Wonders On Wiz Street

My 2011-2012 Calgary Flames Roster

2011-05-06T14:20:00.005-06:00

Everybody can enjoy pipe-dreams, but I’ve spent some time to pencil in what I consider to be a realistic line-up for the coming season. The team can sign a number of NCAA hopefuls out of college, and draft better than any team at the draft in Minnesota, but the immediate and material impact of these young players on the current roster would be limited - at best - for next season . Anyone who

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

2011-04-29T15:14:00.004-06:00

The wild ride has ended. While stringing together a solid stretch to end the season, the first half of 2010-2011 is what extinguished the Flames' playoff hopes. Not if Team A lost and Team B won, or if the Flames had one point here or one point there. If you put yourself in a position where you need to play above 0.700 hockey in the last 3 months of the season, you really shouldn't be in the

The Resurgence of Spare Parts

2011-03-08T15:35:00.003-07:00

This past offseason, Darryl Doom Sutter had the hockey world scratching its collective head. While understandably limited in his cap flexibility, Sutter added three forwards that had recently plummeted in value – Olli Jokinen, Alex Tanguay and Brendan Morrison. Coming off career lows, these players fit in perfectly with a group of underachieving Calgary Flames, a team that continued to get older

Trade Deadline Predictions: 5 Players On Their Way Out

2011-01-28T01:36:00.002-07:00

A recent surge by the Calgary Flames certainly complicates the focus of the organization heading into trade season. My view? Jay Feaster was handed the reigns on an "acting" basis to make changes, and one month of solid hockey isn't going to fix the underlying shortcomings of the team. Regardless of any playoff pursuit, I expect the Flames to be sellers by the deadline. That is: shipping out

Darryl Sutter: The Beauty... and the Beast

2011-01-13T18:11:00.002-07:00

Welcome to the celebration of Darryl Sutter's tenure as GM of the Calgary Flames. We are going to drink hard early on and rejoice some of the great memories, before the hangover kicks in and we begin to feel a tad more cynical about Darryl's tenure. Oh yeah: it's Beauty and the Beast themed, so bring your masks and ball gowns. THE BEAUTY Kiprusoff This one goes without saying: Sutter dealt a

A Holiday Feast(er)

2011-01-01T21:07:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Jay Feaster. With the recent announcement of Darryl Sutter's resignation, a promotion for the Assistant GM seems an obvious choice for a team in transition - especially halfway through the regular season. Looking at the big picture though, would we have predicted Jay Feaster to be the GM of the Calgary Flames one year ago? That perspective presents a stronger element of

Segment #4: A Quarterly Review of the Calgary Flames

2010-11-24T15:52:00.004-07:00

20 games in the books. Or blogosphere. In this post, we will take a brief look at segment 4, before addressing some notable aspects of the first quarter of 2010-2011. BRIEF SEGMENT REVIEWHindsight being what it is, our analysis of the 3rd segment foreshadowed much of what Games 16-20 would bring us. One honourable mention goes to Jarome Iginla, who has been on a tear (pronounced tare, not

Segment Review #3: Games 11-15

2010-11-20T19:57:00.003-07:00

To best introduce the theme, let’s start off with some numbers from Segment 3: Games Played: 5Record: 1-4Home wins: 0Goals For: 12 GPG: 2.4Goals Against: 18GAA: 3.6Players arrested: 1Players arrested with bloodlines to the Coach and GM: 1Players traded since this segment: 2Goals for Iginla: 1Goals for Jokinen: 1Goals for Tanguay: 1Games Played for Henrik Karlsson: 0Games Played for

Segment Review #2: Games 6-10

2010-11-02T01:53:00.000-06:00

What a difference five games can make. In a review of games 1-5, we assessed the lack of offensive production and the magnificent play of Miikka Kiprusoff – neither of which will be discussed in this segment. The game against the Washington Capitals will not be discussed in depth either, as that would exceed the 5-game protocol for review. Breaking promises on the blogosphere is no way to make

Segment Review #1

2010-10-20T13:26:00.002-06:00

It’s my belief that game-to-game analysis of any sports team can make for poor review. As such, I’m going to do a review of the Calgary Flames in five game segments this season. This way, I won’t use my emotions to overreact to every loss, or plan parade routes after every win. Instead, it will be more useful for us to make reasonable assessments of the team in 5-game snapshots. Now to our first

Playoff Team Predictions: West and East

2010-09-26T15:43:00.002-06:00

WESTERN CONFERENCE (1) Vancouver Canucks: An excellent balance of experience and youth, with many core players entering their prime. The Swedish Choir surprises me time and time again with its ability to survive in the Western Conference. An excellent season last year, some key defensive additions, and the insertion of some valuable role players will earn the Canucks 50+ wins this season. Above

Flames Training Camp - Day One

2010-09-18T16:39:00.001-06:00

Training Camp is finally here! My overall review of the morning: between both the veterans and young guns, there was some sloppy play out there – shots high and wide, poor passing, and the overall chemistry of the group was weak. To be expected on Day 1 of Training Camp I suppose, but noteworthy nonetheless. Some positives and negatives from the first day of training camp: KARLSSONI kept a keen

Remaining UFA's: Potential Value Signings Ahead

2010-08-30T15:15:00.000-06:00

Credit to James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail, who has put together a list of value signings yet to be made in the free agent market – as of August 30, 2010. Let’s take a look at a segment of these remaining unsigned free agents, pinpoint some strengths, and identify which teams could be a fit for these players. Antti Niemi – While I believe he has been slightly overvalued in the market, there

2010-2011 Flames Depth (or lack thereof) Chart

2010-08-18T17:10:00.001-06:00

In late August, hockey fans can only speculate and anticipate. So what’s the best way to do that? That’s right: by drawing up your very own depth chart. You get to look at your hometown team subjectively, without having to abide by any rules whatsoever! What you’ll find below is primarily driven by my own personal preferences, so feel free to chip in with feedback in the comment box that

The Realities of Trading Robyn Regehr

2010-08-13T16:10:00.005-06:00

We learned this lesson with Dion Phaneuf. Safe to say Robyn Regehr had an off-year this past season. While rumours are only rumours, there have been two months of trade buzz involving Regehr. Makes you wonder if there’s smoke where there’s fire after all. Let’s not forget, we endured constant Phaneuf talk last season, and yet many of us (myself included) shut down the possibility of a deal.

Fourth Line Depth, and the Consequence of Loyalty

2010-08-12T14:07:00.000-06:00

As many of us have recently heard, Craig Conroy has signed on for one more year: A two-way deal at the league minimum. These Conroy extensions always seem to baffle me. Not because I don’t support the player, or his value to the team, but because this act of loyalty appears very out of character for Darryl Sutter. Usually, if a player comes in, misses 20-some games due to injury and racks up a

Not-So Cautious Optimism

2010-08-10T23:59:00.005-06:00

In our last blog, we took a cold, hard look at reality, heading into the 2010-2011 season. But it’s so easy to be negative, so easy to criticize. Not today! Today we’re going to take a glass-overflowing optimistic approach to the team’s fortunes, so we can enjoy the first year of a 10 year contract between the Flames and Sportsnet. We’ll take a look at high-level team positives, before delving

2010 – A Year Worth Questioning

2010-08-10T11:18:00.002-06:00

"Hi, you've reached the Calgary Flames. We've lost our identity, but please leave a detailed message and we'll get back to it as soon as possible" What a difference a year can make. One calendar year ago, we were rejoicing the sneaky acquisition of Jay Bouwmeester. We were perplexed by the ease and efficiency by which he was acquired and, within hours, signed to a long term deal - while teams