THE STATS LINE
23-22-6 record [21st overall (in points percentage)]
2.33 goals-for per game [27th overall]
2.69 goals-against per game [13th overall]
17.8% power-play success rate [16th overall]
83.3% penalty-kill success rate [11th overall]
45.0% in the face-off circle [30th overall]
THE WEEK THAT WAS
- January 29: Team Chara, featuring Flames captain Jarome Iginla, won the All-Star Game in Ottawa by a 12-9 score. Iginla played on a line with Evgeni Malkin and Corey Perry and scored once (and added two assists).
- January 31: In their first game back from the All-Star Break, the Flames lost to Detroit 3-1. The game was close until the third, when the Wings scored twice and pulled away. Chris Butler was a minus-3. Mike Cammalleri scored a power-play goal for Calgary.
BACK TO WORK
The Flames began their post-All-Star schedule on Tuesday at home. The schedule features 32 games (against 17 opponents), 19 home and 13 away. Four of the games are against Eastern Conference opponents, while the other 28 games are against Western rivals.
Starting the schedule off with a loss to a Western opponent probably wasn’t the best idea. Calgary needs roughly 44 points (22 wins) to make the playoffs, and they burnt one of their theoretical 10 possible losses against Detroit. That leaves nine to spread throughout the remaining 31 games.
But should be team be able to maintain their strong home record throughout the rest of the season, they may not have to.
REMEMBERING McCRIMMON
The Flames honoured the life of former NHLer Brad McCrimmon on Tuesday night. Rather fittingly, the event occurred on a night where another of Beast’s former teams was visiting, the Detroit Red Wings.
McCrimmon played 1,222 NHL games between 1979 and 1997 – including stints with the Bruins, Flyers, Flames, Red Wings, Whales and Coyotes. Following his playing career, he served on the coaching staffs of the Islanders, Flames, Thrashers and Red Wings. He was a member of Calgary’s Stanley Cup winning team in 1989 and served as the team’s captain during the 1989-90 season, replacing the retiring Lanny McDonald. McCrimmon was traded to Detroit in the summer of 1990. Following his retirement, he served as an assistant coach in Calgary for the better part of three seasons and in Detroit for three seasons.
He accepted a position as head coach with Yaroslavl Lokomotiv of the KHL last summer and passed away in a plane crash that wiped out the entire team on September 7, 2011.
The Flames honoured his memory with special jerseys in warm-up (with every Flame wearing McCrimmon’s name-plate and familiar #4 on their back), a special on-ice presentation to McCrimmon’s family, a video package highlighting his life and career and, rather that a moment of silence, a round of applause in Brad McCrimmon’s memory.
DISPATCHES FROM THE FARM
- AHL: Abbotsford Heat forward Krys Kolanos and defenseman Clay Wilson were joined by new teammate Brian Connelly at the AHL All-Star Classic last weekend in Atlantic City. It was the first chance that Connelly got to meet other Heat players and he made a good first impression, helping the Western Conference team win the skills competition on Sunday afternoon and the game itself on Monday in a shootout. Kolanos and Connelly had assists in the game, while Connelly was crowned the fastest skater in the skills competition. Abbotsford is back in action on Thursday night and goaltender Leland Irving is expected to re-join the club following a two-month stint in the NHL.
- WHL: While Kootenay Ice forward Max Reinhart missed this week due to injury, there was a bit of a return to form for a couple other Flame prospects: Brandon’s Michael Ferland had 3 points in 3 games, including a game-winning goal, while Portland’s Sven Baertschi broke out of his recent funk with 2 goals and an assist in a single game. (In that same game, teammate Tyler Wotherspoon had two assists). Finally, Red Deer’s Turner Elson, signed by the Flames after a training camp try-out, had 5 points over 3 games this week.
- NCAA: The Boston College Eagles broke out of their funk this week, winning both games against their conference rivals New Hampshire. Bill Arnold had an assist over the weekend, while freshman Johnny Gaudreau scored his 9th goal of the year.
- KHL: Finally, newly acquired prospect Karri Ramo made headlines this week for a rather embarrassing reason. Presented here, without commentary, is what happened…