Different “C”, same problems
Last season, the Canucks had their share of well publicized problems in the room, and on the ice.
This season, it’s a different Canadian team that wheres a “C” on their jerseys that are showing a huge resemblance to last years Canucks, as the Calgary Flames are on the verge of missing the playoffs.
Now, just over two weeks ago, it was a full-blown three-way dogfight for the lead in the Northwest division between Vancouver, Minnesota and Calgary, where the two teams were usually only separated by a point or two.
The top eight seeds in the West were basically set as whoever was in eight, be it the Wild or the Flames, were ten points up on the ninth seeded Colorado Avalanche.
Fast forward two weeks. The Flames have gone 5-4-1 in their last ten, and the Avalanche 8-1-1. This can be partly credited to the Flames’ league worst road record, which has seen them win just nine of a possible 35 games.
The similarities to the 2005/06 Canucks are endless.
Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi were elite players in the league but last year couldn’t even outproduce the Sedins. Calgary has two great hockey players in Jarome Iginla and Alex Tanguay, along with the likes of newly re-acquired fan favourite Craig Conroy and that’s a pretty solid offence.
On the back end, Vancouver had a great core that just couldn’t get it done. Ed Jovanovski, Matthias Ohlund and Sami Salo should be an air-tight defence and has been in the past, but just wasn’t there last year. When the Flames of last season were a team that allowed the fewest goals of the league, the only way they can go is down, and that’s exactly what they’ve done. That air-tight defence they had last year now has holes big enough to let a bus through.
And with Dion Phaneuf, Robyn Reghere and Roman Hamrlik, that’s just not supposed to happen.
Now to the goalies. Maybe it was that top ranked defence that made Mikka Kiprusoff look so good last season, because he sure hasn’t shown the flashes of brilliance this season that hockey fans have grown used to over the past few years, just like the Canucks depleting goaltending situation of last year.
The rumours that are coming out of the Flames’ locker room are that there is no team chemistry, players are taking sides and almost no one is listening to the new head coach Jim Playfair, maybe out of respect for former coach Sutter.
Seems like yet another similarity to the Canucks of 05/06, who ended up firing their head coach who just wasn’t working with the down-hill bound Canucks.
If all goes as it did last year, the Flames are going to be picking up the golf clubs following the end of the season.
