TJ Molland: Oh the Flames. Where to start? How about the fact they have missed the playoffs for three straight years by a combined 13 points. You are missing the playoffs on average by 2 wins and an OT loss. It seems they are so close to getting back to the playoffs, but they just can't get over that hump. Things need to change. Everyone knows it and everyone is waiting for it to happen. It is time to either make the push, or start the rebuild. With Jarome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff north of 30 now (35 and 36 respectively come the end of October), and both nearing the end of their contracts (Iginla 1 year, Kiprusoff 2 years) it might be time to part with the old guard and get some young blood in the system.
So get ready ladies and gentleman. The Extra Period team here is going to burn this team down to it's foundation and give it a real good overhaul. It may not be pretty, it won't be easy, but by gosh it's going to be entertaining. So I smell the gasoline Bik is pouring throughout the franchise which means it's time to light the match and.....and....damn I thought I had a great Flames pun. I can't be punless only half way through these!! Quick Bik set the Flames aflame (close enough to a pun).
Bik Nizzar: This team has to recognize the iceberg that they’re drifting towards. They remind me SOOO much of the ’07 Oilers. Which is funny because the mediocrity just drifted south in Alberta. There’s no hope or promise coming up for this team. They’re just a middling team that can’t compete for 82 games to make the playoffs. They can be a decent playoff team cause of Kipper and Iginla, but they just flat out don’t have the horses to get them to the big dance. What exactly about this team excites you?! What in the WORLD happened to Jay Bouwmeester? When was the last time a player got more media attention in Florida than a Canadian city? This dude has played 717 games in the NHL, ALL REGULAR SEASON GAMES!!! How can a guy with THIS much talent, and making 6.8 mill, never play in the playoffs?!? And that’s not a new thing for J-Bouw..... He never played in the playoffs in Junior either.... Baffling. He’s played a grand total of 18 playoff games in his career, all with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL during the lockout year. Oh and by the way, he tallied 0 points in those 18 games. Oddly enough his teammate Olli Jokinen holds the record for most games played without playing in the playoffs with 799, which remarkably is an 82 game differential. So if J-Bouw plays every game this year he will tie the record. And somehow Calgary management doesn’t recognize that this team is bad?!? When 2 of the teams leading contributors share a record like that, you’re gonna have a bad time.
The ’07 Oilers reference is about as well as I can describe this team because I truly feel that VERY soon this team is gonna drift into obscurity and be BAD for a while. Remember when Mickael Backlund TORE up the WHL and Calgary was just smiling waiting for him to make it to the league.... What happened to this kid?! They’ve got a slew of guys in their system that are born to play 3rd n’ 4th line grinding roles. 2011 first round pick Sven Baertschi (who I’m really rooting for.... there needs to be more Sven’s in the NHL, it’s a great name) basically needs to be a world-beater for this team to have any hope in the future.
You know “that guy” who doesn’t wanna get into a fight but tells his buddies to “HOLD ME BACK! HOLD ME BACK!” – thats what I feel like right now over this team... TJ – HOLD ME BACK! HOLD ME BACK
TJ Molland: Well lets get the elephant out of the room to start. I know this will not sit well with Flames fans, it's not what I want to see happen, but it's what needs to happen for this franchise. Jarome Iginla needs to be traded. There I said it. Hate away but for the betterment of this franchise it needs to happen. The man can fetch a hefty price for you. He can almost single handedly re-stock your shelves. The other piece you can move is Kiprusoff, who to a team that is close to playoff success minus a goalie (*cough*Tampa Bay*cough*) will be worth the price.
There are a couple good options for Iginla (who does have a no movement clause he would need to waive), many we just touched on. Buffalo needs some leadership and toughness and have some prospects to dangle. Mark Pysyk would help a shallow defensive cupboard accompanied with maybe one of their more proven prospects (Marcus Foligno, Luke Adam) and you come out ahead.
Another team that I am sure Iggy would waive his NMC for would be the Pittsburgh Penguins. This one is a little more complicated and may be a better option for the Flames. Why not go after Jordan Staal? I don't think he is a #1 center of the future, but he is a guy who can hold down the job while someone learns the ropes. The flames could also get the Pens to add in Simon Despres, a good skating mobile defenseman who would learn lots under Bouwmeester (say what you want he is still a good defenseman). This of course all depends on Pittsburghs plan for the future, and if they want to try and keep 3 elite centers (Crosby and Malkin the others). With Staal being an UFA after next year it could be the most plausible option. And as much as I would hate to see it, Crosby and Iginla would destroy.....simply DESTROY.
Alright Bik, time for you to tear apart my trade proposals and kick this into a 5 alarm fire
Bik Nizzar: I was so angry over the Flames after I hit “send” from my last e-mail, I had to go find something to break..... That piece of Styrofoam never stood a chance.
The whole Iginla trade scenario just makes me think of the ’07 Oilers even more and Ryan Smyth. A player that is flat out the heart n’ soul of your team and you are going to rip that out for a few pieces. It’s a tough call to trade him.... Not to mention that if you do trade him, and/or Kipper, you basically send a white flag to your fan base. Without those 2 (and really more so Kipper) they have no chance. They are flat out the worst team in the league. They’re the last lottery team we’ll be previewing and I haven’t a clue where they would be without Kipper. This team still has a stamp of both the Sutter brothers on it. Sure a lot of guys you’d LOVE to have on your 3rd n’ 4th lines.... but they were trusting guys like Curtis Glenncross, Lee Stempniak, Blake Comeau and Matt Stajan to provide secondary scoring... and that’s before we mention 36 year old Brendan Morrison.
Back to Matt Stajan for a quick second. He’s the only piece remaining from the Phaneuf trade. THAT’S IT!!!! MATT STAJAN!!!! YOUR 3.5 MILLION CENTER THAT YOU HAVE FOR 2 MORE YEARS!!! (I was gonna write 2nd line center, but they need a new line for him...... 5th line?) So his 18 points that he got this year is basically everything you need to know about this team.
Actually this is everything you need to know..... Brent Sutter was never really FIRED from the team, it was a mutual agreement to part... and this was his quote shortly after: “I’d want to go somewhere where they either have a chance to win and just need to get over the hump or have a young team that is building towards a championship.”.... BURN! Read in between the lines and that reads as: “GM Jay Feaster and the Flames have no direction and no clue what they’re doing....” Am I reading too much into that?! Maybe, but Jay Feaster did say this: “I've failed to provide the right players here, I've failed to provide the right chemistry to this team, this isn't about Brent not getting his message through.” WHAAAAAAAT?!?!?! YOU ACKNOWLEDGED YOU FAILED AND HAD THE COACH LEAVE? Goodness me, Markus Naslund thinks that quote was a bad idea #wechoked.
I’m never a fan of the “losing to win” (tanking to get higher picks) mentality because its supremely disrespectful to your fans, but this team might have to do just that. Where’s that piece of Styrofoam again?!
TJ Molland: Remember Ron Hainsey's NTC....and how angry you got.....well you got pretty angry with Stajans contract without mentioning HE HAS A NMC!! Two years into that contract and he has scored 14...yes, 14 goals. Might explain why Curtis Glencross had the leverage to earn himself a NMC as well. Hold on...how many....4, 5, 6.....9 no trade/movement contracts!! I've held back long enough.....BAHAHAHAHAHAH.....
Getting serious now...
Feaster absolutely has to get focused. This team needs to decide whether they want to add a few pieces and try and go for it while they still have their veterans, or move them and start a rebuild. I've made it clear it's time for a rebuild. The targets will have to be a top pairing defensive prospect and a future #1 centre. I don't think you are getting either of those without moving the vets. There is enough secondary scoring on this team and the few prospects up front look like it can fill the voids when they come up, but there is still a glaring hole at #1 center. The hole that poor Iginla has hoped would be filled a LONG time ago.
So are you going to provide some solutions or are you going to continue this epic rant of epic proportions? (I am excited for either)
Bik Nizzar: That’s just it though, if you move those two.... you’re tanking. That’s the only reason to move those 2. This isn’t a case where this team has other pieces coming through that are gonna take them to a new level eventually, and adding 2-4 more pieces via offloading veteran players is gonna fix it. This team ceases to become relevant if they’re not on the roster.
I tried sugar-coating it earlier by saying that Sven Bartschi needs to be a world-beater for this team. How do I know they have NOTHING... because since 2004 this team has gotten a grand total of 179 Man-Games out of its 1st and 2ndround picks...... One Hundred and Seventy-Nine....HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!?! SINCE 2004?!?!?! And 138 of those man games come from Mikael Backlund. Just to show how BAD that is – Lucas Sbisa was drafted in the 1stround in the 2008 NHL draft, and already has 16 more man games ON HIS OWN than 7 years of 1st (7 players) n’ 2nd (3 players) round picks for the Flames. Oh and even better, this team doesn’t have a 2nd round pick AGAIN this year. They’re three 2nd round picks in those 7 years, Mitch Wahl in 2008 (0 Games Played), then Markus Granlund and Tyler Wotherspoon in 2011, and they only reason they got Granlund and Wotherspoon is cause they dealt 2009 1st rounder Tim Erixon to the Rangers for those 2 picks. Erixon never played a game for the Flames and was dealt because according to Jay Feaster: “He expressed concern, at least the agent did, that with our recent track record in Calgary, there aren’t a lot of young players making the hockey club”. So rather than have Erixon go back to the draft, he was shipped to the Rangers. 20 year old Tim Erixon and his agent figured that this team can’t develop players, why hasn’t management?
As much as trading those 'Big 2' away can start a rebuild, part of the GM’s job is to put a respectable product on the ice, and I just don’t see that happening if they move those two. I’d rather be a hero in the public’s eye for keeping a guy like Iggy, than taking the venom you’re going to face for moving him, and then subsequently relying on this scouting department to bring in new prospects for a future run to the playoffs to go with what’s on the roster right now. Sorry Mike Cammalleri, you’re not leading any team into the playoffs (and no I’m not bitter towards Cammy because I drafted him too early in my fantasy draft last year..... #lies #holdingagrudge). So really, this isn’t about what can this team fix for its on-ice product, this needs to be about how can this team fix itself internally. Because as talent evaluators and developers, this is appalling.
TJ Molland: You have gone to great lengths to utterly dismantle this team and essentially say there is no hope.....I LIKE IT!! The Flames do have a realistic chance to make the playoffs if they can add a few pieces up front. The defense although not elite is still a fine group with Bouwmeester, Mark Giordano (who is very underrated) and Anton Babchuk leading the way. It could use another depth player but the focus should be getting more scoring power. Brad Boyes, Daymond Langkow, or an Ales Kotalik can at least help out at front enough to compete for one of the bottom playoff spots. It's a quick fix until some of the FEW young guys crack this lineup.
Erixon's agent nailed it on the head with the way Calgary has handled prospects. This teams drafting has been sooooo bad for sooooo long that they HAVE to go to free agency to fix their problems. This is why I stand by trading Iggy and Kipper. Maybe we can compromise? If they are out of it at the trade deadline there is no reason to keep them. At that point your plans to keep them and compete are gone and you are at least in a position to still get something for them. Then you sign Iginla in the offseason to his farewell contract that is reasonably priced, and everyone is happy.
Bik Nizzar: Happy?! Do I SEEEEEM happy?! All 3 of those guys that you mentioned as potential free agent adds frighten me and don’t really seem as solutions. I don’t really even see this secondary scoring that you've been referring towards. They finished 24th in league scoring with 2.43 goals a game. Iginla and Jokinen with over 60 points, Tanguay and Glencross with over 40 points, and then nobody else over 30 points. I’m tellin ya man, the Flames are going to go down as just that, flaming down... and very soon.
I know I said I wouldn’t trade Iginla, but moving Kipper at the deadline might start the process of bottoming out. And it’s gonna be a lllllong way back... THE TEAM – THE TEAM – THE TEAM IS ON FIIIIRE.... WE DON’T NEED NO WATER LET THE %^&^%$#$ BURN!
No comments:
Post a Comment