Problems in Cowtown

I’d be shedding tears too if I were a Flames fan. Calgary signed Todd Bertuzzi today to a 1 year, $1.95 million contract, a move I feel was made out of, well…desperation. What has happened to the perennial playoff favorites? The Flames have made it impossible for themselves to have a team with any solid depth whatsoever. How did this happen?

The Flames, unlike other teams, have designated a “franchise player” at EVERY position. They have Iginla, Phaneuf, and Kipprusoff each eating tons of cap room. That's nearly $21 million right there, gone.

Also, just when a new streamlined, faster NHL game was introduced, the Flames revert to the kind of style that was winning championships in years past. They have slow, big bodied forwards and defenders, incapable of competing with the new speedy game.

Sutter is an old-timer, no doubt it, but he’s got to wake up and realize that it’s a new generation of hockey.

As it stands:

Camalleri Langkow Iginla
Glencross Lombardi Bertuzzi
Bourque Conroy Boyd
Moss Primeau Nilson

Phaneuf Regehr
Aucoin Sarich
Vandermeer Warrener

The defense is solid, but lacking any serious puck-moving presence. And that group of forwards is a joke. I don't even see how that first line is going to do, there's no real playmaker gone with Camalleri in and Huselius out. The Flames are going to miss Huselius a lot this year. Anytime Curtis Glencross is on your 2^nd line, it’s a testament to your lack of depth.

The Battle of Alberta, in my estimation, is going to be a joke this year.