After their embarrassing 7-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks the other night, the Calgary Flames had a lot of ground to cover.  I’m sure the fact that the media was all over the alleged screaming match between coach, Brent Sutter, and unpredictable defenceman, Dion Phaneuf, didn’t help the team’s focus.  I don’t know if I like all of Sutter’s tactics but when you see a game like the one yesterday afternoon, it’s hard to argue.
The Flames would have to be heartless to not have been affected by that awful loss and their pattern in recent seasons has been to fall …read more

Mark Messier, himself, presented the Mark Messier Leadership Award to Calgary Flames captain, Jarome Iginla. Amazingly, Messier was able to refrain from bursting into tears.  I know it’s off-topic but can you imagine what it’s like to present a current player with an award named after you?  It’s crazy!  Of course, Messier gets to decide (all alone) who gets the prize so at least he can’t complain about the recipient.
During Iginla’s acceptance speech, in addition to all the traditional thank yous, he mentioned that it was great to get the award "from someone I’ve looked up to since I …read more

The nominees for this year’s Mark Messier Leadership Award have been announced and I am happy enough with the choices.  The award, which is in its’ third year (Chris Chelios of Detroit won the first year and Mats Sundin of Toronto won in 2008), honors an individual who possesses exceptional leadership qualities and sets a postive example on the ice and within the community.

The 2009 Mark Messier Leadership Award will be awarded to either Zdeno Chara (Boston), Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh) or Jarome Iginla (Calgary).  Messier, who won the Stanley Cup six times in his 25-year NHL career, will choose the …read more

Seriously?  The game last night between the Calgary Flames and the Tampa Bay Lightning was filled with so much mixed emotion.  I was thrilled when Flames captain, Jarome Iginla, broke the franchise record (830 – set by Theoren Fleury) for the most points accumulated by a single player (834).  When we had finished celebrating that, Iggy turned around and got his 400th career goal.  It was great until the Flames basically fell apart all around him.  First, Miikka Kiprusoff, who has been so incredible lately, just tanked and was eventually pulled.  After that, the Bolts just kept on scoring until, …read more