Flames Game Day

(Picture from David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic; glove tap to PunjabiOil for the idea)

Contrary to the illustration, I'm not that down on the CuJo signing. The plus is that now the Flames have a backup goalie that the coach is willing to play, giving more (some) rest to Kipper, which will hopefully help him down the road. The minus is that I doubt he's any better than the backup the coach wasn't willing to play.

The underlying truth, though, is that Darryl Sutter behaves totally cluelessly regarding the backup goalie position.

"If we have any problem with our goaltending," said Sutter, "it's that [Kipper has] played a lot. In my experience, I've been very fortunate to have great goaltenders, as we do. But it's also been my experience that we play two more."

Sure it is. For the second time in three seasons, the Flames have:

1. Started the season with an inexperienced backup
2. Expressed confidence that he could succeed in a limited, but not trivial, role
3. Exhibited zero confidence in him from Day 1
4. Announced in January how important it is to have an experienced backup
5. Overpaid to acquire one

Will anyone have the stones to ask Darryl Sutter pointedly what has changed between the start of training camp and now? I doubt it, again.

**Follow-up to a couple of recent posts: I said on Friday that

The only way trading [Tanguay] would be remotely defensible is to clear '08/09 cap room for Phaneuf's new deal, and I stress remotely.

I hereby retract that statement, and suggest that moving Tanguay would be the worst of many alternatives for clearing space, if that's what it comes to.

It's probably time for me to clue in to the fact that Tanguay trade speculation has been so persistent (Dreger et al mentioned him in the same breath as Rob Blake last night), there must be at least something to it. My question is -- shades of the backup goalie issue -- what has changed? What did the Flames expect to get when they traded for Tanguay, but haven't gotten?

Surely smart roster management goes something like this, as previously discussed at length around the hockeysphere: when a player's counting numbers (Goals, Points, +/-, GW Goals) overstate his actual contributions to the team, he is a good candidate for a trade, and when they understate them, he is a good candidate for a contract extension.

Tanguay's stat line is 46GP, 11-25-36, +10. I'd like some more points as well, but it's extremely relevant that Huselius plays LW on the #1 PP unit (rightly so), and that Tanguay has either played the point or on the #2 unit.

In 5-on-5 play, Tanguay is +40/-21. +19 by this measure is tied with Jason Spezza for 5th in the NHL among forwards (behind only Datsyuk, Heatley, Iginla, and Zetterberg). That is some seriously rarified air, is it not? Scoring while Tanguay is on the ice (GF/60) is 3.76, higher than anyone but Jarome. GA/60 while Tanguay is on the ice is 1.98; that's lower than everyone but Nolan and Yelle/Nilson/Godard. He is observably not soft; while he may not go flying like Hemsky, he takes hits to make a pass or keep possession all the time. In the playoffs last season vs. the Wings, this was especially evident. And oh yeah: all this while playing against the other team's #1 line a large chunk of the time, and the #2 line the rest of it.

The fact that his points total might be a bit low for his salary should be viewed by Flames management as a blessing; an opportunity. Come July, they can let Huselius go, and extend Tanguay for a dollar figure that will be lower than it probably ought to be, given his points total. Then he can go back to being the LW with Iginla at EV and on the PP, and most likely rack up points and look like an unbelievable bargain -- even though he'll be playing the same game as he always did.

**The Flames play the first of 3 games in 4 nights tonight in Nashville (6PM MT, RSN West), and they really need to get back in Winning Mode. Sunday was an absolute disaster; besides losing to the Oil, the Canucks, Avs, Wild, and Ducks all won, and the Flames are back down on the playoff bubble.

I'm glad CuJo's not lined up for the start tonight; we don't need the Brian Boucher parallels to be drawn too clearly too soon. Also, this seems like the ideal time for Keenan to test drive an actual checking line with three capable two-way forwards on it, e.g. Lombo/Nilson/Yelle. The Preds, at least in the past while, have sharply targeted the other team's 3rd line with Arnott, Dumont, & Radulov (and had plenty of success doing so), while sending Legwand & Gelinas against the #2/#1A line, and letting Bonk get annihilated by the Gaboriks and Getzlafs of the world. Dustin Boyd should not be put in that position.

Prediction: Calgary 4 (Iginla, Phaneuf, Langkow, Lombardi) Nashville 0 (time for Kipper to start catching up to Conklin in the shutout race). Go Flames.