The Flames: Quantity and Quality Moves?
Weeeeee, trades are fun!
Burkes an idiot! No, a genius! The Flames are in chaos! The Chames are in flaos! LETS BLLLOOOGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!
Let me start the day by saying thanks to Craig B for the donation – I tried to write you personally, but I got “NoSoupForYou’ed” by your email address. It means a lot to me, and every little bit helps buy me time before having to go real job hunting. So yeah, thanks again, dog.
Always been a big fan of Irish pubs.
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Also, before hockey trade talk – I had an Anquan Boldin sighting here in Phoenix a few days ago. Just a casual dinner with his wife and kid out at an Irish Pub - he was wearing the preferred outfit of football/basketball players everywhere: huge basketball shorts, huge white t-shirt, hat with the 50/50 sticker on it and a diamond earring. Super low key, but also super “g”. What a win-win.
….Jokes aside, that man has my respect – had his sinuses collapsed with a helmet to the face, then played two weeks later after not taking any pain medication. That’s some tough-stuff right there.
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Hahaha…. um…. I don’t even know. Maybe the caption for these pics should be “Today, on Ellen…”
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So the trades. The Flames just overturned about 40% of their forwards and 30% of their total team, going from:
Oli Jokinen
Brandon Prust
Dion Phaneuf
Fredrik Sjostrom
TO
Matt Stajan
Nicklas Hagman
Jamal Myers
Alex Kotalik
Chris Higgins
Ian White
Mmmm, tastes like quantity over quality…. but really, they might be onto something. During my assessment of the Western Conference, I discussed how a few teams are overachieving – which is, by being quick, young and deep with good goaltending (Buffalo, Phoenix, Colorado). I usually push for stars over a bunch of “pretty good” players, but I think in picking up Stajan/Hagman/Kotalik/Higgins, they got players that have potential to be above “pretty good” status, especially together. Not stars, but guys that, in the right situation, could be very valuable.
I’m a little worried for my boy Eric Nystom. Not good when your team picks up a Costco-sized pack of forwards and your a guy who spends a fair chunk of time on the shelf.
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Dear major hockey networks: please stop showing Cammalerri’s buckling leg. The boards won. We KNOW. Ugh.
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Kurt Dusterberg has written a book called Journeymen: Bittersweet Tales of Short Major League Sports Careers, and sent me a copy to review. I have not yet done so (though it looks like it’s got some really neat stories to tell), because I’m a busy dude, but if the premise interests you, you can buy a copy here. Six of the 24 stories are hockey guys: Dallas Eakins, Scott Gruhl, Darren Jensen, Fred Knipsheer, Peter LeBoutilllier, and David Littman. I’ll tell you more once I get to it!
Also, the Moshansky boys sent me “A to Z Guide To Hockey Terms” for review. This great little book strikes me as something they should sell in the US, in the southern markets. Actually, the teams that live in those markets should buy them in bulk and have a night where everybody gets a copy. It’s a pretty handy compilation of the most common (and some not-so-common) terms, nicknames, penalties, etc. Great to help a new fan understand and enjoy the game all the more.
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Hey look: someone finally invented a formula PROVING Crosby is more valuable than Ovechkin. I mean, right? There doesn’t seem to be any flaws in a formula that finds an assist half as valuable as a goal (just ask the Sedins). Also (as the creator points out), we can finally prove that Mike Fisher is having a better year than Joe Thornton. Good-ness.
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Lets have your prediction: Do the Flames make the playoffs?
I'm a hockey player turned writer. After playing for Alaska Anchorage in the WCHA (NCAA), I carried on with an NHL tryout (New York Islanders in 2007) before spending a couple seasons in the AHL/ECHL (last year was 2008-09). My father, Bob Bourne, won four Stanley Cups with the Islanders in the '80's, as did my fiancee's dad, Clark Gillies. I'm now the web editor for theScore's hockey blog "Backhand Shelf."
