[GDT] Flames vs. Avalanche, 7 pm, SN-One

[Cali Panthers Fan]

It's just good to see Iginla smiling again. He didn't do a lot of that his last couple years in Calgary.


Flames: 16-8-2, 3rd in Pacific Division, 5th West, 9th league.

Avalanche: 9-11-5, 7th in Central Division, 12th West, 23rd league.


You can hardly blame Iginla for wanting to go to the Avs. They won their division last year with 112 points and were just 5 points behind his President's Trophy winning Bruins. Iggy probably would have stayed in Boston if not for cap problems. The Avs had the money to sign him to a modest contract by Iginla's standards and it would allow Iginla to play with a young, exciting, successful team. Here are some of the names he would get to play alongside: MacKinnon, Landeskog, O'Reilly, Duchene, and his old buddy Tanguay. How could this not be a great decision for him?

Well the wheels have fallen off so far this year. Part of that has been the fact that Varlamov has been injured for the last 3 weeks with a groin strain, putting the goaltending weight on Reto Berra and Calvin Pickard…not the strongest tandem. Pickard faired decently, getting 4 starts and action in 7 games, posting a 2.49 GAA and a .922 Sv%. Berra on the other hand…ugly numbers. 8 starts and 9 games overall, 3.57 GAA and .883 Sv%. It got so bad that they were musing openly about keeping Pickard over Berra once Varlamov gets back and sending Berra down despite signing him to a recent 3 year deal. Fortunately for the Avs, and unfortunately for us, Varlamov is back and ready to play tonight in his first game since Nov. 15th.

And he'll have his work cut out for him. Colorado is not a strong defensive club, ranking just ahead of the woeful Oilers defense giving up 3.08 GA/G, 27th in the league. Part of that is coaching style, and part of that is personnel. They have a couple of solid defensemen in Hejda and Johnson, but nothing that wows you for a top pairing. Follow that with the offensively minded Tyson Barrie (who leads the team with 19 points in 25 games) paired with Nate Guenin, a player that only played his first (close to) full NHL season last year despite being 31 years old and bouncing around 4 different organizations. It's been so bad on the third pairing that Nick Holden has been moved from defense to forward in an effort to find an effective role for him after sporting a woeful -16 (by far the worst on the team). Brad Stuart was supposed to solidify the defense, but has been sidelined for the last 9 games with a hamstring injury. Ryan Wilson is also out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. Surprisingly though, the one thing they've been doing well is killing penalties, operating at 86.5% ranking 3rd overall. No idea why the anomaly, but it's a good thing they're effective because they have taken 97 minor penalties ranking in the bottom 3rd of the league.

The offense has only been mediocre so far this year. 2.69 GF/G ranks them 17th, right in the middle of the pack. Last year they were scoring 2.99 GF/G, which was ranked 4th overall. Their power play is currently firing at 13.2%, ranking 25th. Last year they had the 5th ranked PP. Why has the offense been languid? No idea really, but when you see that none of their star forwards are anywhere near a PPG pace, but are all putting up similar numbers, that's troubling. It speaks to a team that is struggling to create offense as a unit, not just one or two struggling players or under-performers. They have also not had any help from their depth players. Outside of the Avs top 6 forwards, nobody has more than 7 points. It doesn't help that a lot of their depth guys (including the familiar Ben Street) have been injured. Jamie McGinn had season ending back surgery. Ryan Wilson had season ending shoulder surgery. Jesse Winchester hasn't played a game yet due to a concussion. These are not amazing players, but they are quality NHLers that haven't been able to contribute to this team.

Not that the Flames should feel sorry for them. We've had our own injury troubles losing Stajan, Backlund, Colborne, and Raymond for several weeks. The good news appears to be that Stajan will play tonight and Raymond is a few days away from returning. No timelines yet for Colborne or Backlund, which is fairly concerning considering that they were not supposed to be out long term. It helps that Jiri Hudler is on fire, with 10 points in his last 5 games. Johnny Gaudreau has picked it up of late with 4 points in his last 2 games. Jooris broke out of a 3 game pointless skid with a his first NHL hat trick in the last game. Sean Monahan is quietly producing with points in his last 4 games.

Despite the Flames success of late, winning 3 straight and 7 of their last 9, there are a couple players who have gone ice cold. After a hot start to his call up, Markus Granlund is now pointless in his last 5 games and -4 over that stretch, with a face-off percentage somewhere in the high 20s. That's great for a weather forecast, but abysmal for a center. How long before he gets moved to the left wing at the NHL level? Paul Byron has also not created much of late with no points in his last 5 and a -3. Sven Baertschi has looked dangerous at times on offense of late, but since his 3 points in 2 nights a couple weeks ago, he has 0 points in 7 games. Thankfully, his +/- hasn't suffered despite playing on the 4th line which is often out there with a troublesome 3rd defense pairing. Here's hoping some of those guys break out tonight against a Colorado team that does not defend particularly well.

Lineups are guesses because while Stajan is likely to play, it hasn't been announced yet. My thought is that one of Granlund, Baertschi, or Ferland will sit tonight. Ramo is the confirmed starter.

Flames
Glencross-Monahan-Jones
Gaudreau-Jooris-Hudler
Ferland-Stajan-Byron
Bollig-Bouma-Baertschi

Giordano-Brodie
Russell-Wideman
Smid-Engelland

Ramo

Avalanche
Tanguay-Duchene-O'Reilly
Landeskog-MacKinnon-Iginla
Briere-Talbot-Vincour
Holden-Sgarbossa-McLeod

Hejda-Johnson
Guenin-Barrie
Stollery-Redmond

Varlamov



Go Flames Go!!!

[sureLoss]

hoping to see some of this:


and a lot of this:

[terminator]

Lets show the world we can beat the Iginlas.

[Scornfire]

I had totally forgotten about Iggy touching the trophy /sigh

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Scornfire

I had totally forgotten about Iggy touching the trophy /sigh

Please don't tell me you think we lost because he touched a trophy.

[terminator]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Please don't tell me you think we lost because he touched a trophy.

I think we lost because he touched the trophy.

[Scornfire]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Please don't tell me you think we lost because he touched a trophy.

You didn't see the trophy, in all it's indignant rage at being defiled by the touch of a mere mortal, maliciously deny the offering of Gelinas in OT of game 6 disguised as khabibulin's pad?

[Poe969]

well we didn't win and Anderchuck didn't touch the trophy and they did win. Just say'n

[JJ1532]

I hope Iggy isn't smiling tonight. Really hope, as you say, some of the lower order guys can contribute, although if Hudler, Johnny and Monahan keep rolling, I won't mind.

Got to look to keep rolling against a struggling Avs team, although their front line can cause any teams problems. Got to make sure we keep a close eye on Duchene and MacKinnon.

On the one hand, it's another Coyotes type game that we need to be looking at winning, but on the other, when the Avs get going, they are dangerous. Hopeful, but not expectant of victory.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Guys, Iggy doesn't ever touch the trophy. Look carefully, there's space between his hand and the handle.

Besides, it's a stupid superstition. Tampa Bay was the best team in the league that year and we were a missed call away from winning it all. Can't ask for more than that. In fact, considering how well we played in the playoffs against elite opponents, despite a slightly better than average regular season, I'd say we were the ones with a horseshoe planted firmly up our butts.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan

Guys, Iggy doesn't ever touch the trophy. Look carefully, there's space between his hand and the handle.

Besides, it's a stupid superstition. Tampa Bay was the best team in the league that year and we were a missed call away from winning it all. Can't ask for more than that. In fact, considering how well we played in the playoffs against elite opponents, despite a slightly better than average regular season, I'd say we were the ones with a horseshoe planted firmly up our butts.

Yes he did. He picked it up and skated away with it.

[Toonage]

Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan

Guys, Iggy doesn't ever touch the trophy. Look carefully, there's space between his hand and the handle.

Besides, it's a stupid superstition. Tampa Bay was the best team in the league that year and we were a missed call away from winning it all. Can't ask for more than that. In fact, considering how well we played in the playoffs against elite opponents, despite a slightly better than average regular season, I'd say we were the ones with a horseshoe planted firmly up our butts.

He not only touched it, he picked it up and took it back to the dressing room. That being said, I agree its a dumb superstition and any championship/accomplishment at that level should be celebrated.

On topic - Flames 3, Avs 2. Goals from Monahan, Hudler & Jooris.

[Scornfire]

Aye, we're not that delusional. It's just a fun superstition

[saillias]

Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan

Guys, Iggy doesn't ever touch the trophy. Look carefully, there's space between his hand and the handle.

Besides, it's a stupid superstition. Tampa Bay was the best team in the league that year and we were a missed call away from winning it all. Can't ask for more than that. In fact, considering how well we played in the playoffs against elite opponents, despite a slightly better than average regular season, I'd say we were the ones with a horseshoe planted firmly up our butts.

Our points percentage with Kipper in the lineup was #2 in the league behind Detroit (I believe). So our season ending record was actually misleading - disproportionate number of those losses were in front of Turek/McLennan

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by codynw

Yes he did. He picked it up and skated away with it.

My bad. You're correct. My memory from 10 years ago is fuzzy.

Still a stupid superstition.

[locsofblu]

Hope we keep it going tonight. Im expecting a pretty face paced game at the very least. Go Flames Go! 4-23 win in ot for the good guys!

[genetic_phreek]

Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan

My bad. You're correct. My memory from 10 years ago is fuzzy.

Still a stupid superstition.

It's only stupid if we won.

[HartAttack]

As much as I loved Iginla and Tanguay when they were Calgary Flames, I'm honestly happy to see their 'leadership style' (whether they have letters on their chest or not) translating onto yet another team who's underachieving. These 2 guys aren't winners, plain and simple, and the Avs were likely better off without both of them.

That being said, I hope the 'new era' Flames show those 'has-beens' in Colorado what it takes to win, and out work the Avs to a painful death tonight. I'd even like to see a little bit of jealousy and envy creep across the faces of Iginla and Tanguay as they watch our Flames bench, who are clearly unified as a team, and wonder what might have been if they had different attitudes/leadership styles during their time in Calgary.

Flames win 4 - 2

[sureLoss]

milestone game for Hartley:

Sean Kelso @kelsohockey
@NHLFlames Head Coach Bob Hartley is sitting on 399 wins and 299 losses and faces his former team in the Avs tonight. 12th in active wins.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

I thought this deserved a mention.

brian mcgrattan ‏@bigern10 49m49 minutes ago
6 years clean and sober today!! Wanna thank my beautiful wife michelle and all the friends and family for support!!

Congratulations big guy. Keep doing what you're doing. We're all rooting for you.