SB Nation - Jarome Iginla

Predators Game Day Preview: Nashville @ Calgary

Dirk Hoag — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 15:58:38 -0000

The march through Western Canada continues today in Calgary, where the Nashville Predators put their recent 5-0-1 record on the line against the Northwest Division-leading Flames in an afternoon game (3:00 Central start).

Interestingly, the Preds are 11-3-2 in their last 16 afternoon games, so might the early puck drop help them out? Let's take a look at the matchup...

Meet the Enemy

Calgary's a very strong team, bolstered by a resurgent season by Miikka Kiprusoff and point-per-game performances from Jarome Iginla and Rene Bourque. On the back end, they've got what is probably the best group of defensemen in the NHL, led by Jay Bouwmeester, Dion Phaneuf, and Robyn Regehr.

The Flames have won 5 straight against Nashville, including the only game between the two this season, a nasty 5-0 contest on November 30.

Matchsticks & Gasoline is SB Nation's Calgary Flames blog, and is one of the more stat-savvy sites out there. Head on over and lose an hour or two. According to the gang there, the Calgary lines are as follows:

Nystrom-Jokinen-Iginla
Dawes-Langkow-Bourque
Glencross-Conroy-Moss
Sjostrom-Boyd-Prust

Phaneuf-Regehr
Bouwmeester-Giordano
Pardy-Johnson

Olli Jokinen hasn't exactly lit things up since coming to Calgary as the proposed solution for a hole up the middle.

Meet the Good Guys

If anybody's hotter than Flames these days, it's got to be the Nashville Predators. At 5-0-1 in their last 6, and 19-5-2 in their last 26, the Preds currently sit in the middle of a logjam atop the Western Conference, where just 3 points separates the top 7 teams. While there's good reason to believe that the current 5+ goals per game pace isn't sustainable, Nashville is getting contributions from up and down the roster, and should be able to keep scoring enough to remain competitive.

The lines carrying over from the Edmonton game are as follows:

Forwards

Sullivan - Arnott - Erat

Ward - Legwand - Smithson

Hornqvist - Goc - Dumont

Jones - Spaling - Belak

Defense

Suter - Weber

Hamhuis - Klein

Bouillon - Franson

Even Strength Play

	5-on-5 Team Data from Behind the Net
Team	GP	GF	GA	GF/60	Shots For/60	Sht %	GA/60	Shots Ag/60	Save %	+/- per 60
Nashville	35	68	61	2.4	29.6	8.3	2.2	28.9	.924	+0.3
Calgary	34	67	53	2.5	26.3	9.7	2.0	28.7	.930	+0.5

So... they score about as much as the Preds but give up about 15% fewer goals. That's a good combination for the Flames. Nashville's recent numbers, however, are well above these season-long totals, and they've achieved most of their success lately in 5-on-5 play.

Advantage: none

Calgary PP vs. Nashville PK

Despite the top-drawer talent that fills out the power play, Calgary sits in the middle of the pack with an 18.4% PP, good for 19th in the league. Another surprise is that the Flames don't get very many power play opportunities, ranking 26th in that regard. In years past, Jarome Iginla has been among the league leaders in drawing calls, but this season has been another matter entirely.

This is all good news for a Predators penalty killing group which ranks a dismal 29th. This is an area of the team that has to get fixed, sooner rather than later.

Advantage: none

Nashville PP vs. Calgary PK

The other side of the special teams battle doesn't look much better for Nashville, which boasts the #26 power play at 16.7%. Patric Hornqvist's 2nd goal Thursday night in Edmonton ended a recent slide by that group, which struggled to produce for any length of time.

Calgary boasts a middling penalty kill.

Advantage: Calgary

Goaltending

After a few years of slow but steady decline, Miikka Kiprusoff has been outstanding for the Flames this season:

Miikka Kiprusoff

#34 / Goalie / Calgary Flames

Height: 6-1

Weight: 184

Born: Oct 26, 1976

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Miikka Kiprusoff	30	1792	18	8		64	2.14	913	849	.930	3

We'll have to wait for word as to who gets the start for Nashville. One of the players mentioned that Pekka Rinne had a bit of the flu on Thursday, and given Dan Ellis' solid work in relief, it's conceivable he could get the nod today. UPDATE: per Tom Callahan on Twitter, Dan Ellis gets the start.

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Pekka Rinne	25	1352	14	6		62	2.75	653	591	.905	2

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Dan Ellis	15	771	7	5		34	2.65	381	347	.911	0

Advantage: Calgary

Summary

The Preds erased the memory of one bad loss in Edmonton a couple days ago, can they repeat the feat again this afternoon? The Flames make for a much tougher opponent than the Oilers, and it's imperative that the Predators forwards put as much as pressure on deep in the zone as they can; Calgary's elite defensemen are going to be tough to rattle.

This may be a game in which the Nashville defense are relied upon to contribute a goal or two, and I'm sure Shea Weber wouldn't mind showing up Dion Phaneuf (previously touted as the top young defenseman in the game) before his home crowd.

ALSO: check out Point 2 Point for another look at today's game.

For discounted tickets to any Nashville Predators home game, you can follow this link and use the special offer code "PREDS".

Calgary Flames Scoring Chances - Rates and States

Kent Wilson — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:39:56 -0000

More photos » by Jeff McIntosh - AP

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Now that we're a third of the way through the season and the SC numbers are starting to pile up, we can start applying some minor tweaks to make them more meaningful. Primary among which is to look at rates or the efficiency with which players are generating (or preventing) scoring chances while they're on the ice. We know, for instance, that Curtis Glencross leads the team in SC differential so far, but that doesn't take into account his ice time. Like even strength points per 60 (ESP/60), looking at each players rates will gives a better idea what's happening while he's on the ice. First, let's look at each guys totals, differentials, ice-time and corresponoding /60 rates.

The big table:

Here we have: chances for (EV+), chances against (EV -), gross differential (EV diff), chance for/against ratio (EV Ratio), even strength ice-time (EV Ice) and the resultant per 60 rates. The list is sorted by chance differential/60 minutes of ice (final column).

Observations

- Curtis Glencross is a ridiculously good by this measure. No one even touches his +6.68/60 rate on the club. He leads the team at both preventing and generating scoring chances so far.

- Jokinen rate of -4.7 chances/60 is positively ghastly. Even McGrattan, Sjostorm and Prust aren't liabilities to the same extent.

- Keep in mind circumstances when evaluating these stats. Pardy and Kronwall are highly sheltered, for instance. Glencross is kicking butt, but he also sees a lot of third liners and more offensive zone draws than, say, Bourque or Langkow.

- Boyd's corsi number isn't impressive this year, but he seems to be outperforming it thus far. Although he tends to spend more time in the defensive zone, he manages to be pretty efficient in terms of generating scoring chances. Although, one wonders how much that first 10 games stretch where he was playing with Glencross and Conroy is skewing things.

Chances for - Comparing the Forwards

I thought it might be interesting to look at scoring chance rate stat that best matches each position's (theoretical) responsibility. For example, forwards are primarily concerned with generating scoring chances. On the other hand, defenders are primarily concerned with preventing them. As such, let's see who has the best rates at either end of the spectrum. First, the forwards:

Keep in mind, this is the rate at which each player generates chances while he's on the ice at ES (X/60 minutes). Items of interest:

- Bourque places third behind leaders Conroy and Glencross, despite much tougher circumstances. Effing stud.

- Jarome Iginla is more than 1 chance/60 better than Jokinen despite spending most of his time with the big fin this year. One wonders what the difference would be if the two were separated. On that note, Jokinen only hovers above grinders and goons in terms of SC efficiency. And while he sees much tougher opponents, he also plays with guys like Iginla, Dawes etc.

- Moss is underperforming by this measure relative to expectations I'd say. Part of that was starting the year on the wing with Jarome and Jokinen and part of that was his post-injury malaise. Hopefully he can get back on the horse.

- Prust's rate is surprisingly high, but sample size is an issue. He's only played 143 ES minutes this year.

Chances Against - Comparing the Defensemen

This is something of an extension of my summer project to determine true defensive effects of individual blueliners. During the off-season, I calculated "shots at the net / 60" with each Flame defender on the ice - the theory being that good defenders would allow less shots at their net than poor ones. In that study, I found that Dion Phaneuf was the worst Flames defender last season with a 51.2 shots/60 rate being well above every other rear guard else on the team.

This follows along the same lines, except for scoring chances (those being the more dangerous shots):

Keep in mind, this is scoring chances against per 60 minutes of even strength ice. Items of interest:

- Yup, Cory Sarich stunk when he was in the line-up. Sometimes numbers and subjective evaluations do line-up perfectly. It remains to be determined whether his struggles were a result of playing through injury or not.

- Phanuef and Regehr have been much higher event than Giordano and Bouwmeester thus far. To the tune of almost 3 chances/60. That's no doubt partially from spending more time behind Iginla and Jokinen against other teams top players (although the difference between quality of competition and zone starts between the two pairings is fairly marginal). Can we conclude that the difference is a mixture of circumstances and Bouwmeester (and Gio!) being just that good?

- Ignore Kronwall's number. He faces nobodies and he's played less 100 ES minutes this season.

That's it for now. This stuff will be interesting to pursue as the season matures no doubt.

Cancel My Away Game Season Ticket Plan: Blues Win At Home.

gallagher — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:58:43 -0000

First things first: teams are starting to look past the Blues. Calgary started Curtis McIlhinney tonight, he of four games played this season (Miikka Kiprusoff has played in 29). But let's give the Blues this: they took advantage of not having to play Kiprusoff and did what they needed to get one of those heretofore elusive home wins.

Generally speaking, that team reminded me of the Blues of the early part of the Edmonton game. As we were talking about that game tonight at the rink I made the comment that at first we were all so excited because they were playing like the team we thought we had. Then, in the third period, they played like the team we unfortunately knew we had. That second team never showed up tonight.

Yes, there were mistakes; teams don't play perfect for all 60 minutes. barret Jackman lost track of Jarome Iginla a couple times and it nearly cost them. Yes, Brad Boyes missed the net wide again in key situations, but at least he made some smart plays with the puck and wound up with three assists tonight. Chris Mason made his standard unbelievable save and his standard "how'd that go in?" faux pas.

Overall, however, the type of effort we expect to see from this team every night. If it takes Barret Jackman and Keith Tkachuk mistreating each other in practice like they did this weekend, then so be it. Professional athletes are weird, giant man-child finely tuned coordinated machines. Head games and superstitions come with the territory.

Finally, a few other notes from tonight:

I didn't see the Hull ceremony, but I'm hoping to catch the replay. I was in the building early enough to catch the whole game and when they showed Hullie up on the jumbotron and he flashed that smile-smirk of his and gave the thumbs-up, it made me smile. I miss that guy. He made me a hockey fan. I love that guy.
In case you missed it, the fan that yelled something out that gave Hull pause and made the whole rink laugh was someone who yelled out, "Keenan sucks!" People said it looked like Hull wanted to say something about it. Personally, I don't know how he refrained.
Another great recurring joke of the night was the interviews of Hull's Team. Angelllla asked Tony Twist, Curtis Joseph, Geoff Courtnall and others to tell a 'family friendly Brett Hull story. Not one of them could do it. CuJo even said, "There are no family-friendly Brett Hull stories." Did I mention that I love that guy?
As for the game, a big sign that things went the right way is that I don't have to gush about the play of Silent Jay McClement tonight. When McClement's solid defensive play is noticable, things aren't going well for the team. Silent Jay was solid as always, but it's a good thing that he was overshadowed.
Apparently Brett Hull said in an interview today that T.J. Oshie reminds him a lot of himself when he was that age. All I can say about that is that we should all go into avoid the jinx mode and never speak of this again. That said, how fitting was it for the Teej to win the game with a Hullian shot late in the game? Sinking into a hole in the defense and then snapping on in? Quite fitting, actually.
On the power play tonight, Brad lee said, "Why is Alex Steen out there?" I replied with, "He's a great puck handler." A second later he fired a shot that scored. Call both of us crazy.
David Perron may not have scored and I may be starting to come over to the Answer Man's theory that his teammates don't like him based on their lack of obvious love for him on-ice, but there are few players in the NHL that have that want for the puck that Frenchie has. Even when he's stickhandling through the defense and they're hooking and holding him, he stays focused, keeps moving his feet and trying to get the puck back. You can't teach that quality. wanting the puck is what makes players better than like-skilled equals.

In Chicago tomorrow, which will be a huge test. It'll be a good chance to see how much confidence this team got from tonight as they try to beat a fierce rival in the first game they play against them this year.

You want something else? Here it is, your Hullian end to the Brett Hull Night:

Flames Game Day: Blue Period

Robert Cleave — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:00:20 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

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Calgary Flames vs. St. Louis Blues

Scottrade Center

6 PM MT

Opposition: St. Louis Game Time

TV: PPV

Are they really tired? Sick? Effort a bit lacking? If you read the papers in the last few days, that's the impression one might get about the Flames after a couple of dodgy outings over the weekend. Those two games were certainly amongst the worst performances this year, and I do think that fatigue might have played a role.

I think that an honest appraisal of the Flames would submit that they aren't the most skilled team in the league. That doesn't mean they can't have a good season, but what it does mean is that they haven't got very much margin for error, so the team has to play with an effort level very close to the maximum. This current Flames' edition reminds me a bit of the 05/06 team in that regard. There was a solid core of defencemen, not much going on up front, and Kipper was out of his head. Darryl Sutter rode that team pretty hard to end up in third place, and when they were confronted by a team with more scoring depth in the playoffs, the Flames didn't have anything extra. That loss to the Ducks was just the beginning of Calgary's one-and-done springs.

That comparison might seem a bit unfair, and that 05/06 team's forwards didn't seem quite as good as the current group, but the numbers are unforgiving. The Flames have scored 51 goals in their last 22 games. 2.3 GPG over a full season would likely be right at the bottom of the league, so I don't think I'm reaching to say that level of scoring won't get a team very far.

The underlying issue, of course, is the lack of shots. Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen are both tracking towards some of their poorest shot totals since establishing themselves as bona fide NHLers. Iginla's little run of hot shooting last month aside, the two of them haven't really created much at EV or on the PP, and if anyone has a scenario where the Flames don't need those two playing at a high level to have a successful season, I'm all ears.

I just can't see anything changing unless the Flames go completely into the tank. Sutter appears to be as attached to leaving the big two together as Bart Simpson was to his Rock, Paper, Scissors strategy, and if that was at EV only, I could live with it, wrong-headed as I might find it, because the Flames aren't giving up much in the way of EV chances most games. Where this sort of stubbornness strikes me as unforgivable is when the Flames are up a man. Three shots in nine and a half PP minutes in Denver can't just be explained away by bad luck or fatigue. The PP has looked lost more nights than not since the unrepeatable shooting of October, so I don't see why the team is so doctrinaire. Keeping the lines intact for the PP sounds like a good idea in theory, but there's no actual evidence to back the strategy, and this team needs the PP to be good under the best of circumstances.

The other move that has left many of us baffled is the persistent use of Robyn Regehr on the second PP. He's very good at his role, but that role shouldn't include ice-time when the Flames are actually looking to create offence. It's just another part of a very conservative approach that the team has gotten away with because of Miikka Kiprusoff's stellar play this season.

More scoring from somewhere seems like a good plan tonight, since Curtis McElhinney is slated for an outing, and it's the first time he's had a look where the team wasn't playing in a B2B. If Kipper needs a night off due to overwork, you'd certainly understand it given what he faced on the weekend.

Calgary's scoring woes aside, it might not be a bad time for McE to get some run, since the Blues can't throw it in the ocean either. They can't score (2.37 GPG), and they've won 5 games at home all year. Their PP, the source of so many good things as they made a run to the post-season last spring, is DFL, operating at 12.8%. The only reason that the Blues haven't been left for dead is their goaltending and PK work. There seems to be a certain commonality at play, doesn't there?

So, in review, neither team can score, Calgary's using McE, and the game is on PPV, which has been a guaranteed loss for the Flames this season (0-2-2). Oh, and if you believe the lines from the Herald that were in that linked bit, Nystrom is playing with Joker and Iggy. Maybe the Flames can win 2-1? They haven't done anything of that manner in about a week, so they're due ;-)

Game time is 6 MT.

What is Glenn Healy talking about?

Hawerchuk — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:00:15 -0000

More photos » by Paul Vernon - AP

23 days ago: Calgary Flames' Jamie Lundmark (45) celebrates with teammate Daymond Langkow after scoring the winning goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets in a shootout an NHL hockey game in Columbus, Ohio, Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009. The Flames won 4-3. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)

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I rarely watch the Hockey Night in Canada intermission panels, but I was too lazy to change the channel during the Flames-Sharks game on Saturday. What drew Glenn Healy's ire? The Flames didn't use Jarome Iginla in their last shootout. Healy reminded us that Iginla was the "hottest" NHL player in the month of November. Iginla did indeed shoot 27.6% over 14 games, and presumably Healy believes this indicates Iginla's shooting ability has gone way over his career figure of 13.4%. Like the old NBA Jam arcade game, Iginla's temporarily "on fire" and Calgary can't afford to let this ephemeral talent of his slip away.

Let's take the longer view: Iginla is 7-for-25 on shootouts in his career. (The other shooter Healy suggested was indispensable was Stephen Weiss, who's 3-for-18 in his career.) Assuming he saw a set of goaltenders who were, on the whole, league-average, here is the distribution of Iginla's true talent in the shootout:

Not only is Iginla not a lock to score in the shootout, it's fairly unlikely that he's even a better-than-average shooter: the probability of Iginla's true shootout talent exceeding the league average is just 31%. And the probability of Iginla being one of the best dozen or so shooters in the league, at 41% or more? Barely 10%.

So is that a guy who absolutely has to be one of your top three shooters? No chance. Is it likely that Flames coach Brent Sutter picked his shooters based on how successful they were in hundreds of shootouts in practice? Very. Are we better off trusting lots of reps than looking at last month's shooting percentage? I think you know the answer.

What Have You Done in Your Life?

RudyKelly — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:41:24 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

What's he getting for his birthday? Not alcohol. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Yesterday Drew Doughty played 24:46 minutes against the Calgary Flames, mostly against Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen.

Today he turned 20.

I feel like I need to watch Men of a Certain Age now.

Game 25 Preview: Jackets Return Home to Take on the Flames

Mike MacLean — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:49:07 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

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Finally, back home. The Jackets return to Nationwide Arena to face the Flames tonight, after concluding a disastrous five-game road trip. The Jackets won the first game, but then promptly lost four in a row. The team played horrible defensively, and the goaltenders were anything but sharp. Mason however did look good in the last game against Ottawa, making big saves when needed, however he lost focus on the game winning goal for Ottawa, a wraparound by Nick Foligno late in the third. Mase was again haunted by a play that developed from behind the net.

The Flames are a fairly high scoring team, and they play physical. They play a lot like Columbus does when the Jackets are "on", so this on paper is a pretty fair matchup. What remains to be seen is whether or not the Jackets can get their act together in the defensive zone. Something is broken, the effort level isn't there and the goalies haven't been good. These factors need to be remedied immediatly, as the Jackets are losing ground fast. The Preds and Blackhawks are the hottest team in the NHL right now, and the Jackets need to keep pace.

There have been some shakeups to the forward lines. Raffi Torres should be lining up with Vermette and Nash on the first line, and Umby is moving to the second line right-wing position with Jake moving to the third line. Look for recently called-up Alex Picard to see some action on the fourth line. I love his game- tons of jam and he still actually has offensive talent, although he has yet to show it at the NHL level. I fully expect him to take advantage of this chance and have a strong game.

Fearless Prediction: Picard scores his first NHL goal!

Game Time: 7:00pm ET

Opponent's Blog: Matchsticks and Gasoline

Game Page: Flames vs Blue Jackets Coverage

TSN Preview: Flames vs Blue Jackets Preview

TV: FSN Ohio

Radio: WBNS-AM (1460); WWCD-FM (101.1)

More after the jump...

From the Columbus Dispatch:

The Blue Jackets aim to snap a season-high, four-game losing streak. Since Oct. 7, 2005, the Blue Jackets are 7-1-0 against the Flames in Nationwide Arena, including a 2-1 win Oct. 13.

Jackets Links:

Columbus Blue Jackets / Columbus Blue Jackets Schedule

Columbus Blue Jackets Roster / Columbus Blue Jackets Stats

Here are the lineups for tonight's tilt:

Columbus Blue Jackets

Raffi Torres	Antoine Vermette	Rick Nash
Kristian Huselius	Derick Brassard	R.J. Umberger
Jason Chimera	Samuel Pahlsson	Jakub Voracek
Alexandre Picard	Derek MacKenzie	Jared Boll

Fedor Tyutin	Anton Stralman
Rostislav Klesla	Jan Hejda
Marc Methot	Mike Commodore

Steve Mason

Mathieu Garon

EXTRA: Kris Russell, Michael Blunden

INJURED: Fredrik Modin, Andrew Murray, Derek Dorsett

Calgary Flames

Jamie Lundmark	Olli Jokinen	Jarome Iginla
Nigel Dawes	Daymond Langkow	David Moss
Curtis Glencross	Craig Conroy	Dustin Boyd
Fredrik Sjostrom	Eric Nystrom	Brandon Prust

Jay Bouwmeester	Mark Giordano
Dion Phaneuf	Robyn Regehr
Adam Pardy	Aaron Johnson

Curtis McElhinney

Miikka Kiprusoff

Columbus Blue Jackets 2010 Olympics Preview

Mike MacLean — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:30:34 -0000

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SBNation is doing a series of Olympic Previews, taking a look at each team and which of their players may be suiting up for their countries in Vancouver. As a baseline, we are going to give an indication of their chances of making their team by using these arguments: "Pack Your Bags", "Nearly a Lock", "Fairly Safe Bet", and "In a Battle". The Jackets have a few players who could become Olympians, here's a look at them:

Rick Nash (Canada) - Pack Your Bags
There is almost no way, outside of injury, that Nash will not be a member of Team Canada. In fact, he is penciled in by most as the man riding shotgun to Sidney Crosby. Nash has plenty of international experience in his young career, including being a member of the 2006 Olympic Team, which failed miserably. He is a more mature and complete player now, and will look to be an offensive leader for the Canucks at home in Vancouver. My favourite Nash goal at an international tournament didn't take place at the Olympics, it was at the World Championships, but here it is anyway:

Steve Mason (Canada) - In a Battle
At least he was at the beginning of the season, that is. Before the start of the regular season this year, many experts thought that when it came to Canada's goaltenders, Roberto Luongo and Martin Brodeur were locks. The battle was for who the third goaltender was going to be. The three main contenders were Mason, Marc-Andre Fleury and Cam Ward. With Ward's injury, that made it a two-horse race. The problem is, Mase never showed up. His play this season has been downright awful. I'm not a believer in sophomore slumps, but the proof is in the pudding here. Look for Fleury- who is coming off of a Cup win and is playing great right now-to get the third goalie nod.

Kristian Huselius (Sweden) - Fairly Safe Bet
The man we call Juice may not be on the top of the list of skilled Swedish forwards, but he is a strong candidate to be on the Swedish team. His last international exoerience was at the 2002 World Championships, where the Tre Kroner won the bronze medal. He has never played in an Olympics, but he is on the Swedish short-list for 2010.

Samuel Pahlsson (Sweden) - Nearly a Lock
Sammy will almost definitely be on the Swedish team in 2010. He helped the Swedes win the Gold Medal back in 2006 in Torino, playing on a line with Freddy Modin (more on him in a minute). A dedicated checking center like Pahlsson will be very important this time around, with the Olympics being in Vancouver, the games will be played on NHL-sized ice, meaning tighter checking.

Fredrik Modin (Sweden) - In a Battle
I saw that Freddy is in a battle, not necessarily with other players trying to make the team, but with his own body. After being lauded for his amazing durability, the last couple of seasons have been near write-offs for Freddy as he has been hit with injury after injury. That said, if he is healthy I can't imagine him not playing for the Swedes, even in a fourth line role. He is after all, one of the very few players who are a member of the Triple Gold Club.

Anton Stralman (Sweden) - Nearly a Lock
Stralman is off to a great start since joining the Jackets, putting up good point totals. He is one of the main reasons the Jackets' powerplay has gone from last in the league a year ago, to best so far this season. He has played in three straight World Championships for Team Sweden, from 2007-2009. The Swedish defensive corps are a talented group, with Anton fitting in nicely. With the injury to Kronwall, Stralman may see top line duty with Nick Lidstrom.

Jakub Voracek (Czech Republic) - Nearly a Lock
The Czechs are a team that always seems to surprise at international tournaments. Look no further than the '98 Olympics, where they took home the Gold based on the amazing play of Dominik Hasek. In 2010, the Czechs are a good team, and Voracek should be a member. He likely will play a third or fourth line role, with the top six wingers likely being Jagr, Hemsky, Prospal and Hejduk/Havlat.

Rostislav Klesla (Czech Replublic) - In a Battle
Rusty is a fringe player in terms of the Olympic team. He does have international experience, but he is in tough this time around. He has to beat out the likes of Kaberle, Kubina, Rozsival, Hamrlik, Spacek and Kuba. It's not completely impossible though, and with the smaller ice a rugged player like Rusty could shine.

Jan Hejda (Czech Republic) - In a Battle
Like Rusty, Jan is fighting for a spot. He's defense-first, which may help him because the guys he is fighting for a spot against are generally puck-moving types. He has international experience, his most recent was at the 2008 Worlds. Given the play of Jaro Spacek, one of Hejda or Klesla could make the squad.

Fedor Tyutin (Russia) - Nearly a Lock
The Russians have scary forwards, plain and simple. They are the most dynamic group in the world, hands down. That said, they don't have spectacular defense. A hybrid defenseman like Tyutin will fit in very well on the Russian squad, and he could see powerplay duty with Sergei Gonchar.

Nikita Filatov (Russia) - In a Battle
Filatov wasn't at the Russians Olympic came this past summer, but he is no doubt still very much on the radar of the National Team. With his recent return to Russia, his stock has certainly risen, but he is still in tough to make the squad, given their amazing talent and depth up front.

R.J. Umberger (United States) - In a Battle
I wanted to include Umby mainly because I believe that it is wrong that he wasn't invited to the Team USA camp. He is a much better player than a handful of guys who did get the invite, but it all has to do with his history with USA GM Brian Burke. Umby didn't sign with Vancouver, who drafted him in the first round when Burke was the GM. This led to bad blood, which has clearly carried over to the Olympics. RJ's play hasn't done much to convince Burke otherwise either.

To finish things off, being a Canadian I am excited as hell to have the Olympics here in my home country. After the disappointment of Torino, I, like every other Canadian, want to see the Gold come back to Canada. Here's my prediction of the Team Canada Olympic Roster:

Rick Nash - Sidney Crosby - Jarome Iginla
Dany Heatley - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry
Brendan Morrow - Mike Richards - Shane Doan
Patrick Marleau - Joe Thornton - Martin St. Louis
Steven Stamkos

HM: Jonathan Toews, Jeff Carter, Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards

Chris Pronger - Scott Niedermayer
Dan Boyle - Duncan Keith
Shea Weber - Jay Bouwmeester
Drew Doughty

HM: Brent Seabrook, Mike Green, Stephane Robidas

Roberto Luongo
Martin Brodeur
Marc-Andre Fleury

HM: Marty Turco

November 24 News and Notes

Robert Cleave — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:50:00 -0000

More photos » by Francis Specker - AP

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Another week is in the can, as the Flames and the NHL pass the quarter pole. On this installment of M and G's look around the league, the Habs and Wild swap disappointments, a Pred makes a case for Olympic duty, and Dion Phaneuf's little brother runs a Canadian hockey heroine.

Flames:

Another frustrating night in Anaheim for Calgary, as a 43 shot effort only netted the Flames two goals and one point. Three points from the two games in California is still a perfectly fine ratio. The team has a six game tour coming up starting Friday in Detroit, and if they end up with nine points, I'd be fine with that.

One thing that seems heartening is the fact that Olli Jokinen has begun to get more involved in the offence. Seven SOG and 15 attempts in the last two games are more in line with what he should be providing. I suspect we'll argue all year about what he should or shouldn't be doing out there, but I'm fairly sure that everyone would agree that his game's strength is shooting the puck. He was better last night, and at some point with efforts of that ilk, he'll start to score. Unless Jarome Iginla keeps shooting 30-odd percent as he has this month, they'll need Joker's offence soon enough.

Kipper 5 v 5: This week - Chicago 2-11, L.A. 2-20, Anaheim 2-18, overall 30-440, .932 SV%. He should have sued for non-support after the Chicago game, although most of the dumbfuckery happened when the Flames were down a man. Those numbers are still solid, and I have absolutely no problem saying it's all to his credit. As I've mentioned before, he had an .899 5 v 5 SV% last year. I'm not sure any worthwhile evidence exists that the Flames are suddenly an airtight defensive crew, so if Kipper has moved up that much, I don't really see many external explanations. He's the MVP of the team through the first quarter.

Elsewhere:

Tomorrow's opponent has fallen on some harder times, taking a 4-0 loss in Edmonton Monday night. The Yotes are racked with injuries to the blue, having lost Jovanovski, Michalek and Sauer for extended periods. They've still had a good start to the year, though, and getting an NHL coach has aided matters greatly. Dave Tippett knows what he's doing, certainly in comparison to his predecessor.

Out on the coast, the Canucks lost a tough one to the Hawks Sunday, but they did welcome Daniel Sedin back to the line-up. Meanwhile, Pavol Demitra has been doing his Michael Phelps imitation in an effort to rejoin the Canucks line-up. Swimming, that is, although I suppose Phelps' other activities could be easily emulated in Vancouver if one was so inclined.

The Canucks themselves are dog-paddling along at a game over .500, and the lack of scoring depth is one reason why that team has seemed lackluster thus far. That killer Olympic road trip is looming, and if they aren't well clear of the Flames by late January, Calgary might have an edge.

The Wild and Canadiens traded players from the 2005 draft this week, with Guillaume Latendresse leaving Montreal for the Twin Cities, in exchange for former 4th overall pick Benoit Pouliot. Sean Gordon of the Globe and Mail has an interesting take on the deal, while Michael Russo evaluates the deal in a more conventional manner. Change of scenery, I guess, but Latendresse has been a useful player. Pouliot has been a complete bust to this point. FYI, the Flames picked Matt Pelech that year. Moving right along...

The Hawks are flying, as we know around these parts all too well. They'll get Hossa back this week, to boot. Bastards. Next year holds some cap problems for the Second City outfit, as Bob McKenzie notes this week. The first time I really remember the whole tagging room issue was when Anaheim traded Andy McDonald to St. Louis to accommodate the return of Scott Niedermayer, but what the Hawks are facing is quite a conundrum. Having too many good young players certainly beats the alternative, though.

Nashville has pulled themselves out of the ditch, with a 9-2 streak getting them in a playoff spot. Shea Weber has been very good for a few years running, and his play has him on the cusp of a potential Olympic berth. His Predators dispatched the Red Wings last night, and Bill at A2Y has had enough of Todd Bertuzzi. Welcome to our world, Chief. Iwocpo suggests that Bert's hit on Moore was the act that rendered Sparklepants a shell of the player that terrorized opponents before, but I always wonder if he was headed downhill at just that moment anyway. He only had 17 goals in 69 games, and his shooting percentage went from around 18% to 11% that year. Throw in a bad back, and that was it for Bert as an elite player.

The Wings lost another cog when Niklas Kronwall got the bad end of a knee-on-knee encounter with Le GG. It was a dreadful hit, with even the perpetrator admitting he should get a vacation.

A knee-on-knee play of sorts also has ex-Flame Shean Donovan on the shelf for a couple of months, courtesy of Matt Cooke. No suspension for the Pens' agitator, although one for general crimes against humanity wouldn't be out of line, would it?

The Leafs lost on 4-3 to the Islanders on Monday, despite out-shooting New York 61-21. Dwayne Roloson looks pretty good, doesn't he? Dominik at Lighthouse Hockey has the right idea with that story title, IMO. That said, at least one person appears to have a bit of mercy for the Buds.

Speaking of Islander items, we have a Rick DiPietro sighting. There's been talk about Marty Biron to Buffalo, but I wonder if Columbus is worried about Steve Mason's terrible start this year to the point that they might make a move. Mathieu Garon gave up a five-spot to the Habs tonight, so it's not as if he's bullet-proof either.

The Olympic selection is nearing, and in his latest effort, Elliotte Friedman of the CBC discusses Steven Stamkos' potential for a nod. I do have a quibble with this bit, however:

Also, inexperience cost Canada dearly in 2006.

That's just not so. Of the main squad named to the Turin team, only two players, Bertuzzi and Turco, were absent from the 2004 World Cup side. That team had plenty of issues, but since the absence of Sidney Crosby was the main point of contention going in, that take from Elliotte doesn't seem to match my memory of things. Saying a team with Sakic, Iginla, Smyth, Brodeur and Pronger couldn't handle the jitters, well, nope, I'm not buying it. They looked more like a team that struggled to keep up on the big ice, and someone from these parts said as much at the time.

Ray Ferraro addresses one of my bugbears in his TSN blog this week. He discusses the actions that Nigel Dawes took in the wake of the hit that sent Rene Bourque to IR. The idea that a clean hit demands retribution is stupid, and yet it's now become an automatic response. Why? I'm not a fan of hits that target the head, but there are normal hits that should be part of the game, and Hjalmarsson's play was well within that spectrum.

Gabe Desjardins has a look at how overtime, and the way the league has structured the OT/SO points, can skew results in the standings. It doesn't favour the good teams, to his way of thinking, and mine. I'd be fine if the league went back to tie games, but that's not on the horizon.

That's all for this week. Keep your head up, Hayley. There's no safe place when a Phaneuf is out there.

Coyotes at Flames: Game Preview #25

zyllyx — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:42:35 -0000

via upload.wikimedia.org

Your humble host OdinMercer is heading for the frozen Utah tundra to take advantage of a very unfortunate turkey, so I, zyllyx, am here to preview Wednesday night's action between the Phoenix Coyotes and the Calgary Flames.

Amazingly enough, the Coyotes are a mere two points behind our conference rivals going into Wednesday. Even better, the Flames' home record is a relatively unimpressive 6-5-0 (compared to a 7-1-3 road record) so the prospects for the Coyotes are not as dismal as they might have been in previous years at the Pengrowth Saddledome.

The Coyotes are hoping to get back to winning after running into a brick wall named Jeff Deslauriers in Edmonton Monday night. The team has not lost three games in a row all season but they also have not put together two wins in a row all month. This would be a great time to get a win streak started.

Without further ado, here is the time honored

FIVE FOR WINNING

Contain Jarome Iginla
Jarome Iginla has been one of the hottest snipers in the league in November with 12 goals in 10 games and a hat trick on Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings. His 23.9% shot percentage is almost 10 percentage points better than any regular forward on the Coyotes' roster. He's also one of the league's most respected and determined players. But while you can't stop Iginla, you can certainly contain him. The Coyotes will need to try to keep a leash on the Flames' "big dog" if they want a shot to win.

Don't Let the Ex-Coyotes Prove (Or Score, For That Matter) Any Points
The Flames' roster has plenty of ex-Coyotes including Olli Jokinen, Nigel Dawes and Fredrik Sjostrom, as well as Brandon Prust and Brian McGrattan. The stakes will be high for all of those players because of the way they left Arizona. Jokinen has an axe to grind against Phoenix because of the whispers that he was a locker room cancer here; Dawes and Sjostrom both want Phoenix to realize that they're not the "failed project players" that they appeared to be when they were moved out of our system; Prust, who was traded to Phoenix and then back to Calgary, probably isn't happy that the Coyotes considered him an "oops" that they "re-gifted"; and Brian McGrattan - if he ends up in the lineup - probably wants to pound out some of the demons that set upon him in the Valley of the Sun. (Jamie Lundmark's there too, but I doubt he has much of a score to settle.) The Coyotes will reciprocate with ex-Flames Matthew Lombardi, James Vandermeer and Adrian Aucoin, who hopefully will do a better job of teaching a lesson to their former team than Scottie Upshall did against the Flyers last weekend.

Play Like You Want to Be In The Lineup
Nobody wants to be the latest "beneficiary" of Dave Tippett's "suck and scratch" teaching opportunity. Tippett has taken to severely limiting or healthy-scratching players who aren't giving the kind of effort the coaching staff wants. While this is a welcome change from the frankly dubious "let's sit a random Russian for a few weeks" method of the Gretzky era, it has made for some interesting names in the press box attendance rolls. As for who the Wheel of Misfortune will tap for a press box visit in Calgary... well, based on their even-strength icetime in Edmonton, recent rumor-mill-victim Peter Mueller (9:45) and Taylor Pyatt (9:36) look like they could be wearing suits and not sweaters when the puck drops.

Grit Good, Fear Bad
The Calgary Flames' end of the ice is a daunting workplace for any team in the league. With Miikka Kiprusoff (he of the 2.57 GAA and .915 save percentage) patrolling the crease and guys like Dion Phaneuf, Jay Bouwmeester, Cory Sarich and Robyn Regehr clogging the blueline, it will take determination and persistence to break through and score. The Coyotes are going to need to require a command performance from the forwards in order to score - throw the body, finish checks, take a check to make the play... all of the standard hockey cliches apply. A welcome sight for the Desert Dogs would be the appearance of "Angry Doan," the Mr. Hyde persona of the Coyotes' captain who completely leveled the Oilers' Sheldon Souray for having the temerity to knock Doan's helmet off. The Phaneuf family may think their boys are tough but not even Neon Dion can withstand the awesome force of Angry Doan.

PRESSURE!
In the third period of the Coyotes-Oilers game, assistant coach Dave King changed tactics and used a 2-1-2 with a hard forecheck to put pressure on Edmonton. Although the team didn't score, the number of scoring chances dramatically increased and the Oilers had to rely on Jeff Deslauriers to bail them out of several very tight spots. The Coyotes need to bring that aggressive pressure into Pengrowth Saddledome and keep the Flames on their heels.

Key Players

Jarome Iginla

#12 / Right Wing / Calgary Flames

Height: 6-1

Weight: 207

Born: Jul 01, 1977

Shane Doan

#19 / Right Wing / Phoenix Coyotes

Height: 6-1

Weight: 224

Born: Oct 10, 1976

The Owie List

Phoenix Coyotes Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Martin Hanzal	undisclosed	11/24/2009

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Zbynek Michalek	other-excused	11/05/2009
Kurt Sauer	other-excused	10/07/2009
Ed Jovanovski	other-excused	11/06/2009

Note: Ed Jovanovski is on the road trip with the team and is a game-time decision.

Did you know?

The Flames are auctioning off a road trip for two Flames fans to Phoenix and Jobing.com Arena for the December 3rd game between the clubs, with a Cardinals game thrown in for good measure. It's for charity, and the bidding seems to be quite healthy so far. I wonder if the Flames are going to wait for the Coyotes' Sandstorm Sale that starts this Friday so they can grab the winning seats at a discount...

Final Thought

It's been too long since we've seen Pierre The Fanatic Hockey Snowman around, so to lift all of our spirits, here's the (snow)man himself: