when I watched him during preseason action, but he is certainly an intriguing package. I was able to see him in the WHL when he was with the Kooteney Ice (before being traded at the deadline) and he was very impressive at that level, logging workhorse minutes and leading his team in all situations.

Negrin and Pelech draw into tonight’s roster versus the Minnesota Wild because of injuries to Robyn Regehr (LBI, DTD), Adrian Aucoin (sick?), and Cory Sarich (bruised foot, DTD).

Warren Peters and Dustin Boyd were sent down to Quad Cities to make room for the incoming blueliners, creating a unique situation in the forward lines:

Bertuzzi - Jokinen - Iginla

Cammalleri - Langkow - Moss

Glencross - Conroy - Lundmark

Nystrom

Yup… Our 4th line is made up entirely of Nystrom.

Losing Streak

Two losses over the weekend to crappy southeastern teams drove me away from posting in case I said something I would regret.

Now, we can call it a proper losing streak.

Not that losing to the Devils is all that surprising; this is, after all, the hottest team since the beginning of the year 2009.

Even the return of Daymond Langkow, he who could give a Ford truck a run in a toughness competition, couldn’t spark the team into scoring enough to provide the win.

The Flames struck first, after a pretty cross-crease pass from David Moss to Olli Jokinen for the newcomer’s third goal as a Calgary Flame. At this point, I couldn’t help hoping that it would be a 1-0 victory, because you know it’s tough getting more than that against Brodeur when he’s still pissed from getting shelled the previous game.

But no… the Flames’ brutal power play reared its ugly head to yield a short-handed goal on a smart shot from Jamie Langenbrunner that somehow squeaked through a seemingly well-positioned Miikka Kiprusoff. The Devils made it 2-1 when a power play point shot from deadline acquisition Niclas Havelid rebounded off Kiprusoff directly to Brian Rolston’s waiting stick. Tough to blame Kipper there.

The Flames tender was looking slightly sketchy all night, letting some shots bobble through him and having to scramble to save others. Things came to a head in the 3rd period when the Finn was unable to freeze a puck around the net, resulting in several agonizing seconds of watching the puck fumble around the crease before a falling Zach Parise could somehow push it in with his stick. Remarkable puck focus and coordination on the part of New Jersey’s young star.

Curtis Glencross was able to finally put a second goal past Brodeur with something like 0.2 seconds left on the clock, but that only served to make an inadequate effort look somewhat closer than it was. Throughout the game, the Flames were unable to generate good enough puck movement in the Devils’ zone or enough traffic in front of Marty Brodeur.

Still, this game could have been a little more interesting for Calgary fans had they not given up that crushing short-handed goal early in the 2nd. That was my only thought when the puck was dropped for a meaningless faceoff as the final buzzer sounded.

I thought that Jordan Leopold played a good game, and Olli Jokinen led the visiting team in shots with 5. Dion Phaneuf was also decent, tying Jokinen’s 5 shots. Cammalleri, Glencross, and Langkow each had 4. David Moss’ return seemed to have a noticablly possible effect on the team, and its obvious that the strength of the Flames is in their forward depth when enough healthy bodies are around.

On New Jersey’s side, Langenbrunner had 7 shots, Parise had 6, and Brent Sutter proved that he understands the mechanics of the new NHL like few other coaches in the league.

Next up… Detroit on Thursday. Whoopie.

Instant Returns

Okay, even in my most optimistic moods I would not have predicted two goals for Olli Jokinen and another for Jordan Leopold. Go figure.

The Flames will need their top line to play like that if they want to hold the surging Canucks at bay. The trio of Jokinen, Iginla, and Cammalleri generally dominated the Flyers on every shift.

I had not really known that Jokinen was that big. I mean.. yes, I’d described him as a “big, strong centerman” but it was great to actually see him on the ice and see how much bigger than Iginla he is. Six feet, three and a half inches. After all these years, it’s a great thing.

Some in the media had questioned whether putting three “shooters” on the same line would be a good idea. Now, one game is just one game, but I would say that is not really much of a concern. Some of the plays they were making gave the impression that these guys had played together all season. They just seemed to know where each other would be… which makes sense, because that is where they themselves would be.

An example was in the 2nd period. Cammalleri had the puck near the blueline and fed a hard pass to Iginla at the side of the net. Iggy then completes a no-look, behind-the-back pass to Jokinen at the other side. Marty Biron (who started the 2nd period after Niittymaki was blitzed for 4 goals in the 1st) was forced to make a great glove save on the play, or else the visitors would have been up 5-0.

I really like the depth and intanglibles that the Flyers have put together on their four forward lines, but outside of Timonen and Coburn, their backend won’t cut it against the best teams in the league in the playoffs.

Leopold put in a very impressive first game with his old team; however as expected he lined up alongside Dion Phaneuf and did not bump Phaneuf and Aucoin for the first squad powerplay duties.

The roadtrip continues tonight as the Flames visit the Carolina Hurricanes. The game features Erik Cole as he returns to his former team, who dealt Justin Williams in a 3-way trade late Wednesday in a desperate attempt to see if a different former linemate could spark their young star center, Eric Staal.

Flyers Tonight & Deadline Deals

Wow.

As a Flames fan, I can’t remember the last time that trade deadline day was actually exciting, from a purely Flames standpoint. I mean, we NEVER pull off the big deal.

Then again, ever since Sutter arrived and started working within the salary cap world, he’s always talked about this team’s “window”, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to see that he’s identified this year as the time to go for broke.

I wonder… if Bourque and Bertuzzi hadn’t sustained those serious injuries, would the Flames have pursued Jokinen like they did?

I’ve held back from commenting ad nauseum on yesterday’s deals, but with the media going too far one way, and flames bloggers going too far the other, I feel its time to lay down my own, reasonable point of view.

Trade 1 - Nycholat, Wilson, 2nd Rounder for Leopold

I called this… just sayin’. Great acquisition, and as long as Leopold stays healthy it’s a lopsided win. Also, since that 2nd round pick is the one acquired by sending Tanguay to Montreal, this essentially means that Calgary and Colorado’s recent trading history boils down to a net transaction of Cammalleri for Nycholat, Wilson, and a few spots in the first round of the 2008 draft. I’ll take that.

Leopold gives the Flames an enviable top 5, with lots of depth to deal with the playoff grind (Pardy, Vandermeer, Eriksson, Pelech, and possibly Giordano if we make it far enough).

I’m not automatically expecting Leopold to be reunited with Regehr (Aucoin has been excellent this year) but it does give plenty of options.

As a sidenote, Ryan Wilson is an undrafted defenseman, signed as a free agent by the Flames, who was receiving rave reviews down in the AHL. I think he’ll one day make a decent NHL defenseman, but the road was pretty crowded with Regehr, Phaneuf, Sarich, Giordano, Pardy, and Pelech all standing in the way.

Trade 2: Lombardi, Prust, 1st Rounder for Olli Jokinen

Ahh, the big gamble. The first rounder is either in the 2009 or 2010 draft (Calgary’s choice), and given the depth of this year’s draft it could very well be pushed back to 2010 if the team gets bounced in the 1st round of the playoffs. God forbid.

There is a lot of sorrow right now among Flames fans that we have to say goodbye to Lombardi. His speed, hustle, defensive play, and (for some segments of the population) good looks will be sorely missed. Good luck in the desert, Lombo.

Also on the outs is Brandon Prust; a courageous and tough son of a gun, but by no means an integral part of this team.

In return, Daryl Sutter gets the big, strong centerman that he’s been hunting for years. Jokinen was quoted as saying that he’s excited about coming to play in a Canadian market… so maybe he’s been jealous of fellow Finns Saku Koivu, Sami Salo, and Miikka Kiprusoff while stewing in the Southern States?

Now, I’m not going to sit here and say that this deal turns the Flames into an elite team like Detroit, or lock myself in the basement worrying that we’ve just invited a “cancer” into the dressing room. I haven’t even watched Jokinen play enough to say for sure that he’s the star player that his best years in Florida (under Mike Keenen) seem to suggest he’s capable of being.

All I can do is look at the possible line combinations once Bourque and Bertuzzi return, and drool…

Cammalleri-Jokinen-Iginla (surely one of the best lines in the league.. on paper)

Bourque-Langkow-Bertuzzi

Glencross-Conroy-Moss

or maybe:

Cammalleri-Conroy-Iginla

Bourque-Jokinen-Moss

Bertuzzi-Langkow-Glencross

or

Bertuzzi-Langkow-Iginla

Cammalleri-Jokinen-Moss

Glencross-Conroy-Bourque

I’ve also heard the criticism that going from Lombardi’s $1.817M cap number to Jokinen’s $5.25M will mean that Cammalleri will be unceremoniously booted off the team and/or cripple the team in the future. My arguments here:

1. You have to be pretty naive, stupid, or both to believe that Cammalleri’s 43-40-83 pace was ever going to be back in Calgary. Even if you don’t buy the rumours that it’s his dream to play in Toronto, the stats alone will demand more money than Jokinen is making.
2. If Jokinen disappoints, he can always be dealt prior to the draft to another team desperate for a big center (there’s always plenty) to get back into the 1st round.

Maybe the best part is that this should give the Flames’ offense a shot in the arm while they are without the injured troika of Bertuzzi, Langkow, and Bourque. For instance, the lines tonight versus the Flyers could look like this:

Cammalleri-Jokinen-Iginla

Glencross-Conroy-Moss

Boyd-Lundmark-Nystrom

Not awesome, but not bad either.

Trade 3: Kevin Lalande for a 4th Rounder

Great trade for Columbus, here. They get a guy who only ever exceeded expectations and was creating all sorts of problems in the Flames’ crowded goaltending pipeline. He can go play in Syracuse, and he stands a much better chance of cracking the NHL as a backup behind Steve Mason without having McElhinney, Keetley, and Irving in the way.

That said, it’s never a bad thing when you can turn a 5th round pick one year into a 4th round pick and not be miss a beat.

At the end of the day, Sutter has man’d up and rolled the dice, upgrading his team without parting with any of the prospects that he considered core to the team’s future (Backlund, Nemisz, Wahl, Pelech, Negrin, Aulie) and only losing a single important roster piece (sorry Prust, you’re replacable) in the process. Will it work?

Who knows.

Flyers Gameday Notes

Apparently fantasy junkies will get their wish, at least for the first shift… Jokinen will be slotted between Cammalleri and Iginla to start the game.

David Van der Gulik has been sent down to Quad Cities.

Kris Chucko has been recalled. Finally we can see what he’s capable of. If you get past the fact that he was a 1st round pick, you may actually appreciate having him in the future as a big and rough roleplayer who can chip in offensively every now and then. I watched him at the Flames’ prospect development camp last summer and he’s a wrecking ball.

If there was ever a reason to fork over the cash for a Pay-Per-View, this is probably the game. The Flyers are one of the few teams that can match or exceed Calgary’s forward depth, and they’re not suffering from injuries at the moment. Probable Flyer scoring line combos:

Spank-you very much, Ottawa

Even missing their entire 2nd line (Bourque, Langkow, Bertuzzi), the Flames were still able to pull out a convincing 6-3 victory in our nation’s Capital last night.

Actually, come to think of it, since Ottawa barely has a 2nd line to speak of, it was probably a fair fight from the onset. (oooh, burn!)

Jarome Iginla continues to punish teams who innocently had nothing to do with his 2009 scoring slump, potting two and doing his best to dominate the first half of the game.

Matt Lombardi centered Iginla and Cammalleri on the first line, setting up the first goal with his blazing speed and generally doing a pretty good job.

It seems easy to sit here and type that I’m a huge fan of David Moss the day after he gets his first career hat-trick, but anyone who knows me personally knows that its true.

Moss’ second goal of the night was an absolute snipe… off the far post and in as he skated into the zone on the right wing. I love guys that can score from way out.

I’ve said before that I think Moss is a more important signing in the summer than Cammalleri. Now don’t flip out on me here; I’m not saying that he’s a better player. But for half or even a third of the money that Cammy will get, I think you can’t argue that in terms of cap efficiency, it’s a better move.

As awesome as it was to see Dion Phaneuf single-handedly wreck Ottawa’s two top players in one shift, I have to say that I was impressed to see Jason Spezza come to Heatley’s aid and drop the mitts with Phaneuf. That takes balls, and shows a lot of heart too. Good sign for a Sens fan, I would think.

Looking forward, the Flames continue their 2 week long road trip tomorrow in Philadelphia. Recent waiver wire acquisition Lawrence Nycholat is expected to have joined the team by then, although it’s anyone’s guess as to whether he’ll make it into the lineup or not.

Regarding Nycholat, Sutter described him as a Giordano-type player. I’ve never really seen him play, so I can’t comment on that, but I think it’s a bad sign when you’re getting the guy who was booted off his former team to make room for Ossi Vaananen. Still, as I said yesterday, the Flames need the depth.

Rumour on TSN right now is that the Flames are on the verge of acquiring Olli Jokinen. I’ll be sure to update if this is confirmed… it would certainly be an exciting acquisition, depending on the price.

Breaking News: Flames acquire Leopold (who called it?) for Lawrence Nycholat, a 2nd round pick, and a prospect.

I love the acquistion of Leopold, but I’ll reserve judgement on this trade until I find out who the prospect is.

Update: The prospect in question is Ryan Wilson.

Iggy #1 Flame; Deadline Looms

Today, the record books finally show what we’ve all known for a long time: Jarome Iginla is the greatest Calgary Flame. With all due respect to past heroes like Lanny MacDonald, Al MacInnis, and the previous points leader, Theo Fluery, none of those guys grew and suffered along with this team like Jarome has. He is a superb human being and member of the Calgary community, a wonderful leader, and one of the classiest individuals in this fine league. Bravo Jarome.

I won’t talk much about the game itself… stuff like that will happen in an 82 game season. Suffice to say that the real story was that on a night when Kiprusoff was not at his best, the entire team’s defensive play in their own zone wasn’t nearly good enough to compensate.

I was actually in attendence, and so long as you could get past the fact that the home team lost, it was actually a heck of an entertaining game to watch as a hockey fan. Vinny Lecavalier and Marty St. Louis are always a pleasure, and it looks as though Steve Stamkos will indeed be a special player. I’ll be writing more about him at Shallow Frozen Water tomorrow.

Deadline Dealings?

Let’s review what we know:

1. Darryl Sutter loves Western Canadian boys. In the last few years he has brought in guys like Brad Stuart, Jamie Lundmark, Wayne Primeau, Jim Vandermeer and Mike Leclerc.
2. While there were a few Europeans that helped this team in during the 03/04 drive (Ville Nieminen, Marcus Nilsson), the Flames were far more desperate for help back then and in recent seasons we have seen the exodus of Europeans from Calgary: Roman Hamrlik, Marcus Nilsson, and Anders Eriksson are all, in one way or another, no longer on the starting lineup.
3. According to nhlnumbers.com, where I take all my salary numbers from, the Flames have $1.14M in cap space. This means that for the remaining 20 games of the season, they can accomodate players whose cap hit’s total about somewhere in the ballpark of $4.7M.
4. After Bourque’s injury, and with Primeau not looking ready to return anytime soon, the Flames no longer have the depth at forward to be able to part with a guy such as Matt Lombardi without getting another forward back. They can go into the playoffs with Jamie Lundmark if absolutley necessary, but I guarentee that they won’t want both him and another farmhand, if they can avoid it. So any deal sending Lombardi away is kind of unlikely. That leaves picks and prospects as their bargaining chips.

Now, the Flames could use another scoring forward (just like every other team), a defenceman, and a back-up goalie. Contrary to popular opinion, I actually think that if they can find help at the skating positions, they’ll be content to just go forward with Curtis McElhinney. After all, the last veteran back-ups they brought in (Curtis Joseph, Jamie McLennan, and Brian Boucher, if memory serves) didn’t exactly change the team’s fortunes. If I’m right, then the team recognizes that their only hopes ride on a healthy Miikka Kiprusoff, and that if he goes down, they’re Stanley Cup hopes go down with him anyway.

Defencemen

I thought that this might be a need even before Mark Giordano’s season ending shoulder injury, and the need becomes doubly important now. I don’t think Jim Vandermeer and Adam Pardy, as impressive and surprising as the latter has been this year, inspire a lot of confidence in the Flames decision makers. So what options are there?

Dan Hamhuis - The young predator defensemen was apparently being shopped around for scoring help in January, and his youth, defensive responsibility and mobility, and cheap cap hit for one more season ($2.0M) would make him a near ideal candidate. Oh, and he’s from Northern BC to boot. The problem is that all those things that make him desireable will also make him more expensive. The Preds would almost certainly want a roster-able forward coming back - see point #4 above. Conclusion: too pricey.

Jay Bouwmeester - Alright, this isn’t going to happen. Before Giordano and Bourque went down, I think you could have proposed something like Gio, Lombardi, and a 1st round pick and not be totally out of line. But Florida is looking to make the playoffs, and no way do they trade their best player unless they get back at least two players who help them do that. Now, there is no doubt in my mind that Bouwmeester would be a homerun pickup for a playoff drive, but then he would almost certainly not be able to fit into Calgary’s salary cap plans going forward.

Niclas Havelid - Well, guess he’s not an option now. Oh well, he’s a Euro anyway.

Now we get to the two names that really occur to me as both interesting and possible:

Jordan Leopold - Unrestricted and cheap, he’s finally enjoying a healthy season in Denver just as that team bottoms out. A great two-way guy, a fantastic skater and puckmover, and a guy who had previous success  while paired with Robyn Regehr. And, since he’s a UFA and Colorado is last in the west, I wonder if the normal concerns about trading with a divisional opponent might not apply. Could he be had for a 2nd round pick? I would love this acquisition. It would also leave Calgary with room to pursue a back-up goalie if they wanted to or another forward for depth.

Derek Morris - Another guy with a history in Calgary, and almost certain to be traded. He would add Regehr-ish toughness and experience to a bottom pairing. He would also likely be fairly cheap, one would think. However, does he solve the mobility issues that Calgary faces with their current blueline personnel, sans Giordano? I would much rather pay more for Leopold.

Those are the interesting names at defense for me, and if it’s not one of those guys then it will probably be a typical Darryl Sutter move and be someone no one has even thought of… someone in the Jim Vandermeer mold. Meh.

Forwards

This is a less pressing need, in my mind.

Dominic Moore - Well, assuming Brian Burke doesn’t get him inked to a new contract before Wednesday, then he does become an option. There might be a lot of competition for him though, given that he’s had a very good breakout season and been given more than enough attention for it because of where he plays.

Trent Hunter - Just like Bill Guerin on the weekend, the 28 year old Hunter was held out of tonight’s game versus the Avalanche after skating in the warm-up. Could this mean that a deal is imminent? Before this news, I wouldn’t have thought so; he’s entering the prime of his career and is seen as a gritty leader on the young Islander team. That said, assuming he might be available…. he’s a sparkplug RW who can play any forward position and shoots a lot of rubber. He would fit like a glove in the Flame’s layered offensive system. This would be a near ideal acquisition.

*Update* - Apparently Hunter just aggravated a lingering lower body injury during the warm-up. Sigh.

Ryan Smyth - Alright, I’ll confess. I picked this idea up from someone else. I also have my doubts that his contract (a $6.25M hit for 3 more years) would be a good idea for Calgary to take on. I mean, if you’re going to do that, why not give the money to a younger and more dynamic Mike Cammalleri. Still, the thought of the former Oilers hero with the Flaming ‘C’ on his chest is enough to make a guy giggle.

Mark Recchi - Forget Gary Roberts, whose name has been linked to Calgary in media rumours (and who looked old and terrible on Sunday), how about the cagey vet who can actually still skate, QB a powerplay, and rack up 5 assists against the Flames on Sunday. A very tempting target.

Chris Neil - Bryan Murray is supposedly open to trading him if he can’t get him signed. And Neil’s abrasive nature and willingness to play his role will likely make him a moderately sought after commodity. That said, he would be an upgrade over Andre Roy on Calgary’s 4th line.

If it’s not one of those guys, then, again, it will probably be a plug 4th liner that we’ll likely groan about at first. But I trust Sutter, and so should you.

Costly Victory

Huge overtime win last night for the Flames. With the two points, they maintain their 8 point lead on the Canucks and stay tied with the Blackhawks, both of whom also won last night. By allowing the Wild to gain the loser point, they also add comic frustration to the mess of teams racing for the final playoff spots in the West.

The winning goal came off of Adrian Aucoin’s $30 dollar wood stick. He threw the puck at the net and it somehow bounced it. Not a beauty, but he did get robbed by the post on a clear breakaway (rare event, for him) just moments earlier, so there is some justice in the goal.

The win came at with cost for the Flames though, as Rene Bourque went down with an apparently serious ankle injury. Bourque had scored his 21st goal of the season earlier in the game, extending his point streak to 6 games (4-4-8), but caught his leg in an awkward position as he fell to the ice and had to be helped off.

Bourque has missed significant time with an ankle injury before (20 games in 2007), so one wonders if this is the same ankle, or a completely different injury.

Either way, the word is that he will miss a good chunk of the rest of the season, and even if he is back before playoffs, you know that it will take him a while to get back into the flying form that made him so effective recently. Bourque had been an important scoring threat for this team, contributing to the dangerious grinding depth that has won them 34 games so far.

Will this change Darryl Sutter’s plans for the trade deadline? Some deadline rumours had the Flames moving a forward (Lombardi, for example) in order to add to their defensive depth (I have seen Klesla or Hamhuis on the internet… yeah, real reliable sources, hah).

The Flames do have some players who can fill Bourque’s spot internally. Jamie Lundmark was signed in the summer for just this purpose, and he is leading the team’s AHL affiliate in scoring and by all accounts flourishing with the leadership role he has been given there. Lundmark can be a frustrating player; he can either wow you with the offensive creativity that made him a 9th overall pick in 1999, or he can leave you beating holes in your couch from giving the puck away in key situations.

Jim Vandermeer returned to action last night, and he’s a decent 4th line grinder as a winger. But he won’t come close to replaceing Bourque’s offense. Still, perhaps his presence on the forward lines allows Dustin Boyd to move up and gain more icetime. Boyder has been inconsistent this year, but an increased role may be just what he needs to gain the necessary confidence.

Other call-up options include offseason free agent signing Kyle Greentree, prospects Kris Chucko, Carson Germyn, or David Van der Gulik, or previous call-up Brett Sutter. Of these, Greentree may be the best fit due to his offensive upside. He may have even been on this team from the start had he not sustained a serious injury in training camp.

So, there are options available in-house… but we all know that Sutter likes to leave nothing in the bag when he feels that his team can be a contender. Any ideas?

I am off to Mexico today, to sip on Pacificos and slushy drinks for a week. Hope the Flames can get it done while I’m gone!

Arghhh…

Frustrating shootout loss to the Canucks tonight.

In the words of Daniel Sedin, the Nucks “didn’t play very well tonight”. Yet, in spite of that, they come away with two points and I’m sure many typed words praising their resiliency and hard work.

Whatever. Robyn Regehr uncharateristically failed to clear the puck with under 20 seconds to go in the first period (a frame during which the Flames utterly dominated their visiting rivals), and Ryan Kesler was able to tie the game. Just like that, a period of hard work is made inconsequential, setting the table for a stubborn road win for Luongo’s team.

Kesler would add another goal, deftly batting in a chest-high puck in the 2nd, but my pick for the Canuck’s best player on this night is easily Roberto Luongo. The captain played fantastic in net all night, and is clearly rounding into form after struggling thus far in 2009 after returning from groin troubles.

There were certainly plenty of positives for the Flames. Jarome Iginla broke out of a horrendous goal-scoring slump after converting a neat pass from Craig Conroy in the first. Iggy played with tremendous jump and creativity all game, and he looks to be over his struggles.

In between Kesler’s two goals, Langkow scored his 18th of the season on his 3rd or 4th whack at the side of the net, somehow backhanding the puck out of the air and squeezing it through the seemingly impenetrable Luongo.

Langkow centered David Moss and Curtis Glencross on what I guess could be called the 2nd line. Or maybe the 3rd line? Anyway, both Langkow and Moss played very solid games. Sportsnet commentator Mike Rogers said that “Moss has done nothing but win battles all night”.

When the Canucks were really pressing during a powerplay midway through the third period, Miikka Kiprusoff made save after save of the highligh variety to keep the game tied at two, culminating in one of the more ridiculous saves of the year that I’ve seen from any goaltender. After finding himself sliding way out of net (as he is sometimes apt to do), he dove across and stoned Kyle Wellwood (why is he still playing?) with a diving, mid-air paddle save that almost defies comprehension.

Rene Bourque, who played a strong game on the top line alongside Iginla and Conroy, put the home team ahead by one with 6:52 to go in the game, seemingly icing the victory after Kiprusoff’s earlier heroics. It was his 20th of the season, and marks the first time he’s reached that milestone in the NHL.

But with Luongo sitting on the bench and the puck pinned in the Flames’ end for far too long, a Kevin Bieksa slapshot somehow found its way through the traffic in front to tie the game yet again.

Overtime would solve nothing, and a very crafty Pavol Demitra would score the only goal in the shootout to give the Canucks the valuable extra point. Todd Bertuzzi almost pulled off the spin-o-rama to keep the gimic going, but he unfortunately nailed the post nearly dead-on with Luongo in no position to make the stop.

I hate shootouts. Oh well… they won’t help anyone once the playoffs start.

8 Shots - Burrows

7 Shots - Bieksa

6 Shots - Moss, Phaneuf, Kesler, D. Sedin

4 Shots - Iginla, Bourque, Langkow

3 Shots - Cammalleri, Glencross, Lombardi, Demitra, Bernier

Close Call in LA

What a fantastic game. A young and coming LA team carried the play for large stretches while hosting the Flames on Thursday night, but they were constantly frustrated by the inhuman play of Miikka Kiprusoff, finally getting shutout 2-0 after 60 minutes.

The Flames skaters didn’t necessarily have bad games; they were just a little flat-footed at times in their own zone. They still managed to pay attention to most details on the defensive side of the puck, and this game could have had a different ending had they not cleared out so many rebounds or blocked so many shots. They were also able to kill off seven powerplays (including  two 5 on 3s).

Mike Cammalleri scored his 29th of the season off a pretty feed from Bertuzzi. Iginla picked up an assist on the goal to at least get a point in the game, but you could tell that he was really fighting the puck for much of the game. I’ll give him another game or two as he hits rock bottom before he turns this thing around.

Phaneuf’s open-ice hit on a rushing Drew Doughty as a sight to behold. Cory Sarich played an expert game defensively. David Moss was close to scoring more than a few times.

Dustin Brown is a star, by the way. Add him to Kopitar (or add Kopitar to Brown?) and the other young stars in the making and you have a Kings team that will be extremely fun to follow in the coming years.

Next game: Saturday vs Phoenix. I’ll be down in Montana for the weekend, so unless they regularly air Flames games, I’ll likely miss it. Shame, that can be another fun team to watch.

Duck Hunt Backfires in Anaheim

Last night, the Flames lost a hard-fought match in overtime to the Ducks, losing to the formerly mighty team for the 2nd time in 5 days.

I was attempting the always difficult “watch game while playing poker and drinking beer” maneuver last night, so if there are some inaccuracies in what I saw below, that is probably why.

It’s funny, I had thought that the Flames were taking it pretty hard to the Ducks for the first half of the game, but when checking the boxscore this morning I see that we were actually outshot 12-4 and 14-9 in the first two periods. Go figure.

Despite that, it was looking pretty good for the Flames after getting a huge goal from Todd Bertuzzi early in the first. I don’t think we’ve seen Bertuzzi score with a slap shot from the point prior to last night. My memory of the games gets especially foggy as it went on, but it seemed to me that Bertuzzi came out especially strong against his former employers. He made one spin-around, behind-the-back pass to Iginla at the side of the net that was just fantastic.

The top line of Bertuzzi - Langkow - Iginla seemed to be playing with a lot of jump. It’s only a matter of time before Iggy busts out of his current scoring slump. Even if he didn’t make it onto the scoresheet, he may have saved a goal when he backchecked feverishly and made a diving pokecheck to stop that ever-crafty Scotty Niedermayer on a clear break-away.

The great thing about this team - and I can say this even after a loss - is that the depth allows Mike Keenen to throw out any number of different line combinations and have at least one of them click for huge goals on any given night. (Most games, anyway).

Again last night, Curtis Glencross played a strong game and was rewarded with a 2nd period goal to restore the one-goal lead. You had to see the replay to know for sure that the puck had even gone in the net, it was in and out so fast. Glencross played with Moss and Conroy, and they looked good when I was paying attention too.

David Moss, by the way, is getting stronger all the time. A friend really jumped all over me when I said a while ago that it should be a bigger priority to get Moss signed to a cheap, 3 year contract before trying to lock up Mike Cammalleri. With Cammy playing so well (and towards more and more UFA $$$), I think this becomes even more true and I stand by it still.

Cammalleri played with Bourque and Lombardi for the 2nd straight game, and I thought they had a decent game too. Lombardi in particular looked to be continuing his strong play fromt he game versus Montreal.

In the end, Brenden Morrison was able to tie the game at 2 early in the 3rd. Some shenanigans in front of a beleagured Kiprusoff as the clock hit 0:00 meant that overtime started with 3 on 3 hockey (still don’t understand why) and Scott Niedermayer again burnt the Flames with the winning goal. He has got to be one of the best guys in the league to have out there in overtime when there is that much open ice out there.

Star of the game for Calgary was almost certainly Miikka Kirpusoff. His stats might not show it, but he is having a really, REALLY strong season after his traditional slow start.

One note about Phaneuf: despite being unable to stop Niedermayer in OT, Dion had a strong game. He was rushing the puck with authority all night. He’s taken some heat this year from people that expect him to be a Norris-candidate (stupid NHL), but you have to remember that a big part of his value is still in his enormous potential.

However, it did look to me that his big hit (leading to a Pronger roughing penalty when he jumped Dion afterwards) looked (to me) to be a clear elbow to the head. I’m still not sure how it did not result in a penalty. I think that if the other player had been hurt, we would be hearing much more about it and I’m sure there would be some people calling for a suspension. Then again, I didn’t hear boo about it from either the Sportsnet broadcasting team or the radio guys this morning, so maybe I just didn’t watch the replay enough.

Let’s hope the boys can put that one behind them and be ready for the hot Los Angelas Kings tonight. It’s a late affair; a 8:30 MT start.