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Great news for Junior Hockey fans Calgary and Edmonton have teamed for a bid to host the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship. More on this when I get the details later today. 2:46 - The Flames and Oilers are backing this bid, and many of the details have been worked out for the bid and I am hoping we will get some further information this afternoon at 5:45 when Jim Peplinski one of the co-chairs join’s us on the show. What I am hearing in some circles is this time this bid should be picked by Hockey Canada.

It doesn’t look like there will be any announcement on a new deal for Dion today, that’s not to say they are or aren’t close. Last night I blogged that according to Peter Maher the Team and the player are close on a 3 or 4 year deal in the 6 million per range. If that is indeed the case it will fly in the face of what I had, and many others, had speculated in terms of a long deal into the double digits in years. But then again nothing is final at this point so who knows.

Full practice today, all hands on deck, nothing earth shattering to report on so far, looks like a loose bunch coming of a win, for what that’s worth.

Just a quick hit, according to Peter Maher the Flames are close to a deal with Dion Phaneuf that would extend the D-man some where in the 3 to 4 year range. It is thought that deal could be worth somewhere between 18 to 24 million dollars, No official word from the Flames, nor will there be until the deal in finalized. The key for both parties is they wanted flexibility, so that is why the shorter contract extension. Once again this alleged at this point and things can change.

My friend Eric Adelson sent me the link to his story, the one we talked about yesterday on the show; it’s a real good read and might make you mad.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?id=3221862&sportCat=nhl

Watching the Sharks last night take apart the Oilers you got a great view of why they are the 2nd best team in NHL on the road and the best PK in the league. The Flames were looking forward to playing a weary team who ha played the night before, instead they face a team who had a light skate last night and are all stretched out. My feelings on the gawd awful games notes supplies by the Sharks are well known, and I get a little tired of them telling me how good they are, I must admit that they might be the best under achieving team I have ever seen. They are fighting for top spot in the Pacific with their Captain Marleau a minus 20 and a former 56 goal scorer with 9 goals in Cheechoo. They play a lot like Minnesota did a couple of years ago they don’ score much but they sure don’t give up much either.

Lines at practice not to be trusted

Huselius Langkow Iginla
Tanguay Conroy Nolan
Yelle Lombardi Moss
Smith Boyd Goddard
Nilson and Primeau

Phaneuf Eriksson
Regehr Sarich
Aucoin Hale
Warrener

Kiprusoff
Joseph

Flames practiced today with a full line up, both all star’s were back on the ice as Jarome Iginla and Dion Phanuef rejoined their teammates. The mood around the team is very upbeat right now, try as I might I couldn’t find anybody who seemed to worried about the tightness of the race in the west.

Curtis Joseph has a Flames version of his mask to wear now, the new I-Tech arrived this week, no major changes just the base color now matches the Flames red, and a few Flames on the mask as well. Honestly if you blink you may not even notice the difference.

No Eric Nystrom, so it looks like the Flames will start with the same roster as it had at the break. I expect he will be back sometime this season, and maybe sooner rather then later. No injuries with the club at this point, Anders Eriksson’s shoulder is fine and he is ready to go.

Flames will be back on the ice later this afternoon, but as we speak they are going through a battery of fitness tests, the same as they would go through at the beginning of training camp. I wonder what the results are going to be like as it’s wildly believed that a pro hockey player is in his best shape at the start of a season and at best can only hope to maintain his fitness levels.

10 days ago I got some e-mails from some listeners saying they were on some hockey chat room and it was posted that Mark Giordano had signed a new deal with the Flames. Not true, he is having a good year fro Moscow Dynamo and he remains Calgary property and I think they will take a run at resigning him through the summer. It should be pointed out that if Giordano signed a contract today he would have to be waived through the league, I am not sure he would make it through, as a mater of fact I am positive he would get claimed.

Great article by my friend Eric Adelson on something that happens more in sports then you think. If you get a chance check it out.

http://proxy.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3218517

Hey there, I was the recipient of a unexpected break this past week, you have to love your kids, but part and parcel with having them is dealing with the virus’s they tend to bring home with them. So after spending a couple of days on my back and a couple more making sure I wouldn’t infect anybody, I am ready to get the hell out of my house and back to the Dome.

There are a couple of things rattling around my brain mostly non-Flame related. The first one has do to with the on going open election of the next GM of “THE GREATEST TEAM IN ALL OF SOUTHERN ONTARIO”, I have watched, listened, and read a lot about it in the last 5 or 6 days, and I am shocked by the lack of listening going on. Brian Burke publicly stated at the end of the week that he wasn’t a candidate, yet as of today there were some high ranking media types in Hogtown still clinging to the notion that he will be the choice. One of the most retold stories in all of this is how Jim Rutherford, currently the GM of Carolina, has an escape clause to become the GM of the Leafs, he doesn’t, he old everybody that Saturday on Hockey Night in Canada. That’s not to say that either of these men won’t end up as the GM, but the speculation is outweighing the facts nearly 10 to 1 at this point. I’ll give you three names that may impact the decision by MLSE, or could be impacted by the decision that’s made. David McNab the Assistant General Manager in Anaheim, David Conte VP Hockey Operations and Director of Scouting for the New Jersey Devils, and Bob Nicholson the President of Hockey Canada. I have no inside information on these names this just speculation that I have that 1 or maybe all 3 of these men could land sin another job with another team as a result of what happens in Toronto. All 3 have been mentioned as possible GM’s before, but none of them meet the publicly stated requirements for the Leafs job. Don’t be surprised if in the reshuffling that takes place after the new GM gets his job, one of these guys gets the job of the guy moving to Toronto, and don’t be surprised if they are more successful then the eventual leader of the Bud’s.

Keep you eye on the CBC they may be quietly taking a run at TSN’s dominance as Canada’s sports leader. It was only a couple of years ago in the waning days of the Nancy Lee presidency that many of us began to wonder out loud if the days of sports on Mother Corp were winding down. 2 years later and under the supervision of Scott Moore the CBC will apply for an all sport cable channel this week. Before you start with the ahh there goes our tax’s dollars out the window stuff, lets all be really clear with something here, it is widely recognized that Hockey Night in Canada more then pays for all of the CBC sports programming. Hockey Night in Canada has made some changes to try and be more relevant, some of it has worked, some of it like the re-vamped satellite hot stove hasn’t, but there trying. They have launched a daily satellite radio show that thanks to their relationship with the league office gets grade “A” guests, and they have greatly increased the number of non hockey properties like the Jay’s, Raptors, but did lose the CFL. I think that in a couple of years when Moore is down he intends to have a sports entity in the same league as TSN. Two bits of advice for Moore though, he needs to get into the Internet in a big way, and I would look at moving some of their radio entities to non pay for listen formats, but hey that’s just me.

A couple of things from the All-Star weekend, first and foremost I thought Atlanta put on a great show for the City of Atlanta. It’s my belief that this game is now for the locals and to a lesser extent the rest of the league, I really enjoyed the local flavors that they gave like the Marching Bands and the R&B singers.

Watching the break away competition at the end of the skills event on Saturday really made me appreciate what Kristian Huselius did at the Flames Super Skills on January 20th. #20’s two goals in the shoot out were so much better then anything even tried on Saturday. If this is going to be an ongoing feature of the Al Star weekend maybe they have to take a page out of the NBA’s book and invite shoot out specialists to compete in the competition.

Is there a better ambassador of the NHL then Jarome Iginla, he was mic’ed up most of the weekend and it was a treat to here him interacting with Dion Phaneuf and the rest of his Western Conference teammates. To bad he didn’t score a goal, now he has t spend time when he gets back to Calgary answering questions on why he didn’t.

Well the worst kept secret in hockey finally came to fruition today as the Maple Leafs fired their GM this morning. John Ferguson Junior got the axe in the most long drawn out firing in the history of this great game. His track record is spotty, the team didn’t get in the play off‘s last season, and he hasn’t drafted terribly well. I have interviewed him on a couple of occasions and always found him to be a very nice guy and a pretty insightful guy. In the end I am not sure that anybody is going to be very successful in that market; there is no tolerance for the type of work that needs to be done with that team. Just imagine if the Edmonton Oilers played in the Big Smoke, a young team with a bright future, the media there would eat them up. The media in Toronto is too high and mighty to just allow a young team go through the growing pains it takes to rebuild. There are too many newspaper guys and radio people with an axe to grind that just dog that team relentlessly. Keep in mind the major media players in this country have a vested interest in having that team successful now, not in 3 or 4 years from now.

Optional practice for the Flames today ahead of the game this evening against the Minnesota Wild. Anders Eriksson was back out on the ice today, he missed the last couple of days nursing a shoulder injury, and he will be a game time decision.

No line combinations today, they kept changing them through practice so it was a little silly to try and copy them down.

12:54 - Alex Tangauy’s agent Bob Sauve was at practice today talking to Darryl Sutter, no idea what they actually talked about but let the speculation continue.

Pretty quiet day for the Flames today, a fairly brisk, upbeat practice, but quick they were off in about 50 minutes. No Eriksson at practice today, he was on the bench yesterday during super skills, according to Anders he has a small shoulder injury, and he got it on Friday night, but should be ready to go tomorrow. Owen Nolan did get back on the ice and practice today, no timetable on a return, and will likely be a game time decision against Minnesota tomorrow.

All is quiet on the rumor front today; Darryl Sutter was in attendance at practice today but no news to report on the transaction front.

The Flames all seem to be embracing the break that is coming up for the hockey club, there maybe some anxious moments over the next couple of days as the team sits and watches others play some game that they have in hand on Calgary. The Flames know they can’t do anything about the schedule at this point so they are going to take the time off and worry about getting back into first after the all star break.

The Calgary Flames maybe the most talked about team in Hockey right now. If you got any of the TSN broadcast of Friday night or Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night you will no what I am talking about. The hockey world is waiting to see what if anything that Darryl Sutter will do to help bolster the Flames. The man at the center of all of the talk is Calgary winger Alex Tanguay who according to some has either asked for a trade or waived his no trade clause. Not true according to number 40, after today’s skills contest at the dome Alex spoke to the media, and denied the reports that are out there suggesting he wants a change of scenery. Tanguay, to his credit, was honest to a fault saying he recognizes the situation that he finds himself in, and he understands why all of the talk has centered on him. Sighting lower offensive production, a different role with the club, and combined with his salary Alex knows that he is going to be speculated about. Hard not to feel sorry for a guy like Tanguay, the day was supposed to be about the Super Skills, but he had to answer questions about his future, a future that he has a little say in. He strikes me as a guy, at least today, that thinks his time here is nearing an end. By the way Alex went 4 for 4 in the accuracy shooting during the Super Skills it was pretty impressive.

The Super Skills was a fun event to be part of; it is always fun to be ice level with these guys to see how skilled they actually are. Everybody was waiting to see Matthew Lombardi in the Fastest Skater and he didn’t disappoint, posting the best time of 13.947. By the way Eric Goddard participated in this event and held his own he finished nearly a second back of Lombardi, but was right there with the rest of the participants. Adrian Aucoin won the Hardest Shot with a speed of 102.3mph, with a wooden stick I might add. Despite some great action during the event, after it was over most people were still talking about the reception that Curtis Joseph received when he was introduced, it was deafening. It sure showed the class of the Flames fans with the response he received.

Well Cujo arrived yesterday and what a Circus, but the more and more that I think about it, in a good way. Almost 40 media people were on hand to hear the Flames new back up goalie speak. It should be noted that Curtis Joseph is not like acquiring Brian Boucher, he is likely going to be 4th all time on the wins list for goalies by the end of the year, and he has played in some pretty big games, and for some high profile teams. He is as advertised, a really nice guy and I enjoyed talking to him yesterday, and he really didn’t seem that overwhelmed by the reception that he got in Calgary.

Wow, are there are a ton of Calgary Flames kicking around out there. You have probably heard that the Flames and Montreal are working on a deal, or that Darryl Sutter was in Boston scouting the Leafs, maybe you have caught the one that the Flames would like to bring in Rob Blake, and don’t forget that Calgary is moments away from trading for the Captain of the Florida Panthers. LOOK HERE IS THE DEAL, would the Flames like to make a big deal? Probably! Will the Flames make some trades before the deadline in last part of February? Yes, I think they will! Will they get any, some, or all of the players that they are rumored to get? I doubt it! More often then not Darryl makes his moves quietly and when they go down you are often surprised and at times left scratching your head. If I were King of the World, this is what I would want, a Front Line Scorer, a Depth scorer, a puck moving d-men, and a prospect! Hey I said if I was King of the World!

Nice honor for Jarome yesterday as he was named Team Captain of the Western Conference of the upcoming All Star game. I wonder if he may get a chance to lead Canada at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

Lines and lord knows they will change,

Huselius Langkow Iginla
Tanguay Conroy Moss
Primeau Lombardi Boyd
Smith Yelle Goddard

Eriksson Phaneuf
Regehr Sarich
Warrener/Hale Aucoin

Kiprusoff
Joseph

Owen Nolan was not on the ice for the morning skate, he left the game vs. Minnesota on Wednesday after his fight in the 2nd period. We think he re injured his neck.