Welcome Cammie. And boys... Lets keep this going shall we?

Wow. Just wow. What a great feeling.

We have not only NEVER TRAILED IN A GAME SO FAR but are an incredible 2-0-0!!! Lets give our local hockey heroes a hand here! ... and pray that the streak continues into our Mike Cammalleri Reunion taking place in less than two hours. Which, I might add I am obviously very excited to watch.

I have probably said it before but I will say it again... You made a great impression here Cammie and I wish you the best... Even if that involves listening to French 24-7 and skating around in a Habs jersey... You were great here and, wait for it... I will not even begrudge you a goal or two tonight as long as the Flames come out on top.

-Cheers to Kipper and his simply delightful strong start (though I have to admit I thought our D would be keeping the shots against down a little more... But hey its only 2 games in I guess we can cut them a little bit of slack for the time being...)

-Iggy! No need to sweat the goals will come, we all know what you are capable of. Your line mate Jokinen on the other hand needs to pick up his game a little... *cough*trade!*cough*

And thanks to Nikolai "Shabby"bulin for your gift turnover and a great nights entertainment. You are truly a wonderful man and I am sure everyone in Calgary is grateful for your generosity. Consider the wall busted down guys :)

AND one more thing... OVECHKIN! The God of all things hockey in my opinion. Already leading the league in points! I am just going to go out on a limb here and suggest this wont change for the rest of the season. Might as well hand out MVP awards now...

Flames @ Canucks.. Among other things

First things first.. I owe what little audience I might have a sincere apology for neglecting my blog for so long. Life has been busy and it is surprisingly difficult to find the time to type up a couple sentences. But anyway, it is what it is.

So.

Fleury hey? I have heard so much about him but never, ever, did I think I would get to watch (err more like listen) to this Flames legend play again. So what if he is short, so what if he has celebrated the big 40, the man can still play hockey. From the few pre-season games he has played, at this point in time I would have to welcome him to the regular season roster.. But there is a fine line between producing off perhaps an adrenaline rush and producing consistently throughout the season when the team needs it the most.. A certain bald Finnish man comes to mind as I say this.. He played great the first couple games after he got traded and then what? Nothing.

Until... Now it seems. Wow. I have to grudgingly admit Olli Jokinen has impressed as of late. 6 points in 2 games? That what we're paying him for. Finally starting to use his size and if he has good chemistry with Iggy then guess that looks pretty good for us.

But then again, as I type here listening to our Calgary heroes dig themselves out of a three goal hole its come to mind that the big guns haven't done much tonight. Its been the Prusts, and Lundmarks, and... Just as I say that Jokinen assisted by Dawes scores! Never mind. Its a team effort folks :) You got to give them a hand. What an impressive display of grit and determination they've shown. Sure a slow start but whatever Brent said to them it did something, and I like how he rewards hard work with top line ice time. So far so good.

And... WELCOME BACK BOURQUE! He's become an important part of this team and I know I speak for many when I wish him good luck in staying healthy this season. Hopefully it won't take him too long to get back into it.

Speaking of Rene... Is he the lucky winger that gets to play with Olli and Iggy? I have no doubt that he is good enough but something about that just doesn't sit well with me. I think Bourque is someone you would build a line around not just add too. He has the skills to be a force out there on the ice; I want our talent to be a little more strategically placed.

AHHHHH... And we just lost. What a game, honestly.. Since when do the Canucks tie it up with .2 seconds left!? What is that! And Backlund... He didn't even get a shot off. Sorry bud, but you're not making the best impression at camp. I'm a little surprised Theo wasn't picked for the shoot out however.. But I guess we can't push his magic hey? A quiet game from him tonight.. But good effort in the long run guys, losses like that are heart breaking.. It's only pre-season though, its only pre-season.

Revenge: 08.01.09

Bits and pieces

BERUZZI TO DETROIT!

Old news I am sure, but I guess we all could have guessed this one eh? He's old and has changed his game to a more 'finesse' style... Guess that fits with the Wings pretty well.

And it makes sense, what with our new defensive outlook.. He has changed from his old aggressive style, for obvious reasons I suppose.. He still has plenty of skill but with a minus 13.. Guess that just won't cut it anymore people.

The new Team Canada jerseys.. Pretty nice. Better than the old version that's for sure. Not too exciting but at least we still have the old logo on the sleeve.. Not sure about the aboriginal print on the inside of the leaf. I know it's part of Canadian culture and everything but to most of us it means nothing whatsoever. Sorry if I offended anyone by saying that. But hey! The past gold medals won is a nice touch if I do say so myself. And I'm sure it will look amazing as it is worn by a team of future gold medal champions!

And I changed the look of my whole blog around a little bit.. I think it looks quite a bit cleaner and is getting me in the mood for Olympics :) Let me know what you think of it.

Losing points... Gaining...What exactly?

Just out of curiosity.. I decided to see exactly how much offense we let slip away from us via Free Agency, trades, etc. And in turn how much we brought in to fill the gap. The results were, lets say, interesting.

Calgary Flames Players NOT RETURNING Total Points: 198
Calgary Flames Players NEW ADDITIONS Total Points: 101

(And just to clarify, only NHL points were used in this little stat of mine.)

So what exactly are the Flames gaining from all of this? Please, please, let if be defensive responsibility!

Just something else here...

Calgary Flames Players NOT RETURNING Avg Age: 31.33

Calgary Flames Players NEW ADDITIONS and NEW CONTRACTS Avg Age: 25.23

So that's one good thing :)

In 71 days...

The Flames will be kicking off the o9/10 schedule! ... (Kind of makes the few days between my last post and now seem somewhat insignificant, wouldn't you agree?) Anyway.. I will start off saying that THIS YEAR WE ARE GOING TO WIN OUR HOME OPENER! Forget those first couple games last year against the about-to-die team we play first thing this year... If that made any sense to anyone the Canucks should have come to mind.. But moving on, I just have to mention how stupid I think it is that the Capitals don't come to Calgary at all this year! Like what is this!? I really don't think I'm gonna be able to fly all the way to Washington.. But we will see ;)

Regarding the recent signings and all.. I can't wait to see how the prospect camp goes. I have a feeling this is going to be a pivotal year for our beloved Flames franchise.. Lets hope we can be a force for years to come.

So, I've been looking at the rooster and been trying to figure out how the lineups could possibly work.. Might post it later, might not. My speculation is all it is, I can imagine Mr Brent Sutter has quite a few unique ideas that we will just have to wait to get a glimpse of..

Sjostrom, Murray, Armstrong sign deals with Flames

Start off with Fredrick Sjostrom (RW) who just signed a 2 year deal worth $1.5 million. Honestly I had never heard of him before but what I've dicovered since then is that he is known for his big physical play and speed. Which is always welcome. The 26 year old (glad to see Sutter is sticking with his getting younger theme) played 79 games for the Rangers last year 7 goals, 6 assists, and 30 PIM. I'm unsure how "good" he is though; as in will he get to enjoy the 2nd line or is he more a of grinder/checker...?

Garth Murray (C) I really have never heard of. He's 27 and his stats for last season are not that impressive. Only playing 10 games for the Coyotes he had no points, only 12 PIM. Not a bad sive, 6'2, 210 lbs... A quick search on you-tube and I have determined that he is our new heavyweight. Sounds good, no offense but there are some guys Prust just can't take on.

Last we got Riley Armstrong (RW). This ex-Shark played only 2 games last year. He's 25 but its hard to say how much ice time he is going to get. More depth is the only thing I can think of..

And apparently the Flames have made a qualifying offer to Dustin Boyd and Chris Chucko so hopefully they both resign as well. I think most people would agree they are important parts of the Flames of the Future..

'09 Free Agent Frenzy

Pretty interesting day I would say. Just a few of my random thoughts concerning the crazy events that took place:

-Cammalleri to Montreal. I really did think he would go to Toronto especially when the twins resigned with Vancouver, thought it was Burke's 'back-up' plan but whatever.. He's a Hab now and I really am sorry to see him go. Great sniper and I'm going to miss his slapshot on the PP. Best of luck in the east, Cammie. While we're on the subject... The Canadiens did pretty good for themselves eh? Gionta was interesting, who knows maybe he got tired of all the defence in Jersey. Always had a lot of respect for that guy, 5'7 and he manages to produce decent points against the monsters of todays NHL.

-Hossa and the Idiots in Chicago. Honestly, what were they thinking!? 12 years!? They are crazy. The guy is gonna be 42 before that sentence is up; these are the kind of moves organizations tend to regret a few years down the road... Especially when I imagine they are going to want to sign a few of their young stars to extensions. Like to see how Dale Tallon manages that.

-Khabibulin joins the Oilers.... I don't like it. All I can say is, I hope he has a career worst up there. No love.

-Gaborik to the Rangers. Think he will be a good fit and all.. If he plays more than 5 games.

-Knuble + Ovechkin + Backstrom = Pretty strong first line over in Washington. This guy will be just what they need in front of the net, along the boards, etc. Add some grit and such to the incredible skills the Caps already have up front. Let's just finish off them goalies... They have a hard enough time with Ovie's shot as it is let alone having a 6'3, 230 lbs wall of muscle in their face.

-Heatley... Did I hear groans...? What in the world is this man doing? What a lack of respect for the Sens and everyone else involved. I would keep him in Ottawa and just bench him for the season. Please, let him not come to Calgary.

-And finally.. Bouwmeester! I am quite happy with the signing and think he will fit in very well with our organization and hopefully under our new coach as well. Very quiet-spoken young man, and I really can't wait to see him out skating wearing the Flaming C on his chest.