Rumour! Phaneuf for Heatley

The latest rumour.. Flames sign Jay Bouwmeester and then hand over Dion Phaneuf for Dany Heatley of Ottawa.

I really don't like it. Dion has so much potential they got to give him another chance under Brent Sutter's defensive ways.. And Heatley? What is so great about him that they would rather have over Mike Cammalleri?

Aw, please don't Darryl..

Mistake. Just admit it Darryl...

Alright, so I decided I had to get my little opinion in on this even though it has long passed...

The blockbuster Jokinen trade? Bad move. Really bad move. Not only did it screw our salary cap over causing us to have to play the last few games of the season shorthanded but it messed up our team chemistry, and get this: Olli Jokinen, the-one-that-told-everyone-we-were-Cup-contenders-Jokinen, actually produced less than speedster Matthew Lombardi did down in the desert.
Let me clarify. For the last 19 games of the regular season each player played for their new team, Lombo had an average of 0.842 points per game while Mr Jokinen had a mere 0.789. And thats not taking into account that Brandon Prust would have had a few points in there as well.

Huh. Isn't that interesting.

Welcome Jay... and our friend the Salary Cap

Of course it was a gamble. But hey, Darryl gives out picks all the time.. No big deal. Not if it turns into a signing of highly sought after soon-to-be-free-agent Jay Boumeester. With about 42 hours left to sign the 6"4, 212 lbs defenseman you can bet Mr Sutter will be quite the busy man.

But wow. The rumours all say we could be looking at at least 6 million per season (short term, long term could be cheaper) and I'm sure that I am not the only one wondering how close our heads are to the salary cap ceiling. The Vandermeer/Prust deal - GLAD TO HAVE YOU BACK! - cleared out some room but I can't help but think there is more to come.

As it stands the Flames have 16 players under contract for next season at a total cap hit of $45.618 million... Leaving us with $11.182 million of dealing room. Which really isn't much. I guess it's pretty safe to say Cammie isn't returning, as well as Aucoin and Bertuzzi. Honestly, as much as I dislike older veteran players I would have Todd return... One reason off the top of my head: Watching his incredible shootout maneuvers. But I'm getting off topic.

Anyhow, as I see it even if Darryl manages to get Jay under contract there are still gaps that need to be fixed.

Offense: Assuming Darryl doesn't want to trade Jokinen (ugh....) we still need a few more guys. I would like to dish off Primeau somewhere;nothing personal it's just 1.4 million is too much.. So that leaves us with 3 empty spots in the lineup. Getting Dustin Boyd resigned would be great, and if Backlund makes the team that's another place filled. Jamie Lundmark could be resigned as well; I tell you, that guy has good hockey sense. And quite a good shot, actually. But thats still leaving the Abbotsford Heat to fill in our injuries. It wouldn't surprise me if our oh so clever GM brought in some other affordable veteran seeing as how for some messed up reason he doesn't want Bertuzzi.

Defense: Say we sign Boumeester. We will have him, Phaneuf, Regehr, Sarich, and Giordano under contract.. As well as Pelech and Negrin but I doubt they are ready for full time positions. We still need at least two more. Really, really, want Pardy resigned. I know I am not the only one who was in awe of the way he stepped up last season. Then we still need one more... Thats open for debate.

So the question is: Do we have enough space to get all this accomplished? If not who is next out the door? *cough*jokinen*cough* ... Guess we can only wait and see what Darryl does next.

TRADE JOKINEN!

Alright. So Jokinen has to go. In a perfect world we never would have traded Lombardi and Prust for him in the first place.. But I won't get started on that. This is now. And I say his bald head and 5.5 million contract must be gone.

This is my idea. Nothing is perfect but hey, it's what I got so far.



Trade Olli Jokinen and Wayne Primeau to Columbus for Derick Brassard. The Jackets need a couple veterans (avg. age is 26) and might be able to find a use for another strong presence down the middle. And, of course they have the room. Brassard would add speed and youth (at a low price, for a little while anyway) and give us the cap space to sign the blue liners we need, or alternatively use it to sign Cammalleri.


Brassard, who was sidelined by a knee injury last season (which has been resolved) still managed to put up decent numbers in the 31 games he did play.
10 goals; 15 assists; +/- 12; 17 PIM.

Cammalleri's Future?

Calgary Flames forward Mike Cammalleri is due to become a Unrestricted Free Agent in a matter of days really. There are many options for the 27 year old center... Many of which seem to involve leaving the Flames.

Why would Darryl let this happen!? There are rumours that say he hasn't even attempted to offer him a contract extension... Am I the only one who would hate this to happen? Sure, sure, he is due for quite a fair raise but if we could dump Jokinen this wouldn't be an issue. I understand that under Brent Sutter's coaching we expect to focus more on our defense, but you still have to score a few goals now and then. He fit in perfectly with the team, especially Iginla and Conroy, and showed he had the spirit and grit to make him popular among Flames fans; which is honestly more than Jokinen can say.

There is talk major talk that Burke over in Toronto would like to sign him.. Seeing as he is an Ontario native... I expect to see Cammalleri dressed in blue and white next season. I am sorry to see him go.

Ovie Speaks

All quotes by Alexander Ovechkin, wow, they make me laugh. Some of the best words ever spoken. What a great face for the NHL.

"That's hockey. You never know what's going to happen. It's a tough sport. No tooth, a broken nose, but I'm looking good [laughs]."

"I'm okay. Russian machine never breaks." (after being hit on the leg with a shot)

"I saw something white coming at me. I thought, 'Damn, he got me.'" (on the shaving cream incident)

"I saw the rebound and when the puck came to me, I said, oh my God, puck, I must shoot."

"Everybody in my country is jumping and drinking lots of vodka. We did it and we beat a great team." (following Russia's win over Canada at the Olympics)

"That was lucky. Best score, oh yeah. I just went down and try shoot and score goal. Clark came to me and said, 'You scored,' and I said, 'Wow.' I saw replay, it was beautiful." (on his 32nd goal)

"If I'm playing hockey, I want to win all the (trophies) I can."

"For me, it doesn't matter where I play. If coach says I must play goalie, I will play goalie."

"My weapon isn't my shot. It's me."

Another Sutter?

As I'm sure everyone has heard Brent Sutter is expected to sign a coaching contract anytime now... So what does this mean for the Flames? Brent, who coached in New Jersey for the past two seasons had a decent record of 97-56-11 and the achievement of getting his team into the post season both years; but failed to move on past the first round. Sound familiar?

Anyway, personally, I think it would be a great move. The Flames are so close, to being the elite team they've been projected to be. A few slight changes is all GM Darryl Sutter is looking for. Obviously he thinks his brother might do the trick. This is a team that needs a coach that they will work for and give one hundred percent of their effort to all the time.. No more of this inconsistency, we want the same team to show every night. Preferably the team that's adding to the win column. They showed this once... Remember that time back in 04 when we went all the way? That's what we want, perhaps this second Sutter is the one to unleash the potential that they have.

He's known as a no-nonsense kind of guy, with a really, really, big emphasis on defense. And considering how last year the Flames were 23rd in the league for goals against, averaging exactly 3 a game. This could definitely improve.

For more detailed information go to: http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=426197

Just Getting Started

Hey there!

First day, first post. Please don't judge right away, I will be adding more shortly. I have started this blog basically so I can voice any and all my hockey thoughts and opinions. You might agree, or you might disagree it honestly doesn't matter to me. So... Enjoy!

(Figured Ovechkin was a good way to start off.)