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As a Flames fan that hates everything to do with Ruslan Fedotenko and the 2003-04 Tampa Bay Lightning (exception Sarich), I have no idea why Brad Richards was left off of Team Canada. Unless Iginla picks up his game the Russians are going to pick him apart. I can't see Heatley doing very well either. My pick to win it is the U.S. through outworking all of the other teams.

Is he still making the blind/drop passes in front of the net? From what I've seen he looks like he can skate again.

Yeah. McElhinney is garbage. I hope the cutting back of drinking and quitting smoking means he can play 65+ games. I can't see Brent Sutter playing McBackup very much considering the Flames aren't in a playoff spot and he just cost us a valuable game.

Last season he was in pretty rough shape. The drop in his numbers wasn't only due to a terrible defense, it was partially to do with Kipper.

Kiprusoff quit smoking in the summer and hired a personal trainer. Probably why he has been so good this season.

Brad Richards is second only to Crosby for belonging on Team Canada but what can you do. Iginla and Heatley are slow, and Getzlaf won't be seen moving his feet. Scott Niedermayer has been absolutely terrible this year. I think the U.S. is going to win it due to outworking the Canadians.

I'm impressed by the Wings having fixed him. If only he could have been useful in the playoffs last year. Instead he took two dumb penalties that cost the Flames two games.

This is the best pic for the current Flames. Shouldn't have lost that series but what can you do. How Wings fans feel about the Pens I feel the same about the Lightning. Both game sevens had the exact same story line as well.

I'm pretty sure there is no statute of limitations for serious crimes in Canada. Not 100% on it though.

The Brent Sutter one is perfect.

This post is perfect. Before 2004 tickets were a dime a dozen. Now it's a hundred bucks a piece for high second level corner tickets.

I remember when the Flames were hit with the injury bug big time and Darryl Sutter was being called out as a bad GM for poor cap management...

The difference is that every other pest has stood up for themselves before. Franzen is absolutely terrified when a player wants to fight him and won't stand up for himself.

I've heard just as many bad comments of Phaneuf's attitude towards fans as I have good comments. Who has said he is uncoachable? Flames defenseman are afraid to pinch (exception Giordano). Him and Regehr have been a great shutdown pairing, the only thing that has been hurting them is the Jokinen-Iginla disaster. It's hard to run a powerplay when the other four guys see it as an opportunity to stand around and do nothing for two minutes. He is tenth in defenseman goalscoring on a team that is scared to play offensively. He is third in powerplay goals on a team that is 28th in powerplay opportunities. The first in PPG plays on a team that is 3rd in PP opportunities. Have you watched the Flames this season other then the two Detroit games?

Phaneuf and Bourque is an overpayment for a guy that has demonstrated a lack of heart. With Phaneuf they are giving up there number 2/3 dman and with Bourque included they would be giving up their best forward. Sure Kovalchuk is great but he reeks of money player and has even said he wouldn't want to play in a Canadian market.

Neither Pardy or Kronwall deserve the number 6 spot. Aaron Johnson has stolen that spot from Pardy but unfortunately I think he is going back to the press box when Sarich and Phaneuf are back. As long as Darryl Sutter is the GM of the Flames I don't think there will be another russian playing for them. Especially not at the cost of Phaneuf and then some. You have to think that Phaneuf has been a Sutter project since he was 15 and realize that one bad year filled with injuries and playing under Mike Keenan is not going to be enough reason for him to be moved out of Calgary. I really don't see how people can call the guy overrated anymore as I hardly see anyone talking of how good he is, it is in fact the opposite now. Sure he is overpaid right now but his contract is for five or six years and the hope is that in the last two years he will be playing at market value or will be a bargain. The situation Darryl Sutter was in was either to let the Norris runner up 23 year old sign an offer sheet and get a whole bunch of picks or to give him a reasonable contract for a 60 point second in Norris voting not in prime yet defensemen. If a Flames defensemen is likely to be traded it would be Sarich in order to make room for the $3-4M contract Bourque is going to be looking for. This rumor was conjured up by a bunch of guys looking for hits to their websites. They're making money off of people that fall for these obvious false rumors. It's not like they have some complex way of doing it - they see Phaneuf's contract and Calgary only scoring 2 goals a game and neglecting that they play a very passive-defensive style of hockey and realize that people think Calgary needs offense and they see that Phaneuf and Brent Sutter had a shouting match after a bad loss and hit the jack pot on hit-producing nonsense. Phaneuf has been playing great so far this season. His poor plus minus and point totals have to do with the fact that he plays with Olli Jokinen who may not be a cancer in the dressing room but the way he plays makes him a team cancer. It's hard to put up points when Iginla only cares half the time and the centerman on the first line is the dumbest hockey player that the Flames have had since before the lockout. The lines right now appear to have been fixed but Phaneuf was hit with a case of accidental slew-foot. I think this is the longest post I've ever written.

Red Wings are 17th in attendance percentage-wise and 6th number-wise. It's good considering the economy though. I think Phoenix's attendance is going to gradually go up over the rest of the season. Right now they're in the playoffs and with the way they have been playing I don't see that changing. In the playoffs though they are screwed as they have Aucoin and Vandermeer on the blue line.

Dustin Brown was awarded a penalty shot against the Flames for no apparent reason and failed big time. Three penalty shots in one night and one last night, I guess the league is calling for more to increase scoring.

Phaneuf is having a great season compared to last but Doughty is the better better pick.

Right now he is the Flames worst player defensively. When he is on his streaks (a.k.a. trying) he will score on every shot and not get scored on. The problem is his cold streaks are lasting longer and longer and while he may put up a point every other game his poor defensive play costs the team big time. I really hope it is just the Jokinen factor.

Iginla is a risky pick for team Canada. If he isn't on a hot streak in February then he may as well be scratched.

Did the same thing last year with the Flames. Who knows if he can keep it up as he has recurring injury problems.

Homer vote goes to Brent Sutter if the Flames finish a 1 or 2 seed. Phaneuf and Regehr were not compatible up until this year. The Flames appear to actually have some intensity compared to the team under Keenan. It's a long shot but like I said... homer vote. The Jack Adams is pretty unpredictable. Tortorella won it in 2004 with the likes of Lecavalier, Richards, St. Louis, Knabibulin, and Boyle. Darryl Sutter coached a $35M team featuring Jarome Iginla and half a season of Miikka Kiprusoff into the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons.

I doubt the cap will ever drop a significant amount. Too many teams would be screwed. I hope it goes up by a million so that resigning Bourque wouldn't be a problem for the Flames.

A new arena would need to be built for Olympic size ice.