The Calgary Flames Thread - 12/13 Edition

[Mr.DirtyDangles]

Same beaks every year, yet all Kipper does is post better numbers than 7uongo and Iggy with 30+ goals. Next

[Canucks_fo_life]

Went to the Wolves/Heat game Friday night, a 3-1 win for the good guys (Wolves), didn't see much from the flames prospects, we were sitting behind the bench, and went through their lineup and couldn't see anyone that would make an impact for calgary down the road, I know Baertschi wasn't playing but other than him, really no one. Nemisz? Horak? Brodie?, the only potential up and comers, the goaltending was also horrible, he allowed 3 goals in an 8 minute span in the 1st, think it was Taylor or Irving forgot.

[WillyFox]

Irving got pulled looks like a seive IMO

[oldnews]

Sorry to burst your bubble there SVEN but...

Since 2005 Luongo has 259 wins 37 SO and a GAA of 2.52

Since 2005 kipper has 273 wins 37 SO and a GAA of 2.32

Only 14 wins and .2 of GAA average separate the two

Throw a few more games a season in for Lou and it would be nearly identical

KIPP is unreal ! Mad respect to him for sticking it out in the stinkfest that is the Calgary fLAMES. If you didnt have Iginla you would be golfing every year come playoffs. I have been living in Calgary since 86 and the fans just get more ridiculous by the year. The wishy-washy teeter-totter that is the Calgary fanbase is truly laughable. If had a dollar for every time I heard trade iginla or trade kipper after a loosing streak I would be a billionaire.

NEXT !

[Baercheese]

Sven's a scrappy guy, but I like his loyalty and positive thinking, so I feel a bit for him right now.

Tough time for Flames fans. The Heat got their hopes up so high - now we're seeing them hit the ground at high speed. All their young uber-prospects might not be a good as people thought a few months ago. The mere Wolves had their way with them lol! So much hype built up around them and Feaster's prematurely successful rebuild-on-the-go, but I agree with you, without Kipper and Iginla, the Flames are in a sad, sad place. They made the same mistake Toronto did - they should have faced the music years ago. Instead they both shot for glitzy quick fixes with names like Kessel and Cammalleri. I have very little confidence in Feaster. If it's me, I do a bit of a clearing house in the Flames organization - I don't start with Iggy or Kipper.

[-Vintage Canuck-]

Kiprusoff shows mid-season form early in Flames camp:

CALGARY -- With captain Jarome Iginla sidelined for the second straight day and Jiri Hudler gone to attend to a family emergency, the Calgary Flames were looking for somrthing to spark the team at practice.

Goalie Miikka Kiprusoff came through Monday when he made a highlight-reel save to deny forward Roman Horak from scoring what seemed like a sure goal during an intense scrimmage.

Kiprusoff slid from right to left across his crease and stretched his right leg out to make a pad save to turn aside Horak's shot.

"That's why he's one of the best goalies in the NHL," said Horak, who one-timed a saucer pass from Tim Jackman. "I just tried to put it on the net. Maybe I could have tried to receive it and then shot it. It was an unbelievable save."

After the save, many of the 250 or so fans in attendance at the Scotiabank Saddledome started chanting, "Kipper, Kipper."

"I think sometimes he even gives you an extra second to take it away from you," said defenceman Mark Giordano. "Some of the saves he makes are amazing. That's just his athleticism. He's so good at getting post to post."

While Iginla missed training camp for the second straight day with a groin injury, Hudler was granted a leave of absence to return home to the Czech Republic where his father has been admitted to hospital.

"We told him to take care of his dad," said Calgary coach Bob Hartley, while adding there's no timeline as to when Hudler will return. "He'll be in touch with us. Hockey really is important in everybody's life, but your family always comes No. 1."

Curtis Glencross and Matt Stajan scored goals during the scrimmage for Team Red, while Mikael Backlund was the lone player from Team Black to slide a puck past Kiprusoff.

Flames coaches and players said they weren't surprised to see that their No. 1 goalie is already in mid-season form just six days before Calgary's home opener on Sunday against the San Jose Sharks, Kiprusoff's former team.

"You saw vintage Kipper again with that one save," said goalie coach Clint Malarchuk, while noting that Kiprusoff arrived at camp in great shape. "He's a veteran guy that knows what to do."

When asked about the save, Hartley replied that "Kipper was just Kipper," adding that he rates Kiprusoff as one of the top-five NHL goalies.

"I have the old line that 'You name me a good goalie and I'll name you a good team,"' Hartley said. "I know that Kipper's going to be big for us. He's working hard. He's very positive. He's eager to get going and so is the rest of the team."

During the lockout, Kiprusoff often skated with his teammates at WinSport's Markin MacPhail Centre.

"He'd be missing for a couple weeks spending time with his family and then he'd show up out of the blue on a Tuesday and he'd be doing the same thing," Stajan said. "I don't think it matters with Kipper. He's one of the best goalies in the world for a reason. His skill level is just unbelievable, the way he reads plays and his quickness. It's second to none and we're lucky to have him."

Defenceman Dennis Wideman, who the Flames signed as a free agent in the off-season, said that he's used to watching highlights of Kiprusoff's amazing saves and that he's excited to be on the same team as the veteran netminder.

"I'm sure he'll bail me out a few times over the course of the year," said Wideman, who had 11 goals and 25 assists in 82 games with the Washington Capitals last season. "Whenever you have a goalie like that playing behind you, it definitely gives you some more confidence to make some plays and put a little more pressure on guys."

Prior to the scrimmage, Hartley and his coaching staff put the Flames through an intense 1 1/2 hour practice.

"Every time we step on the ice, we step with a purpose and that purpose is obviously to execute very well, but at the same time to have NHL game intensity," Hartley said.

That intensity carried over into the scrimmage, which featured NHL referees and linesmen.

"This was really, really high-tempo," said Horak, who has already scored 14 times and added five assists in 35 games this season with the Abbotsford Heat, Calgary's American Hockey League affiliate. "I would say it was a little more (intense) than an AHL game for sure."

The Flames have another scrimmage scheduled for Wednesday, and Glencross said he expects that the intensity level to be ramped up yet another notch.

"We're not getting any exhibition games, so we have to take advantage of these scrimmages, because that's as close as we're going to get to game situations," Glencross said. "We've got to be ready to go when the puck drops. If it takes an intense scrimmage like that, that's what we've got to do."

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=413551

[GototheFlamestotheGo]

^That makes me so happy! Mid-season form Kipper always gives the Flames a chance, no matter how crappy they are in all other aspects of their game. A real leader by example and if he can get the Flames roaring out of the gate then anything can happen.

[SterlingArcher]

pretty sick stop he made on horak

[Canucks_fo_life]

The Hockey News prediction for this season

12th - Calgary Flames

Why: The Flames are your prototypical bubble team - too good to bottom out, not good enough to guarantee a playoff spot. The backbone of the team - Jarome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff - are just getting older and without anyone else to lead the charge, Calgary seems to be moving further and further away from a No. 8 seed. Patchwork was done via the free agent market, but overpaying for marginal talent isn't what the doctor ordered for this team. Until they decide to rebuild, the flames will be headed in the wrong direction.

[frazzY]

I got Iggy and Cammy in my draft pool! They better continue that chemistry from before lol!

Go Canucks Go!

Also got Hank, booth, kassian, garrison! BOOM

[pimpcurtly]

Just wanna say good luck to the Flames this year(not too much though). Hopefully we can have some good battles this year. And as always, I hope we can get a playoff matchup together and get this rivalry fired up once again!!

[Baercheese]

Just wanna say good luck to the Flames this year(not too much though). Hopefully we can have some good battles this year. And as always, I hope we can get a playoff matchup together and get this rivalry fired up once again!!

[-Vintage Canuck-]

Tanguay back at centre after 13 years in the league:

CALGARY -- When Alex Tanguay broke into the NHL with the Colorado Avalanche back in 1999 he had two options.

He could switch from his natural centre position and play left-wing on a line with Joe Sakic, or he could watch from the press box.

"I became a left-wing then and I've been that ever since," said Tanguay, who was also behind Peter Forsberg and Stephane Yelle on Colorado's depth chart at centre. "It was fun for me to get to watch some of the best players. I knew I wasn't going to play that position so I made the adjustment."

Bob Hartley, who was Colorado's coach at the time, recalled that he initially tried Tanguay out at centre a few times during practice.

"But we had so many options with Joe and Forsberg," said Hartley, who was reunited with Tanguay when he signed on to coach the Calgary Flames late last May. "He was a young kid coming in with no NHL experience. To be on Joe's wing was not a bad thing a better being on the left-wing than eating popcorn upstairs."

Now, 13 seasons later, Hartley made the decision to put Tanguay back at centre for the first three days of Flames training camp.

"It's been a while since I played centre," said Tanguay, who won a Stanley Cup with Hartley in Colorado in 2001. "I used to play it in juniors (with the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL). I know how to play it. It's going to take a little bit of time and I'm going to take as many days as possible to hopefully be ready."

With Calgary's home opener slated for this Sunday against the San Jose Sharks, that doesn't leave much time.

"I'm looking forward to the next few days of practice and hopefully I can improve and get better," Tanguay said. "I did some video with the coaches on the centre position and what to do and what not to do.

"I'm looking forward to the challenge. It's a great opportunity and we'll see how it goes."

Curtis Glencross has been impressed with how much improvement Tanguay has shown so far.

"Obviously, it's not something that he's going to be an expert at overnight," said Glencross, who has played left-wing on Tanguay's line all three days. "It's going to take a little bit and every day he's better and better. Alex has such good vision of the ice and he's such a smart player.

"He doesn't really get himself in too many problems. A good player like that can manoeuvre between different positions really easily."

Blake Comeau played on Calgary's top line the first two days before Hartley decided to put Lee Stempniak in the right-wing spot on Wednesday.

"I think he's a natural," Stempniak said of Tanguay. "You just get your stick down and try to get open and more often than not, he'll find you, which is a lot of fun for someone who likes to shoot the puck."

Of course, captain Jarome Iginla is pencilled in to play on the top

line once he has recovered from his groin injury.

"I think Iggy's spot is pretty secure," Stempniak said.

If all goes well, Iginla could make his debut at Flames training camp on Wednesday.

"He's doing so well that he's begging me to let him on the ice," Hartley said. "Tomorrow morning, he's going to come in, we're going to test him in the gym and if everything feels good, he's going to be on the ice."

For the third straight day, Mikael Backlund centred Calgary's second line between left-winger Sven Baertschi and right-winger Michael Cammalleri.

"I like the chemistry," Hartley said. "It seems that Cammy is having fun with the two kids. It's a good leadership role for Cammy."

That being said, Hartley added that he might switch things up a bit before Calgary's season starts on Sunday.

"If there's one thing about me, I'm not scared to change my lines, so you never know," he said.

The Flames are still uncertain as to whether forward Jiri Hudler will make it back in time for Calgary's first game.

Hudler's father, Jiri Hudler Sr., passed away on Monday and his funeral will take place this Friday in Olomouc, Czech Republic.

"He has bigger things on his mind," Hartley said. "He'll take care of his family. He'll do what's right."

Once Hudler returns from the Czech Republic, Hartley said everyone in the Flames' organization will show their support as best as they can.

"We always try to say the right things to make sure that he feels good, but more importantly that he knows that we're with him," Hartley said.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=413623&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

[jordo23]

Goin to be same story different year for the flames. Goin to be in the hunt only to miss by a couple points and get a mid pick while they could tear it down and get a top 5 pick seeing how this draft has a pretty solid prospects. Also what's with cervenka I have a feeling he isn't going to live up to the hype of being a topsix player. If I was a flames fan I'd be worried about getting nothing for Iginla if he leaves to persuit a cup and come to Vancouver. Wouldn't that be funny would flames hate the canucks with iggy lol.

[oldnews]

That's because no one was playing for the Heat lol? All the top players got called up for camp

[Mustapha]

I would say the only 2 people who like Kipper more than Flames fans are Hank and Dank - traditionally they light that guy up on a regular basis.

Seriously though,

Kiprusoff gets a lot of wins( he also plays a lot of games), but his environment dictates his play more than people realize. When Keenan was coaching Calgary, his personal stats deteriorated noticeably, and he thrives better under a defensive system (which many goalies do - see Mike Smith who had nearly identical numbers to Kipper in the regular season last year) and Elliott/Halak in St.L )

Goalies tend to struggle when taken from a defensive system to more open one - Bryzgalov's play between Phoenix and Philly is a great example. I don't know if Bryzgalov was that much worse necessarily, but there were second and third chances that a team like Phoenix or St. Louis wouldn't allow another team to have. Those chances can destroy a goalie's numbers. (This doesn't take into account that horrid PIT/PHI series where goaltending WAS deplorable on both sides)

Kiprusoff's greatest asset is that he has been durable - because Calgary has yet to develop another goalie in their system since acquiring him nearly a decade ago. If he does get injured, Calgary will be in trouble. They have no one in their system who they could rely on for an extended period of time. They just don't play enough at the NHL level.

[oldnews]

Cammalleri, and now Tanguay as well, pretending to be centers?

not lookin so bad now, is he?

[Canucks_fo_life]

TSN NHL season preview show has Calgary finishing 14th in the West

[canuck2xtreme]

So who gets the backup job? Irving or Karlsson?

[SterlingArcher]

Irving