420since1974

I'd prefer that the Flames do not rush Dube into the NHL. IMO, a year in the AHL would be better for his development. At worst, he might not ever make the NHL, but I think that his ceiling is on the 2nd line at C or LW. I'd be disappointed if he doesn't become at least a 3rd line forward for Calgary.

I heard that Smith is teaching puck handling to Rittich.

IMO, Nenshi is definitely past his "best before date" (all politicians have one). I expect him to find funding for all of his pet projects, during what surely should be his last term as mayor. He will be seeking a legacy project that puts him name firmly in the history books. What it will be, only he knows right now.

A high pressure game in Toronto could work well for Rittich. He does appear to be able to keep calm. Better support from the skaters will be key. The team needs fewer defense-men pinching and more forwards coming back quickly to help out.

A little below the "middle of the pack" is where the team is in the league standings (16th in points). In the summer, I thought that the Flames had a Top 10 D on paper, so far they have to pick it up some to get there.

Great to hear that Hrivik is playing again. After Jankowski, and with Pribyl injured, C depth in Stockton is shallow. Good to see that Fisher found another WHL team, he could be a later round steal.

One of Nenshi's most publicised platform points was the East Village Entertainment District, which was to include an arena. So, he can either renege on his campaign promise, or restart negotiations with someone, at some point in the next few years. With or without the CSEC; the City of Calgary will still need an arena, and will want a major tenant for it. The IOC has stated that they are willing to work with Calgary to reduce costs, so maybe a successful Olympic bid is not so unreasonable to expect. The Saddledome was a "state of the art" facility when built in 1983, mainly because the federal and provincial governments had committed to pay $270M towards the 1988 Winter Olympics. I don't think that it is unreasonable to expect the same level of support (inflation adjusted) for another Winter Olympics in Canada. This time around, not all of the facilities would need to be built from scratch. A new Arena, Athletes Village, and the 70 & 90 Metre ski jumps must be rebuilt. The rest of the venues can be reused with minor upgrades. Negotiations on a new arena might be a lot less acrimonious with "outside" money in the game.

3 weeks ago, I emailed all of the mayoral candidates regarding their positions on: 1. Field House 2. New Stadium 3. New Arena 4. Creosote Removal A couple didn't reply at all. Several had vague positions on a Field House, Stadium, &/or Arena. NONE of them offered any answers about the Creosote.

It is my understanding that the City would acquire the land in question from the Stampede in a land swap.

#1D: Giordano#2D: Hamilton#3D: Brodie#4D: Hamonic#5D: Stone#6D: Kulak#7D: Bartkowski If I had been told last season, that this would be our likely defense lineup for 2017/2018, I would have been ecstatic. I feel that league average goaltending should be enough to garner the Flames a play-off spot.

As far as I'm concerned, if Smith can provide league average or better goal-tending stats, he can yell at anyone he wants to. Bennett, Ferland, Hathaway, & Tkachuk tend to draw a lot of penalties with their gritty style of play. Not every player is suited to that role, but even Backlund and Frolik were in their fair share of face washing scrums last season. I'd like to see more of it, and from more of the players on the team. I believe that the Flames have enough talent to win; they just need to fine hone their intellect and emotion to win it all. There are many young core players on the team who have not mastered that yet. That's usually the "magic ingredient" for Cup winning teams, convincing each & every player to totally invest their minds, bodies, & souls for the team. There cannot be any passengers, everyone must help push or pull. One of the things that really stood out for me during Calgary's 2003/2004 SCF run, was that they played with a lot of passion. They stood up for each other consistently, and pissed off near every team they encountered during the play-offs. To me, that is a much more entertaining style of hockey, win or lose.

I thought that Lack was a decent backup in Vancouver. I didn't watch any of his games with Carolina, so no eye test there for me. If his play can mirror his time with the Canucks, he should be slightly better than Johnson.

As long as Smith/Lack perform as expected, I have no problem with Gillies/Rittich in Stockton for 2017/2018. Most assuredly, there will be injuries to the Flames goalies, and they'll both probably get some NHL minutes. As for age, Rittich is almost two years older than, and has started around 50 more games than Gillies. He looked as good, if not better than Gillies last year, and could well be the first G call-up this upcoming season. Still waiting to hear that he has been re-signed.

IMO, Smith is an upgrade on Elliott and the cost was not outrageous. I'd like to see the Flames sign UFA Anders Nilsson to be their backup for 2017/2018. He had a decent .923 save % on a bad team at $1M per. In 2018/2019, I hope to see one of Gillies or Rattich move up to NHL backup and Parsons move up to the AHL (assumes he starts 2017/2018 in the ECHL).

Borrowed these excerpts from HF: Brad Treliving in the studio with Boomer & Pinder: - At 17, 18 Treliving was still figuring out how to walk and chew gum at the same time. - Thinks Vegas will have some higher salaries on the wings (hint hint hint). - Doesn't think the Flames make the playoffs without the Stone deal. - Still thinks Lazar is worth more than whoever the Flames would have taken in the second round this year. - Not trading the first for only 82 games of help. - Moving up is difficult; move down scenarios is something they're looking at; crystal ball is they're picking at 16. - They're some high risk-rewards picks at 16 they're playing with. - Brad talks to everybody and has lots of friends. - Maybe better for Parsons to get starts at ECHL level than juniors; strongly suggests both Rittich and Gillies are better served by spending another year developing. - Been in touch with Versteeg's agent the other day; would like to have him back; priorities are goaltending and blue line. - Offersheets seldom work but does envision a day when they're a more popular practice; less players reaching UFA and a flat cap. - Thinks Jankowski should have been rookie of the year in the AHL; whether he makes the NHL depends on his summer/atittude; knocking on the door, challenging for a spot (basically makes it sound like it's his spot to lose). - Ferland's a unique player; can be dominant at times; one of a few guys that combine size and skill. "What's underrated about Micheal is his skill; he's a skilled guy. He's got an excellent shot, skilled hands". Challenge for Ferland is consistency; they'll get a contract done, if nothing else arbitration will get it done. "I look at Micheal as a unique player who could have a real impact for us. I'm excited...I think he's scratching the surface of what he can attain. He's an important player for us." (yup, sounds like they're just itching to get rid of him). - Retain the rights to Rafikov for perpetuity; defected player. - Mattsson rights they hold for another year; they'd like him to continue his development in North America. Treliving also mentioned on Fan960 that Schneider will play another season in the WHL.

Personally, I do not have many problems with public money being used for a new Event Centre. I don't use a lot of City services or venues, but I don't mind my tax dollars going to fund them (some of the public "art" like the $470k "blue ring" are exceptions). The Saddledome is one of the very few City venues that I attend regularly, and IMO it is seriously outdated. I am tired of seeing musical acts and other entertainment productions pass by Calgary and play in Edmonton because our building cannot handle their staging requirements . This has been happening for many, many years, as the Saddledome was poorly designed for this purpose in the first place. I say just build the damn thing now, worry about a new CFL stadium and field house later. I prefer the Vic Park location over the Calgary Next/bus barns area; because it appears to have fewer hurdles with the City (contamination, etc.) and I live in the south end so Vic Park is closer. I can see this issue becoming a potential political minefield for City Council going into this October's municipal election. Nenshi appears to be shooting for the "fiscally responsible" role. My alderman will certainly be hearing my view on this issue.

Though Stone's style of play is quite different from Kris Russell, I would describe them similarly as: An above average #5 D, who can play decently at the #4 spot with the right partner. Over a full 82 game season, Stone's stat averages are 7 goals, 18 assists, 25 points, & 50 PIM. His career +/- is minus 35, though to be fair, he played most of it for Arizona. He has just finished a one year, $4M contract awarded for scoring 36 points in 2015/2016. IMO though, Stone is due for a salary decrease. That said, I believe that he is worth more than the $1.45M he received at the end of his previous 3 year contract. What attracts me is how well he pins opposing forwards to the boards and is a natural RHRD, both of which are in short supply in the Flame's organization. I'd be comfortable in paying him up $2.25M per on a new 3 year contract , but no NMC or NTC clauses.

Totally agree with you cross16.

Right on!

OK, how about 2017/2018? Who will be the Flame's NHL goaltenders? McCollum is the goalie signed for the express purpose of being exposed in the expansion draft (if unclaimed, he'll play in Adirondack for one season). Elliott, Johnson, and Rittich will all be UFAs, do we want any of them back for next season? Gillies will be a RFA and waivers exempt. McDonald and Parsons are signed in the minors and waivers exempt. Schneider is done in the CHL, slide risk, waiver exempt, and exempt from the 50 contract limit (probably headed to the Thunder). Personally, I would like to see the team's Goaltender positions settled sooner than later. My current feeling is that the best option would be to sign a UFA such as Bishop or trade for someone like MA Fleury (if he'd add Calgary to his modified NTC/NMC (list of 18 teams that he would agree to be traded to). I'd pay either of them up to $6M/yr on a 3 year term (NO CLAUSES). If neither Rittich or Gillies are deemed ready to be NHL back-ups, I would not be adverse to bringing Johnson back at no more than $2M/yr for a 2 year term maximum. Nothing to back it up, but I just have a feeling that Gillies will be the Flame's backup next season. That may require re-signing Rittich or counting on McDonald to be the #1 G in Stockton, while Parsons takes the backup position.

I think that the main reason that Morrison is still in the organization is that he plays as a RHRD. Aside from Andersson, there's definitely a lack of quality prospects at that position.

Just not in the Creosote business in Alberta. Separate legal entities. I don't like that Domtar will legally slide on this one, but it appears to me that it was the 1964 Calgary municipal government that did not do their due diligence prior to purchasing the property from Domtar.

From what I recall reading in the newspapers, from 1924 - 1964 Creosote Canada (later renamed Domtar) correctly followed the rules that were in place while they owned and operated the creosote plant. They broke no laws or regulations that were in place at that time and eventually sold the property to the City after they ceased operations. That company has long since folded, and no longer exists as an entity in Alberta, so there is no one to serve a lawsuit against. Obviously, under current environmental regulations, that plant would never have been allowed to operate at that location in the first place. Every province in Canada except for P.E.I. has at least one of these contaminated sites to clean up. This pollution/toxic waste is not new, neither is the reluctance to clean it up. I've lived in Calgary since 1977, and no mayor or city council has ever made a serious effort to get the cleanup started. Testing the contamination didn't even begin until 1994, by then it had already migrated under the river to 19th Street N.W. A containment wall was built in 1996, and 30 monitoring wells have been dug in Hillhurst. Bottom line, the City of Calgary now owns that property, and the responsibility to clean up the estimated 2 million litres of creosote, components, and waste is theirs. However, as the Bow River is a major waterway which supplies both drinking water and crop irrigation, I would wager that both the province and the feds would contribute some monies to the cleanup.

Stone's containment is some of the best I've seen on this team since Robyn Regehr. He seems to pin forwards to the wall near effortlessly. The Brodie/Stone pairing appeared to improve every game that they were together (small sample size to be sure).

Out of "likes" today. +1 for each of the two posts immediately above mine.