Calgary Flames vs. San Jose Sharks: Anything Can Happen

Well, we just saw the Flames put in their best 60 minute effort of the series and perhaps we've finally seen a glimpse of the type of hockey this team can play. IMO there were a couple key things tonight that precipitated the win.

1. Keenan played a terrific matchup game. He used the Regehr/Sarich pairing to perfection against the Thornton line, he made sure the Nystrom/Primeau/Moss line was up against the soft opposition.

2. Guys stepping up. Anders Eriksson played maybe the best game I've seen him play, David Moss played his role to perfection (except that forgettable 3-1 which he overcomplicated), I think Kristian Huselius played a very good game, and lastly, Miikka Kiprusoff with the shutout.

3. Matthew Lombardi continues his defensive effectiveness. He CANNOT seem to convert his chances but he's just doing everything else so well. Another couple blocked shots tonight, making a lot of good decisions out there in general. I feel very comfortable with his play.

4. Owen Nolan has been about as clutch a player as the Flames have had this postseason. We've seen by far his best efforts this season and he now has 2 game winners this series, a pretty impressive feat. MG has validly questioned Nolan's 2nd line presence, but there's no doubt right now Nolan's earning it.

A valid question on the fan 960 after the game; Are the Flames this good or did the Sharks play this bad?

Is this not the closest series you've ever seen? Every game a 1 goal difference except for each team's 2-0 shutout victory.

Might not get a chance to comment on G7 with my current schedule, so I'll just say this. It's game 7, anything can happen.

Go Flames!!

A Few Final Ramblings Before the Series Begins

You know, I really wanted to go through and evaluate a few things in depth before this series began, but I've really been beaten to the punch. Nevertheless, I had a few things I wanted to get off my chest that haven't really been covered by others, and I've still got 2 or so hours before gametime, so why the hell not?

Despite the fact I believe the Flames will lose this series, I think it certainly has the potential to be a lot closer than a skimming of the statistics would indicate. I think Matt did a terrific job of coming up with reasons to pick the Flames (link above), but I have a couple more (continuing his list of 7).
8. Miikka Kiprusoff - You can show Evgeni Nabokov's stats from this year until your head explodes, but one outstanding season from Nabokov and one 'off' season from Kipprusoff does not make them equal goalies. As Matt mentioned, San Jose were the 'team to beat' in 2004, 2006, etc. but Nabokov got outplayed in 2004, and he was totally pulled in 2006. For my money I'll take Kiprusoff any day of the week. He'll need to be at his best, but in my opinion he's the better goaltender, and goaltending IS the playoffs.

9. Patrick Marleau - In my opinion, as long as this guy is the Sharks captain, they will not win. That's not to say Marleau isn't a good player, but some guys are simply not meant to be captains. Theoren Fleury wasn't a captain, Mike Modano wasn't a captain, and judging by Marleau's big game disappearing act, he isn't a captain either. He was given multiple opportunities to play for Team Canada and always brought forth his worst effort, in last year's playoffs against Detroit he completely disappeared. Leadership matters, and it could be the difference.

----

Another thing I haven't seen anyone talk about is coaching, which to me sort of matters. Who has the edge? Well Mike Keenan hasn't coached a playoff game since 1995- 1996 season (St. Louis Blues) but he does have a Stanley Cup (Rangers, 93-94) under his belt (and multiple appearances in the finals, Flyers 84-85, 86-87, Chicago 91-92) with a 92-79 record.

Ron Wilson made it to the finals once (Washington, 97-98), and the conference finals once (San Jose 03-04...well we all know that one).

One interesting thing about both these coaches is that both of them have highly significant victories for their respective countries in the international stage.

Keenan of course won the 1987 Canada Cup, considered by some to be the greatest hockey ever played. Gretzky, Lemieux, Messier, Coffey, Fuhr, Larionov, Makarov, Fetisov all in their prime. By today's standards the hockey is a bit unsophisticated, but the talent involved is indisputable.

Ron Wilson won the re-organized Canada Cup, renamed the World Cup, for Team USA in 1996, probably a more significant victory in USA Hockey history than the miracle on ice, if only for the fact it was a best on best tournament and it was a best of three. Any team can beat any team once, but to Team USA to beat Team Canada in a best of three in dramatic fashion certainly speaks to Wilson's credibility.

Based on record alone Keenan probably has the edge, but his last playoff victory came over 10 years ago. That could play in as an edge in desire, or disadvantage in terms of modern day experience.

The other thing is, and I don't know how relevant this is, I was told today by someone who is a San Jose Sharks locker room regular that he has never seen this team so calm and loose. He told me the whole team as of yesterday is cracking jokes, keeping it light, they don't seem pressured at all. He told me Anaheim looked the same way last year.

Anyway, I guess the gist of this post is that while the Flames will most likely lose, the definately have a chance. Sometimes that's all you can ask for.

It's Just Bad Timing That's All

I never really did much of an analysis of Mike Keenan when he was hired, I think that his history is pretty well publicized and probably speaks for itself. This season will probably be a absolute disaster or a total success; the odds of it falling between those two extremes is, in my opinion, relatively low. I wasn't particularly pleased with Keenan's hiring, and my attitude has changed very little since then. Really, my grudging acceptance of Keenan was based on two factors: Playfair is gone, and there were very few options available in replacing Playfair. It disappointed me that the Flames missed the Andy Murray boat, but that was the past.

There was one other man who I've hoped would be the Flames head coach, but it appeared there were too many obstacles. Brent Sutter was head coach for two very successful Team Canada U-20 incarnations, and even one successful World Junior year usually translates to a head coaching job. Two was unprecedented.

Brent's position with the Red Deer Rebels appeared to be the main obstacle for his inclusion into the NHL head coach rankings. He plays multiple roles for the franchise, including owner, general manager, and head coach. His named had popped up multiple times in the shortlist for NYI coaches (with Ted Nolan eventually taking the reigns). I always felt though that if Sutter did jump to the NHL it would be to a position with his brother Darryl's team.

He would be able to stay close to his ranch, he would be once again coaching Dion Phanuef, he and his brother could act as a true partnered braintrust for the organization. Nowhere would Brent have more control over player movement or be as close to management.

However, it now appears, according to Darren Dreger and Bob Mckenzie, that Brent will leave his GM and coach position with the rebels to join Lou Lamoriello in New Jersey (the man who very unfairly fired Claude Julien near the end of the season, it really pains me that a great coach would still want to work with him).

Of all the lousy luck.

Firstly, if Brent was willing to take a position within the NHL, why NOT the Flames? Was the organization unwilling to meet some sort of demands he had? Did Darryl not know? Was he promised more control in NJ? All of these propositions seem equally unlikely.

The only real explanation I can speculate on is that Darryl knew Brent could be had for the right price, but sincerely felt Keenan was the better coaching option.

If there is one comment you can make about Darryl, it could never be that he tends to play it safe.

Calgary Flames Aquire Adrian Aucoin

TSN's Darren Dreger had reported earlier today that the Flames were looking to aquire Adrian Aucoin, and it appears exactly that has happened.

TSN:

Chicago defenceman Adrian Aucoin has waived his no-trade clause and is on his way to the Calgary Flames, sources tell TSN.

The Flames were in the market for a defenceman and zeroed in on Aucoin, who has a history with new head coach Mike Keenan. In 1998-99, Aucoin scored 18 of his 23 goals on the powerplay for Keenan's Vancouver Canucks. (Source)

I remember when Aucoin had that great year on the Island, and at the time I coveted him for sure. Over the next two years he suffered catastrophic injuries and only managed to play about 1 full season (over two seasons) for the Blackhawks, who signed him to a multi-year $4 million/year deal.

As the article mentions, Aucoin played under Keenan in Vancouver, so we keep with the Sutter connection theme (as in, everyone aquired by the Flames has some sort of previous connection with the GM or coaching staff).

Aucoin played about 21 minutes of ice time/game last season which ranks him 77th for defenceman, he was a -22, although that statistic is inflated due to the fact he played on Chicago. On the plus side, Aucoin had 3 GWG, tied for 8th among defenceman and was the team captain.

All in all, the Flames got an aging, injury prone, expensive defenceman, who is probably a lateral move from Hamrlik (although he has more potential if he stays healthy in my opinion).

Thoughts?

Update: TSN is now reporting the deal won't be completed until Friday due to paperwork.

Reaction: Mike Keenan Hired as Calgary Flames Head Coach

Five Hole Fanatics

In the end, I am cautiously optimistic about the change. I didn't like Playfair as a coach and was dreading another season wasted under his guidance. With Keenan, there are a lot of question marks, but I think there's a greater probability of success. Playfair had clearly lost the dressing room by the end of the year and I'm not sure my fanship could have survived another season of Canaryshirt's chin-twiddling and lip chewing. In fact, part of me is looking forward to Keenan erupting in anger the first time the team plays like hung-over Frat boys on the road. It'll be a welcome change for me and, I think, a needed change for the players...(continue reading)

flames blog

Keenan is a name, and one of the most decorated coaches in NHL history, to be sure. But his glory days are long past. Old dogs can be taught new tricks — see Bryan Murray’s success in Ottawa, for instance — but Mike Keenan has a big mountain to climb before he proves anything to knowledgable hockey fans. And I imagine the mountain he’s going to have to climb to earn his players’ trust is a little more like Everest than Nose Hill...(continue reading)

hit the post

well, i'm not convinced it's the answer. but i really can't imagine it being worse...(continue reading)

Open Ice Hits

"Iron Mike" will be named head coach of the Calgary Flames at a 3:30pm ET news conference...(continue reading)

Battle of Alberta

Grabia: ...and it's Mike Keenan. Stephane Matteau, Brian Noonan and Peter Zezel signings to follow.

Matt: Put another way, Keenan was hired to coach this team and succeed, now. Will he? Recent history says no, but my opinion at first blush is that bringing him in is definitely a less worse option than sticking with Playfair. And, a lot of the options available to him in previous jobs that he is known to screw up (mainly poor and/or expensive player personnel decisions) are simply not available to him here; the job is to coach the team, and surely this is all crystal clear to him as he accepts it...(continue reading)

Double D(ion)

I am out of the loop completely at home in BC and I think I like it better. I'm going back to crawl under my rock. This can't be good. Or can it? (continue reading)

Lowetide

People are going to get yelled at, belittled, ripped and run out of town. It's a tremendous short term move, and providing they don't let him trade the kids fans in Calgary are going to love 07-08...(continue reading)

I think the consensus is: Keenan may be good, Keenan may be terrible, but thank god Jim Playfair is gone (at least from the head coach position).

Amen.

Let's Start the Insanity?

A friend of mine left a cryptic facebook message on my wall, stating only: KEENAN!!!!

My response was 'crazy coaches of the 1990s?'

I guess the correct response would have been 'Possible Jim Playfair replacements?'

A couple quick thoughts:

• I'm pretty sure the nice, fair, relaxed, well articulated guy you see on Making the Cut is not the same guy that coaches NHLers.
• Even if Keenan isn't confirmed, it shows how little faith the organization has in Playfair just to have this sort of rumour leaked.
• The fact that Keenan is theoretically preferable to Playfair is even more indicting of the organization's lack of faith in Playfair.
• Keenan is preferable to Playfair, but in my opinion that's not saying much of anything.
• Probably better off getting Keenan than we are getting Habschied.
• At last look it seemed like the game passed Keenan by.

Woah.