What you see is what you get

Yannick Perreault has signed with the Coyotes, Jason Allison is still available but according to all accounts his asking price is too high for the Flames and wouldn’t fit under the cap even if he wanted to go there and they wanted him which is all speculation at this point. So at least for the foreseeable future, what you and up with is the conclusion that the Calgary Flames are likely to look very close to what fans see today. The downside to that is the fact that this is currently a team that isn’t playing to its potential. The upside is that at least on paper, this is a team that should have all the elements it needs to win. Kipper is one of the best in the business, with Regehr, Phaneuf, Zyuzin, Hamrlik, Warrener, and Ference along with spot duty from Marc Giodano the Flames have one of the most talented defenseive corps in the NHL. Their forwards boast the like of perennial all-stars like Jerome Iginla and Alex Tanguay, as well as young up and comers like Matthew Lombardi and Chuck Kobasew. Add to that mix the veteran leadership of players like Tony Amonte, Jeff Freisen and Darren McCarty and one would think that this would be a team challenging for the president’s trophy. But they aren’t, they don’t play games on paper. In fact, at this point they’re much closer to getting the Calgary Flames first ever #1 overall draft pick than they are to even making the play-offs.

Of course it’s early, and of course there’s more than enough time to turn this season around, but the signs need to be there soon. In the new NHL with more league-wide parity and less chance of shaking up a line-up than there was in the pre-lockout era, for the most part a team is pretty much stuck with the lineup it begins with and the subsequent culture and identity it creates. It’s happening all over the NHL: In Philly they have a fragile team that even according to one of it’s up and coming stars Mike Richards folds their tents at the first sign of adversity. Even though the Phoenix Coyotes seemed to sign nearly every big free agent name over the summer, or maybe as a result of, they can’t seem to find any cohesion on the ice and are looking to miss the play-offs yet again. Sabres fans are lucky, their team looks like they think they’re the mid-eighties Oilers and honestly believe that they should win every night.

Teams are known by their identities. Right now the Flames identity isn’t the same as it has been since Daryl Sutter first came to Calgary to right the ship. It’s difficult to move players, and he’ll likely give this team some time to try to right the ship, but Mr. Sutter isn’t known for his tolerance of lackluster performances and that’s what the Flames seem to be producing right now. They are prone to early and late goals and have yet to play the all out style of physical hockey that’s been their identity in recent memory. For the Flames to have any chance at even making the play-offs that needs to change very soon, or Calgary Fans can look forward to having their spring evenings free.