Something’s Gotta Give

Previewing tonight’s Flames/Ducks tilt

By Marcus White

Liam Richards/Canadian Press

If I had told you a month ago that one of the most intriguing games early in the season would be between the Calgary Flames and Anaheim Ducks, would you have believed me? 

If you said yes, you’re a psychic, an optimist, or a liar.

Tonight’s matchup is the first between Calgary and Anaheim as divisional rivals since 1998, and sole possession of second place in the Pacific is on the line. While it could be a matchup of a little interest in the long run, there’s definitely some intrigue surrounding tonight’s contest at the Honda Center.

To the surprise of many, the Calgary Flames remain undefeated in regulation through five games this season. Despite numerous last place projections, two goaltenders with save percentages below .900, and the league’s 27th-ranked penalty kill, the Flames have eight points in their first five games.

Calgary’s early success is due, in large part, to a surprisingly potent offense. The Flames are averaging 3.2 goals per game this season, which is good enough for fifth in the league and have yet to score less than three goals in a game.

2013 sixth-overall draft pick Sean Monahan leads Calgary’s attack with four goals and is making the most of his opportunity. Monahan’s impressive debut has also created a dilemma in Calgary’s front office, as the Flames must decide whether they will send the talented rookie back to the Ottawa 67s of the Ontario Hockey League or if he’s done enough to secure a permanent spot in the NHL.

Almost as surprising is the Ducks’ similarly impressive start. After a 6-1 shellacking in their first game against the Avalanche, Anaheim has rebounded impressively. The Ducks have since won four straight games, most recently downing the Ottawa Senators while wearing their “Mighty” throwbacks.

A pair of newcomers has helped lead the way for the Ducks offensively. Claimed off of waivers from the Capitals and acquired from Ottawa in the Bobby Ryan trade, respectively, Matthieu Perreault and Jakob Silfverberg are tied for second on the team with five points. Goaltender Jonas Hiller is also off to an impressive start, allowing less than one-and-a-half goals per game, and posting a .959 save percentage.

It’ll be the second of a four game home stand for the Ducks and the first stop on a daunting five game road trip for the Flames. Tonight will provide a solid test for both clubs, as each looks to prove that their hot start is no fluke.

What Now?

It seemed like it'd finally be time that the Calgary Flames turned things around. After giving up six goals to a Colorado Avalanche team at home, the Flames jumped out to a 2-0 lead against the Washington Capitals on goals from grinders Olli Jokinen and Curtis Glencross. Maybe, just mabye, the team had turned a collective corner after some poor performances on home ice.

Then the roof caved in.



When David Steckel buried his final penalty shot with a little less than 2 minutes to play, the final period became a forgone conclusion. In a span of time that barely topped twenty minutes, the Capitals had scored seven goals, including one where the puck was thrown into the net by a Flames player. This was the second biggest issue of the night.

The biggest issue? The loss comes just days after Head Coach Brent Sutter called out his "star players" for not buying into his system. Though he didn't name anyone specifically, speculation is that he was calling out Jarome Iginla, the team's captain.

There's only three solutions that could possibly resolve the rift starting to form in the Flames dressing room.

1) Keep both on the team.

It has to be said, if it's going to look like the last three games,(which included a victory that was squeaked out during a shootout with the Edmonton Oilers) it may not be a viable strategy. In both cases the Flames have squandered late leads (the Flames led the Edmonton game 4-2 and the Colorado game 4-3 as both headed into the third period) to teams that have, up to that point, underperformed in the game.

It's not a healthy culture if the team can't finish what it starts. And if this continues to happen...then it moves to solutions two or three.

2) Bench/Scratch/Trade Iginla

This one could work, as it is unlike Iginla to put up such a poor effort. Granted, he is 33, and his body is starting to wear down from the abuse he's taken as a power forward who attacks the high-traffic areas around the net. But since he's only scored seven goals in the past twenty-nine games, it could be something more.

Pierre LeBrun, a hockey writer for ESPN.com and a contributor on Hockey Night in Canada, has stated that certain front office executives around the game believe that Iginla needs a permanent change of scenery. He, LeBrun, suggested that the Los Angeles Kings would be interested in Iginla's services if he were to be dealt.

Though the deal would probably work out for both sides ( Wayne Simmonds and Matt Greene for Iginla?) it will never happen. Simply put, Iginla is the face of the franchise. He may be the most important player on a Canadian-based team in the NHL, and has been a fixture in the region since 1997.


(He's been around for a while.)

It'd be like trying to trade a struggling Derek Jeter from the Yankees.

Expect him to lose some ice time, at least until he figures out what ails his game(Hint: he's not attacking the net with the reckless abandon he once showed). If that doesn't work, plan three will come into play.

3) Fire the Sutter Brothers. Both of them.

As a coach, Brent Sutter has never led anyone( past the second round of the playoffs. Since the team fell short last year after so much was expected of them, he's been on the hot seat. And whenever there's a rift in the dressing room, it's usually the coach, not the players, who are forced out.

His brother, Darryl Sutter, is the team's GM. Though EP hockey could spend an entire column on why Sutter should win the Least Valuable Executive Award, suffice it to say that in the span of six months he traded away a player for his lack of offensive production, only to re-sign him in the offseason

Without, according to Eric Francis of Sun Media on Hockey Night in Canada, the approval of some the people involved in the hockey side of the Flames organization.

(Just a thought, when you get rid of a guy for underperforming, make sure it's for real)

In addition, Francis has also stated that communication between the front office and the coaching staff had dwindled to the point that Jay Feaster has been hired by the club to ensure communication between the two groups. Yes, the front office and coaching staff have such different views of the players necessary to succeed that someone had to be hired from outside the organization to ensure that the two groups could come to a consensus.

If both are fired, it wouldn't be hard to insert Feaster as the GM, since he was a member of the staff in Tampa Bay that won a Stanley Cup in 2004. And it was just two years ago that a virtual unknown in the coaching world, Dan Bylsma, took the Pittsburgh Penguins from outside of the playoffs to Stanley Cup.


(From an AHL assistant to the top of the NHL in a year.)

Regardless of which option the Flames decide to go with, it needs to happen soon.

Because giving up 7 straight goals at home will only increase that rift.