A couple "we're already over the cap" moves have been made. Jamie Lundmark and Andre Roy are comin' to town. What's that? No one cares. That's okay, neither do I. Is there even room in the NHL for these guys?

Flames preseason schedule
Can you believe it? The hockey season is only two months away! I can't wait, it's nearly time to go wash out the Flames long-johns.

The Flames preseason starts at home against *yawn* Florida on Sep 23. Come watch Godard watch from the press box! It'll be fantastic.

Regehr and arm-lickers
Here it is folks, your quote of the week.

"In one community, there were about 400 kids. . . . I don't think they'd seen a lot of white people. It was all new to them. I actually felt something funny, so I looked down and this kid was licking my forearm."

Flames defenseman Robyn Regehr, after his recent Right to Play charity stint where NHLers jumped into the fray to play soccer with hundreds of kids in Africa.

Bertuzzi a Flame
I am not, nor will ever be, a fan of Todd Bertuzzi. Let's look at it this deal in regards to the three most important pieces of the Calgary Flames hockey organization.

1) Money. Big Bert makes $1.95 million, which is cheap for any top 6 forward in this league. He makes less than the recently departed Nolan and is the same type of player. This deal is a good one.

2) Points. Bertuzzi had more points last year than Nolan and Godard combined. He is a big body, that can stand in front of the net, and can intimidate other players with his goonieness. This deal is a good one.

3) Team. Todd brings with him a lot of baggage. He has a bad reputation (not in a good way) and will get booed wherever he plays. He may get booed at home. He will be hounded by the media in every road city this year. He takes the focus off of hockey which is not good. He will have at least one court apperance the year. This deal is not a good one.

So what's my call? I don't like the deal, but I can live with it for one season.

Nolan's making what?!?
Owen Nolan has signed with the Minnesota Wild for two years at $2.75M per year. No thanks. Little too rich for my blood, or his.

This Juice is toast
In a move that completely shocked absolutely no one, Kristian Huselius signed with another team. That team is Columbus. I wish him the best as we all know how much talent this guy has, just not a Sutter/Keenan kind of player I guess. In case you all are interested he will make $4.75M a year for four years in Columbus.

David Hale is also toast, he has signed with Phoenix.

Flames sign some guys...
The Flames have been active so far this July signing Mike Cammalleri (LW), Rene Bourque (LW), Kyle Greentree (LW), Mark Girodano (D), Curtis Glencross (LW), Brandon Prust (LW), Ryan Wilson (D), Jim Vandermeer (D), Daymond Langkow (C), Craig Conroy (C), Eric Nystrom (LW), Curtis McIlhinney (G), David Van Der Gulik (RW) and losing Marcus Nilson, Anders Eriksson and Rhett Warrener - who were all put on waivers. Oh yeah, and Curtis Joseph is a Leaf again... seriously.

I don't really care what happens now. Anders Error-son is no longer a Flame. Well, technically he is a Quad City Flame as of this moment.

Flames boister up at left wing
The Flames - just two weeks ago - had just one legitimate left-winger, and his name was Kristian Huselius. We all know how that turned out. Since then, they have signed Cammalleri, Bourque, Glencross, Prust, Nystrom and Greentree. The first one is the only legitimate NHLer, the next two will be. The last three... who knows. Here is a little more on those you may not know.

Rene Bourque has played 183 games in the NHL, all for the Hawks, and has 33 goals and 42 assists in that time. He is the #3 left winger for the Flames going into game.

“Rene is a young player with size who will play in our top nine forwards,” said Sutter. “He will be an important part of the remaking of our left side along with other young players already under contract.”

Curtis Glencross is another left-winger who split his NHL career between the Blue Jackets and Oilers. He has played 71 NHL games and has 16 goals and 10 assists with those two teams.

Kyle Greentree is yet another big left-winger from Victoria, who played in only 2 games for the Flyers last year. Could he be the #4 left winger we were looking for?

As well Eric Nystrom and Brandon Prust have been re-signed and will be fighting with Greentree for that fourth-line left-wing position.

Tanguay gone, hello Cammalleri
Mike Cammalleri scored 19 goals and 47 points despite missing nearly 20 games with a rib injury last year. Two years ago he get a player had 34 goals and 80 points for the Kings. The 26-year-old Cammalleri has posted 93 goals and 112 assists for 205 points in 283 career games, all for LA.

Alex Tanguay, on the other hand, leaves for Montreal for a first round draft pick (#17). It may seem like nothing, but the Flames wanted rid of the $5.25M he would be making this year. Tanguay (who is 3 years older than Cammalleri) had 18 goals and 58 points in nearly a full season last year. Mike is younger, cheaper, had more points, and hopefully will work with Iggy like Alex never did. Good move.

Hey isn't that Mark Giordano?
That's right, that defencemen who just landed in town looks an awful lot like the Mark Giordano from a couple years ago... 'cept this one speaks a little Russian. You all knew he'd be back, because I toldyou he would be, and he is.

Possible 2008/09 line combinations

Calgary selects Greg Nemisz at #25
Greg Nemisz is a centreman with the Windsor Spitfires. He's a big guy who likes to get into the slot area. He's got a big shot and he'll be a good goal scorer in the NHL. He's hard to move from the front of the net, but his skating needs work.

"I'm definitely looking to become a power forward," Nemisz told TSN. "I'm not fully developed yet but I'm working on it in the off season and I'm definitely going to be a power forward type of player for the Calgary Flames."

CalgaryFlames.net
I came across this site when trying to figure out what went wrong with the 2007/08 season. Check it out!

Neon Dion stays a-Flame
Six years, 39 million dollars. $6.5M/season. That's a lot of dough for a 22-year-old. But this is the cornerstone of your team, and it's quite likely that he'll win the Norris at least once within that period. Probably as soon as next year, with the dawning of the post-Lidstrom era. 

Well that was embarrassing
Let's check in and see what Ville Nieminen has been up to. (Thanks to reader Francesco for the link

Huselius' mad skilz
You have to check out Kristian Huselius' goal in the 2008 Calgary Flames Superskills competition, it's fairly unique.

Does fewer goals concern you? Do you think hockey has become boring?
I’ve long been a self-proclaimed purist, a real traditionalist when it comes to hockey, and I’ve been a hardcore fan for over 25 years now. I don’t like the shootout, I don’t like the instigator rule, and I don’t like the increased calling of clutching, grabbing, hooking and tripping. However, after watching the Flames and Lightning play for the first time since the last pre-lockout game ever (Game 7 of the Cup finals) and combine for 15 goals – something needs to be done. Fifteen goals is exciting, three goals is not. (Yes, I can hear you – the 0.1% of the population that are goaltenders, and I don’t care.)

So what to do about it? I’ve been arguing against making the nets bigger since it was first proposed, but after the 9-6 Calgary/Tampa game, have completely changed my mind. I think that goalies are much better now, teams are much more defensive, and padding is lighter, bigger, and protects more than it ever has before. (Yes, I know that player are also bigger, better, and shoot harder and faster, and I don't care)

The only argument I can see for not changing the nets is goalies’ stats will be forever skewed. I think that statistics a small price to pay to make this game more exciting to watch. And aren’t stats skewed now anyway? There seems to be a new ‘modern-day’ goals against, shutout, or save percentage record set every other season! And I think that there is no shame in Broduer being second to Sawchuk in shutouts. Come on NHL and NHLPA, remember who are you playing the game for: the statisticians, or guys like me?

New Flames fan!
Sorry I didn't update the site after the game on Thursday, I was watching the first period on Flames PPV when my wife went into labour. So as of yesterday, the Flames have another fan to try to cater to. His name is Miika Jarome Huselius. That is a lie. 

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Finally, the Internet pays off...
What is the greatest Internet video ever to pass through cyberspace you ask? Well, if you like the Flames, or if you hate the Flames, or if you watch hockey for any reason whatsoever, this video will make you laugh. And then cry. It is truly spectacular. If anyone has the emails of Neil Sheehy, Gary Roberts or Mike Vernon, please... PLEASE let me know.

Click to watch the greatest video of all time.

Click here to download your free Molson Canadian Calgary Flames Screensaver. The cool part about this screensaver is that it counts down the time until the puck drops for the next Flames game.

Remember this?

Media: (Right-click and "Save Target As")
Calgary vs. Detroit - Game 6 - 2004 Playoffs 
In Da Dome (Original) 
In Da Dome (Final Version)
In Da Dome (Video) 
In Da Dome Commentary