Flame Out

Playoff Picks
Well... the two teams that I picked for my 'unrealistic' picks are both out in the first round, lol. Those two teams being... the Calgary Flames and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Flames was the natural pick and the Penguins, because they are a young and exciting team to watch... and it would have been pretty cool to see them win it all. :P But unfortunately, they both failed to get pass the first round, lol.

However, the two teams that I picked for my 'realistic' picks are both still in the running for the cup this year. Those two teams being... the San Jose Sharks and the Ottawa Senators. San Jose was the team that I picked at the beginning of the season, so I'm going to stick with them.

Calgary Flames
Anyways, back to the Flames. Disappointing season for the Flames. On paper, this is probably the most skilled and promising team we've had since the early 90's. And yet, this team rarely ever played like a team... perhaps it is poor chemistry in the locker room? perhaps it has to do with the coaching staff? I tend to blame the coaching staff more than on locker-room chemistry. The reason being... we were the best team on home ice... so chemistry isn't lacking... motivation is what's lacking.
A strong theory is that the Flames did so well at home this season because the FANS were the motivation... not the coaches. And on the road, we were pathetic... because of the lack of motivation... which the coaches should be preparing the players for... but regardless... changes are going to happen... whether or not Sutter remains loyal to his coaching staff or not is... well... all hypothetical until the start of next season.

Possible changes upcoming...

Goaltending:

Kiprusoff will be back. Guaranteed, lol. This team is nothing without him (as seen in the playoffs).
Mclennan... will most likely NOT be back. With both Brent Krahn and Curtis McElhinney doing extremely well in the minors, I believe one of them should become the backup for next season. Also, Matt Keetly (of the Medicine Hat Tigers) is in his final year as a junior and will be going pro next season and will need a spot in Omaha.

Defence:

Dion Phaneuf, Robyn Regehr, Rhett Warrener, Andrei Zyuzin are all signed for next season. I don't see any trades happening here unless Sutter wants to shake up the roster in a drastic way. Phaneuf is safe. Zyuzin... isn't worth much in the trade market, unfortunately, lol.

Mark Giordano, Richie Regehr and David Hale are all RFA's and I believe all 3 will be resigned for next season. We have limited defenceman in our system, so I think we should keep all 3 because if we run into injuries, we're hooped.

Roman Hamrlik and Brad Stuart are the only UFA's on defence this season. I can see Stuart getting Hamrlik's salary and Hamrlik being let go. Hamrlik was a decent defenceman, but was inconsistent and took stupid penalties and never could step up his game in the playoffs. Stuart continued to improve since he became a Flame and stepped up his game in the playoffs (probably became the best Flames dman during the playoffs).

Forwards:

Iginla, Tanguay, Langkow, Huselius, Conroy, Yelle are all signed for next season. They should all be back next season as well, unless Sutter decides to really shake up the roster with a big trade. Noone is 'safe' if Sutter does decide to do so. Yelle would be the closest to being safe.

Nilson and Lombardi are RFA's and I can see both of them being resigned.
Lombardi showed great improvement this year, though was still quite inconsistent. And Nilson did not perform to standards during the regular season (probably because of his injury earlier in the season) but showed up for the playoffs and is a Sutter player and highly durable and plays all 3 forwards positions, so I can see him coming back.

Amonte, Friesen, Godard, McCarty, Ritchie, Primeau are the UFAs.
Amonte and Friesen could easily be back if they decide to sign for MUCH less than they were paid this season. I wouldn't mind having Friesen back for cheaper because he was great on a line with Yelle and Nilson and was great defensively for us. However, Amonte... his uses are highly limited now. Can't score and is sometimes a liability on defence as well. So, I'm hoping Amonte is not back.
Primeau is probably a good bet to coming back. Dependable and can play all 3 forward positions, is big and defensively sound and probably won't be expensive either.
Ritchie... may be back because he is cheap and versatile as he can also play all 3 forward positions. But he is also limited in what he can do because of size and strength.
Godard may or may not be back... his uses are limited to... fighting only and if we do keep him, it would be for real cheap and he'll be a call-up from the minors like this season.
McCarty, will probably not be back.

In the System:
Omaha were the winners of the West Divion Title and the Western Conference Title this season in the AHL. Currently tied 1-1 in the first round series against Iowa.

Las Vegas was the top team in the ECHL this season (eg. presidents trophy if they were in the NHL). Currently they are up 1-0 in the second round of playoffs.


Goaltending:
Curtis McElhinney was named to the second AHL all-star team. Brent Krahn was injured for parts of the season, but is still within top 10 in goaltending statistics. Both have been in the top-10 in AHL goaltending statistics for the past 2 seasons. Both are probably ready to become a backup goaltender for Kiprusoff and should be capable of playing more games than McLennan ever could.
Matt Keetly (Medicine Hat Tigers in the WHL) finished the season ranked first in wins in the WHL. Keetly is in his last junior year and should be going pro next season and needs a spot in Omaha to develop.
Leland Irvine (Calgary's first round draft pick last year) was ranked first in GAA in the WHL this season. Currently with Omaha for their playoff run. Will be back in Juniors next year.

Defence:
Mark Giordano won the battle to become the 7th defenceman for the flames this season, and at times beat out Zyuzin for the 6th position. Will battle for a roster spot again next season. Richie Regehr was leading the AHL in +/- before being recalled by the Flames this season (and then out for the season with a concussion). Has continued to improve and should be back in the minors next season and will likely be the first to be recalled next season again. David Hale came in via trade this season and will likely fight for a roster spot next season along with Giordano and Zyuzin. We start to thin out in defenceman after that. Tim Ramholt in Omaha would be the next one up, but has not improved well enough to play in the NHL yet.

Forwards:
David Moss graduated from the minors and made the big team this year, but still needs to earn it again during training camp next season. Dustin Boyd was tied for team-lead in points in Omaha and played well with stints in Calgary and will fight for a spot next season as well. Andrei Taratuchin took half-a-season to get a hang of the North American style but became red-hot in the second-half and will challenge for a spot next year as well. Carsen Germyn was tied for team-lead in points with Boyd this season and will likely be a call-up for next season. Eric Nystrom was injured for pretty much the entire season with numerous injuries that limited his games played to less than a dozen all season but if healthy will contend for a spot on the Flames roster next season. David Van-der-Gulik was one of the top defensive forwards in the entire AHL in his rookie season and will need more time to develop in the minors. Daniel Ryder in the OHL was in the top-10 in his final season in the juniors and should be going pro next season as well. Not ready for the NHL yet, but like Dustin Boyd should not need too much time in the minors to develop into a NHL calibre player.