Calgary Flames 2010 Preview & Predictions

Calgary Flames 2010 Season Preview, Predictions Picks & Odds

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CALGARY FLAMES

2009-10 record: 40-32-10
Shootout Record: 3-7
Division Finish: 3rd, Northwest
Conference Finish: 10th, Western
Goals For: 204
Goals Against: 210

Calgary Flames 2010 Preview

At various times in the past few years, the Flames have been seen as Canada’s best hope to end a near 20year Stanley Cup drought.

With all due respect to what Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa have accomplished, Calgary might yet emerge as that longed-for champion from the Great White North.

Two players still vital to any Calgary comeback are captain Jarome Iginla and Miikka Kiprusoff.

Sutter is bringing back two forwards who say they want a second chance here, Olli Jokinen and Alex Tanguay. As a Flame, Jokinen had 50 points in the equivalent of one season, while Tanguay had 40 goals in two seasons. Neither player thrived elsewhere.

Sutter thought he did his best to maximize the club’s post-season chances with some major March trade deadline deals to pump up the offense. The most significant moves saw hard-rock defenseman Dion Phaneuf sent to Toronto and Jokinen shipped to the New York Rangers.

But the bottom line was a sputtering Calgary attack that at 204 goals was 50 behind its 2008-09 pace. That was also the lowest total in the Western Conference, and though as few as 200 were enough to propel the Flames to the ’04 Stanley Cup Final, that was prior to the increase in League scoring that has occurred since that time.

The worst part of the reduced production was being the only team in the NHL with fewer than 100 goals at home.

The Flames had some new and interesting names on the roster by the end of the season, but whether they’re all the right fit or can be brought back within the confines the salary cap remains to be seen.

Calgary did re-sign center Matt Stajan, a strong two-way player. He and offensive-minded rearguard Ian White were the key return in the Phaneuf deal. And winger Niklas Hagman, who came in during the same airlift from Toronto, ended the year with 25 total goals.

Third-year winger Rene Bourque had a breakout season with 58 points that put him second on the club to Iginla.

Right winger Ales Kotalik, who had three 20-goal years in Buffalo and 11 points in 19 games with Edmonton a year before, found himself back in Alberta via New York. When mentioning players who must make more of a difference, Sutter clearly meant the likes of defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, a Western Canadian, who most thought would be a major force on the back end in Calgary after spending the first part of his career playing on non contending Florida Panther teams. But results were not as good as expected when he was traded here in the summer.

As Iginla approaches his mid-30s, so does Kiprusoff. He was fit enough to appear in another 73 games last season, the fifth consecutive year he has been in the cage 70 or more times. But he wants that longevity to have some meaning by getting into the playoffs again with a chance to repeat his ’04 heroics.

2010 Calgary Flames Offense:

Iginla might not have any more Rocket Richard Trophies in his future as a younger breed of scorer develops in the League, but the franchise-leading scorer is certainly doing his part year after year. Bourque’s 27 goals included 15 that were either power play, short handed or with Dallas and Toronto, prior to his arrival in Calgary. Daymond Langkow played the fewest games (72) of any of his five years in Calgary and thus failed to reach 20 goals for the first time in that span and first time since 2001-02 when he was in Philadelphia. He suffered a serious neck injury late in the season, and part of the reason the Flames signed Jokinen was their concern about Langkow’s future.

2010 Calgary Flames Defense:

First, a nod to Mark Giordano for his first full NHL season, hanging in as a free agent in his second stint with the Flames and the clear leader in the club with a plus-17. White was a similar plugger with the Leafs and quickly caught on here with 12 points in 27 games and a plus-seven. Bouwmeester’s ordinary performance saw him register his lowest point total in five years, but he did have 26 assists and played close to 26 minutes a night, which could be increased now that the minute-munching Phaneuf has gone. Robyn Regehr continues his long list of contributions, heading to 800 games as a Flame, missing just one in 2009-10 and a plus performer in six straight seasons.

2010 Calgary Flames Goaltending:

Of all Kiprusoff’s quality starts, the best were the 26 games where he surrendered one or fewer goals. On 10 occasions, he lost regulation matches after giving up two or fewer or he’d be closing in on 250 career wins by now. Kiprusoff checked in with a 2.31 goals-against average, placing him seventh. And he nudged into elite .920 save percentage territory. His backup for the coming season is up in the air, with the team not expected to hang on to fellow Finn Vesa Toskala.

Calgary Flames 2010 Special Teams

In 2008-09, penalty killing was the salvation of the Flames, but that unit and the power play have suffered and will be a major project for coach Brent Sutter. Lack of hunger in front of the opposition net contributed to a 26th-place power play that staggered around 16%, despite some good marksmen on the team. Iginla had 10 goals to give him 137 in his career. One bright spot was they gave up just two short-handed goals-against all year. Unfortunately, Calgary dropped from fourth to 15th in penalty killing the past two years, and were slightly worse in that department at home. Bourque and Curtis Glencross combined for seven short-handed strikes.

Calgary Flames 2010 Season Predictions

Perhaps 88 points is enough to crack the playoff nut in the Eastern Conference, but clubs such as the Flames and St. Louis Blues know it will take more than 90 to be safe in this mean district. Calgary has the attitude to pick up those valuable victories, though all hands will be required this time.

We predict that the Calgary Flames will finish 2nd in the NHL Northwest.

Calgary Flames Betting

Calgary Flames Stanley Cup Odds: +3000
Calgary Flames Western Conference Odds: +1300

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