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  Miikka Kirpusoff is the cover story in this week’s edition of the Hockey Bible, the Hockey News, with the questioon “50 Wins…Can Kiprusoff Make History?

   Its a legit question.  With Kiprusoff having 36 wins in 60 games and needing 14 more wins over the Flames final 22 games, the possibility of the Flame standout goalie being the NHL’s first 50-game winner is possible. However, not very likely.

   Of the Flames 60 matches, Kipper has started 56 of them. If Mike Keenan contiues to give him one game off every 15 games it means the Flame netminder will start 20 of the last 22 games. To get 50 he’d need to win 14 of the 20. Considering that Kipper wins every 1.5 starts he’d have to be just slight better than that pace to win 50.

   That is if he starts 20 more games. That would mean a regular-season of 76 starts.

   My guess is that he won’t make that many more starts consequently his chances of winning 50 are very slim.  True Kipper, made 76 starts last season and Keenan was the coach.

  The circumstances are different now.  Last season the Flames were battling for a playoff spot right to the second last of 82 games.  They presently have a 10-lead at the top of the NW Division standings, which is the reg-season goal.  Thus, unless that gap is reduced significantly down the stretch, Kipper will get more games off between now and April 11 than he had a year ago.

   The additional breaks will keep him fresh for the post season. Keenan is well aware of the importance of having playoff success and also aware Kipper is the big key to that success.

   Kipper is the only goalie to be the winning goalie in all his team’s game. You can be sure he’ll start tonight against Minnesota seeking win 37 for him and the team.

   In 1999 when Joe Nieuwendyk returned to the Saddledome for the first time as a member of the Dallas Stars he was lustily booed by the crowd all evening.

   Nieuwendyk was one of the Flames top scorers, two-time 50-goal scorer, member of the ‘89 Cup champs.  During the radio post-game show that night, then on 66CFR, I was critical of the fans for booing the former Flame captain.

   Then my pal, the late Ed Chynoweth, set me straight “He quit on the team.” Eddie, a Hockey Hall-of-Fame, always had a way of putting things in the proper light by merely saying “He walked out on the team!”  Nieuwendyk had left the Flames during training camp that season over a further contract-extension dispute but was under contract for the ‘98-99 campaign. That justified the booing.

   As it all turned out, perhaps Nieuwendyk should get a standing ovation if he ever comes back to the Saddledome.  While the centrenman sat through the first 2-and-a-half months for the season, the club attempted to trade him.  Finally on Dec. 20, then GM Al Coates dealt him to Dallas. In exchange the Flames got Jarome Iginla, who was then playing with Kamloops in Chynoweth’s WHL.

   Without having had Iginla for the past 12 years you wonder where the team would be.

   On Tuesday he again dominated a game with 2 goals and 2 assists in a 4-1 victory over Columbus. The 4 points leave him just 2 behind Theoran Fleury for the club’s all-time leading points crown and 2 goals shy of 400.

   As he should have been Iginla was loudly cheer but also during the game former Flame Kristen Huseluis, the Bluejackets best player on the night, heard boos all night.  It didn’t seem to bother the man whose nickname is “Juice” since if Miikka Kiprusoff hadn’t been so good against him the winger may have had a couple of goals.

    But why the boos?  Huselius played here for 2-and-a-half years in that time was the teams #2 scorer behind Iginla.  He didn’t walkout on a bonafide contract, didn’t ask to be traded, liked Calgary and landed with another team as a free agent after the Flames chose not to re-sign him.  Sure, at times, Huselius was a very frustrating player to watch.  He had such great skill but many times kept in in disguise.  If that was his onlyu sin here, he didn’t deserve Tuesday’s boos.

   Although my pal Ed is no longer with us for debate, I’m sure he’d agreed with this assessment.

   The Flames and their fans should almost have a rally for the number of rallies they’ve executed this season.

   Entering Game 60 on Tuesday against Columbus the Mike Keenan’s crew has amassed 38 of their 76 points in games where they came from behind.

   In 20 games the Flames were behind before they came back to win.  That accounts for 18 wins and 2 games where the team got points losing in extra time.  The most recent rally was Saturday in Edmonton when the Flames fell behind twice by a goal but won 3-2 in a shootout.

   The greatest rally was a 3-goal comeback on Oct. 23 in Nashville where a 3-0 deficit at midway in the 2nd period was turned into a 5-3 with Jarome Iginla getting 3 goals.  Twice the Flames have rallied from 2 goals down to get points and on 17 occasions erased one-goal deficits. Some times, like Saturday, they’ve come-from-behind more than once in these games.

   The Flames are tied for the league lead  wins after allowing the first goal of a game. They’ve done it 15 times.  They achieved it 13 times all of last season.

   Todd Bertuzzi’s career is being rejuvenated in Calgary and, in turn, the Flames, at long last, are a constant threat to win in Shootouts.

   Over the 4-year history of shootouts in the NHL the Flames haven’t had many shootouts in comparison to most team. Up until now that was a good thing considering the team’s not-so-great record when asked to go one-on-one.

   Now that’s changed and Bertuzzi is the reason.

   Saturday night the big winger was at again scoring on the first shot and was the only shootout scorer as the Flames won 3-2 in Edmonton.  Another key was something that is a rarity — none of the 3 Oiler players got the puck to the net against Miikka Kiprusoff. Two had the puck roll of their stick in front of the Flame goalie and the other overskated the puck when Kipper faked a poke check.

   The team has now won two of its last 3 shootouts with Bertuzzi notching the decisive goal in both. The one the Flames didn’t win last Tuesday vs Vancouver, Big Bert had goalie Roberto Luongo beaten on a spin-o-rama move only to hit the goal post where a goal would have sent the shutout into another round.  All 3 of those Bertuzzi efforts were with different moves.

   On the season, the club is 2-2 in shootouts.  The Flames have never had a winning record in shootouts since the scheme was adopted into play for the 2005-06 season.

   Incidentally, on the play Saturday where Gagner outskated the puck, referee Tim Peel, told Kipper afterwards, he should have gone out of his goal crease to touch the puck to kill the play. Rules stipulate that Gagner could have gone back and resumed his advance because even though he overskated the puck, it was still in play.  Gagner, like Kipper, was unaware of the rule.

    Saturday’s match was the best the Flames have played on their current 7-point streak and one they would have won in regulation but for the great work of Dwayne Roloson in the Oiler nets.  As it was, the Flames needed a goal from Matthew Lombardi with 65 second left to force OT.

   It was the 20th time in 35 wins that the Flames have come-from-behind.

juvenated with

   EDMONTON — Hockey Day in Canada and I have mixed feelings.  While here for the Flame-Oiler game my hometown is hosting this day of great hockey celebration in my hometown.

   Campbellton, N.B. is where I first started broadcasting at the age of 15 while still in high school. My play-by-play broadcasting would come later in the 70’s when the Campbnellton Tigers won 2 Canadian Championships and finalists a third time.

   I was fortunate to start my PBP broadcasting when the Tigers had an outstanding team and hockey interest at its peak.  I got to broadcast all their games some 60-80 a year on radio as I learned the craft. As I look back it was amazing that a town of 8,000 could have enough businesses sponsoring hockey broadcasts that I’d get to go all over Canada following the team as well as through New Brunswick.

   I can say that without that experience, I wouldn’t be in Edmonton this weekend or have had the pleasure of broadcasting a few thousand games in the greatest hockey league in the world. Obviously, I have a special place in my heart for my hometown, which hasn’t changed a great deal over the 30 years I’ve been away. Still a passionate hockey community although the intermediate-senior Tigers are no longer in operation.  I was blessed in so many ways. Right place, right time, etc.

   The Flames now look to put the Oilers a greater distance in their rear-view mirror just as they did with Thursday’s victory in Minnesota. A win Saturday would give Mike Keenan’s crew a 15-point lead over their provincal rivals.

   Winning, though, has gotten a little tougher in the immediate future with 21-goal man Rene Bourque and 18-goal scorer Daymond Langkow sidelined with injuries.

   Bourque’s high ankle sprain could keep in out 6-8 weeks, although he told me Friday am that he had an ankle injury a couple of years ago and this one doesn’t seem to be as bad.  Langkow has a hand injury and could be back soon.  He’s listed as day-to-day. Def. Mark Giordano has an upper body injury from Thursday game and is out as well.  Jim Vandermeer will move back to his regular defense position vs the Oilers.

   Jamie Lundmark and Kyle Greentree, one and two scorers in Quad City, has come up from the AHL and will play against the Oilers. 

EDMONTON — On a night when 2 more players would join the Flames double digit club, 2 who were already there sustain serious injuries.

The immediate bottom line was the 2 points gained in the 3-2 overtime win in Minnesota.

The long term bottom line is yet to play out but for the first time this season 2 key players go to the sidelines with injuries that will keep them out for quite a while.

Minutes after the Flames celebrated Adrian Aucoin’s goal at 3:50 of OT came the revelation that Rene Bourque had suffered a high ankle injury after a slewfoot from Dan Fritche, which went undetected.

Bourque, who scored his 21st goal in the first period extending his point streak to 6 games, will be lost 6-8 weeks.

That after it was revealed that 18-goal man Daymond Langkow has a hand injury from Tuesday’s game vs Vancouver. He’s out day-to-day.

With Aucoin getting his 10th goal and Dustin Boyd tying the game at 2-2 with his 10th, the Flames now have 9 players with at least 10 goals. Already matching last year’s total with 24 game left.

Mike Keenan gave his players the day off here on Friday to recover in prepation for Saturday’s match with the Oilers.

   ST. PAUL, Minn — Over the last week there has been many “way-too-early” debates as to who should play for Canada in next year’s Olympic in Vancouver.

   In Finland, a big Olympic question is, “Who is our best goaltender?”

   Tonight the top two Finnish goalkeepers again face each other as the Flames start a 2-game road game here against the Wild.

   The Flames’ Miikka Kiprusoff and the Wild’s Niklas Backstrom figure to be the key performers tonight.  They could also be the goalie tandem for Finland a year from now in Vancouver.

   Kiprusoff has been in top form lately facing 155 shots over the Flames last 4 games leading to team to 6 of a possible 8 points.  He’s the winningest netminder in the NHL.

   Backstrom is less known. Its just his third season in North America coming across the big pond at age 28.  He’s made giant strides in a short time. Backstrom is the only goalie among the top 5 in all 4 individual goalie categories. He’s 5th in goals against average, third in save percentage, tied for 3rd in wins and is 2nd in shutouts.  He has a shot at being #1 on all 4 lists.

   If Backstrom get the Wild into the playoffs, he could be the Vezina Trophy winner.

   The best goalie tonight could well be the winning team.  In 7 of the last 8 games between the Flames and Wild there’s has been a one goal difference in each with the Flames winning all but one including 2 this season.

   That might suggest, Kipper is the best Finnish goalie.  Tonight is another challenge.

   In many ways Tuesday’s Flame-Canuck game took on the tone of the exciting 7-game playoff series the clubs engaged in 5 years ago.

   The difference?  The Canucks now have an outstanding goaltender to match the Flames’ Miikka Kiprusoff.

   In a highly entertaining confrontation, Kiprusoff and the Canucks’ Roberto Luongo put on a tremendous goaltending clinic.  Luongo emerged the victor 4-3 in a shootout, but Kiprusoff was #1 star.

   The teams combined to take 84 shots in 65 minutes and then 5 more in the shootout where the Canucks’ Pavol Dimitra scored the only goal.  Todd Bertuzzi, on the Flames third shootout endeavor, nearly scored when he worked Luongo out of position with a spin-o-rama and then hit the goal post.

   Kiprusoff was at his best in the third period when the Flames seemed to lag back rather than taking the play to the Canucks as they had done earlier  Kipper made 16 saves in the 3rd. None bigger than his highlight reel, stick-extended diving save of Kyle Wellwood.

   Luongo was at his best in the first and second periods when the Flames peppered him with 31 shots.

   Jarome Iginla played his best game in a while notching a goal and an assist as he with Rene Bourque, who scored his 20th goal, and Craig Conroy was the Flames best line.

   The game had extremely high entertainment value in the Canucks final regular-season visit to Calgary.

   But, there is a chance these clubs could match up in a playoff series in April again. The difference? This time the Flames likely would have home ice advantage.

   Sometimes some fans are never satisfied.

   For instance, in mid-January when the Flames won 9 out of 10 games, including the impressive 3-2 victory at San Jose, Fan 960 talk show callers and e-mailers were wondering if the club wasn’t peaking too soon.

   These days, despite a 4-game point streak with 3 wins, the often asked question is, “what’s wrong with Jarome?”

   While the Flames captain would be the first to admit he’d like to be more productive, especially in the Goals column, he isn’t doing too bad this ‘08-09 season. He’s registered 3 more points than games played and is one point away from being the NHL’s top 10 point-getters.

   Its a tribute to the overall team scoring depth that in the 22 games Iginla didn’t collect a point the team has an 11-7-4 record.  Same for Saturday’s 7-5 win at Phoenix in which 12 Flames collected at least one point but the captain wasn’t among them.  The first time since Iginla arrived in Calgary that the team would score that many points without the RW being on the scoresheet.

   Not scoring a point in 22 of 56 games means Iginla gets points every 6.1/10 games.  It pales in comparison a bit to last season when Iggy had points every 7/10 games ending with 96pt in 82 games. This season’s pace is somewhat similiar to ‘01-02, which was the year Iginla led the league in goals with 52 and points with 96.  He didn’t notch a point in 30 of 82 games for an average of points every 6.3/10 games.

  Perhaps the better news is that in ‘03-04 when Iginla was the key leader as the Flames went to the Cup final. During the regular-season he didn’t gain a point in 36 of 81 games an average of points in 5.6/10 games.  In the playoffs he had points in 18 of 26 games. 

  Don’t worry about Iginla. He’s one of the greatest clutch players in Flame history. 

   Who would have thought the flames could go on the road collect 5 of a possible 6 points and not have an overly jovial trip home?

   That was the case Saturday night into Sunday am following a 7-5 triumph in Phoenix.  The Flames are 2 games above .500 on the road but they aren’t satisfied with their play on the road.

   A 4-goal 2nd period made it look like it would be a romp over the Coyotes taking a 5-2 edge into the 3rd period.  Giving up 3 goals in the final period didn’t cost the team the game, but it did cost them percentage points on the goals against average.

   After Miikka Kiprusoff stole 3 of a possible 4 points in Southern California with outstanding play in the 2-0 victory over LA and a 3-2ot loss in Anaheim, the Flames turned on the offense in the desert.

  Matthew Lombardi had his most productive game of the season with 2 goals and one assist while linemate Todd Bertuzzi assisted on 4 of the 7 goals.  Def. Cory Sarich, who has been on a bit of a scoring tear of late, had a goal and 2 helpers.

   Seven goals without a point from Jarome Iginla tells you how much more scoring balance this squad has compared to teams over the last 15 years. 

   Out of 56 games, Iginla has failed to register a point in 22 of them. In those 22 games the Flames have compiled a 11-7-4 record, however in the last 11 games where he hasn’t collected a point the record is 9-1-1.  If would seem the Flames have gotten used to not having the captain contribute offensive.

   However, Mike Keenan’s club isn’t used to giving up 3 goals in the 3rd period as they did Saturday. Thus the discontent. In the other 2 road game most players felt they left Kipper out to dry far too often.

   The club overall riding a 4-game point streak continue to have a good lead at the top of the NW Div standing as they set for 3-straight games against division rivals. Tuesday home to Vancouver. Then Thursday at Minnesota and Saturday at Edmonton.

    Collecting 5 out of 6 points in the 3 games would give the club a commanding division lead.