Re-united and it feels so good!

Despite early predictions Conroy would play a 3rd line support role in Calgary, it appears his performance last game will vault him back into the coveted Iginla centreman role. TSN's Ice Chips and the Calgary Herald have reported the first lines in practice was:

Tanguay-Conroy-Iginla
Huselius-Langkow-Moss
Amonte - Lombardi - Nilson
Friesen - Yelle - Ritchie

As most coaches like to pair offensive players, Iginla/Conroy and Huselius/Langkow are not huge suprises, but I would say the inclusion of Moss is interesting if not totally suprising. Through various posts on here and through my comments on various other Flames blogs I have made my feelings about Moss be known - that is, he's shown to be a very impressive fill in for Chuck Kobasew. In fact, I would say he's been more effective than Kobasew, as he is finding ways to put the puck in the net on a consistent basis. Moss isn't a fancy player, but he's always willing to throw the puck on net, and he himself isn't at all afraid to plant himself in front and cause havoc.

This could be looked at as a positive or a negative for Matthew Lombardi. As has been noted by MG, Lombardi has simply not been as consistent lately. This third line 'demotion' though, is both a symptom of Lombardi's play, and also of Conroy's 'resurgence.' Having his ice time reduced is going to be disappointing for the young centre, however I think this is a good opportunity for Lombardi to simplify his game and get back to doing the simple things right, and at the top of that list: distributing the puck. In my opinion Lombardi has been relying TOO heavily on his speed and puck carrying ability, and he's had his head down when it should be up. It will be interesting to see if Lombardi's PK time increases (with his reduced even strength time) and Conroy's PK time decreases (with increased even strength time).

For other Flames news:
MG - talks about the growth of the Flames blogosphere and his usual awesome pre-game
HG - talks about her betrayal of Double Dion with Slick Rick and the Flames Sideburn Contest

Welcome to a couple new blogs (as mentioned by MG), Sean at Sea of Red - Flames/Columbus pre gameSteal Thunder at Completely Hammered - Flames/Columbus pre game

Time to update the sidewall I guess...