the top ten greatest flames of all time

i was trying to figure out what to watch tonight, and while was flipping around the networks, i found a 1/2 hour TSN special called "the top 10 calgary flames of all time." because i've vowed to start writing more leading up to rookie camp, camp, preseason & actual hockey, i will share a liveblog for you folks (sortof):


#10
håkan loob
my initial disgust at his low standing gave way to pure nostalgia in listening to ed whalen announce his goals. and you can be sure there were some nifty ones in the highlight reel... of course, if i was writing this list, loob would find himself at the top, but i suppose i'm happy other people (other than duncan) thought to include him at all....

#9
gary suter
there's no doubt this was a homerun as a flames draft pick. the guy won the calder and had a all-round solid career; in an 80's-era interview here, he described his ability to score as 'too many of the other guys covering macinnis.' nice one, gary. probably a bit of an understatement....

#8
joe niewendyk
um wow. this guy was effin' good, kids.
(and speaking of joes, i sure loved joey mullen)

#7
kent nilsson
uhhhhhh... not much in the way of highlights here, hunh tsn ? i remember loving kent nilsson in the early eighties (the way i loved willie plett): i couldn't tell you a thing about his game, but at about six years old he was a favorite. it was so fun to watch him play that i'm fairly certain my love for the swedes is rooted here, not to mention my love for a good moustache. ;)

#6
mike vernon
that was some seriously nice feathered hair, and the guy could stop a puck, to be sure. hometown boy makes good. yep....
but as tsn's #6 player on this list, how the hell did the calgary flames organization deem him worthy of jersey retirement ??!
(i've historically posted my issues with this and needn't go into them again now)

#5
gary roberts
"consistant," said coach dave king back in the day of roberts. yeah. no doubt. a couple decades-worth of consistancy, i'd say. and with the strangest mix of linemates: leeman - fleury - roberts in one highlight, makarov - niewendyk - roberts in another. ha. amazing... and i'm not even talking about the mullet.

#4
jarome iginla
after breaking all those franchise scoring records, i'm not sure how iggy ended up at #4 but who am i to doubt that the top three are gonna be better. apparently he did a lot of good things in that black horsehead sweater -- there's sure a lot of highlight reel footage in the third jersey (goals, fights).... oh, and iggy ? the baby dreads were not a good look. (fyi: the signature hand pump was not included).

i can only presume the top 3 are (in no order): macinnis, fleury & lanny.

#3
al macinnis
whoah. beauty slapper, hey ? whatta bullet. god it would be nice if our current top blueliners were the calibre of macinnis and suter. too bad they didn't even bother to show him with the conn smythe (although they DID bother to mention it)....

#2
theoren fleury
how can you not smile while watching this guy play ? even while on a regular shift with paul ranheim, theo still managed to put a few in the net. THAT is skill... and the post-goal celebrations ? pure magic...
i wonder if the fist-pumping was comparable after he hit a single for the calgary vipers a few weeks back ???? no ? well, at least THEY had the wherewithall to retire his jersey....

#1
lanny mcdonald.
listen, nobody's gonna argue that lanny belongs here, or that peplinski - otto - mcdonald is the kind of line that legends are made of. the classic highlight of lanny scoring the cup winner and celebrating on the right boards ??? poetry.

[but let's not forget that håkan loob was on the opposite wing !!!!]

it's a bit sad that there is only one current player in this top ten, and that there's only one or two others on the roster or in the system that would ever be momentarily considered as even remotely possible to bump anyone off of it.

*sigh