Preseason Preview: Calgary Flames

Well, its August and that means there's not a whole much of anything going on. That said, I'm gonna try and nail out 30 team evaluations before the preseason is underway.

Now, the Calgary Flames.

Team M.O.: This team is the pride of Alberta now that Edmonton's dynasty era has come to pass for about two decades. These guys are tough and lethal, especially on the back end, which allows the forwards to play a run-and-gun style of game. However, they're starting to become kind of top-heavy, which may not bode well if they start facing injury problems...

Last Season: Calgary made it to the playoffs, losing in the conference quarterfinals to the Chicago Blackhawks. That isn't what the Flames wanted to see, as they've been eliminated from the conference quarterfinals every season since the lockout. They added some players before the trade deadline and while they weren't able to add a whole lot of top-tier players during the off-season, they did land the biggest fish of the off-season in signing Jay Bouwmeester.

Offense: Jarome Iginla leads this team and does whatever's asked of him. The only reason he's discouraged to fight is because it hurts his team more when he's in the penalty box for five minutes than it does the other team. Olli Jokinen can play like a first line center when he feels like it while Rene Bourque is an excellent compliment for the top pairing. After Daymond Langkow in the fourth forward spot, though, the depth at the forward position becomes kind of thin. The remainder of the forward spots are occupied by third line players, unproven players, and Phoenix Coyotes castoffs like Fredrik Sjostrom, Brian McGrattan, and Nigel Dawes. They don't have the resources to add more players, so they're either going to have to trade or make due with what they have.

Defense: The defense on this team is pretty spectacular. I don't care who my favorite team is, if I can ice Jay Bouwmeester and Dion Phaneuf as my first-pairing defenders, I'm happy. If I can ice Robyn Regehr and Cory Sarich as my second-pairing defenders, I'm elated. If I see all that and then I see Mark Giordano and Adam Party in the bottom-pairing spots, I'd say "Hey, that really looks awesome!" If they can get a cheap, veteran defender at the Number 7 spot, they'd be set. However, I have the feeling that due to the cap issues, Calgary will only be able to have six defenders on roster, so they may as well have as solid of a defensive corps as they have.

Goaltending: Miikka Kiprusoff has been their starting goaltender since 2004 and has been worth every penny considering that he gives the team winning records despite having faced more shots than any other goaltender in the league last season (Phoenix's Ilya Bryzgalov was second). Beyond him though the goaltending just isn't stable. The team has to tap into Curtis McElhinney as their backup because they can't afford anyone else and really shouldn't try to force Leland Irving or Matt Keetley into the backup role because they're entering their second and third professional years respectively. Here's to hoping Kiprusoff doesn't catch the injury bug for you Flames fans out there.

Expectations: This team looks like a Jenga game to me. If they can stay upright, they should at least make the playoffs again. But if that one piece at the bottom gets removed at the wrong time, expect disaster and nothing else.