when the calgary flames hired mike keenan back in june i figured the team would either skyrocket to the top, under his leadership, or (quite simply) tank. after two weeks and six games of training camp and pre-season, i'm still not sure which way it's gonna go.
the players themselves look pretty sharp. iggy's looking a step faster and lombardi more confident. huselius is starting the season in post-season form, and is gonna be hard to place anywhere but the top line. regehr and phaneuf are dishing out the hits like they're solid gold dancers. nolan looks ready to play in a grinder role (but if he gets stuck in a scoring role, we might have some problems). sarich and aucoin are fitting in nicely....
the line juggling that i detested last season, with playfair, has started up again, but i understand it's absolutely acceptable (and necessary) in exhibition play. still, i think throwing together 'unrealistic' lines is a waste of time and energy --i listed two such threesomes in recent posts: primeau/langkow/iginla, huselius/peters/stevenson. i would also be very surprised to see phaneuf and regehr ever take the ice together (when not killing penalties to either sarich or aucoin)... i would have loved to see a creative speedster like boyd play with another of his ilk (tanguay, iginla), and thought he was mis-used on a line with a guy like yelle, even though sandbox did bring some calmness to the two rookies on his wings...
i think (hope ?) the last two games of exhibition play show a bit more of what the year will show, ie: a full lineup. my understanding is that tanguay and lombardi are both nursing soreness (if not injury) and may not play. i would love to get conroy back at centre, between primeau and nolan. i would adore seeing langkow flanked by iggy and huselius. tanguay and moss centred by lombardi. nilson, yelle and the one remaining rookie (sounds like peters ??)...
is that so much to ask ???
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