Iginla

February is Black History Month in both Canada and the United States and while hockey is largely populated by mainly white players and fans, it is important to point out that they are not the only ones who enjoy the most AWESOMEST sport ever.  In this multipart series, players both past and present from will be highlighted for their contributions to the Calgary Flames and the ever changing face of the game.  Tonight’s post will focus on those players of black and mulatto cultures who have played for the Flames. To start this off: Player: Jarome Iginla Seasons With Flames: 15 Position: [...]

It’s now been almost a year since I started writing for the Flame for Thought blog, and this, regrettably, will be my final entry. Seems an appropriate time to discuss how little has changed with the Flames the past 12 months. Oh, sure, the GM was (mercifully) gassed, some new names have moved to town and some old ones have moved on. And, sure, the team is on a nice roll, turning a miserable season into an exciting playoff race. But really, are they any better than they were this time last year? When I, along with a few friends, [...]

Everything the Flames need to know about Olli Jokinen can be summed up in what has happened the past two weeks. The deadweight centre, having scored all of two goals in his first 17 games of the season (which sounds an awful lot like what he did for long stretches last season), delivers a mindless cross-check to the head in Phoenix and gets suspended for three games. In his absence, the Flames most important player – Jarome Iginla, for whom Olli was brought in as a skilled first-line centre in the first place -breaks out of his own season-long slump [...]

When Mikael Backlund scored the third-period goal that triggered a come-from-behind victory for the Calgary Flames over the Colorado Avalanche earlier this week, it was a happy reminder: Not everything is going wrong for the Flames this season. Yes, it was a much-needed win for a team that is, once again, frustratingly inconsistent (unless you count “fragility of state of mind” as a consistency). But for Backlund in particular, it was further evidence of the rapid maturation of a rare home-grown Flames prospect into a blossoming NHL talent. Backlund has been one of the few birght lights in the Flames’ [...]

I promised  myself (and a few others) that I wouldn’t pass judgement on the Calgary Flames until we were at least 15 games into the season. That, I figure, is a fair amount of time to figure out what cards you have been dealt in the salary-cap era, where you can count on a quarter to a third of your roster changing each year. So, now 13 games into the season (and a 6-7 record), I’m biting my tongue and sticking to that – despite the growing chorus of “Something’s seriously wrong with the Flames” resonating not just in Calgary [...]

Hockey’s back, and so am I! The Flames hit the ice for the first time in anger (excluding the rookie tournament, which really should be excluded) last night, in an innovative two-city split-squad double-header against the Vancouver Canucks. In Calgary, the Flames’ top unit, plus other assorted bodies, took on what was mostly a team of Canucks minor-leaguers and wannabes, and eked out a 3-2 win. In Vancouver, the Flames’ second line, plus assorted others, faced the meat of the Canucks roster and won 3-1. Where that for a while, ‘Nucks. Sitting here in Toronto, I had no TV access [...]

Who says the Flames aren’t in the playoffs? Every time I turn on the TV, I’m seeing them – and they’re playing pretty damned well, too. A shame for Calgary that they’re all former Flames. They’re all over the place. Brad Stuart and Todd Bertuzzi played their butts off for Detroit. Matt Lombardi, Derek Morris and Adrian Aucoin were pillars in Phoenix’s exciting first-round run. Defencemen Roman Hamrlik in Montreal, Jordan Leopold in Pittsburgh and Andrew Ference in Boston are all playing substantial roles. But the most conspicuous is, of course, Montreal’s Mike Cammalleri. Remember him? He’s the guy who [...]

Gonna match Iain’s first-round playoff prognosticating with my own in a few minutes here, but first things first – lots of navel-gazing and yapping and questions already swirling around the emplying corridors down at the Saddledome. Who the hell knows if it will amount to anything, but lots of questions being asked and some guys taking a long, hard look in the mirror, so that’s gotta count for something. One of the big questions is, who’s going to be run out of town on rails? Fans and media all figure someone will be – either because someone has to pay [...]