Tag Archives: jarome iginla

Nope, still not a Leafs fan…

Posted by gruesomegreg on

On Friday, I was telling anyone who’d listen that the Leafs-Bruins series would end that night.  Of course, I was wrong.  Though the Leafs barely hung on in the third period, they still managed to hold off the Bruins to extend the series.  And while neither side brought their A game in Game 6, the Leafs were definitely the better team.  So they came back from 3-1 down to force Game 7.  Congrats.  But you’re not gonna see me out there freezing my balls off in Maple Leaf Square or anything.

The fact of the matter is that I’m just not a Leafs fan.  I couldn’t possibly stand around outside surrounded by Blue and White with those guys holding up replica Cups without resisting the urge to chant “19-67!  19-67!” in a highly non-complimentary fashion.  And I’d probably be the only one cheering after that epic collapse from up 4-1 in the third period to losing in OT.  Well, maybe not cheering, but certainly not in break stuff mode, anyways.

Of course, as a Flames fan, I haven’t had a team to cheer for in the playoffs in a little while.  And while I can kinda relate to the way the Leafs played in Game 5–score two goals and hold on for dear life is classic Calgary Flames hockey–I can’t say they’ve won me over with tonight’s epic collapse.  This is the first time the Leafs have even made the playoffs since I’ve been living here, and I moved to Toronto in 2005.  Considering that I’m a Flames fan first and foremost from October until early April, a team with such a track record of post-lockout postseason non-participation is not going to earn my support.  Even if I live here.  But hey, maybe if they make it past the second round, one of these decades…

Mind you, I’ll be joining Leafs fans in cheering against Ottawa in Round 2.  Not that I have anything against the Sens, or the nation’s capital–hell, my folks live 10 minutes from the rink–but I’m wearing my brand-new Iginla jersey in support of the greatest black hockey player of all time.  (PK Subban?  Come talk to me in 10 years!)  Iggy’s on a mission from the hockey gods to take home the Cup, which is precisely why he vetoed that trade with Boston.  Cuz clearly, the Bruins aren’t going all the way this year.  I mean, they can’t possibly expect to play that poorly for the better part of three games and escape with a series win against any team that’s won the Cup since 1967. ;)

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I just bought a new Iginla jersey today…

Posted by gruesomegreg on

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Well, it’s new to me, anyways.  I got a hot tip that vintage Iggy jerseys were half off at the Hockey Hall of Fame: 100 bucks plus HST.  And since the last Flames jersey I bought was Dion Phaneuf’s, a couple months before they traded him to Toronto, I figured it was time to update my look.  Cuz while my Phaneuf jersey gets me heckled at the ACC, an old-school Iginla sweater certainly commands respect.  Funny thing, I could’ve bought his jersey on Fan Appreciation Night 2000, but I opted for Marc Savard instead.  So this time, I’m buying a Flames sweater after they traded its wearer, not before.  Uh, I guess that’s progress?

That being said, I am definitely cheering for Pittsburgh in the playoffs this year.  Since the Pitt-NYI series coincides with the Habs and Sens, I’ve been flipping back and forth at stoppages and commercial breaks.  I hafta say the former has been much more fun to watch–full-line brawl in Ottawa notwithstanding.  Iggy’s been looking good on a line with Sid the Kid, and I hope he helps ‘em win the Cup this year, to make up for the one he was cheated out of in ’04.  (Don’t even get me started…)

Of course, it’ll be bittersweet seeing him raise the Cup in another team’s sweater.  Let’s just say I won’t put it on my mantle next to my Lanny McDonald photo.  But it’s not like I’ve been able to cheer for the Flames in the postseason this decade, so I’ll still be happy for him.  And on that note, I might be adding an (insert number-one pick) jersey to my collection in a couple months.  Here’s hoping Calgary’s highest draft selection since Dion Phaneuf will be their best first-round pick since Phaneuf…  and that he doesn’t join Dion on the Leafs anytime soon. :(

GOLF FLAMES GOLF!!!

COMMENT OF THE DAY: I dunno guy, but I don’t think Chinese property speculators give a yuan about a heated hockey rivalry…

Posted by gruesomegreg on

From: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2013/04/22/calgary-jarome-iginla-mls-flames-house.html

Well, that didn’t take long.  The puck hasn’t even dropped on the postseason, but Jarome Iginla’s Calgary abode has already hit the open market.  The stylish, custom-built luxury home in the city’s Southwest can be yours for a cool $4-million, effectively quashing the notion that Iggy’s heading back to Cowtown in free agency.  Not sure if he already plans on putting up roots in Pittsburgh, though; what’s he gonna do, buy a nice property on Mt Washington and take the Monogahela Incline to work?  (Yeah, I’ve been to Pittsburgh before…)

In any case, I can sorta see why my favourite black person on earth doesn’t wanna spend his summers in Calgary.  As one CBC commenter pointed out, the city only gets two weeks of warm weather, otherwise known as the Calgary Stampede.  And yes, it has snowed in every single month of the year at least once before.  Nevertheless, it’s still sad to see Iginla go—but that being said, if I had four mil to spare, I would totally jump on that sweet pad!  After all, it’s gotta be worth at least twice as much in Vancouver (or Toronto, for that matter)!

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Then again, I could never picture Iginla playing for the Canucks.  After all, he says he wants to end his career with a Stanley Cup-winning team—not a team who loses back-to-back-to-back-to-back Cup-clinching games then proceeds to watch its fans destroy the city. ;)

Farewell, my sweet prince…

Posted by gruesomegreg on

Last night, I went to bed knowing that Jarome Iginla would be a Boston Bruin when I woke up.  It was pretty much a done deal, with TSN announcing the names of the two prospects, since forgotten, that Boston would be sending Calgary’s way, as well as a conditional first-round pick—if he re-signed with the club in the off-season.  Suffice to say I was somewhat surprised to see a picture of Captain Calgary affixed beneath a Pittsburgh Penguins logo when I walked past a TV screen a couple hours ago.  It turns out the Pens’ first-round pick wasn’t conditional, so I suppose that sweetened the pot.

But there are definitely some mixed feelings after the face of the Flames franchise fled town before free-agency.  Of course, it had become quite obvious that the team would need to trade him in order to get something in return, rather than risk re-signing a soon-to-be 36-year-old.  And just as dealing Joe Nieuwendyk to Dallas netted Iggy in the first place, the hope is that either Kenneth Agostino or Ben Hanowski, a pair of US college boys, will provide the same scoring punch.  Cuz you know that first-round pick is gonna be squandered.  Who’s the last Flames first-rounder to make a big impact?  Probably Dion Phaneuf.  Where does he play now?  I don’t wanna talk about it… :(

Still, it might be a stretch to say that Agostino (37 points in 32 games for Yale) or Hanowski (29 points in 34 games for St. Cloud State) will be able to almost single-handedly carry the team for 15 seasons the way that Iginla has.  If nothing else, it makes me cringe that Calgary’s next top-scorer could possibly be American.  Here’s hoping neither player happens to pay a visit to his alma matter on “Bring a Gun to School Day” or anything…  OK, I must digress.  But suffice to say that the NHL is a huge step up from the NCAA, and these two were fifth- and third-round picks, respectively.  Now, if they had been picked in the middle rounds by the Red Wings, I might have more confidence in them, but the Pens built their franchise with first and second-overall picks (I don’t really need to name them, do I?), not in the late rounds of the draft.

And you can’t expect some college boy to replace the World’s Greatest Edmontonian, who took the torch from the flailing hands of Theo Fleury and tallied no fewer than 28 goals a season from 1998 onwards.  This is a guy who, despite not having an offensively gifted centreman since Marc Savard was shipped to Atlanta for an oversized Russian pylon who preferred to divert traffic in Magnitogorsk, won the Art Ross, the Lester B. Pearson and the Rocket Richard trophy, the latter on two separate occasion.  With just a little help from Martin Gelinas and Miikka Kiprusoff, my favourite black person on the face of the earth (Ice Muthafuckin’ T is number two with a bullet) nearly brought home the Cup in ’04, and man, I would’ve driven up to Edmonton just to see him parade it around his old neighbourhood in his flaming C.  (But alas, twas not to be.  Don’t get me started on “Hockey Bay USA,” either…)

As a matter of fact, last night I cried tears I hadn’t cried since Theo Fleury became an Avalanche, Bret Hart got screwed at Survivor Series, or Doug Flutie was sold to Toronto, of all places.  So this is farewell, my sweet Afro-Canadian prince.  Check Phaneuf into the boards for me, eh? ;)

My postmortem on another disappointing Flames season…

Posted by gruesomegreg on

Just watched the Flames pull off an ugly 5-2 win over Anaheim today, making them two-for-two in games that don’t matter this season.  With the win, Calgary finishes with 90 points, putting them no better than ninth, out of the playoffs by at least four points.  Sure, it’s not easy to make it to the postseason in the Western Conference, where five teams finished with over 100 points this year, but the Flames have now been booking early-April tee-times three years in a row.  It’s been eight years since they made that run to the Stanley Cup final, and they haven’t won a playoff series since.

While this isn’t new territory for a team that had an eight-year playoff drought from ’97 to ’04, and didn’t win a playoff series in the 15 years between its last two Stanley Cup finals appearances, it’s more than a little disappointing for a franchise whose fans were reinvigorated by that run in ’04, and have upped their expectations accordingly ever since.  Although they’ve been rebuilding in Edmonton and redecorating in Toronto the past few years, Calgary has largely kept its core intact, a team whose idea of making an acquisition means bringing back someone who once wore the Flaming C (see Jokinen, Tanguay, Cammalleri et al).  Mind you, this squad isn’t as old as you think: only four players on the active roster were born before 1979, with Miikka Kiprusoff being the oldest at 35, followed by Jarome Iginla, 34.  If anything, the team might have waited too long to trade these two–Iggy saw his point totals drop from 86 to 67 (which still led the team) while Kipper’s 35 wins were the fewest he’s posted in his seven full seasons as a Flame–though he actually played fewer games (70) this year than he has since he was traded to Calgary halfway through the ’03′-’04 season.

While many Flames fans (myself included) would like to see those two finish out their careers in the red, black and gold, the team should probably trade them to a contender when they still have a chance.  The core of this team will be pushing 30 next year–with Cammalleri, Glencross, Stajan, Stempniak, Bouwmeester, Giordano and Henrik Karlsson all turning 29 or 30 by next season’s end, to say nothing of the guys who are already there (Jackman, Jokinen, Kostopolous, Moss, Tanguay, Hannan and Sarich, plus the two aforementioned stars).  The longer they hold on to their top talent, the less they’ll get in return–and if Robyn Regehr was only worth a sixth defenseman and an undersized young forward at 31, I’d hate to see what an aging Iginla would bring in return.  Kipper would probably be worth a bit more, should they decide to let him go, considering that his play has hardly declined over the past few seasons.  I think the Flames probably have their goalie of the future in Leland Irving, who didn’t do too badly (.912 save percentage) in seven games of NHL action this year.  I don’t expect him to be the next Miikka Kiprusoff, but he ain’t the next Trevor Kidd, either.

Mind you, I do believe the Flames already have their next Iginla in Sven Baertschi, the first first-rounder worth getting excited about on this team since Dion Phaneuf.  The kid scored three goals in five games as a 19-year-old, and displayed the kind of offensive ability that’s in short supply in Calgary.  He was a little underrated last year on draft day, and might fly under the radar for the first couple months of next season, but I would not be surprised to see him as a Calder finalist by year’s end.

Beyond Baertschi, the team’s future doesn’t look too bright, judging by the kids they’ve got playing professionally.  Akim Aliu, Lance Bouma and TJ Brodie all have solid NHL futures, but aside from Brodie, who could turn into a pretty decent offensive defenseman, these guys aren’t going to sell many tickets.  Aliu is a third-line grinder, a Kostopolous/Jackman type who had the ugliest two-goal game I’ve ever seen today.  And the best case for Lance Bouma would be a Curtis Glencross, though he’s yet to show that kind of goal-scoring ability (one goal, 2.9 shooting percentage in parts of two NHL seasons).  That said, I fully believe Bouma will outscore Matt Fucking Stajan next year.  You heard it here first.

On the other hand, I think Mikael Backlund is the latest in a long line of first-round busts for the Flames.  The kid hadn’t played a game on North American ice before Calgary took him 24th overall in ’07, after which he was barely a point-per-game player when he got sent down to the WHL in ’08-’09.  Backlund has not scored more than 15 goals in a season at any level (they play much shorter seasons in Sweden), and I’m not sure he can turn into the next German Titov, much less Hakan Loob–and those guys were taken in the 10th and 9th rounds, respectively.  I’m also not big on Greg Nemisz, who went 25th overall to the Flames in ’08.  The kid has just one point in 15 NHL games, and while he’s only 21, his 0.6 points per game in Abbotsford this year is nothing to get too excited about.

Now maybe, just maybe if Baertschi has a breakout rookie campaign, Blake Comeau rediscovers his 24-goal form of a year ago and Blair Jones adds some scoring punch while Glencross, Moss, Tanguay and Stempniak all have healthy, productive seasons and Iginla and Jokinen give it one last hurrah, this team could sneak into the playoffs next year.  But even then, they’re not built to get past a tough first-round opponent.  Might as well call up a contractor, cuz it’s rebuilding time in Cowtown, I’m afraid…

GOLF FLAMES GOLF!

With Mike C back in town, the Flames are gonna party like it’s 2008!

Posted by gruesomegreg on

On Thursday, the Calgary Flames traded Rene Bourque, their second-line left-winger, to Montreal for Mike Cammalleri, himself a left-winger, who led the Habs in goal-scoring over their improbable 2010 playoff run.  It’s been said that you shouldn’t give up youth for experience or size for, well, lack of size in a trade, and while Bourque has about six inches and 30 pounds on the smaller winger, he’s actually a year older–well, six months and two days, to be exact.

Mind you, though he’s been a bit of a late-bloomer, Bourque posted back-to-back 27-goal seasons for the Flames while hardly missing a game these past two years.  Cammalleri has netted 26 and 19 in that same time frame for the Habs, while sitting out 15 games a season.  But it’s his output during his lone season in a Flames jersey–2008-09–when he scored 39 goals and added 42 assists, that has the Saddledome buzzing about Mike da 5’9′s return.  Can he lead us back to the promised land?

It’s worth noting that Mike C’s the third player the Flames have brought back over the past year and a half after giving them a little time away from each other.  Alex Tanguay, who had a career-best 82 points his first year here, was let go after slipping to 58 in ’07-’08.  Following a couple disappointing seasons in the Eastern Conference, he re-signed with Calgary last season, posting a respectable 22 goals and 47 assists in his return.  Unfortunately, he’s now out indefinitely with what some people say is a concussion.

The other guy we brought back last year was Olli Jokinen, who was really only gone for 25 games, having been dealt to the Rangers before the deadline in 2010.  Though we got him to take a 50 per cent pay cut, he still struggled at times last season, but seems to have clicked with Jarome Iginla this year, posting 35 points through 45 games.

Although we’d hafta move one of them to right wing, I think that Tanguay-Jokinen-Cammalleri would make a pretty solid second (time around) line, with Glencross-Moss-Iginla giving us two trios that can score.  Of course, Moss had ankle surgery three weeks ago and he, like Tanguay, is out indefinitely.  Get well soon, boys!

Although it seems strange that the Flames are trying to reassemble their 2008 roster, keep in mind that the last year they made the playoffs was ’08-’09, when they finished fifth in the Western Conference.  Sure, they lost in five games to Chicago in the first round, but hey, a lotta those guys from 2004 have seen better days, y’know? ;)

GO FLAMES GO!!!

COMMENT OF THE DAY: Brian Burke sez… “Go shit in a hat!”

Posted by gruesomegreg on

From: http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/01/12/how-dion-phaneuf-was-voted-the-nhls-most-overrated-player/

As if being a key component of the Worst Hockey Trade of All Time wasn’t enough of a dubious distinction, Dion Phaneuf was named by an anonymous Sports Illustrated survey of 161 NHLers as the most overrated player in the league—for the second year in a row.  This year, he finished ahead of the underperforming Alex Ovechkin and everybody’s favourite Canadien, Scott Gomez.  Jarome Iginla was 12th, but surprisingly, Jay Bouwmeester wasn’t listed.  I wonder how high he placed on the most overpaid players ranking?  (He’s number one in my books!)

Anyways Phaneuf’s GM, Brian Burke, strongly disagreed with these results in a quite colourful manner, according to the National Post:

 

Now did he really use that phrasing, or did he just tell ‘em to go shit in a hat?  Y’know, I might actually hafta tune in to Leafs TV to get to the bottom of this…

Nites like these, I wish I had three TVs…

Posted by gruesomegreg on

It’s a big nite in the NHL as the Flames close out their lengthy imposed road trip in Boston, where they take on one of the East’s top teams.  Despite a recent road skid, Calgary’s still just four points outta the playoffs, but there are three other teams between them and that eighth seed.

More importantly, Calgary captain Jarome Iginla is going for his 500th career goal, having scored number 499 a few days ago in Nashville.  While it would be nice to see him hit that mark at home, the quest for 500 is about the only thing that keeps me tuning in to Flames games nowadays, so I kinda hope he gets it tonite.  If the Flames decide to trade him afterwards, let’s just hope they don’t get hosed like Sutter did on that Phaneuf deal.  Did I mention that Dion’s starting in the All-Star game?  Meanwhile, Matt Stajan’s looking real good up in the press box…

Right as the puck drops on the third period in Boston, they’ll be tipping off in Spokane, where Canada’s NCAA team, the Gonzaga Bulldogs, play host to bottom-dwelling Pepperdine in their second WCC contest.  The Waves haven’t beat the Zags in 10 years, while Gonzaga’s reeled off 20 straight against their not-so-formidable conference foe.  A good chance to improve on that 25th national ranking with a blowout win, methinks.

Incidentally, there isn’t any NCAA football action this week, as the entire sport takes a pause to reflect on the 70-33 whupping West Virginia laid on Clemson last nite.  Though I don’t watch all the bowl games as religiously as I used to, the BCS ones are usually some pretty good football, with the Rose, Fiesta and Orange Bowls all decided by three points or less this year.  And while it’s not an official BCS matchup, tomorrow’s Cotton Bowl, pitting seventh-ranked Arkansas and number 11 Kansas State, should still be a good one.  We’ll see if they keep it within a touchdown.

One game I won’t be watching?  The WJHC final.  Sure, our boys made a valiant effort in the third period after spotting the Russkies a 5-1 lead, but that sixth Russian goal proved to be a killer, as we lost 6-5.  You know what sucks more than losing to Russia?  Losing to them twice–on home ice! (Buffalo’s considered to be part of Lower Canada by many NYC snobs, or so I’m told.  Plus, they have Canadian and Blue on tap.)  Next year, when the tournament moves over to Russia, we better have at least one French-Canadian kid who can stop pucks, or I’ll be pissed.  Whole lotta good these anglophone goalies have done us the past two years–tabarnak!

Oh yeah, tonite is also the premiere of the new season of Jersey Shore.  Not that I watch that shit.  Bring back Beavis and Butthead!

I’ve got a bit of a predicament this evening…

Posted by gruesomegreg on

You could say I’m faced with somewhat of a dilemma at 10 o’clock tonite, as it seems my sporting interests have been double-booked.  Both the Stamps and the Flames are in nationally-televised action tonite–and both games start at the exact same time!

The Flames drop the puck on their 2011-2012 season at the Saddledome tonite with the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins coming to town.  Last year, the two teams met in Pittsburgh, where Sidney Crosby notched a hat trick in a 4-1 win.  Fortunately for us, he’s not in the lineup, still feeling the effects of post-concussion syndrome.  On the other hand, Jarome Iginla, who missed a big chunk of training camp, is penciled in on the Flames’ first line with David Moss and Alex Tanguay.  Yeeeeah Baaaaaby!

Even without their star player, the Penguins still won their season’s opener in Vancouver on Thursday, besting the Canucks in a shootout, 4-3.  Matt Cooke, one of those ex-Canucks that I still can’t stand, scored twice against his former team.  Somebody check him into the boards for me, will ya?

Speaking of Vancouver, that’s where the Stamps find themselves tonite, playing at the brand-new B.C. Place for the first time.  The winner of this game will put themselves in first place in the CFL’s Western Division, where the Stamps currently hold a two-point advantage over the Lions.  And it was B.C. who got the best of us at McMahon a few weeks back, in what was one Calgary’s worst performances of the season–surpassed only by that embarrassing Touchdown Atlantic showdown in their next game.

That said, the Stamps ran roughshod over the Saskatchewan Roughriders last week, putting 40 points on the board, with newly-instated starting RB Jon Cornish doing most of the damage on the ground.  But there’s no hotter team than B.C., winners of six straight, who put their own 37-point whipping on the Riders in Week 13.  I think the forecast in Vancouver calls for lots of offence, with both teams looking to take the third and deciding game of the season series.  Should be a good one…

If anything, my focus will be more on football tonite, though I’ll be frantically flipping back and forth between channels, for sure.  Unfortunately, I can’t go to my local sports bar–or any sports bar, really–to watch the two games simultaneously, since there’s some sorta UFC thing on tonite, and any sports bar that doesn’t want to be completely empty, save for a few expat Calgarians, will be showing that shit.  Man, if McGuinty wanted to balance the budget, he should simply stick a civil servant at every sports bar showing ultimate fighting and charge a 10-dollar “idiot tax” to all who enter.  The provincial coffers would be full in no time! ;)

In the meantime, I must apologize in advance to my neighbours–except for the one whose pile of garbage on the balcony brings the bugs to my window–for the string of bilingual profanity that’ll spew from my mouth should things go awry this evening.  Let’s hope for the best, for their sake.