BREAKING: Sutter Steps Down In Calgary

((HT: FAN590/Toronto))

Calgary Flames Executive VP and General Manager Darryl Sutter has stepped down from his role with the team. Assistant GM Jay Feaster will take over on an interim basis.

The Flames are struggling along with a 16-18-3 record and sit 14th in the Western Conference as of this very minute.

"Darryl has performed valuable service to the Calgary Flames organization for 8 years," said Flames President & CEO Ken King in a statement. "He was the leader that ignited a renaissance of Flames hockey, moving us from a non-playoff team to an organization that was viewed as a respected and popular contender each year. We thank Darryl for his leadership and his important contributions to re-establishing the Calgary Flames as a model franchise. As we enter the next phase of our growth in the NHL, we are restructuring our leadership and processes. We are pleased that Darryl has agreed to assist in an orderly transition and will provide his valuable guidance in the process. He remains dedicated to the success of the team he worked so hard to build."

More when we know more...

December Contender: NHL Fight Of The Year

((HT: Hockeyfightsdotcom/NHL/FSStars))

The HQ presents the Dallas Stars Jamie Benn and the Calgary Flames Jarome Iginla...



Compubox Stats give the fight early to Benn ((landing the blow that drew blood)) with Iginla's staying power giving him the round 10-9...

Langkow Carried From Ice On Stretcher

((HT: TSN/CP))

The Calgary Flames lost Daymond Langkow, their third-leading scorer, when he was hit in the back of the neck with a puck in the second period of Sunday's game against the Minnesota Wild. Langkow left the ice on a stretcher, but the team later reported he had feeling in all his extremities.

Langkow was checked from behind by Minnesota defenseman Greg Zanon. He hit Wild defenseman Marek Zidlicky as he lost his balance and fell forward. With Langkow's head down as he fell, Calgary defenceman Ian White fired toward the net and hit his teammate in the back of the head with the puck.

Langkow was not moving as he was removed from the ice on a stretcher. He remained on the ice for nearly 10 minutes.

"We were definitely a little bit rattled," Calgary defenseman Steve Staios said. "After that, you've got to get yourself back focused on the game, but there's definitely a time when you're afraid for him, and it becomes a difficult situation to deal with."

Here's the play in question...
((HT: Rogers Sportsnet/NHL))

Leafs Start NHL Trading Frenzy Early, Grab Phaneuf And Giguere...

((HT: TSN, ESPN-Lebrun))

Two teams hemorrhaging in the NHL standings have decided it's time to shake up their rosters before the Winter Olympic break... and Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke ((pictured, knowing he got the better part of the deal, thanks CP)) is already looking like he improved the worst team in the Eastern Conference.

The Calgary Flames broke an 0-6-3 losing skid last night by playing Edmonton and winning 6-1. They sent defenseman Dion Phaneuf, forward Fredrik Sjostrom, and defenseman Keith Aulie to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for forwards Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, Jamal Mayers and defenseman Ian White.

Mayers, along with defenseman Garnet Exelby, had asked for moving papers earlier in the week. Leafs GM Brian Burke had said their demand would not effect how the team plays on the ice- and he was right...since Mayers is now no longer with the team.

ESPN's Piere Lebrun reports that the Leafs added the Ducks JS Giguere in goal in exchange for Vesa Toskala- and then some...

Giguere waived his no-trade clause and was sent to Toronto for Vesa Toskala and Jason Blake.

Giguere has one year left on his deal next season at $7 million while Toskala, earning $4 million this year, will be an unrestricted free agent July 1. Blake has two more years left after this season at $3 million per year, although his annual salary cap hit is $4 million.

Kevin McGran's work from The Star is here...
Eric Duhatschek's analysis is here from the Globe and Mail...

Here's Burke talking about his trades...
((HT: LeafsTV))

Hey, This Line Was No Cuts...

((HT: TSN))

Unless, of course, you're a professional athlete...

A health employee who let the Calgary Flames jump in line for a swine flu shot was fired Wednesday as the controversy over preferential treatment to celebrity athletes spread to the Flames' farm team and beyond, including members of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"Like most Albertans, I am deeply offended that this circumstance has occurred," Ken Hughes, chairman of Alberta Health Services, said in a news release.

"(It) was a serious error in judgment."

Ya think...???

Hughes did not release the employee's name or discuss the circumstances that led to the firing, but said "an investigation is continuing and may result in further disciplinary action."

Alberta Health Minister Ron Liepert said the firing sends the message that favoritism will not be tolerated.

"Nobody feels good about it," said Liepert. "I'm sure if they could rewind the clock that all of them would think differently."

Flames President Ken King is catching the appropriate amount of hell over it...
((HT: Calgary Herald))


But it doesn't end there... the Flames AHL affiliate in British Columbia got a batch of the vaccine- jumping the line...

Team president Tom Mauthe said the shots were given after most of the players fell ill on a recent road trip. They went to a public clinic for shots, he said.

"At no time did anyone from the Abbotsford Heat receive preferential treatment nor did they jump a queue," said Mauthe.

But B.C.'s medical health officer, Dr. Perry Kendall, said rules were broken.

Provincial guidelines clearly state the vaccine is to be offered first to high-risk groups including people under 65 with a chronic condition, children between six months and five years and pregnant women, he said.

"There has been no authorization given by me or any of British Columbia's medical officers or health authorities for any sports team to receive early access to the H1N1 vaccine," Kendall said.

"That was clearly outside the province's guidelines for the publicly funded vaccine program."

Here's Kelly Sinoski's story from the Vancouver Sun

CBC's Eric Rankin caught up with the Heat in Abbotsford

Theoren Fleury: Playing With Fire

Fleury spent twenty minutes with George Stroumboulopoulos
Heavy stuff...

Here's Part 2
((HT: CBC/The Hour))

Calgary's Little Big Man Retires

Theoren Fleury officially retired from the NHL today.
It was a relatively quick ceremony at the Sadledome in Calgary.

It was a final good-bye from an on-ice perspective after he scored four points in four pre-season games.

Commissioner Gary Bettman lifted Fleury's lifetime ban for violating the league's substance abuse policy which allowed Fleury to participate in Flames pre-season camp.

"Do I want to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame? Absolutely. Do I deserve it? I think I do. Four years ago, did I deserve it? No, I didn't," he said, adding that the Hall is incentive to continue his sobriety.

"I'm going to continue to have to live my life the way I've chosen to."

Once critical of the league's substance abuse and behavioral health program, which is designed to address and treat players' drug and alcohol addictions, Fleury now supports it.

"I know I've said things in the past about the program but that's because was in a completely different place," he said. "I was still angry, I was still bitter, I was a lot of things. What it comes down to is nobody likes to face consequences. I had some real consequences I had to face.

"The places I went to and the people I interacted with because of the program got me here today . . . where I'm a solid, functioning human being in society and I can help other people."

Here's some of his good-bye...
((HT: Calgary Herald))

Isles Morency Gets 5 For Fighting

And we haven't even started the season yet...

New York Islanders forward Pascal Morency has been suspended for the remainder of the preseason and five regular-season games after leaving the bench to start a fight in a game against the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.

The NHL announced the suspension Monday. Morency has sat out two games and will miss New York's final three preseason games.

Morency jumped off the bench after Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf knocked out Islanders forward Kyle Okposo with a hit in the second period of the Flames' victory Thursday.

He started a brawl that included New York goalie Martin Biron. Okposo was immobilized and removed from the ice on a stretcher.

Morency was assessed a game misconduct penalty.

((HT: Hockeyfightsdotcom))


Clean hit from the HQ point-of-view... Morency needs to calm down...

Sutter Introduces Sutter As Flames Coach

((HT: Calgary Sun/Steve Macfarlane))

Brent Sutter ((pictured with brother Darryl, thanks Sun Media)) will indeed be the next head coach of the Flames.

The announcement was made official late this afternoon, but it wasn't a very well-kept secret over the past few days.

Neither were the identities of his assistants, whose names have all been bandied about the last month.

Helping Sutter out this season will be former AHL affiliate head coach Ryan McGill, now ex-Calgary Hitmen head coach Dave Lowry, and former goalie Jamie McLennan, who will come down from his relatively undefined front-office job and take over full-time goaltending coach duties.

Sutter resigned June 9 before the final year on his three-year pact with the New Jersey Devils so he could be closer to his family just outside Red Deer, and the WHL Rebels he owns and operates.

Needing permission from Devils GM Lou Lamoriello to talk to his brother about filling the void left when Mike Keenan was fired late last month, Flames GM Darryl Sutter hammered out the final details of a contract over the weekend to bring Brent aboard, where he'll juggle the duties of an NHL head coach with his family life much closer to home.

"I know my family is happy about it," Brent said.

Permission was easy to come by, said Darryl.

"I called Lou and asked," he said simply of the June 12th conversation.

Lamoriello was understanding all the way through the process, according to Brent, who will be able to enjoy some of the perks of being close to home while also coaching in the NHL for a third season.

He says he won't be conflicted, and fully committed to the Flames.

"My full-time committment will be here," he said, adding he'd find a place in Calgary to reside during the season.

Darryl has no trepidation over his brother being under his employment, or the fact the assembled staff is so youthful on average.

"I coached them all," Darryl said.

"You can flip all their last names around and put the first names where you want. They're the very best people available."

Sutter Coaching For Sutter...?

((HT: TSN))

Sources tell TSN that Brent Sutter is in the final stages on the details of an agreement to become the next head coach of the Calgary Flames.

He is expected to be named in the near future.

Should Sutter be named the new bench boss in Calgary, it would be due to New Jersey Devils GM Lou Lamoriello giving the club permission to speak with him, as Sutter owes the Devils a year on his contract.

Sutter stepped down as head coach of the Devils on June 9th, citing personal and family reasons, but at the time there was speculation that he would eventually move into the vacant Flames head coaching position.

Brought to New Jersey on July 13, 2007, Sutter spent two seasons behind the Devils' bench compiling a record of 97-56-11. He led the team to the post-season both years, but failed to move on past the first round, most recently falling to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games.

Prior to his time in New Jersey, Sutter served eight seasons as the owner, president, general manager, and coach of the Red Deer Rebels in the Western Hockey League.

Sutter Thinks He's The Man

((HT: CP))

Darryl Sutter ((pictured, thanks Jeff Vinnick/Getty)) says he's the best man right now to coach the Calgary Flames, but he's looking at other candidates before he makes his final decision.

Four days after the Flames announced the firing of Mike Keenan, Calgary's general manager told reporters he wants to have a new head coach in place by the NHL entry draft June 26-27 in Montreal.

"Right now I'm the best one," Sutter said when asked when he was in the running for the head-coaching job.

"All the best coaches in the league are under contract. There's three guys who are excellent. I won't tell you who they are, but then I'm fourth. If I find out at the end of the search that I think I'm the best candidate, then I am the coach."

Sutter joined the Flames as head coach Dec. 28, 2002 and added general manager to his job description less than four months later. He coached the Flames to the Stanley Cup final in 2004.
After the 2005-06 season, he stepped out from behind the bench and promoted Jim Playfair from assistant to head coach.

Playfair was moved to associate coach when Keenan came on board in 2007.

After four straight exits in the first round of playoffs, and the last two under Keenan, Sutter's next choice for a head coach will be critical.

Playfair has been offered the coaching job with the Flames' new AHL affiliate in Abbotsford, B.C.
Assistant coaches Rob Cookson and Rich Preston and goaltending coach David Marcoux will not be offered contract extensions when their deals expire June 30, Sutter said.

Goodbye Mike....

In a move that could only be characterized as "Not Shocking", the Calgary Flames have parted way with Head Coach Mike Keenan. Keenan, we believe...at least unofficially has now been fired by roughly half of the teams in the NHL. Interestingly enough, this time, he had some success, getting the Flames to the Playoffs, where they were summarily dumped by the Chicago Blackhawks.

((Mike Keenan/Courtesy AFP-Google.com))

The story, from The Canadian Press here .

Keenan's possible replacement, Flames GM, Darryl Sutter. However, apparently not everyone is thrilled with the idea of that.

Check out this story from the Calgary Herald here

Needless to say, it sounds like fun times out there in Calgary. For those who follow hockey, this one should be lots of fun.

((Darryl Sutter/Courtesy: Calgary Herald))


Check out some "Mic'd Up" video of Keenan from this past season.

((Courtesy of You Tube))

Your Trade Deadline Day Wrap

Your Winners from Deadline Day...? Phoenix and Calgary- separate from the deal they did with one another... Toronto for grabbing Olie Kolzig and other spare parts...Edmonton...?

Losers...? Atlanta ((just because))... I'm sure everyone else has their opinions...

And here's every deal that meant anything to anyone...

((HT: TSN))

According to the official word from the NHL, there were 22 trades made involving 47 players. The last three seasons saw 25 deals done with (40, 44, 45 players changing teams respectively).
General Manager Darryl Sutter made the biggest splash of the day with two high-profile deals, acquiring centre Olli Jokinen from the Phoenix Coyotes and defenceman Jordan Leopold from the Colorado Avalanche ((pictured, thanks tsn.ca)).

"We wanted to get a centreman and we wanted a defenceman, we knew we'd have to pay a price," said Sutter. "Being able to accomplish this today was important. He's a big, first-line centreman who scores and plays tough. He can play against the big guys on the other team," Sutter said of Jokinen.

The Flames picked up Jokinen, along with a third-round pick, from the Coyotes for centre Matthew Lombardi, forward Brandon Prust and a first-round pick in 2009 or 2010. Leopold - re-acquired after the Flames dealt him to Colorado three years ago in a package for Alex Tanguay - went back to Calgary for defenceman Lawrence Nycholat, defenceman Ryan Wilson and a second-round pick.

"Once I left Calgary a couple years ago, I know Darryl didn't really want to part ways, but it's the nature of the beast and it's the business," Leopold explained following the trade. "I thought in the long run that maybe Darryl was thinking about me and apparently he was."

Not to be outdone by their provincial rivals down the road, the Edmonton Oilers were also big players - making a three-team deal with the Kings and Hurricanes. The trade saw Edmonton acquire centre Patrick O'Sullivan, Carolina re-acquire veteran winger Erik Cole and Los Angeles take in winger Justin Williams. The Oilers then added more firepower up front, picking up winger Ales Kotalik from the Buffalo Sabres for a second-round pick.

The New York Rangers - in a dogfight for a postseason berth in the Eastern Conference - also made a big wave picking up defenceman Derek Morris from the Coyotes for blueliners Dmitri Kalinin and forwards Nigel Dawes and Petr Prucha.

The sell-off in Phoenix finished off with a two more deals. The Coyotes sent winger Daniel Carcillo to Philadelphia for forward Scottie Upshall and a second-round pick and shipped goaltender Mikael Tellqvist to the Buffalo Sabres for a fourth-rounder.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, who were expected to jettison as many players as possible in an effort to acquire draft picks, made three moves. With just minutes remaining until the deadline, the club sent forward Dominic Moore to Buffalo for a second-round selection and Nik Antropov to the Rangers for a second-rounder and a conditional pick. The club then acquired injured goaltender Olaf Kolzig, defencemen Jamie Heward and Andy Rogers and a fourth-round draft pick from Tampa Bay for blueline prospect Richard Petiot.

Moore and the Leafs' front office could not agree on a multi-year deal for the impending unrestricted free agent, prompting general manager Brian Burke to trade him with just minutes to go before the 3pm cutoff time. Antropov, who is also set to hit the free agent market, was a career Leaf since being drafted by the club in 1998. Veteran defencemen Tomas Kaberle and Pavel Kubina - who have no-trade clauses - did not end up finding new homes.

In the nation's capital, the Ottawa Senators kicked off Deadline Day with a shakeup of their own, acquiring goaltender Pascal Leclaire and a second-round draft pick from the Columbus Blue Jackets for winger Antoine Vermette.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins could end up facing each other in the first round of the playoffs and will have plenty of extra firepower and experience going in.

For the second time in two years, general manager Ray Shero acquired another weapon for centre Sidney Crosby at the deadline, this time acquiring winger Bill Guerin from the New York Islanders for a conditional draft pick. The Bruins made upgrades of their own, getting winger Mark Recchi and a 2010 second-round pick from the Tampa Bay Lightning for defenceman Matt Lashoff and winger Martins Karsums and sending forward Petteri Nokelainen to the Anaheim Ducks for defenceman Steve Montador.

The San Jose Sharks, considered by the odds-on favourite to hoist the Cup, improved their lineup by adding forward Travis Moen and defenceman Kent Huskins from the Ducks. The resurgent Chicago Blackhawks also went to Anaheim for help, acquiring former Selke Trophy winner Sami Pahlsson for defenceman James Wishniewski.

In other moves:
- The Atlanta Thrashers traded forward Erik Christensen to Anaheim for prospect Eric O'Dell.
- The St. Louis Blues traded defenceman Andy Wozniewski to Pittsburgh for blueliner Danny Richmond.

Feel free to discuss by hitting the right box below... or something...

Some Deadline Dealing In The NHL

The Boston Briuns, the Eastern Conference leaders in the NHL, got much stronger for their Stanley Cup Run by acquiring Mark Recci from the Tampa Bay Lightening in exchange for forward Martins Karsums and defenseman Matt Lashoff. The spoked "B's" also get a 2nd round pick from the Lightening.

The Bruins weren't done dealing yet getting defenseman Steve Montador from the Anaheim Ducks for forward Petteri Nokelainen.

In other NHL trade deadline news, The Phoenix Coyotes have traded center Olli Jokinen to the Calgary Flames for two young players and a conditional first-round draft pick.

The 30-year-old Jokinen had 21 goals and 21 assists in 57 games in his first season with Phoenix. He has 229 goals in 780 career NHL games with Los Angeles, the New York Islanders, Florida and Phoenix.

Boogey Man Gets Five For Elbow

The NHL has come down hard on Minnesota Wild tough guy Derek Boogaard as the veteran enforcer was handed a five game suspension Saturday for an elbow to the head of Flames' forward Brandon Prust.

With just under two minutes remaining in the third period, the 26-year old Boogaard blindsided Prust with an elbow to the side of the head. Prust left the game and did not return. At Flames practice Saturday, head coach Mike Keenan suspected that Prust had been concussed on the play.

One of the most feared heavyweights in the league, the 26-year old Boogaard has three assists and 85 penalty minutes in 47 games this season.

Here's the elbow no longer in question...
((HT: Sportsnet))