SB Nation - Eric Nystrom

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

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

Flames Scoring Chances Through 10, a Follow-up

Kent Wilson — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:08:21 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y Huh - AP

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As noted below, Scott was good enough to gather together my scoring chance counts from games 1-10. Some notes before interpretation:

- My definition for a scoring chance was: a puck directed at the net from a certain portion of the ice in the offensive zone. The area I determined to be prime chance real estate was a triangle or pie shape, extended from the goal up to about the top of the face-off circles. Shots from the boards and point shots were therefore excluded. Also excluded were shots blocked close to the source, meaning, a shot wasn't counted as an opportunity if it had no real chance to get by the shin pads in front of it. Also excluded were "chances at chances", such as a pass through the slot which is missed by the recipient or, say, a botched two-on-one where the puck is intercepted by the defender or the shot fanned on.

- Obviously this method doesn't "rate" scoring chances themselves. A break-away is obviously a better quality chance, than, say, a shot from the slot through a bunch of traffic and defenders. However, I discovered the amount of really high quality chances is actually pretty small in every contest, so it's not a big issue.

- I tried to be as true to this criteria as possible, but there was still an element of subjective judgment involved. For example, you'd be surprised how many shots originate just outside the range defined here (top of the face-off circles or slightly outside the face-off dot). Also, deflections can be very challenging to define as chances, since they are so random and unpredictable. Sometimes it's unclear whether the puck hit a defender or an attacker and/or if the deflection was in any way purposeful. As such, I was pretty ruthless about counting deflections, often cheating to the "not" side of things. Of course, I also tried to count everything the same for either team and no matter who was on the ice.

Scott was good enough to post the totals below, but I thought the ES differentials would be nice to have as well. Here they are, in ranked order.

Keep in mind, this is just a 10 games sample (a mere one eighth of the season) so all the caveats that come with small samples apply here. For example, Boyd, Glencross and Conroy were a unit to start the year and they had a couple of games where they knocked it out of the park by this metric, which is why they are way out in front of the pack. I would expect that difference to settle out over time because, as much as I like each guy, I doubt that trend will hold all season.

It shouldn't be any surprise to anyone that Iginla and Jokinen are pulling up the rear though. They were, without hyperbole, horrendous in October which was exacerbated by Sutter beginning the season by going power vs. power. However, the fact that Jarome was playing some of his worst hockey in recent memory, faced tough circumstances and was still well clear of Olli (who spent some time on the third line during this period I believe) gives us an indication of who the weak link was.

I would have liked to apply some sort of standardization to correct for ice-time, but, short of combing through the first 10 game sheets and adding up each players ice-time (which I don't think I have the patience for), there isn't any way to look up each guys ice time through the first 10 games only. The reason this would be interesting is it would give us an idea of how many chances a guy is generating, say, per 60 minutes of ice. Eric Nystrom and Olli Jokinen were on for the same number of scoring chances through 10 (20 each), but one guy tends to play a lot more than the other. A rate per hour would give us a better idea of what each guy is doing above and beyond the raw totals. Something to keep in mind for the next round, I guess.

Price / Halak - The Stats - October 2009

Chris Boyle — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:15:02 -0000

Entering the 2009 season the Canadiens franchise had plenty of unanswered questions. The goaltending question is an eternal one in Montreal and with both Price and Halak entering RFA years, 2009 should offer no reprieve. Late 2009 has mimicked early 2009 as inconsistency has plagued Carey Price. Jaroslav Halak although solid on nights, has also not taken the opportunity presented to him by Jacques Martin and cemented the number one job.

With neither goalie grabbing the hammer, the majority of fans have aligned themselves on one side or the other. I refer to them as Team Price and Team Halak. Both teams seemingly rise and fall with each performance. Both teams rally to attack one side should they falter and boast and offer, "I told you so's" when they excel. The 2009 campaign got off to a rousing start for Team Price as he opened the season 2-0 and was outstanding leading the Canadiens to a 2-0 start despite being out shot 81-44 and having 148 shots directed at him in 128 minutes. When Halak faltered in Calgary, the attacks on Halak and the management team for not starting Price were loud. Then Price was bombed in Vancouver and after Price lost 3 straight the controversy was back and Halak was awarded another start. Team Halak struck back. Halak offered up two strong starts in a row and Team Halak was now mounting their high horse. After 14 goals in 229 minutes the lines had once again become blurred. So what has changed?

Not much. Both goaltenders continue to fail to elevate themselves from an approaching platoon. Price and Halak have almost identical save percentages, while Halak holds the edge in goals against average. Halak also has a superior record at 5-2, but it has been accrued against inferior opposition as his opponents winning percentage is .545 (25-20-10) while Price's 2-5 record was accrued against a .650 opponents winning percentage (25-13-3).

Note: records reflect the team record when the goaltender faced them. I did not reference the Islanders as 5-4-5, but as 1-3-3 (their record when Halak faced them on Oct 22 and 1-4-4, their record on Oct 26). It would be disingenuous should Atlanta slow down to reference an under .500 record in April when they were hot and 4-1-0 entering Montreal on Oct 20.)

I used the Roy/Hayward duel as an analogy before the season, but I do not remember really caring who played in 1988, just that I hoped the Canadiens would win. This recent controversy has taken on a life of it's own. I get the feeling that some fans have begun to put their personal vindication of their opinions above the success of the team. It is why I refer to the divide amongst Canadiens fans as different teams. It is utterly exasperating because to this point it is the equivalent to arguing who is crazier, Amy Winehouse or Courtney Love? They are both batshit crazy.

I have gone over EVERY goal in October and 80% of them were unstoppable, they have both let in some suspect goals, but none more so than the other. Neither has significantly outplayed the other. One seems to be the Tortoise, one seems to be the Hare. Price at his peak has been dominant (Maple Leafs, Sabres, Blackhawks), but he has a tendency to nap and crash back to reality (Canucks), while Halak goes out, saves the pucks he should (Thrashers, Islanders), doesn't stop the ones he shouldn't (Flames, Penguins, Rangers) and offers a steady compliment. At the end of the day, their statistics are not that different. It was the same story last season. The goaltending is NOT the problem, it is the easy scapegoat. It is the simple corollary.

My opinion? If this team was a legit contender I could understand the cry for consistency and the Halak argument, but with a team that looks to be middle of the pack I would ride out the inconsistencies of the goaltender with the higher ceiling. The fanbase seems to have settled on goaltending as it's scapegoat and is happy to ignore the lack of secondary scoring, abysmal defensive zone coverages and atrocious special teams. The goaltending is but a symptom of a greater issue; targeting the symptom of anemia by drinking 5 red bulls a day does nothing to cure lymphoma. As each issue is addressed individually, the goaltending will miraculously improve.

For those who want to jump to emotional conclusions, this is probably not the article for you. I don't believe in simplistic judgments based on flawed statistical categories, so I have pieced together as many statistics I could for you to make your own judgments. I have tracked every goal. I have tracked where the shots are coming from, how many are blocked, how many are wide, where they are being scored from on the ice, where they are being scored on the goaltender, even strength, powerplay and save percentage from each distance. My intent is to track these things all season and give you a comprehensive month to month look and offer a comparable for Price and Halak, as well as eventually a comparison to their league leading peers.

I avoided statistical manipulation, there is no "remove the seven goals Price gave up against the Canucks and his SV% is.....". If you chose to ignore the winning percentage of the teams faced to make your argument, so be it. If you want to ignore the video evidence of each individual goal, be my guest. I have provided as much information possible in one place and hopefully through this research and presentation, Eyes on the Prize will be able to offer you a more rounded look for you to form your opinions.

SHOTS AGAINST

Price and Halak's statistical achilles heel is that they play behind a porous Montreal defense. A defense in transition and minus its best player, struggled in October to limit shot attempts. Beginning with the season opener when the Leafs directed 92 shots at the Montreal goal (46 shots, 21 missed shots and 25 blocked shots) Price and Halak have been faced with a consistent barrage. Price has been facing almost a shot attempt per minute on the ice (412 shot attempts in 436 minutes). Compare that to Tim Thomas who has faced 444 shots attempts in 542 minutes or Martin Brodeur who has faced 502 in 672 minutes.

The basic assumption behind these charts is the closer the shot to the net, the more likelihood of it resulting in a goal. The short charts below would reinforce this assumption as the majority of goals given up by Halak and Price increase the closer they move towards the goal and their save percentage also declines with each one.

Looking at his charts, Price has been almost flawless from 50+ ft and has really struggled from 20 ft and in. He only surrendered 3 goals in October outside of the slot and almost half (12 of the 25 goals) were scored within 10 ft of the net. Contrast that to Tim Thomas who only faced 8 shot attempts in all of October from within 10 ft. and Martin Brodeur who faced only 12 shots AT THE GOAL in 236 more minutes (almost 4 full games).

Depending on your perspective, his struggles could also be blamed on terrible special teams as 12 of the 25 goals he allowed in October occurred on the penalty kill (some may blame the penalty kill struggles on Price, I believe the video evidence below proves otherwise) resulting in a massive drag on his save percentage. The results between his even strength save percentage and penalty save percentage is a staggering .268. From .935 five on five to .667 shorthanded.

Halak has been very dominant between 20-40 ft. allowing only one goal all season, but he has also been victimized by the Canadiens soft defense down low as his SV% below 20 ft. is only marginally better than Price's .692. Where Halak has outdistanced Price is his consistency. His penalty kill SV% and regular strength percentage have not suffered from wild swings like Price. Although his 5 on 5 is not in the .930s, he has maintained an .850+ special teams percentage, a huge improvement on Price's .667. Halak has been a much more consistent option for the Canadiens through October 2009-10.

If the Canadiens can limit the shot opportunities below 20 ft. and improve their penalty kill, you will witness a spike in Price and Halak's numbers. Hockey is a team game and goaltending statistics are a reflection of team play. Can a superstar goaltender overcome defensive shortcomings? Yes, but not to the extent where he will lead the league statistically. Can an average goaltender look like a superstar when insulated in a strong defensive system? History has shown that answer to be yes. Rick Wamsley in 1982, Bob Froese in 1986, Byron Dafoe in 1999 and Roman Cechmanek in 2001 all had huge statistical years that were never duplicated on other teams. When you combine a superstar goaltender with a defensive coach you get Patrick Roy in 1989.

Unfortunately the Canadiens possess neither a superstar goaltender, nor an elite defensive coach. Carey Price has the potential to be a superstar, but at 22 is still midway through a steep learning curve. Halak at 24 has proven over the last 12 months that he is an NHL caliber goaltender, but has not shown that he can make the leap to the next level yet (and for those with short memories, Halak was a major question mark through October 2008).

GOALS AGAINST

The Canadiens goaltenders allowed forty-six goals in October and while watching the games I rarely found fault with either goaltender. I could easily have just referenced my memory to make my points, but I decided I would go through each goal individually and try to assess blame. I tried to assess the goaltenders positioning. Were they playing too deep in the net? Were they over committing to the shooters? Were they over pursuing the play and creating opportunities while scrambling back in to the play? How was their gap control, puck tracking, anticipation and rebound control? Were they exposed because of defensive zone turnovers? Deflections? Poor defensive zone coverages? etc etc.

Through 46 goals I found 1 bad goal and 8 that were suspect. I considered a goal suspect if there was a screen involved but the goaltender hadn't battled through the screen, if a shot from in close was stoppable if the goaltender was at his sharpest (ie. Raymond off the wing in Vancouver. If Price was sharp, he has the ability to make the save. So even though it was a partial breakaway, more often than not I expect Price to make that save from that angle, but it can not be categorized as a bad goal) or if the goaltender made a small technical error.

I also tracked where the goals beat the goaltender. I illustrated it below with the five main zones + the zone across the bottom which represents goals scored into an empty net (cross crease feed or tap-in). It was interesting that all the heat Price takes for his glove hand that Halak was more vulnerable allowing over 30% of his goals high glove-side.

Video evidence below (Goals deemed bad or suspect are in bold.)

1. Gill giveaway behind the net. Ponikoravsky one-time from the slot beats Price low stick side. No chance. 25 ft
2. 5 on 3 PP. Tomas Kaberle slap shot tipped in by Stajan at the side of the net. No chance. 9 ft
3. 5 on 4 PP. Scramble in front of the net. Matt Stajan taps it into an empty net. No chance. 5 ft
4. Point shot redirected. Tim Connolly pounces on loose puck and beats Price low stick side. 25 ft.
5. Ryan Kesler breakaway from the blueline. Great move beats Price along the ice glove side. 2 ft.
6. Mason Raymond in alone off the boards slides it through Price's 5-hole. Stoppable. 5 ft.
7. 5 on 4 PP. Tic Tac Toe to Steve Bernier who had an open net. No chance. 9 ft.
8. 5 on 4 PP. Price makes the initial save. Sedin all alone shovles it into an empty net. 10 ft.
9. 2 on 0 breakaway. Price cheats pass and Henrik Sedin makes him pay beating him high glove side. 8 ft.
10. 5 on 4 PP. Price stops initial point shot, Samuelsson puts the rebound through the 5-hole. 9 ft.
11. Scramble in front of the net. Price commits to one shot and cannot recover. No help from the D. 8 ft.
12. Mike Comrie wrist shot beats Price high glove side. Looked stoppable. 34 ft.
13. 5 on 4 PP. Point shot tipped in low stick side. No chance. 21 ft.
14. Defensive zone turnover leads to O'Sullivan alone in the slot. Beats Price low stick side. 28 ft.
15. Hejduk shot deflected in off Gorges. Price may have stopped it if his stick was in position. 30 ft.
16. Cumiskey throws the puck towards the front of the net. Deflects in off Belle's skate. No chance. 10 ft.
17. Ryan O'Reilly out of the corner untouched, Price makes the save, but cannot stop the rebound. 11 ft.
18. Chris Neil in the slot all alone. High glove side. No chance. 26 ft.
19. Daniel Alfreddson one timer on a 5 on 3 powerplay. Low glove side. 31 ft.
20. Alex Kovalev all alone in the slot. Snapshot blocker side. 30 ft
21. 5 on 4 PP. Alex Goligoski shot from the point on the PP. No screen beats Price high glove side. 55 ft.
22. 5 on 4 PP. Chris Kunitz clear cut breakaway from center beats Price 5-hole. 15 ft.
23. Kris Versteeg behind the goal shot deflects off Bergeron in between Price's pads beating him 5-hole. 8ft.
24. Cam Barker one-timer from the faceoff dot. Price is deep, shot beats him high glove side. 31 ft.
25. Patrick Sharp one-timer from the slot beats Price low glove side opposite to his momentum. 37ft

1. Eric Nystrom in the slot unchecked. Snapshot beats Halak high glove side. 19 ft.
2. Slap shot from the point. Tipped in front by Nystrom beats Halak low stick side. 13 ft
3. Slap shot from the point off the post. Jarome Iginla bangs in rebound beating Halak high glove side. 19 ft.
4. Kronwall slapshot from the blueline through a screen beats Halak high stick side. 60 ft.
5. Colby Armstrong from the faceoff dot beats Halak low glove side. 25 ft.
6. Halak gives the puck away behind the net to Josh Bailey allowing for an easy tap-in. 5 ft.
7. Halak stops initial shot, Ansimov left alone and beats Halak high glove side. 6 ft.
8. Ales Kotalik left alone in the slot. Beats Halak high glove side. 14 ft.
9. Gilroy slapshot from the point. Halak may have been screened as he is beaten low stick side. 61 ft.
10. Marian Gaborik breakaway from the blueline beats Halak 5 hole. 5 ft.
11. 5 on 4 PPG. Tambellini drives hard to the net. Halak is not set and exposes his 5 hole. 5 ft.
12. 5 on 4 PPG. Spacek giveaway leads to a cross crease feed and an easy redirection for Jeff Tambellini.
13. Turnover. Guerin feeds Crosby all alone at the side of the net. One-timer beats Halak low-stick side. 17 ft.
14. Halak stops initial shot, rebound to Sidney Crosby who beats a sprawled Halak top shelf glove side. 19 ft.
15. Halak stops point shot, scramble in front and Rupp puts home the rebound beating him low stick side. 5 ft.
16. Crosby alone in front, spin-o-rama. Halak makes initial save hits Crosby's skate and trickles in 5-hole. 5 ft.
17. 5 on 4 PP. Point shot rebound to Ponikoravsky in the slot who wraps it home low stick side by Halak. 15 ft.
18. 5 on 4 PP. Lee Stempniak slap shot from the point beats a screened Halak high glove side. 54 ft.
19. Cross crease feed to Ponikoravsky, beats Halak from a bad angle with a perfect shot high stick side. 19 ft.
20. 6 on 5. Kaberle takes a point shot that deflects off Hamrlik and Spacek to beat Halak low stick side. 63 ft

The October verdict: Patience is required. Patience for a Canadiens team integrating 10-12 new players. Patience for a team that is missing its only legitimate All-Star. Patience for a coach who is still installing a new system and approach and finally patience for the two kids between the pipes.

Chris Boyle is a frequent contributor to Eyes On The Prize and goes by the handle Wamsley.
He is a lifelong Habs fan and the editor of fantasysensehockey.net.

Flames Game Day: Road Trippin'

Robert Cleave — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:03:55 -0000

More photos » by Jeff McIntosh - AP

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Calgary Flames vs. Dallas Stars

American Airlines Center

6:30 MT

Opposition: Defending Big D

TV: TSN

Tonight's game in Dallas, in a way, marks a return to normalcy for the Flames. I can't really remember a recent situation where this team spent three weeks at home, and whatever benefits may have accrued from extra practice time didn' t appear to have been of much value in the last two games. After a couple of snippy practices, the team gets to put their claims of renewed focus under the microscope, starting against a team that made them look quite poor a few weeks back.

As has been noted elsewhere, the Jokinen-Iginla duo was joined by Eric Nystrom the last time these teams met, with the sort of outcome most of us have become sadly accustomed to. If yesterday's practice lines hold, they'll get another chance tonight. I don't like the mix, and if the big two can't get more going toward the net, Sutter might have to give a thought to putting Iginla with his two best players (Bourque and Langkow) as opposed to his next most expensive one.

The Langkow line remains as is, and based on performance and matchups, they're the number one line on this team until further notice. The last time these teams met, it was the start of a two game melt down for Langkow and Dawes, each putting up the first of consecutive -3 efforts. They look a lot better now, so I hope that it isn't just optimism that leads me to hope for continued good play. Bourque is the man right now, and given the struggles of the alleged stars, he has to be, which really is a sad indictment of those two.

Glencross-Boyd-Moss. I don't mind that at all. Dustin Boyd has earned more than fourth line duty, and he gets two good line mates to work with. I think Curtis Glencross is very good, but he's not a full time first liner, and I think everyone including the boss knows it. This line can do damage if they get middling matchups, IMO.

Conroy slides down to center Prust and Sjostrom. If Boyd produces, this is the sort of role that Conroy should excel at, and he and Sjostrom should get some extra minutes on the PK. Or he could centering Iginla by the middle of the second, so who knows?

The blue gets reportedly gets Pardy back with Giordano on the third pair. Unless something strange happens, it looks like the top two pairs are in for extended time together. Whoever is on D could use some help from the forwards, because the poor work from the men up front has been at the root of the problems this team has in defensive coverage and moving out of the zone.

McE gets the nod tonight, since Kipper apparently has fallen ill. Hamthrax? Emphysema? Just "a bit of a bug" according to Sutter, but because it's happened quite late, Kiprusoff will still dress as the back up. McE was getting a start this week anyway, so why not now? Maybe he'll be better without time to stew over things.

The Stars have integrated some nice young players into their mix, with James Neal and Jamie Benn becoming worthy contributors up front. Neal's a handful, with 8 goals in his pocket already. As I noted last night, Modano and Lehtinen are back, so Dallas' lines look pretty decent. They've had a good year at 5 V 5 play, as Brandon Bibb notes. Dallas has been slightly outshot 5 V 5, so it looks like they've had a bit of good fortune via SH% and Marty Turco has been better, but their numbers aren't outrageous. They're scratching a bit on special teams, so if the Flames want to look for an area to exploit, maybe it's the shaky PK.

Whatever else we can talk about, it still comes down to better work from the best players for the Flames. Iginla and Jokinen have to get going. The fact that this subject has come up for a month straight without cease isn't reassuring, and if it continues, how much patience should the GM of an older team expect to have?

Gametime is 6:30 MT, with coverage on TSN. Maybe Pierre McGuire can discuss Big Body Presence (TM) for us some more. On the other hand, maybe he should spend his time explaining it to a couple of guys on the Flames' roster, since they seem to be unclear on the concept.

Flames Game Day: Via Chicago

Robert Cleave — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:01:17 -0000

Calgary Flames (4-1-0) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (2-1-1-)

United Center

6PM MT

Opposition: Second City Hockey

TV: PPV

After a less than enthralling performance Friday night in a 5-2 loss to Dallas, the Flames head to a building where last year's weaknesses were exposed more thoroughly than anywhere else. The rising Hawks beat Calgary 8 times out of 10 last year, including 5 straight at the UC. The building itself may not be quite the imposing wall-of-sound experience that the old Stadium was, but the team it houses doesn't need much help to be a handful these days.

The Hawks might have Calgary's bête noire last season, but the splash of cold water provided by Friday's meh performance should alert everyone that the nice start the Flames have authored in the standings owes a bit more to good fortune than stellar play. I'm not advocating giving the points back, of course ;-)

There are some facts that must be confronted, however. Olli Jokinen has not scored a goal in his last 18 regular season games. 18. That's what you might expect from a 3rd/4th liner, is it not? Beyond the boxscore, of course, the first line is getting its head kicked in territorially. Eric Nystrom's good start to the season couldn't survive a promotion to the first line, with a single game Corsi of -10 against Dallas. Honesty compels me to admit that he isn't a first line player, but I've seen no recent evidence that his line mates from that game are front line material either. If Jarome Iginla's days of leaping tall buildings in a single bound really are done, the entire premise that the team is built around isn't sustainable. The Flames have run Jokinen-Iginla-someone as a PvP line for 5 straight games, so it's pretty clear what Brent Sutter wants to do, and the results have been ugly, with no production to speak of at EV and the worst Corsi of all the forwards. It would be one thing If the Big Two were out-chancing the opposition and simply a bit snakebit, but that just isn't the case. I have no idea how long Sutter is willing to tolerate things, but another loss or two might force a split.

That would necessitate splitting the second line of Dawes-Langkow-Bourque, but after the EV kicking they took on Friday, that might not be all bad. They were -2,-3,-3 respectively, which negated another decent night on the PP for the three of them. Bourque doesn't look out of place at all with the man advantage, which really makes one wonder why Sparklepants got so much time in that role last year. Oh, wait, I know why. Mike Keenan. Right.

The third line is still waiting for Dustin Boyd's hands to make an appearance. He had another frustrating night in front of goal, with Alex Auld making multiple good saves off him in one flurry. I still think once he pots one, he'll be OK. That line is getting chances, and they're on the good side of the EV ledger in spite of not scoring much.

The fourth line has undergone some shuffling due to injuries, and if David Moss can't go, Brian McGrattan may well get his first outing of the season. I'm on the record as not being a fan of his signing, so I'll simply wish him well and hope he plays to at least the level of Andre Roy last year.

When I took a spin at Behind The Net today, I noticed a stat I never expected to see any time soon. The two Flame defencemen who have played the weakest competition weren't, as one might normally suspect, Pardy and Kronwall. Dion Phaneuf and Robyn Regher fill those slots. Early days and all that, but still. Potential anomalies aside, Bouwmeester and Giordano have, at least for now, become the Flames' top pair. There's no possible way I'll be as big a fan of Gio as some, but I am someone who liked his game even when the Flames didn't, and I would have never guessed he'd be part of any team's first pair short of the Islanders. Cory Sarich has traveled with the team on their mid-west trip, so his impending return may shake the rotation at some point.

With Curtis McElhinney's first game in the books, for better or worse, Miikka Kiprusoff is the probable starter. Last year, Kiprusoff's numbers in 5 games at Chicago were 20G/134SA, .851 SV%. Hmm.

The Blackhawks had one of those summers. I might miss something, but by my tally they had;

a messy split with a key member of the team's rebirth;

a RFA paperwork fiasco that might cause cap headaches down the line;

a change in the front office, with the team firing the GM for the RFA issue and other alleged offences;

and finally, a member of their team was able to adorn himself with an excellent new nickname.

Oh, and they signed Marian Hossa, who will be out for an extended period after shoulder surgery, as well as John Madden and Tomas Kopecky. They did let reputed Flame-killer Nik Khabibulin and Matt Walker leave via free agency. Quiet, otherwise.

The Hawks on-ice are 1-1 since returning from starting the season in Europe. They lost a 3-2 decision to Detroit in their first game in North America, and followed that with a 4-3 SO win over the Avalanche that took 9 rounds to settle. They've certainly been on the good side of things shot-wise, to the tune of about 37-22 a game. Must be nice.

Cristobal Huet should start for the Hawks, although back-up Antti Niemi did toss a shut-out at the Panthers in Helsinki. Strange concept that a back-up could do such a thing, but I'm always open to new ideas ;-) The main point of interest for me will be to see if the Hawks in general, and the pair of Keith and Seabrook in particular, continue to render Iginla ineffective. Duncan Keith usually plays directly opposite the Flames' captain, and is expert using his speed to take away space in the neutral zone. Iginla spent most games last season against the Hawks appearing as if he was stuck in mud. Given the Flames' problems at EV and the ability of the Hawks to drive possession, my thought is that the best hope for a win is likely Huet/Niemi faltering, combined with Kiprusoff standing on his head. If the Flames can out-shoot the Hawks at EV, that would be cause for optimism.

As always, line-ups in the comments if you see 'em. Game time is 6PM MT, and local TV coverage is via PPV, so Rob Kerr will get to do more this evening than call fights for Peter Maher.

Update: Sarich is a go, and the forwards, based on yesterday's info, might look like this:

Sjostrom-Jokinen-Iginla

Dawes-Langkow-Bourque

Glencross-Conroy-Nystrom

Prust-Boyd-McGrattan

Game 3: Canadiens at Flames - Post Game

R O — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:27:03 -0000

More photos » by Jeff McIntosh - AP

2 months ago: Montreal Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak, left, from Slovakia, looks on as Calgary Flames' Eric Nystrom celebrates his second goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Calgary, Alberta, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jeff McIntosh)

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Canadiens vs Flames coverage

Game Summary

Play by Play

Corsi

With Vancouver going oh-fer-three to start the season, tonight's game against the lowly Canadiens was a perfect opportunity for the Flames to gain some ground on our biggest division rivals. And if the first three games are any indication, we'll need all the points we can get.

First period breakdown:
EV Shots: 9-7 Montreal
EV Corsi: +4 Calgary

Calgary comes out hard on the puck and does some nice things in the enemy's end of the ice, culminating in an Eric Nystrom goal. The Iginla line and Regehr-Phaneuf pairing continue to struggle, and two late Montreal goals are mildly deflating. Overall, however, Calgary played well - they kept moving the puck moving north and didn't get passive.

Notables:
Iginla gets less than 4 minutes in the first, Jokinen less than five minutes. This is accountability, eh? Fine, but I'd rather these guys just start playing hockey like they're getting paid to do it.

Second period breakdown:
EV Shots: 15-6 Calgary
EV Corsi: +13 Calgary

Holy marbles those are the Flames we know and love. Montreal was held shotless for almost the entire first half of this period. Meanwhile the Flames are busy scoring at EV, scoring on the PP, hell they probably would have scored SH that's how good they were playing. It looked like we were going to leave the period with nice things (i.e. a lead and improved play) but Regehr fails to take his man Plekanec along the boards and Montreal scores with 11 seconds left.

Notables:
The powerplay looks quite nice, and I say this knowing a 71% PP efficiency is not sustainable. But zone entry has not been a problem, premature zone exit has not been a problem, and positioning and movement are markedly different from last year. Thank the lawd.

Regehr, Regehr, Regehr... what the hell is wrong with you? The boards are Regehr's bread and butter but I don't think he's pasted one guy into the boards these last three games, and today it cost us.

Third period breakdown:
EV Shots: 15-5 Montreal
EV Corsi: +12 Montreal

The Flames come out swinging AGAIN in this period and do some nice things at EV. It all fell apart, though, right after they scored. They played a passive clear-and-retreat game and the result was domination by Montreal. They end up holding on to the lead, you can put it in the win column, yada yada yada. Point is, they can and should have played better.

Notables:
Nystrom was initially credited with a hat-trick, but his third goal (the game-winner) was given to Kronwall after the game.

Overall:
EV Shots: 30-27 Montreal
EV Corsi: +5 Calgary

This was probably the best game the Flames have played, and that's not a good thing. Our money players looked especially bad. Jokinen is a known quantity (soft-comp scorer) but Iginla, our perennial difference-maker, has looked for all the world like he's dragging anchors on both ankles. Phaneuf still has a lot of chaos in his game, and Regehr can't for the life of him take his man out of the play.

On the bright side, our greatest strength last season (territorial advantage) manifested itself in the first and second periods, and the portion of the third period before the game-winner. Watching the Flames became fun again. But the last 15 minutes of the game were simply atrocious. Playing prevent defense with a lead with 10+ minutes to go is a losing strategy. Thankfully it is fixable and we can let ourselves hope that Coach Sutter will knock some sense into the boys.

Notables:
I haven't seen this much EV time in a game, since, ever. The refs swallowed the whistles despite multiple egregious infractions committed by Montreal (and Calgary I'm sure, but I didn't notice :-) ).

Jay Bouwmeester is impressive to my eye (light speed on skates, good stick, good positioning, good reads) but he's getting killed territorially. -7 Corsi on the night, he and Gio (-9) were the worst in that department. No idea what the faceoff breakdown is though, and Kent confirmed he was splitting time with Regehr/Phaneuf against Montreal's top line.

That's all folks.

Thoughts on Iginla and the Flames Top Line

Kent Wilson — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:54:28 -0000

Put out an all-points bulletin for Jarome Iginla. Through two games, Iginla has yet to score a single goal. So Flames fans want desperately to know what's happened to their beloved Iggy.

"It’s two games," said centre Eric Nystrom, looking over at the massive media scrum surrounding the captain. "People are seriously worried about this guy?" Well, yes they are.

Via Flames Insider.

I feel I should qualify my criticism of the Iginla and the first line because I've heard a lot of the above retort from players, coaches and the media. It's two games, Iginla's great, no need to worry.

It's a valid claim on it's face. Two games is a miniscule sample. A two game trend isn't really a trend at all.

Here's where I'm coming from, however:

1.) The points don't matter

I'm necessarily not worried that Iginla and Jokinen aren't scoring. I'm worried that they aren't driving possession or generating scoring chances in the offensive zone when they're on the ice. Through two games, each guy's corsi is bottom of the barrel on the team. If the pair was getting 7 shots a game and spending half the night at the good end of the rink, I'd be singing their praises and cursing their bad luck. That isn't happening. They've pretty much been the worst forwards on the ice at ES thus far.

2.) This isn't a merely a two game trend

During the summer, I theorized that a Jokinen-Iginla pairing wouldn't work. I based my theory on what I know about Jokinen as a player and what I saw from that combination at the end of the previous season. To see my fears so completely realized is disconcerting to say the least. On top of all that, we have Iginla coming off of one of his most ineffective seasons to date in terms of contributions relative to the rest of the team and his salary.

In short, if Jokinen+Jarome had ripped it up last year and/or if Iginla was still the guy who could beat up tough opponents single-handedly, I would probably be equally as dismissive as Nystrom above. Neither is true. The Flames two biggest guns have all season to turn things around, obviously, but one wonders how long this experiment will have to fail before another one is tried. Calgary is 2-0 right now, but the results are deceptive - things will get a lot uglier very quickly if Calgary's primary scoring unit continues to be it's worst.

Canucks-Flames Preview

Sean Zandberg — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:36:47 -0000

Are you ready? No...I said: Are....you...READY?! Then....for the hundreds reading at home. including you, Brian Burke, you spiteful putz...Here's your starting lineuuuuups! (Yes I am a fan of DX).

Flames

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

Dion Phaneuf - Robyn Regehr
Jay Bouwmeester - Mark Giordano
Adam Pardy - Staffan Kronwall

Miikka Kiprusofft

Cory Sarich reportedly did not skate today with foot issues.

Canucks

Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin - Alex Burrows
Sergei Shirokov - Ryan Kesler - Mikael Samuelsson
Mason Raymond - Kyle Wellwood - Steve Bernier
Darcy Hordichuk - Ryan Johnson - Rick Rypien

Willie Mitchell - Sami Salo
Kevin Bieksa - Alex Edler
Shane O’Brien - Christian Erhoff

Roberto Luongod

Thanks, Fan 590. Good to see both Bieksa and Rypien are ready to go, and that Rypien especially is not going through his personal issues again.

GAME TIME: 7:00 PST

TV: CBC HD. Ah, no more streaming makes me a happy man

The Enemy: Matchsticks And Gasoline

-Team 1040 interviews with several Canucks todayy (thanks SteveNux)

Evaluating the Flames Pre-season

Kent Wilson — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 02:30:05 -0000

I started the exhibition season off by saying that team-wide results weren't all that important and that the real focus was on individual efforts, especially for those players on the bubble. With that in mind, here are some of my player "grades" based on my own observations over the last couple of weeks.

The Hopefuls

Jason Jaffray - B - Acquitted himself well and could be pushing for the 13th forward position. Saw a lot of ice time, scored a couple of goals and generally held his own. A decent utlity forward, there's no one area of his game that looks either outstanding or weak.

Jamie Lundmark - B - Similar to Jaffray, Lundmark continues to hang around the edges of the Flames roster. Sniped a couple of nice markers and combined to form a nice little unit with Glencross and Fleury during the Oilers game. Lundmark proved useful to Calgary last season when the injuries came down and would probably be a full time NHLer on a club with less depth.

Colin Stuart - C - Stuart made an impression on me in the first pre-season tilt by making one of the most ill-advised cross-ice passes I've ever seen in an NHL game. He had a couple of other gaffes in the same match that convinced me he'd be on the next flight out of town. He's settled down since then and showed some speed and tenacity which would probably be a boon on the 4th line. He, Jaffray and Prust were pretty effective against the Oilers as well.

Mikael Backlund - C - Some very apparent steps forward over his previous training camp couldn't mask the fact that the Flames top rated prospect isn't ready for prime time. Didn't score a point (as far as I can recall) despite some decent line mates, but did manage to create some chances in the offensive zone as well as control the puck at times. Still needs some work in the defensive end, he'll need at least a full year of seasoning in the AHL before he can be a regular at the NHL level.

Anton Stralman - B - A mobile defender with good puck skills, it looks more and more like Stralman will be staying with the big team. Somewhat smaller and weaker on his skates, Stralman will have to improve his boardwork and balance in order to become a regular on the blueline, but the offensive skills are apparent, especially along the offensive blueline.

Staffan Kronwall - C - I didn't see a lot of the big Swede, but the few times I saw him the only impression I got was his foot speed is an issue. At 28, he has a lower ceiling than Stralman and is less likely to be picked up on the waiver wire should he be shuttled to the farm. Look for him to be the veteran on Abbotsford's blueline this year.

Leland Irving - C - Wasn't bad or outstanding during his limited time in net, Irving was certainly better than Keetley and will probably be heading to BC as the assured starter on the farm.

Matt Keetley - D - A disastrous camp for a guy who was looking to bounce back after being usurped by Leland Irving last season, Keetley let in a number of groaners before being shipped to the farm. Didn't even last as long as un-signed camp invitee David Shantz and may be fighting for his job in Abbotsford with same.

The Regulars

Curtis Glencross - A - A bad final game against the Canucks doesn't change the fact that Glencross was lights out for most of camp, leading the team in scoring and frequently being one of the best forwards on the ice. Has speed, grit, smarts, tenacity and even a bit of a scoring touch.

David Moss - A - Missed a chunk of camp due to a minor injury, the games he did play in were all good. Auditioned on the top line against the Canucks and made an impression by holding his own and even scoring a goal. The Bertuzzi is good news for Flames fans, but great news for Moss who quietly excellent all over the ice.

Daymond Langkow - B - Played the roll of emulsifier alongside a rotating carousel of disparate line mates, Langkow didn't get primo minutes at either ES or on the PP, but still managed to be effective most of the time. I stil think he'll end up playing with Iginla at some point this year.

Olli Jokinen - B - Also one of the team leaders in points this pre-season, Jokinen did almost all of his damage with the man advantage which fits with his M/O. Dangerous as anyone down low and coming off the half boards, his lack of savvy in the face-off circle and in the bad end of the rink are still concerns and sometimes led to the Flames top line being hemmed in their own zone. Him and Iginla seemed to work a little better together relative to last season, however.

Nigel Dawes - B - Off and on, Dawes was at times one of the best forwards on the ice for Calgary. When he wasn't, however, he was totally invisible. Fast and willing to go into the corners, Dawes also has a quick release and will probably be a boon to the power play. Playing with Langkow and Bourque, who were his line mates last night, would probably help iron out his consistency issues.

Brandon Prust - B - Ever since I bad-mouthed him in a game thread, Prust has done nothing but impress me. A willing combatant, Prust can also skate, forecheck and handle the puck fairly well. Cemented his spot on the club with a number of solid efforts.

Jarome Iginla - C - Got a couple of PP points, but didn't do much at ES besides rifle a lot of pucks over the net. Still a lot of gliding around in the defensive zone from Jarome and, considering the level of competition he faced for most of the pre-season, he didn't exactly beat anyone up.

Rene Bourque - C - Didn't make much noise until the final game, when he was perhaps one of the more effective Flames at ES against Vancouver. Doesn't look comfortable on the PP yet and may still be trying to get up to game speed after spending much of the summer off of skates.

Craig Conroy - C - Missed most of camp as well, Conroy was quiet aside from winning a lot of face-offs.

Freddy Sjostrom - C - Obviously has some wheels, Sjostrom got an opportunity to play with Iginla and Jokinen for a night, but didn't do much with it. Looks to be a capable utlity forward.

Eric Nystrom - C - Is what he is. Good skating, eager to hit and willing to block shots (and fists) with his face if he has to.

Dustin Boyd - C - Didn't get much of chance to do anything, first being relegated to the Flames all-prospect 'B' squad earlier in pre-season and then spend almost the rest of it nursing a groin pull. Played on the 4th line in the last game and only got about 10 minutes of ice. Looks like Boyd's Job-like trials on this club are going to continue indefinitely.

Brian McGrattan - N/A - Didn't play and still isn't cleared for contact, McGrattan will likely start the year on IR. His signing looks more and more useless by the day.

Mark Giordano - A - Dispelled all concerns that his job was in jeopardy, Giordano was solidly amongst the Flames best defenders in most of the games he played. Smart, mean and with the unique ability to stick handle out of trouble in tight places, it looks like Gio is penciled into the club's top 4 heading into the regular season. Might end up being the best value contract on the roster this year.

Dion Phaneuf - B -Started the camp out by running around the ice like a chicken with it's head cut off, Dion gradually began to settle down and ended the pre-season with what may be his best game in a long time. Still has all the tools, just has to continue to think the game at the same manic pace he tries to play it at all the time.

Jay Bouwmeester - B - Struggled during his first couple of contests, which included a number of ill-advised pinches. Managed to showcase his silky smooth skating and good own zone positioning alongside Robyn Regehr, Bouwmeester looked more comfortable by the end of camp. Was fairly dangerous in the offensive zone as well.

Robyn Regehr - B - Solid as a rock, as usual.

Cory Sarich - C - Struggled visibly to keep up in the first pre-season game, Sarich missed the end of the exhibition period due to some unknown ailment. Will need to return and put together some strong outings in order not to lose his spot outright. He may become trade bait sooner rather than later.

Adam Pardy - D - Was a liability during the first few games and managed to take a lot of penalties over the course of the pre-season to boot. Pardy settled down as the things progressed and is no doubt considered Calgary's #6 defender for now. Still, he'll have to progress in order to keep the likes of Stralman et al at bay.

Miikka Kiprusoff - C - Dreadful in his first outing and mediocre in his second, Kipper allowed at least one stinker per start but was also brilliant at times against the Canucks last night. If he could cut back on pucks sneaking through him once a game, he'd be a lot closer to the goalie we once knew. Unfortunately, that was also true last year...

Curtis McElhinney - C - Didn't get much action and didn't wow anyone when he was in net. Got stronger in the first match against Vancouver, but still allowed a couple of pucks to slide underneath him (albeit, they were shots by the Canucks most dangerous player).

The Flames as a team did a couple of things well during training camp: they scored a bunch on the power play and they also drew more penalties than they took. The bottom end of the roster was rarely a liability which is always a bonus. Who knows if that will continue into the regular season, but the trends are there.

On the other hand, the goaltending on the whole was mediocre and the team didn't score all that much at ES. The number one line was a concern when it wasn't on the PP, which is disconcerting for me personally - having more than $12M locked up in two players who are played to even at ES is a bad investment. Either the Jokinen/Iginla pairing will have to start consistently outplaying their opponents 5on5, or Brent will have to find a new combination that can do damage without giving it all back at the other end.

Preseason Train Chugs Along; Canucks Vs. Flames Gameday

Yankee Canuck — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:40:40 -0000

More photos » by Jonathan Hayward - AP

Remember Theo Fleury? No you don't. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Jonathan Hayward)

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When: Saturday September 26th 6pm PST
Where: Pengrove Saddledome
TV: TSN2(HD), NHLN-US(HD)
Radio: Team 1040
Web stream: Flames.nhl.com claims to stream it live
Flames Blog: Matchsticks & Gasoline

In five days these two teams will meet up for real and kick the season off. But for now there's still some greenhorns fighting for jobs and old guys (not on LTIR!) still working out the summer rust.

Though it's subject to change, the Canucks should be icing the following guys:

Sergei Shirokov - Ryan Kesler - Mikael Samuelsson
Mason Raymond - Cody Hodgson - Michael Grabner
Darcy Hordichuk - Ryan Johnson - Rick Rypien
Tanner Glass - Mario Bliznak - Jannik Hansen

Brad Lukowich - Alexander Edler
Shane O'Brien - Aaron Rome
Christian Ehrhoff - Sami Salo

Roberto Luongo

For Vancouver there are really three guys to watch. Shirokov gets the sweet spot on the first line while Hodgson and Grabner hope to find some preseason relevancy before the next round of cuts come around. I don't see Glass or Bliznak making the roster though each have had good preseasons.

The Flames have their own prospects looking to land some NHL employment, including old friend Jason Jaffray.

We'll drop more updates in as they become available.

2:32 PM ET Update: Hey remember that stuff about Jaffray from before? Forget it. Calgary is icing a pretty veteran line-up so Hodgson and company have their work cut out for them. Here are the lines:

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

Robyn Regehr - Jay Bouwmeester
Mark Giordano - Dion Phaneuf
Adam Pardy - Anton Stralman

Miikka Kiprusoff

3:52 EST Update: The Flames are not taking this game lightly and are looking to "set a tone."