Today there are way more questions then there are answers about this Calgary Flames team.
By the way on behalf of the Media we are Sorry for costing the Calgary Flames 2 points Monday night. Ollie Jokinen telling the New York media that both he and the Calgary Flames GM agreed after the 3-0 loss to the Flyers that it was the media cost the team the points because the team was unfocused.
You are hard pressed to find many who understand or endorse the moves made by the Flames GM over the last couple of days. The one overriding feeling, and I subscribe to it, is that there is another shoe to drop.
The Calgary Flames are at a crossroads right here and right now, either the massive change this late season works or this team is destined to fall apart at the seams.
The Local Hockey Heroes have a little bit of a PR disaster on their hands, a lot of fans are mad and they don’t really have an advocate in the media trumpeting their recent moves. At the end of the day only one thing will cure this WINNING!
Lost in all of the trade chatter has been the discussion about how listless the Flames looked in the 2nd half of their game versus Philadelphia. This team has been too inconsistent with its sense of urgency at home in recent weeks. You wonder why the Flames are getting booed off the ice, how about being shut out 3 times in your last 5 home games.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, all is not lost the secret to the Flames resurgence in the latter stages of this season will have to come from some one other then the coaches and the GM, and likely won’t come from a savior brought in from some where else, it is up to Jarome Iginla as goes the captain as goes the Flames. Not only the Captain but all of the leaders of this team are on the hook right now.
Optional practice today at the dome for the Flames so no lines to report.
Yesterday I reported the Darryl Sutter had praise for young Mr. Backlund and it sounded to me like he was staying around for the rest of the year. I was informed afterwards that just die to the sheer number of forwards Calgary may have no choice but to send down #60 and Jamie Lundmark, so we wait and see.
Click here to subscribe to Kerr's blog
To say that it’s the media’s fault just goes to show what is wrong with the Flames right now. Stand up and admit your’e not playing good enough and stop blaming everyone for the way your playing and start acting professionally.
- Mike spiersGood comments. It looks to me like the whole Sutter brother’s philosophy is crashing down. This style is not working in the post-lockout era. Also, I heard a very simple, but telling comment the other day - “the guys aren’t having fun out there.” The Sutter style is so friggin’ serious, with no positive reinforcement (not that there has been much to respond positively to!) Even getting multi-million dollar salaries, these guys are still human, and need to be encouraged.
Here’s a thought for you: I think the best trade they could have made was to trade Iginla only. Remember a few years ago when he was injured, and the rest of the team played so well to make up for his loss? Then when he came back, the team sucked again. As much as we all like Iggy, I really believe that sending him away (in exchange for another superstar power forward) would have worked much better. Besides, he’s a cruiser - he works when he feels like it - then he’s amazing. But if he’s just cruising, the rest of the team cruises along behind.
- Derek stollI can only hope and pray that another deal is imminent, but realistically it makes no sense. If Sutter had a better player to go after (better than Stajan, better than Higgins, better than Kotalik….etc. etc.) he would have got that player with either Phaneuf or Jokinen. I cannot imagine any team that will trade a top line centre to Calgary for any of the low-grade players Sutter acquired for Jokinen and Phaneuf. If a top centre was to be had, it would have been with Phanuef or Jokinen. To be honest (and overly critical perhaps) I believe Sutter is acting out of desperation for his own personal reward of taking a gamble to win a cup this year. He gave away a solid future defenceman in Phaneuf (and prospects with him) for basically nothing except rental players who have not done much (their contracts are up this year on almost all of them). If you are giving up your future for a rental, make it a good rental (i.e. Kovalchuk). Sutter knows his time is done and his experiments failed, and this is his last ditch attempt at making this year a success at the sacrifice of the future. Maybe he is doing it not for himself but for Jarome, maybe for both of them, as both their time is overdue. People say Jarome has failed to be leader - I do not agree with that. Jarome has led this team beyound where it should go. The leadership failure has not been on the ice, but in the offices (off-ices). Sutter has failed to draft or trade for a player than can compliment Jarome’s talent. What did Yzerman do in Detroit prior to Federov and Lidstrom and the others? not much did he? What is Ovechkin without Semin? Crosby without Malkin? Sakic without Forsberg? Gretzky without Kurri? The Flames failed to coach and failed to draft, trade sufficient talent to take Calgary over the top. But that does leave one basic question, over Sutter’s reign why does everyone he brings here fail to score??? Is that Jarome’s fault? Or is that a off-ice/coach/GM fault? Thank-you, you guys are great, I love listening to you all on the FAN 960. Jamie
- JamieRob,
- GazzaThank you for pointing out that no one can understand Darryl’s moves.
There are fans that are upset and for Darryl, and Ken King for that matter, not appearing to give credence to the voice of the fans is upsetting.
I hope ownership is listening to the fans. If not, I hope they were listening to Cammalleri yesterday shedding light to issues in the dressing room and beyond.
Gazza
I agree Rob. The Sutter hockey is killing the fans if it doesn’t win. Darryl has used up the goodwill from the Kipper transaction. I fear a meltdown over the last 30 games. Why isn’t anyone calling Langkow out? or Bouwmeester? These guys need to want to be difference makers. Right now they seem to be hiding in the shadows. They need more from everyone from the captain on down. I fear David Moss’s days are numbered as a Flame as well. Brent’s comment about being a player ‘wanting’ to stay in front of the net was a thinly veiled shot at Moss.
- dan0808Rob,
- JustinI think Darryl Sutter still has another trade brewing, but I hope it does not involve Jarome Iginla. There’s no point in trying to guess what Sutter will do, because I did not think he would trade Dion Phaneuf. I think trading Phaneuf was more about money than anything else. There’s no doubt that Dion will get better, but it’s a lot of money to pay while you’re waiting. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Dion go from an entry level contract straight to his $39 million/6 year deal? That’s a lot of money and very high expectations on a guy that young. It doesn’t leave any room for error. But I digress, Dion’s gone, Jarome’s the key. I don’t know what the answer is, but all the people that say Jarome isn’t a star need to give their head a shake. He is one of the best all around hockey players in the world!
I’ve said my piece, now it’s up to Jarome, b/c like you said, how goes Jarome, goes the Calgary Flames.
To those of you (Jamie) who think that Sutter’s days as GM are numbered……based on what? You know something the rest of us don’t? Stick to what you KNOW and not what you’d like to know!
What “style” is being referred to as the post-lockout style? (Derek) It seemed to work pretty good for Brent last year in Jersey.
I’d love to see some Stanley Cup experience in the lineup. I think the locker room could use that kind of leadership. It seems to be dearly lacking, which is why I partially agree with the Iggy comment above.
Who wrote this article?? “Hard-pressed to find anyone who understands this trade”?? This trade is exactly what Darryl said it was…..to distribute money more evenly around the team and at the same time, to distribute responsibility and scoring. What’s so tough to figure out about that??
- DarrenCan someone tell me what Cammalleri said yesterday regarding the issues in the dressing room? Is there a link? Would love to see it or hear it
- dnabThanks
The Sutter formula is only partly right, today’s NHL formula is speed with skill (speed alone is not enough), competitiveness, intuition (usually a gift apparently not a learned trait). Look at the Flame’s players in this light, too many fail in these characteristics (you have about half a dozen forwards and about 3 defense with these traits to some varying degree). On a go forward basis Sutter needs to pick players with these skills if not, he is showing he doesn’t know what is needed (therein lies the recent trade choices). Time for a change in the back office due to an inability to adjust to the required circumstances. In addition, we’ll continue to support a tier 2 team in what is now a 2 tier league; it feels like the NHL is doing us a disservice with having all teams rank at a premier level when clearly they don’t all belong there.
- rjamesI gotta say… I like Jarome, he is great for hockey and for the city but I think we need to trade him. He’s not ‘old’ but he’s not ‘young’… and I just can’t see us winning a cup in the near future. So, why not get someone a little younger and some trade picks and see what we can do in a few years. It never ceases to amaze me that Detroit and Pittsburgh always make good teams, or at least always come back when they are down… why? The draft mostly. We gotta get drafting and start looking at 2014. Don’t get me wrong… I’ve seen Jarome around town, everyone likes him, but we gotta get serious about a cup here. This town deserves better.
- Bowness BryceThanks Darren, for being at least one voice of reason.
Olli and Dion HAD to go. Phaneuf may get better but it wasn’t going to be here. He was arrogant and complacent and made too many costly mistakes. If he gets better it’s because this move was a reality check for him. Olli could have stayed for a while longer, if he’d have taken a couple of million pay cut. He just wasn’t worth the $$.
I, for one, am willing to to wait this one out with the new guys. Granted I wish we’d have had more to choose from in trade, but there is potential if these guys start playing like they enjoy the game and gel as a team. At least there’s some hope we didn’t have before the trade.
Trading Iggy would be a mistake. I have to agree with Jamie - we need a really good 1st line centre for Jarome…and he has to start playing away from the boards in scoring position - high slot. He’s as good a trigger man as any if he’s got the puck in the right spot.
For you armchair experts that think the distraction of the news leak by the media shouldn’t matter…I’ve played team sports most of my life and I’m here to tell you, if your head isn’t in the game, everything else goes to crap real fast. Multiply that by the number of players affected and of course we didn’t show up for the game.
- MarkRob- What can we, as Flame’s fans, possibly due to encourage management to bring back the retro jerseys more regularly. I mean of course the old school ones they sometimes use. I feel like they have their own energy. Thanks
- Bowness BryceRob
- ken creightonI have been a fan for a while now and just yesterday found out something that really surprised me. I am a wildfire ranger from the Blairmore ranger station , Frankie is a co-worker of mine , although we have not met beyond a “how’s it going?” I did not believe the guys when they first told me not only that you were a forest officer, but were married to Frankie. YOU SEE THERE ARE ALOT OF PRACTICAL JOKES between the guys.
Keep up the awesome work and I will continue to be a faithful fan to 960.