There is no doubt that the "messiah" of the Calgary Flames, Darryl Sutter made a huge splash during the off-season by acquiring names like Bertuzzi and Cammalleri, while letting the love/hate relationship with Kristian Huselius walk away to the Blue Jackets. Mix that up with a few minor adjustments and the return of Mark Giordano (which I am estatic about) from Europe and you get the new look Flames, but really is that enough to move past the trend of another first round exit from the playoffs? Sure, one may argue that this is a new team with a fresh swagger with greater potential than in recent years, but the way I see it is old habits are hard to break. Since the magical playoff run of the flames during the 2003-2004 season, Calgary has failed to make it out of the first round of the playoffs, and I can assure you I am not the only one who is tired of the one and done. With the first preseason game under Mike Keenan's belt (a loss to the Panthers of Florida), perhaps now is a good time to preview the Calgary Flames for the 2008-2009 season.
First, the movers; Todd Bertuzzi will undoubtedly bring that grit and personnel that the Flames have lacked in front of the net in years recent, but the addition of Mike Cammalleri might be the diamond in the rough that the flames have been looking for, especially on the much maligned power play. For the Los Angeles Kings last year, the 26 year old left handed sniper netted more than half of his 19 goals on the power play, and a healthy steady dose of the same this year will be enough to take the overbearing burden off the Flames' captain Jarome Iginla, at least on the PP. Bring in the speed of players like Curtis Glencross (16 goals last season) and grit of Andre Roy (108 PIM in 63 games) and the Flames seem to have all the necessary tools to compete with any team in the league.
Onto the shakers: Will the real Matthew Lombardi please stand up? Frankly speaking, it is time for Matthew Lombardi to come out of the shadows and do what we have been expecting of him for the past two seasons, put the puck in the back of the net. Over the past couple of years there have been games where Lombardi shows flashes of brilliance with his breakaway speed, or tenacity on the penalty kill, but the lack of killer instinct can't help me from comparing him to Paul Ranheim from back in the day. If the flames are to be an elite team, able to compete with the Red Wings of the world (did I mention they added Hossa to their Stanley Cup team) it will need players like Lombardi to shift from the mediocre mindset of the past to a breakout one.
Let's not forget the mainstays: Of course the bulk of the Flames' identity and success is garnered behind the performances of their star captain and goaltender, but it may be the play of the bone-crunching defenseman, Dion Phaneuf who we look to to turn the tide and aim towards another northwest division championship. Often compared to Scott Stevens, Phaneuf, now entering his fourth season needs to realize that although the big hits make evening highlight reels, it is the "W" that is recorded in the standings. Last season was perhaps the most impressive for Phaneuf finishing with 17 goals and 43 assists and with another average performance waning from Adrian Aucoin on the horizon; it is up to Phaneuf to be the leader once again from the back end group.
Clearly the Flames have all the right tools to be right in the mix among the elite in the Western Conference, but now it is about what the flames do in the playoffs, the regular season doesn't matter anymore and bluntly put we want the big shiny silver thing back in Calgary. read more