Micheal Aldred

Sudbury, ON • Canada • 27 Years Old • Male

Preview: Calgary Flames

Primary Staff: Darryl Sutter (GM) Brent Sutter (Head Coach)
2009-10 Stats: 82GP 40W 32L 10OTL 90PTS
Place: 3rd Northwest, 10th West, 16th NHL
Top Scorer: Jarome Iginla – 82GP 32G 37A 69P
Captains: Jarome Iginla (C), Craig Conroy (A), Jay Bouwmeester (A)

OFF-SEASON MOVES

OUT:

Chris Higgins (Signed with Florida)
Eric Nystrom (Signed with Minnesota)
Ales Kotalik (Waivers - Received Try Out)
Jamal Mayers (Signed with San Jose)
Nigel Dawes (Signed with Atlanta)
Vesa Toskala (Free Agent)

IN:

Tim Jackman (Free Agent)
Olli Jokinen (Free Agent)
Alex Tanguay (Free Agent)
Ryan Stone (Free Agent)
Raitis Ivanans (Free Agent)

The Calgary Flames could be one of the most interesting teams heading into this season as their final position in the NHL is anyone’s guess. The club has struggled with consistency in recent years, and reuniting a few old flames, so to speak, could either do wonders for the club or simply hand them a horrendous season and likely Darryl Sutter’s final year as the team’s general manager.

Under the new system of head coach Brent Sutter, the Flames had a sluggish year that featured the rise in Mark Giordano (from 2 goals and 19 points in 08-09 to 11 goals and 30 points in 09-10) and the fall in Jay Bouwmeester (15 goals and 42 points in 08-09 to 3 goals and 29 points in 09-10).

The core of the club remains similarly intact, but the expectations this season are far greater. The decision to bring back both Alex Tanguay and Olli Jokinen is an experiment that must pay immediate dividends. The Flames have been ridiculed over this decision, but if the chemistry is reignited between the aforementioned and Jarome Iginla, the Flames and, more importantly, Darryl Sutter will most certainly have the last laugh. It’s all a matter of consistency.

If this club can get their act together and officially buy into the Brent Sutter system, they could be a difficult team to face come playoff time. If they are unable to obtain the spark this club once had as a whole, they will be fishing their way out of the basement. With the strong goaltending of Miikka Kiprusoff in net, the team will always have a chance to win. Their position in the standings is dependent on the team’s overall offensive output and chemistry.

Prediction: 5th Northwest, 13th Wast

FLAMES DEPTH CHART

Alex Tanguay – Olli Jokinen – Jarome Iginla
Curtis Glencross – Daymond Langkow – Rene Bourque
Niklas Hagman – Matt Stajan – David Moss
Raitis Ivanans – Mikael Backlund – Ales Kotalik
Craig Conroy
Tim Jackman
Ryan Stone

Jay Bouwmeester – Robyn Regehr
Ian White – Mark Giordano
Cory Sarich – Steve Staios
Adam Pardy – Staffan Kronwall

Miikka Kiprusoff
Henrik Karlsson

For more articles by Micheal Aldred, visit http://www.thecheckingline.com