Spector on NHL: Flames stuck in the middle
Posted February 9, 2012 3:03 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
They are the most fascinating study among all of Canada’s National Hockey League teams.
That flaming ‘C’ on their chests? Spend some time listening to Sportsnet 960 The Fan in Calgary, and you get the feeling it could stand for “Conflicted.”
Some Calgary Flames’ fans want the playoffs now. Get in there however you can, spin the wheel, and hope it comes up 2004.
Others ask, “Really, what’s the point?” Can the Flames really do any damage against the Western powerhouses?
And if they don’t make the post-season, isn’t Calgary the team that never drafts in the lottery, but doesn’t challenge for a Stanley Cup either?
One Flames’ fan watches the Edmonton Oilers lose most nights and says, “Don’t want that here.” Another looks at Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and now
Sam Gagner — all sub-23-year-olds who have more points this season than any Flames player not named Jarome Iginla or Olli Jokinen — and say, “I want that here.”
Through it all, general manager Jay Feaster soldiers on unaffected. He’s ready to do whatever buying this cap-challenged club needs to do at the Feb. 27 trading deadline.
And should the Flames falter between now and then, he’s ready to do some selling.
“That’s the way you go about things,” Feaster said in a conversation Wednesday, before his club’s impressive 4-3 win at San Jose. “You’re always looking at possibilitiesfor how do you improve your club.”
“We’ve talked about intellectual honestly. ‘Are you really in the race?’ Well, we think we are right now.”
You can’t deny that, whatever side of the Flames’ fence you’re on. They’re a point out of eighth spot with a game in Phoenix on Thursday, firmly lumped in with that five-team group fighting over one playoff spot.
There are Calgary fans who wonder if this playoff race is the worst thing that could happen to their team. And there are others who see a possible top-eight club that will have about $17.5 million in salary cap space opening up after this season.
Then there is Feaster, a veteran manager who maintains his big-picture viewpoint. He won’t sell the farm at the deadline either way.
“It’s something we talk about every day. It’s not something that just comes up as you approach the trade deadline. ‘What are our needs?'” he said. “And, obviously, if things don’t go well, who are the guys we’re looking to re-sign. Or, guys we’re not looking to re-sign.”
At age 35, Miikka Kiprusoff is on fire. He won his 300th career game in San Jose, a spectacular performance.
“Honestly, this is the best I’ve seen him,” Iginla told the Calgary Herald after the game. “I know he’s won the Vezina before, but I don’t know if he could have played any better than he has this year.”
Ask the Montreal Canadiens. With a goalie that can get as hot as Turk Broda, a team like Calgary can pull off almost anything in the post-season.
So we had to ask Feaster: Does he still get calls from other GMs asking about Kiprusoff and Iginla?
“I’ve been doing this for a long time,” he begins, “And I do have a reputation with my colleagues. My colleagues believe what I have repeatedly, and ad nauseam, said: I am not trading them.
“While the media like likes to keep it alive … my colleagues understand that when I say I’m not trading them, I’m not trading them.”
But like a good leader, Feaster is never completely locked into a stance.
“They also know that if that decision ever went the other way, it wouldn’t be something where I’d call one general manager and make a deal. If we were ever going to move those guys, it would be a conversation with 29 other teams.”
Like almost all of his colleagues, Feaster will go into the deadline looking to get better at centre ice, and add some depth on the blueline.
But regardless of what happens on Deadline Day, it is the draft and free agency that will have the biggest impact on the direction the Flames end up taking.
“Everyone gets all excited about what free agency is going to bring,” Feaster cautions. “I believe that having the cap flexibility allows you to do other deals. There are going to be trades … there are going to be teams looking to unload players. There are other ways to improve your club other than free agency.”
