**Rating system for “Plus/Minus” Series**
+3 = Major Upgrade
+2 = Upgrade
+1 = Slight Upgrade
0 = Same as prior year
-1 = Slight Dowgrade
-2 = Downgrade
-3 = Major Downgrade

Team: Calgary Flames
2010-11: 94 points, #10 in Western Conference

GOALIES

Returning: Miikka Kiprusoff, Henrik Karlsson

Arrivals: N / A
Departures: N / A

Grade: 0

No changes between the pipes for the Flames, although an aging Kipper means they will soon have to start thinking about a long term solution in goal.

DEFENSE

Returning: Jay Bouwmeester, Mark Giordano, Cory Sarich, Anton Babchuk, Brett Carson

Arrivals: Chris Butler, TJ Brodie or Brendan Mikkelson
Departures: Roby Regehr, Adam Pardy, Steve Staios

Grade: -2

I almost gave this a -3, but the potential of Chris Butler and the possibility of prospect TJ Brodie making the team resulted in a grade of -2. Calgary will struggle on the backend this season, which will ultimately cost them a playoff spot.

FORWARDS

Returning: Jarome Iginla, Alex Tanguay, Olli Jokinen, Matt Stajan, Curtis Glencross, Rene Bourque, David Moss, Mikael Backlund, Brendan Morrison, Niklas Hagman, Tim Jackman, Tom Kostopoulos

Arrivals: Daymond Langkow (return from injury), PL Leblond or Raitis Ivanans
Departures: Ales Kotalik, Freddy Modin

Grade: +1

Calgary finished with a surprisingly high goal total last year, and are bringing back virtually the same group of forwards for the 2011-12 season. The return of Daymond Langkow from injury is definitely an upgrade that will give the Flames a lot of balance and depth on their top 3 lines.

OVERALL RATING: -1
2011-12 Prediction: #10-#13 in Western Conference

An aging goalie, a weak defense and the lack of a true number one center will keep Calagry out of the playoff again. Unfortunately, their core is getting old while most teams below them are improving with the addition and development of young prospects.

The 2010-11 campaign for the Calagary Flames was a disappointing one, and while the good news is that some good young players are just about ready to become NHL regulars, the bad news is that the Flames roster will be virtually identical to last year’s.

In goal, Calagry will have Kipper and Karlsson, which is the same tandem used last season. On D, out are Robyn Regehr and Steve Staios, and in are Brett Carson and recently acquired Chris Butler. That’s a downgrade if you ask me. It is assumed that Calgary will be able to bring back UFAs Adam Pardy and Anton Babchuk. Up front, the Flames already have 13 players signed, so barring trades or Nik Hagman signing in Europe, this is how they will line up at the start of the season. Calgary did rank #3 in the West in goals for, so its not a surprise they wanted to have the same group of forwards. If injuries strike, top prospects TJ Brodie (D) and Greg Nemisz (C/RW) will be able to step in and have an impact.

CALGARY FLAMES 2011-12 ROSTER (using CAPGEEK CAP CALCULATOR)

FORWARDS
Alex Tanguay ($3.500m) / Olli Jokinen ($3.000m) / Jarome Iginla ($7.000m)
Curtis Glencross ($2.550m) / Matthew Stajan ($3.500m) / Rene Bourque ($3.333m)
Niklas Hagman ($3.000m) / Daymond Langkow ($4.500m) / David Moss ($1.300m)
Tim Jackman ($0.550m) / Mikael Backlund ($1.270m) / Tom Kostopoulos ($0.916m)
Raitis Ivanans ($0.600m)

DEFENSEMEN
Jay Bouwmeester ($6.680m) / Mark Giordano ($4.020m)
Adam Pardy ($1.000m est) / Anton Babchuk ($2.500m est)
Chris Butler ($1.000m est) / Cory Sarich ($3.600m)
Brett Carson ($0.575m)

GOALTENDERS
Miikka Kiprusoff ($5.833m) / Henrik Karlsson ($0.862m)

BUYOUTS: Nigel Dawes ($0.141m)

CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS
SALARY CAP: $64,300,000
CAP PAYROLL: $61,233,333
CAP SPACE: $3,066,667

With an aging #1 goalie, a questionable defensive corps and a seemingly overpaid forward group, it doesn’t look like 2011-12 will be a playoff year for the Calgary Flames. Fans need to be patient as Jay Feaster will need a good 2 years minimum to replace the older players with better, younger and cheaper talent. Looks like the Jay Bouwmeester critics will once again be able to point out that he has never played an NHL playoff game in his life.

It’s taken a while but the stink of last season has finally come off for most Flames fans. With the upcoming draft Calgary is able to look towards the future and that means the draft.

First off I’ll suggest that there is a better than 50/50 chance the Flames won’t end up using their 13th overall pick in this years draft. There are a lot of rumblings that depending on what is in play the Flames would love to get into the top 6, and if they can’t then trade down to add a few more prospects to the system. If the Flames find a way to move up I would guess that they will be doing so to take C Sean Couturier or LW Gabriel Landeskog. Couturier has a chance to develop into a true #1 play making center who is solid in the own zone in the NHL. A position the Flames have been trying to fill ever since trading Joe Nieuwendyk. Landeskog is the player I am most interested in. The captain of the Kitchener Rangers was the first European player to be the captain of the Rangers. He is honestly in the mold of a Jarome Iginla on the left wing with the style of game he plays. Also a very well spoken and intelligent player, he will certainly be a captain in the NHL someday.

If the Flames do stick around at #13 I’d think they will pick Mark McNeil whom they could probably still get trading down. McNeil is a classic risk versus reward pick. If Mark wants to play he can be a dominant player up the middle or on the wing. If he doesn’t want to play then you have a skilled but floating player in way too big of a frame. I believe he interviewed well with the Flames though I don’t think anyone can be convinced 100% that he would turn out to be a top 6 forward that he does have the skill to be.

On the subject of Robyn Regher he has indeed been asked to waive his no trade clause with the rumored destination being Buffalo. If the Flames could get a first and a young player back for Robyn I can see this deal happening to give GM Jay Feaster an additional first round pick in order to trade up to get one of the previously mentioned players. It also would not be surprising to hear that Jay Bouwmeester’s name has been connected to talks with the Ottawa Senators. Finally word is that Jay Feaster has inquired to the LA Kings about Ryan Smyth and Smyth has been asked if he would waive his no trade clause to come to Calgary. If Smyth would agree I can see this being a move Calgary would make as a second line of Smyth-Jokinen-Bourque would be a interesting one to watch.

After the Flyers made their trades today it could be the dominoes falling for a very busy next 48 hours in the NHL. It should be fun to watch!

Have a good one!

Follow me on twitter! @shanehoopfer

Goodnight Gracie!

Well that is it for the Calgary Flames for the 2010-2011 season. Despite the fact the Flames demolished the Oilers 6-1 at the Saddledome in a game which Nikolai Khabibulin kept close for the first half of the game, the Flames couldn’t get any help on the out of town scoreboard with both Chicago and Anaheim winning.

With the Ducks and Hawks wins 95 points will not get it done for the Flames in the ultra tough Western Conference. I’ll give a more in depth evaluation of the Flames season later on, but for now it’s safe to say that the first half of the season up to Christmas when the Flames sat in 14th place proved to be too big of a hole to climb out of.

I have to give this team credit for one thing. They never gave up unlike last year. Once Darryl Sutter left the Flames this team showed it was capable of playing with anyone on any given night. There will be some tough decisions ahead for the Flames starting if with what to do with acting GM Jay Feaster. Whatever the Flames decide to do they need to decide right away so the GM can get to work for there will be a lot of work to do to try and continue fixing the mess that Darryl left in his wake.

On a bright note Miikka Kiprusoff tied Mike Vernon for the all time lead in wins for a Calgary Flames goaltender at 262. Also Greg Nemisz got his first NHL point setting up Curtis Glencross for a goal in the third period. And ho hum Jarome Iginla potted three more goals and a helper to get him to 42 goals on the year and he is now in sixth place in NHL scoring.

I’ll leave with a request to the Calgary Flames players…. If you are healthy then go to the World Championships if asked. Nothing makes me madder than seeing a player who is healthy pass on a chance to represent his country. Team Canada could be making calls to Jarome Iginla, Alex Tanguay, Rene Bourque, Jay Bouwmeester, Robyn Regher, and Mark Giordano, and perhaps Curtis Glencross who is a guy I’d like to see get a chance to play in the event.

For our contingent oh Phoenix Coyotes fans I will be covering their playoff run if indeed they do hang on to a playoff spot!

Have a good one!

Follow me on twitter! @shanehoopfer

Jarome Iginla received a partial breakaway feed from Alex Tanguay and raced down the right side snapping a wrist shot on the blocker side beneath Jaroslav Halak’s blockers and history was made. Iginla’s second goal and third point of the night led the Flames to a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues keeping their slim playoff hopes alive but more historically important it was the 1000th point of the Flames captain’s career.

It was Iginla’s 39th goal of the season and it gives the Flames another meaningful game Sunday night against the Colorado Avalanche. Unfortunately for the Flames slim playoff hopes the Chicago Black Hawks managed to pull out a 4-3 shootout victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets. With the Hawks win the Flames remain 3 points in arrears of Chicago for the 8th spot in the Western Conference. The Flames will still need to win out and get a ton of help to get in.

There was more good news for the Flames as Daymond Langkow played in his first game in over a year since fracturing his neck in a freak accident getting hit by an Ian White slap shot. Langkow played a little under 15 minutes and was a +1 adding an assist on the first of Iginla’s two goals. He was sluggish and a little out of the play a couple times but that was to be expected.

The struggle ahead for the Flames doesn’t really matter for the next 24 hours as we can all celebrate a fantastic achievement by Jarome Iginla that will almost certainly seal his place in the Hockey Hall Of Fame. Congratulations Jarome!

Have a good one!

Follow me on twitter! @shanehoopfer

Too many times this year I have had to analyze a Flames game only to come up with the same answers.

Miikka was adequate but not strong.

The forwards need depth and speed.

The defense is actually pretty good but overpriced.

In a game the Calgary Flames desperately had to win in order to keep any realistic hope of a playoff berth alive they really came out of the gate flat again despite a early first period Jarome Iginla tally. His 37th of the year. Yup I owe Jarome an apology. I never thought he would be flirting with forty goals and yet here he is. I’d still trade him for the right package if it came along, but my suggestions of Iginla not being able to shoulder the offensive load are for the most part incorrect.

Miikka Kiprusoff once again played adequate in net for the Flames but to be downright blunt he has not been good enough to justify his cap hit. I also challenge you to look back on the season and find out how many games he stole for the Flames versus how many games he wasn’t good enough. I promise you, you will answer the latter. Last night when the Flames needed Kipper the most he let the team down.

Matt Stajan continues to show what is wrong with the Flames forwards as a whole. Matt is a skilled player and I won’t question his work effort but he is too slow to play at his size and just can’t get his game together to be a top six forward in the NHL. If acting GM Jay Feaster can somehow get Stajan’s contract off the books this off season he deserves a medal. Just blaming Stajan is unfair as a good number of Flames forwards managed to disappoint along with him. Kotalik, Hagman please stand up.

Ales Kotalik is a prime example of what is wrong with the Calgary flames depth at forward as well. When the injuries started to pile up and they needed a player that could potentially step up and fill an offensive gap they had to turn to Kotalik as there is not anyone else in Abbotsford that the Flames felt could fill that role in a crucial moment in the season.

As I said the Flames defense core hasn’t been bad this year but they are overpriced. Jay Bouwmeester last night showed that he is a good skater, good passer, and can eat minutes but at his cap hit he doesn’t impact the team the way they need him to. Not being on the Flames #1 power play unit is evidence enough of that. His partner Robyn Regher has been solid again all year but at least five times last night he had a chance to bury Ducks forward Teemu Selanne with a crushing hit but refused to do so. Showing Teemu the respect he deserves is fine in game #6 of the year. Not in game #78 when you desperately need a win.

Steve Staios has likely played well enough as of late that he will receive another NHL contract. I don’t think it will be with the Flames and it certainly won’t be anywhere near his current salary. Cory Sarich is another guy who falls into that category. Cory is a fine #4 defenseman in the league but his cap hit is too much. Hopefully with one season left after this year on his deal he can moved to open up the door for one of the Flames young D prospects which fortunately Calgary is blessed to still have.

While the Flames are not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs with last nights loss it will take a minor miracle for the Flames to get in even if they go 4-0 to end the season. Realistically two teams ahead of them would have to collapse for 95 points to be good enough to get into the dance in the ultra difficult Western Conference.

If this is the final nail in the coffin for the Flames then when you look back on this season you have to give the Calgary Flames credit for the run they went on after Christmas to get themselves into the hunt. But at the end of the day this team is still saddled with too many bad contracts from the Darryl Sutter regime.

Change is coming to Calgary.

Have a good one!

Follow me on twitter! @shanehoopfer

Two straight games of uninspired play has Flames fans in panic mode. 95 points appears to still be the magic number for the playoffs this year. If that is the case the Calgary Flames will have to win seven of their final ten games to get in. Needless to say the task has gotten a lot harder than it was a week ago.

The schedule for the Flames looks like this…

Colorado
@ Anaheim
@ Los Angeles
@ San Jose
@ Edmonton
Anaheim
@ St. Louis
@ Colorado
Edmonton
Vancouver

To put it bluntly this schedule is not that hard in comparison to most of the teams in the Western Conference. The Flames will have to find their game and find it now if they are going to accomplish their goal.

Mission not Impossible!

Have a good one!

Follow me on twitter! www.twitter.com/shanehoopfer

In fairness to the article title the Dallas Stars could easily complain about a couple calls not going there way when they could have, however it basically looked like Referee Dennis Larue was on the take this entire game. Six times Larue held pucks in the Flames zone on clearing attempts, and called a couple just god awful penalties against Calgary which were just unfathomable.

Getting back to the game Calgary stormed out to a quick 3-0 lead and only a couple of brilliant stops by Kari Lehtonen kept Calgary from stretching that lead even further. Bourque, Kostopolous, and Babchuk scored within 3:15 to stake the Flames to the big lead. Benn, Ribeiro, and Tomas Vincour scored for Dallas in regulation. It was also Tomas Vincour’s first NHL goal snapping one from the corner over Kiprusoff who went down way too early, and would love to have it back. Curtis Glencross had the winner in the shootout which vaults the Flames back into 5th in the Western Conference four points ahead of the Wild who sit in 9th.

The Flames have to get right back at it tomorrow when they take on the Winnipeg Jets Phoenix Coyotes tomorrow night in Glendale. As a favor to one of my favorite twitter follows Paul Bissonnette aka @BizNasty2point0 I’ll pass on the message to Miikka Kiprusoff to let Paul get a softie goal for his birthday but not until it’s about 6-0 for the Flames!

Have a good one!

Follow me on twitter! www.shanehoopfer@twitter.com

The Calgary Flames can get as close to solidifying a playoff spot as you really can in the wild Western Conference with back to back games tonight and tomorrow against the Dallas Stars and Winnipeg Phoenix Coyotes. If the Flames find a way to take four points out of these two games they will likely find themselves temporarily back in 4th spot in the West. More importantly they would get themselves just a little more separation from the teams battling between 6th and 11th. The further you can stay out of that dog fight the better! And finally congratulations to Jarome Iginla on becoming the 10th player in NHL history to score 30 goals in ten straight seasons. If you didn’t think the hall of fame was a gimme before it is now! UPDATE – Brad Richards looks like he will be cleared to play tonight for the Stars.

I watched Gary Bettman’s press conference (so you don’t have to) last night in Glendale. Lets make this perfectly clear Gary Bettman is seething mad at the Goldwater Institute, and accused them of playing games and threatening the sale of the team to Matthew Hulsizer. While Gary would not put a deadline on getting this deal done, the message was pretty clear… Get the bonds sold or the NHL will look at other options aka. Winnipeg. So far the Goldwater Institute has shown no signs of backing away from their threat of legal activity against the City Of Glendale regarding the bond issue. Everyone involved needs to remember that the Goldwater Institute does not care at all about the NHL, the Phoenix Coyotes or Gary Bettman. They believe the CoG is violating the Arizona constitution, and that is their only motivation here. Zealots are tough to scare off so don’t expect Goldwater to go anywhere.

Watched the hit that Zdeno Chara laid on Max Pacioretti a few times now and I am torn. I don’t believe Chara intended to go WWE on Max in the turnbuckle but the play was reckless. The part that bothers me the most is that had Max not been hurt it would have been a minor penalty for interference. But as we all saw Max was hurt, and reports have just come in that Max has a severe concussion and fractured vertebra. My gut feeling is that Chara will get 2 games for this and to be honest I just don’t know what I would give him here.

Have a good one!

Follow me on twitter for all the latest on the Flames and the Phoenix/Winnipeg saga… www.twitter.com/shanehoopfer

It’s been a wild week for the Calgary Flames, after dropping a tough decision to the Boston Bruins losing 2-1 in a game where Tim Thomas was spectacular, and he also got a little help from his posts in the game. Then they followed that game up with a 4-3 loss in shootout to the red hot San Jose Sharks where Miikka Kiprusoff stood on his head to keep the Flames in it and salvage a point.

Then back to back games against the St. Louis Blues in which Miikka once again was unbelievable in both games posting back to back shutouts against the Blues in 1-0 and 6-0 victories. Ben Bishop played both games in net for St. Louis and was very good in the first game and was good for the first two periods of the second game where the wheels finally fell off of a Blues team that had to be disappointed that management had decided that they were sellers at the trade deadline.

Speaking of the trade deadline Flames acting GM Jay Feaster did exactly what he said he was going to do and what he needed to do with this team. He picked up defenceman and former Calgary Hitmen stalwart Brett Carson up on waivers to add some depth to the blue line. He then traded the Flames seventh round pick to the Atlanta Thrashers for 36 year old veteran forward Freddy Modin.

Modin is a player that Jay Feaster is very familiar with from the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Stanley Cup Championship in 2004. He should add some depth to the Flames forwards at a minimal price tag. Modin was also excited to come to Calgary saying “I’m very happy with a chance to play in Canada again. Especially in Calgary where their fans are insane! Fortunately I am on the right side this time.”

I’ll give Jay Feaster a big thumbs up for his conservative approach. He had very little in the way of tradable assets other than a first round pick and Mikael Backlund and he resisted the urge to move either of those chips in order to bring in a high price rental. His lack of moves also sends a strong message to the locker room that he believes in this team, and that they deserve the opportunity to run with what they have accomplished since Christmas.

As of today the Calgary Flames sit fifth in the Western Conference only a single point behind the Phoenix Coyotes for fourth. Phoenix is the team I believe the Flames need to focus on to make sure they pass if they want to ensure a spot in the post season dance. The only thing that is for sure right now is the Calgary Flames is definitely one of the teams you probably don’t want to face in the first round of the playoffs, as they have been as hot as any team.

I’d like to thank everyone for the twitter messages and emails regarding my wife’s surgery. She is recovering well and should be good as new in 4-6 weeks from a lower body injury! This is a hockey blog after all.

Have a good one!

Follow me on twitter! www.twitter.com/shanehoopfer