It is a great time for junior hockey in the province of Alberta. Presently the Edmonton Oil Kings are playing the Medicine Hat Tigers in one Eastern Conference Semi-Final, while the Calgary Hitmen are playing the Red Deer Rebels in the other Conference Semi-Final of the WHL playoffs.
The hockey is intense and of very high quality.
A prime example was last night at the Scotiabank Saddledome. In a dramatic 2-1 Hitmen win, both coaches, the legendary Brent Sutter for Red Deer and Mike Williamson for Calgary, showed extreme emotion on the bench. In one particular instance, Sutter slammed a hockey stick on the bench to protest a five minute major penalty called against the Rebels.
This week on 15 Minutes of Fame – we break down the opening games of the Stanley Cup Final, discuss the news involving Nick Lidstrom & Tim Thomas and look at the coaching situation in three NHL cities. As well, we talk about the NFL bounty story and the NBA Draft Lottery!
In the GABBYs: Johan Santana, Cal FC, the Charlotte Bobcats, Mayweather & Pacquiao, Jonathan Lucroy & New York TV station WABC. The Punchline this week is Terrell Owens.
This week on 15 Minutes of Fame we look into the Edmonton Oilers parting ways with their head coach (and what needs to change for the Oil to turn things around), we check out the latest NFL bounty news, and we run down the problem with umpires in the MLB.
In the GABBYs: Bikini hockey, Jamaican hockey, Matt Bonner, Coors Field, Ozzie Guillen & Stephen Strasburg. The Punchline this week is Philadelphia Eagles left tackle Jason Peters!
The Edmonton Oilers have decided to fire Tom Renney as their head coach.
The Oilers were 32-40-10 last season under Renney’s leadership, and only moved up on place in the standings, from 30th place to 29th place.
There is talk that the Oilers are set to name former Calgary Flames head coach Brent Sutter next. I’m not so sure if this is the right move.
Despite only two losses at the most recent World Hockey Championships, Team Canada failed to get the job done in Helsinki under Sutter’s guidance. Being eliminated from the quarterfinals is simply not good enough.
Sutter, who seemed to advise the Flames to move toward a youth movement, would be in the position to teach young players in Edmonton. But I see some issues too. Under Renney’s guidance, the power play significantly improved. What the Oilers need is strong teaching by a coach on even strength, without any loss to their improvement when they have the man advantage. Easier written than executed.
Calgary was a much better team than Edmonton on even strength this year, but that reason was because of Miikka Kiprusoff, not Sutter.
It appears the World Hockey Championships in Helsinki next month might be even more meaningful for Head Coach Brent Sutter than he initially anticipated.
According to local media sources, Edmonton Oilers President of Hockey Operations Kevin Lowe has very high regard for Sutter, who has coached the Oilers nemesis, the Calgary Flames the last three years. It is interesting as well that Lowe, as General Manager of Team Canada, hired Sutter over Oilers Head Coach Tom Renney in an attempt to lead Canada to a World Hockey Championship Gold medal for the first time since 2007.
It’s no secret. The Oilers should be disappointed for not competing for a playoff spot this past year, their initial goal back in October. Sure, they’ll get the number one pick for a third straight year, but it is time for this hockey team to step up and compete more consistently.
This week on 15 Minutes of Fame – lots of overtime and lots of fighting to kick off the NHL playoffs, the Oilers win the draft lottery & discuss the future of their coach, the Maple Leafs apologize and a number of top players head to the World Championships. Also – the head of the MLB players union talks steroids and the Hall of Fame.
In the GABBYs: Martin Brodeur, Thierry Henry, the NFL, Lamar Odom, Lingerie Football and Dwyane Wade. The Punchline this week involves Augusta and an attempted cup of sand!
Literally one day out as the Calgary Flames head coach Brent Sutter has found work– at least of the temporary variety.
On Friday, Sutter was named Head Coach for Team Canada at the World Hockey Championships in Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden. Sutter will be joined on the bench by Assistant Coaches Kirk Muller of the Carolina Hurricanes and Guy Boucher of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Yesterday the Flames announced that they mutually parted ways with Sutter.
Team Canada will play seven round robin games in a new format this year. The top four teams in the two eight team pools will go on to the playoff round in Helsinki.
The Calgary Flames have decided to part ways with Head Coach Brent Sutter. Now the question is was he fired or did he resign?
According to the Canadian Press, Sutter and the Flames parted ways. Sutter, who coached the Flames the last three seasons, missed the playoffs each year despite finishing 28 games above .500 over that time. Assistant coach Dave Lowry will also not return to the Flames.
The decision was not surprising whatsoever. Sutter and General Manager Jay Feaster seemed to have been in a heated confrontation in the locker room after a shootout loss to the Minnesota Wild late in the regular season.
Now the question is who will be the next head coach? The front runner right now appears to be Associate Coach Craig Hartsburg who has coaching experience with the Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks and Ottawa Senators. Another person that might be considered is Assistant GM Craig Conroy. Despite his lack of coaching experience, he has a great relationship with the players. Abbotsford Heat Head Coach Troy Ward will probably also be on Feaster’s shortlist.
A high profile coach outside of the organization currently looking for work is Marc Crawford, who is currently an analyst for TSN. St. Louis Blues Assistant Coach Scott Mellanby, Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach John Anderson, and Jim Hiller, who is the Head Coach of the WHL’s Tri-City Americans may also be candidates.
Edmonton’s Heather Nedohin is three victories away from winning the Women’s World Curling Championship in Lethbridge.
Yesterday afternoon, Nedohin got things back on track with a 9-8 victory over the United States in the fourth place tie-breaker.
Nedohin’s team got off to a commanding 4-0 lead after the second end before hanging on for the narrow victory. They now will have to face Korea’s Ji-Sun Kim in the 3-4 game this afternoon (1pm, TSN). With a win, they will then face Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott, the two-time Olympic silver medallist in the semi-final (6pm, TSN) and then if they win that, they will have to face Sweden’s Margaretha Sigfridsson in the final (Sunday, 4:30pm).
The Calgary Flames are only one point back of a playoff spot. On Friday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome, the Flames defeated the Winnipeg Jets by a score of 5-3.
The Flames got a huge offensive performance from winger Alex Tanguay who notched a goal and three assists. The 32 year-old veteran from Ste-Justine, Quebec now has two goals and seven assists in his last five games.
Other Flames with big nights were Jarome Iginla (one goal, two assists), Olli Jokinen (three assists), and defenceman Mark Giordano (one goal and on assist).
Another Flame that has played well as of late has been Matt Stajan, the only Flame left from the Dion Phaneuf blockbuster trade with Toronto. Stajan got a first period goal and notched an assist on Tanguay’s second period game winner. He is also playing strong defensively at the moment too as head coach Brent Sutter is having him play with Iginla a little more.
Sven Baertschi, the Flames first round pick from the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, made his NHL debut. The Swiss native had one shot in 9:08 of ice time.
The Flames won despite being outshot 45-27. Mikka Kiprusoff made 42 saves in the victory. The Flames have 74 total points and are one point back of the San Jose Sharks for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. They next play the Minnesota Wild on Sunday afternoon.
The Los Angeles Kings defeated the Calgary Flames 4-1 Saturday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome in a game loaded with unique storylines.
In this particular game you had Brent Sutter coach for the Flames against his brother Darryl, who coaches the Kings. When the two worked in Calgary, with Brent as the head coach and Darryl as the general manager, they had somewhat of a rocky relationship.
You also had the return of forward Michael Cammalleri, who was traded to Calgary from Montreal for Rene Bourque this week. Cammalleri scored the only Flames goal, his tenth of the season.
After a scoreless first period, the Kings jumped out to a 3-0 lead on goals by Anze Kopitar, Mike Richards and Matt Greene.
Kings forward Dustin Penner was back in the lineup after suffering back spasms from eating his wife’s pancakes.
In other Flames news, General Manager Jay Feaster cleared up why Cammalleri wasn’t told immediately where he had been traded on Thursday night. According to CBC, the reason is Feaster didn’t want to make the trade official until the Flames’ game against Anaheim started so Bourque could serve one extra game of his five game suspension. This was a very classy move by Feaster that should strengthen his relationship with other General Managers in the National Hockey League.
You don’t have to analyze the scoresheet too much before a glaring statistic appears loud and clear.
In the Calgary Flames’ 5-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night it was abundantly evident that special teams played a significant role.
The Flames’ penalty killing was spot on. Curtis Glencross was terrific as the Flames killed all six Edmonton Oiler power plays. The Flames power play was also productive with two goals with the man advantage, as Olli Jokinen and Mikael Backlund were both able to place the puck past Nikolai Khabibulin.
For Backlund, his goal was also his first of the year and the game winning goal that broke a 3-3 tie at the halfway mark of the third period. The Swede was able to tip a shot from the point, and make promise on a tweet he posted earlier in the day where he said he had a good feeling about tonight.
The Flames were down 2-0 early but bounced back to tie the game at two immediately after a Brent Sutter timeout. Jokinen scored twice, while Rene Bourque and Craig Smith also scored for the Flames who improved to 11-12-2 and five points back of Edmonton for a playoff spot. Jarome Iginla meanwhile, added three assists.
The Flames next play Sunday in Vancouver, while the Oilers next play Wednesday at home against Carolina.
The Calgary Flames now head on to a significant road trip after a poor performance at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
On Tuesday, the Flames had a very sluggish performance in a 5-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. Swedish defenceman Alexander Edler led the Canucks in scoring with a goal and two assists. Cody Hodgson was the other Canuck with a multi-point game with a goal and an assist.
Alexandre Burrows, Chris Higgins and Daniel Sedin also scored for the Canucks in a very strong balanced effort where twelve Canucks registered at least one point.
The Flames meanwhile ot their lone goal of the hockey game from Alex Tanguay, who broke Roberto Luongo’s shutout bid with 32 seconds left in regulation. The Flames just seemed to lack energy and momentum. The Canucks got off to an early 3-0 lead and made it 5-0 midway through the second period. It was interesting that Flames’ head coach Brent Sutter decided not to pull goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff, as it was clearly not his fault on the majority of goals he gave up Tuesday.
With the loss, Calgary falls to 4-5-1, while Vancouver improves to 6-5-1.
Calgary now goes on a three game road trip to Detroit on Thursday, Buffalo on Friday and Colorado on Sunday. This was the first of six straight road games for the Canucks, who will also travel to Minnesota, St. Louis, Chicago, Los Angeles and Anaheim over the next ten days.
The Calgary Flames’ coaching staff is now coming together for the 2011-12 National Hockey League regular season.
On Friday, the Calgary Flames named Clint Malarchuk the team’s goaltending coach.
Malarchuk will join head coach Brent Sutter, associate coach Craig Hartsburg and assistant coach Dave Lowry.
Malarchuk has experience as the goaltending coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers and Atlanta Thrashers, where he spent last season. A native of Edmonton, Malarchuk played for the Quebec Nordiques, Washington Capitals and Buffalo Sabres from 1981-92.
However, Malarchuk is best known for an injury that took place on March 22, 1989. While playing for the Sabres, Malarchuk’s throat got completely slashed by the skate blade of Steve Tuttle of the St. Louis Blues. Malarchuk, who was near death, needed 300 stitches to properly close the wound.
Malarchuk replaces Jamie McLennan, who was fired on April 19. Malarchuk will be spending the majority of his time with the Flames’ top two goaltenders, Miikka Kiprusoff and Henrik Karlsson. He’ll also help other Flames’ goaltenders currently in their system.
It is a great time for junior hockey in the province of Alberta. Presently the Edmonton Oil Kings are playing the Medicine Hat Tigers in one Eastern Conference Semi-Final, while the Calgary Hitmen are playing the Red Deer Rebels in the other Conference Semi-Final of the WHL playoffs.
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