QC Flames sign Two to AHL Deals

[Tilley]

As per QC Flames email:

Dan Spang (D) and Jonathan Tremblay (RW).

Tremblay looks like a goon on the wing while Spang provides a veteran presence with the loss of Hambly and Ramholt.

Spang is a former 2nd round selection of SJ in 2002 and has some offensive ability.

[chris lindberg]

Lol, another former San Jose Shark joins the Flames Organization, that's 11 or 12 of them now since Darryl Sutter arrived in Calgary.


http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospects/dan_spang

Here is some info on Tremblay (he is a former Shark draft pick as well)

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospec...athan_tremblay

Looks like there are a bunch of video's of his fights on youtube also.

I always thought Jesse Fibiger would have been signed by Darryl Sutter after he arrived in Calgary but it never happened (yet.)

[looooob]

I thought Spang had a bit of game in him, I didn't have him pegged as an AHL contract kind of guy at this point. HF (I know I know) had him as the Sharks number 6 prospect the last time they were ranked

6. (10) Dan Spang, D
2nd Round, 52nd – 2002, 24, 6’0, 205

Spang is not imposing at 6’0, but he serves an important defensive role for Worcester. The 2007-08 is Spang’s third season in the AHL after a productive four-year career for Boston University. At BU, Spang earned First-Team All-American honors as a senior.

Spang’s role as a professional has changed since college, as he has not developed into the offensive threat that was expected recording 31 points this season (8 goals, 23 assists) while playing in 77 games. Regardless, the Winchester, MA native is one of Worcester's most important leaders and most reliable players. Spang is close to ready for the NHL.

[Vulcan]

I like this comment from Hockey's Future about Tremblay, "Despite lacking a knack for offense, or defence,...". and "considered the top fighter in the QMJHL" .

He spent a year in Quad City in 05/06 so the fans are familiar with him.

[Drunk Skunk]

The Hammer returns!!! Tremblay has been one of my favorite players for years. While his skating has hopefully improved(it was ... mediocre for a AA level player in 05/06), his fighting skills are without peer. He is absolutely the toughest fighter I've seen in person, along with Steve MacIntyre. Tremblay has top five NHL fighting skills, of that I have no doubt. I do hope, however, that his skating his improved to the point where he could skate a fairly regular shift.

[PIMking]

I am about to throw up about the signing of Tremblay.

[SparkyOne]

The Hammer was a fan favorite and, as DS says, an awesome fighter. Hopefully his signing helps the QC on more than one level. This signing could bring people in the doors....

[Drunk Skunk]

According to someone that I talked to this morning that works for the Sharks, Spang is a very good puck moving defenseman that got hurt last season. Also, from what I was told, he is excellent in the community. Sounds like a great addition to the team.

[dobbles]

Originally Posted by SparkyOne

This signing could bring people in the doors....

thats what i initially thought this signing was about. bringing in a former mallards player to help drum up interest. fighting also drums up interest. but, so does winning, and a guy like this with about 7 career points, doesn't help us score any more goals. and though i am excited about many of the people we will have this year, including spang, we also lost a lot of out offensive guys from last season. so i worry we will be pretty bad at scoring goals again. because no matter how great a fighter is, you don't get any points on the scoreboard for winning fights. and even the 'fires up his team' aspect i think it pretty limited on influencing goal scoring.

but its probably just my bias towards guys that are there just to fight.

[Drunk Skunk]

Originally Posted by dobbles

thats what i initially thought this signing was about. bringing in a former mallards player to help drum up interest. fighting also drums up interest. but, so does winning, and a guy like this with about 7 career points, doesn't help us score any more goals. and though i am excited about many of the people we will have this year, including spang, we also lost a lot of out offensive guys from last season. so i worry we will be pretty bad at scoring goals again. because no matter how great a fighter is, you don't get any points on the scoreboard for winning fights. and even the 'fires up his team' aspect i think it pretty limited on influencing goal scoring.

but its probably just my bias towards guys that are there just to fight.

As I said on ITB -

Originally Posted by J

Greentree has the potential of scoring 30 goals in this league, and I look for him to replace Kolanos. If Ryder comes to play, he can easily offset the loss of Stevenson. The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth leading goal scorers from last season will all be returning. Add in the additions of John Armstrong, Hugo Carpentier, J.D. Watt(who's proved he can score in juniors), and Ryan Wilson - I think the Farm Flames will be just fine in the scoring department.

Spang will further improve that.

[chris lindberg]

Along with those third (Germyn), fourth (VDG), fifth (Chucko), and sixth (Peters) leading goal scorers, I think we can also add Cracknell & Lundmark to the list...

Greentree - Ryder - Germyn
Cracknell - Lundmark - Chucko
Carpentier - Armstrong - VanderGulik
Watt - Peters

Spang - Wilson

[dobbles]

Originally Posted by Drunk Skunk

As I said on ITB -
Spang will further improve that.

yeah, i think we are pretty much on the same page. but spang will simply replace the scoring that we lost in ramholt and hambly. (not that i was particularly fond of either of them)

i just think that the people we are bringing in make up for whats lost. i certainly hope the additions of guys like watt, armstrong and carpentier will bump up scoring, but i still worry.

but when we start dressing guys like tremblay and pete vandermeer, we aren't exactly putting together an offensive powerhouse.

[Drunk Skunk]

A team needs more then scoring defensemen. Vandermeer is a very, very solid stay at home d-man and an excellent team leader. He is more than just a goon.

[Tilley]

The lil' Flames are going to be significantly better than last year's edition.

Most importantly the defense and goaltending will be much improved. Keetley was good last year but he was streaky early. Irving will solidify the goaltending. The defense was just too young last year. Pelech will look like a different skater in the upcoming season and I expect one of Cole or Wilson to be able to contribute offensively so the team is not relying on Spang to jumpstart the offense. Keeping the puck out of the defensive zone will do wonders for generating offense.

Losing Kolanos and Stevenson will help more by their absence. Lundmark, Ryder, Greentree, Armstrong, and Carpentier will more than make up for them. Guys like Couture and Maki would have a good game occasionally, but they couldn't supply the secondary offense that was necessary to win games. Shutting down Stevenson and Kolanos last year virtually guaranteed a win against QC last year. Neither player was dedicated to backchecking with Kolanos being particularly horrible. Instead of floaters on the top line guys like Greentree and Lundmark will be generate more offense by working the corners.

With Chicago dismantling their AAAA team, the division will be up for grabs. Watching last year the lil' Flames reminded me a lot of the Knights in their first season. Limited scoring depth and a young defense with two inexperienced goaltenders. The team now more closely resembles the team that had the best record in the conference two years ago.

[dobbles]

Originally Posted by Drunk Skunk

A team needs more then scoring defensemen. Vandermeer is a very, very solid stay at home d-man and an excellent team leader. He is more than just a goon.

i hope i didn't imply that. i think vandermeer is a good veteran presence and brings more than his fists. however, i lumped him in there because he isn't really an offensive contributor.

that's what i worry about. being a tough team is great and all. but it seems to me this team really isn't going to score a whole lot more than last year. because i think it would be great if ryder and greentree could both score 30 goals and replace kolanos and stevenson. but i really don't see a lot of reason to think we are going to improve on our ranking as 3rd to last in goals scored.

[dobbles]

Originally Posted by Tilley

The lil' Flames are going to be significantly better than last year's edition.

Most importantly the defense and goaltending will be much improved. Keetley was good last year but he was streaky early. Irving will solidify the goaltending. The defense was just too young last year. Pelech will look like a different skater in the upcoming season and I expect one of Cole or Wilson to be able to contribute offensively so the team is not relying on Spang to jumpstart the offense. Keeping the puck out of the defensive zone will do wonders for generating offense.

Losing Kolanos and Stevenson will help more by their absence. Lundmark, Ryder, Greentree, Armstrong, and Carpentier will more than make up for them. Guys like Couture and Maki would have a good game occasionally, but they couldn't supply the secondary offense that was necessary to win games. Shutting down Stevenson and Kolanos last year virtually guaranteed a win against QC last year. Neither player was dedicated to backchecking with Kolanos being particularly horrible. Instead of floaters on the top line guys like Greentree and Lundmark will be generate more offense by working the corners.

With Chicago dismantling their AAAA team, the division will be up for grabs. Watching last year the lil' Flames reminded me a lot of the Knights in their first season. Limited scoring depth and a young defense with two inexperienced goaltenders. The team now more closely resembles the team that had the best record in the conference two years ago.

don't forget that mcelhinney played over half the season, so i wouldn't really fault the goaltending. he ended 7th in goals against average. so i think our own end of the ice was pretty decent. though i do agree having more seasoned versions of pardy, pelech, etc will help even more.

we just didn't score. and i do agree kolanos was a bum and stevenson wasn't exactly my favorite player either. but can ryder and greentree combine for 136 points to replace them? even prust was the 5th leading scorer and will need to be replaced. i will be optimistic that the new guys can help us out, but i am still paranoid.

[PIMking]

Dude dobbles you act like MFrekes on itb. be positive.

Do you remember the last year of the mallards? Rockford was built the same way. beat you up and win flat out as it was. they came in and kicked everyones butt.

[dobbles]

no i dont remember that, i just moved here! i have seen 0 mallards games ever!

i am not trying to be negative, really. i just feel like we are going down the toughness route when we should be going down the scoring route. but, only time will tell.

[PIMking]

Originally Posted by dobbles

no i dont remember that, i just moved here! i have seen 0 mallards games ever!

i am not trying to be negative, really. i just feel like we are going down the toughness route when we should be going down the scoring route. but, only time will tell.

Ryder, Greentree (kolanos and Stevenson), Lundmark, VanDerGulik, I think Chucko will have a good year. we will be okay in the scoring department. also we will be able to knock some teeth down the other teams throats.

[dobbles]

i really hope we don't have to count on chucko for our offensive success. he's the one guy still on the team i don't care much for. he couldn't even play well at the end of the year when he had kolanos feeding him in front of the net.