Flames Game Day primer

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COMING IN

It's the season opener, so there are no real winning or losing streaks. The Canucks had a great pre-season -- a franchise best 7-0-2 -- while the Flames posted a 3-2-2 mark. Vancouver won both pre-season meetings via shootouts.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

A big reason the Canucks won the Northwest Division title in 2008-09 was head-to-head success. Calgary won only two of the six meetings and ended the season series with a 2-2-2 mark.

By comparison, the Canucks posted a 4-2-0 mark, which included the 6-0 thumping they handed the Flames in the season opener.

SPECIAL TEAMS

LAST SEASON

POWERPLAY -- Calgary 17% (61-358, 21st); Vancouver 18.8% (67-357, T16th).

PENALTY KILLING -- Calgary 83.4% (4th); Vancouver 81.4% (16th).

QUOTE TO NOTE

"I'm not caught up in what's happened in the past. It's a new year and we're excited about it."

-- Brent Sutter

INJURIES

FLAMES -- D Cory Sarich missed a week due to a foot injury, practised for a couple of days, but didn't hit the ice yesterday and left the rink limping. RW Brian McGrattan (shoulder) is about a week away from action following off-season surgery.

CANUCKS -- The visitors are missing a trio of players as RW Jannik Hansen (hand), C/RW Pavol Demitra (shoulder) and D Mathieu Schneider (shoulder) are all out.

WHO TO WATCH

KEEP YOUR EYES ON THESE TWO PLAYERS IN TONIGHT'S GAME

JAY BOUWMEESTER, DEFENCE

The team's biggest off-season acquisition quietly went through training camp thanks to Theoren Fleury's comeback attempt. Bouwmeester will likely lead the Flames in ice time with his abilities at both ends of the ice. He's on the first powerplay unit.

ROBERTO LUONGO, GOALIE

Vancouver's team captain is certainly the backbone of the team. Sure, the Canucks have their share of talent up front with the Sedin twins and Ryan Kesler and a very good defence corps, but Luongo remains the glue that holds the team together.

 

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Reason to take offence

Critics who suggest scoring a problem with newlook Flames miss mark


In their quest to become better at keeping pucks out of their net, the Calgary Flames now have another problem.

At least in the eyes of their detractors.

The big question mark around the Flames as they open the season tonight at the Saddledome against the Vancouver Canucks is their offence.

You can hear the queries from all corners of the NHL: Do the Flames have enough scoring in them to be considered Stanley Cup contenders?

"We can totally understand the questions," said captain and franchise all-time leading scorer Jarome Iginla.

"You see (Michael) Cammalleri is gone, and he was great for us, and Bert (Todd Bertuzzi) gone, too. Their contributions were huge."

True, losing Cammalleri's team-high 39 goals is a hit. Bertuzzi had 15 tallies, so his impact is up for debate.

It's possible the Flames won't provide as much offence this season as they did last year, but there shouldn't be a big decrease.

All those prognosticators who opine the Flames will suddenly fumble lighting the lamp are way off base.

For starters, last season's Flames squad was among the most prolific in the NHL.

They finished tied with the San Jose Sharks for seventh in the league in goals scored, and third in the Western Conference behind the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks.

They lost one key offensive force from that team, but before you write them off, delve into the players in their lineup.

A full season of Olli Jokinen on the top line with Iginla, while he aims for a new contract, should offset a big chunk of Cammalleri's production.

When it comes to the defencemen, Jay Bouwmeester replaces Adrian Aucoin as far as offensive contribution. Bouwmeester has scored 15 goals in each of the past two seasons. He should be able to make up for the 10 tallies Aucoin provided last year, if not more considering the part he'll play on Calgary's powerplay unit.

Plus, it's a good bet Dion Phaneuf will bounce back from his career-low 11-goal season.

"Our defencemen, they're more mobile now, and can add a lot of offence to our team," said Iginla, with the likes of Bouwmeester and a healthy Mark Giordano in mind.

Where Calgary's offensive ability can be questioned is the supporting cast.

After Jokinen, Iginla and Daymond Langkow, there are no proven snipers in top-six roles, but no shortage of candidates for the pending opportunities.

David Moss and Rene Bourque are coming off their first 20-goal seasons. They both must repeat that feat to make more believers, but no reason exists to believe they won't do it. The onus will ultimately fall on the likes of Nigel Dawes, Dustin Boyd, Curtis Glencross and Fredrik Sjostrom.

Currently, Dawes, whose career best is 14 goals, has the enviable spot beside Langkow on the second line. He receives the first chance to prove he can be a 20- to 25-goal producer.

If he can't do it, you know the others will be champing at the bit to receive their shot, and doing all they can to get it.

Iginla, who has 409 NHL goals on his resume, expects somebody to step forward, and not just because he's a notoriously upbeat person.

"We're going to get more offence just by playing better hockey," he said.

"What Brent (Sutter, the new head coach) has been saying from the start of training camp and the whole time is it's not just defence, and it's not just offence. It's being better positionally in the defensive zone, neutral zone and offensive zone, having the puck more, and that will create offence."

 

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Limping Sarich likely to sit tonight

Limping away from the Westside Recreation Centre as his teammates practised, defenceman Cory Sarich didn't break stride when the question came.

"Had a little flare-up," he said when asked what happened.

The bruising that kept him out of most of the exhibition schedule now threatens to keep Sarich out of tonight's season-opener.

"Cory's a big part of the team, a big part of the defence," said fellow rearguard Robyn Regehr.

"He got hit with a lot of pucks in the pre-season. I hope it's not too serious."

Before yesterday's relapse, Sarich seemed ready to go after a couple of days of practice at the Saddledome.

"He felt really good on Monday and he felt really good (Tuesday)," head coach Brent Sutter said.

"Right at the end, he was getting a little sore. There's soreness there today, so we thought we'd keep him off.

"We'll take it day-to-day."

Staffan Kronwall will play alongside Adam Pardy if Sarich can't suit up tonight against the Vancouver Canucks (Saddledome, 8 p.m., CBC).

"If I get the call, I'll be ready," Kronwall said.

"I'm sure the top guys will play a lot, so we're just going to have to squeeze in and give them a rest."

Sutter is confident Kronwall can do the job if needed.

Newcomer Jay Bouwmeester skated with Mark Giordano yesterday, while Regehr and Dion Phaneuf will be reunited after spending most of the last few years apart after first being tested together.

"I haven't played with Dion for a couple of years," Regehr said.

"It's up to us to get out there and be good together. We'll probably be asked to play against the top one or two lines against the other team, and you've got to make sure you're on top of your game or you get exposed very quickly.

"We need to work well together and do it in a hurry. It'll be a good challenge for us."

 

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Canucks can compete for Stanley Cup, Alain Vigneault says


Alain Vigneault firmly believes his Vancouver Canucks team is capable of making a serious Stanley Cup run this season.

All that?s needed are a few surprises.

The Canucks know Henrik and Daniel Sedin are likely both good for 80 or more points and that they can also bank on getting blue-chip goaltending from Roberto Luongo.

But much more than that will be required if the Canucks, who begin season No. 39 tonight, are to end their Stanley Cup drought.

?You need surprises,? Vigneault said Wednesday, before he and his players headed to Calgary for tonight?s regular-season opener against the Flames. ?Last year, we had guys like [Ryan] Kesler and [Alex] Burrows come out and have breakout seasons. We need that again, whether it be Kyle Wellwood or [Sergei] Shirokov or whoever it is. We need guys to come out and have breakout seasons and assume a bigger role on this team.?

Shirokov, the 23-year-old Russian who was the story of training camp, will start the season on the team?s second line and on the first power-play unit with the Sedins.

?Maybe this is one of the players who can do it for us,? Vigneault said.

It?s a lot to ask from a young player just stepping into the NHL, but the Canucks have decided they will give Shirokov every opportunity to shine.

?The kid seems to have some upside and we might as well see what he can do at the start of the season,? Vigneault said. ?Obviously, there is always adjustments to be made as the season goes on and we?ll see if he can handle the moment. If he can, great for us. If he can?t, we?ll make some adjustments.?

But besides Shirokov, there is a long list of players the Canucks are hoping will improve enough to allow them to go deep into the playoffs.

Wellwood, for starters, needs to be a better playmaker than he was last season. While he did chip in with 18 goals and was especially sharp on the power play, he had just nine assists all season.

The Canucks will be looking for Wellwood to set the table for wingers Steve Bernier and Mason Raymond. Bernier, of course, needs to finish more of his chances. He had 15 goals last season and missed a number of great opportunities. He?s come to camp in the best shape of his life and the Canucks don?t think 20 to 25 goals is out of the question.

Raymond, too, must continue to evolve as a player and improve at using his terrific speed to create offence. He had 11 goals last season. A 20-goal season this year would be one of those ?surprises? Vigneault is referring to.

Winger Mikael Samuelsson figures to a get a more offensive role than he had with the Detroit Red Wings. He loves to shoot the puck and will get his chance to do that more often. Anything less than 20 goals would be a disappointment.

On defence, Vigneault is banking on the likes of Kevin Bieksa, Sami Salo, Alex Edler and Christian Ehrhoff giving his team some secondary scoring.

The way Vigneault sees it, the more the scoring can be spread around, the more effective the Sedins can be. Vigneault thinks that with a strong supporting cast, the twins could each break the 90-point plateau this season.

?I think if our secondary scoring ? and I?m talking about our second line, our third line and our defence ? if those guys can contribute more offensively, these guys [the Sedins] can probably get 90 points,? he said. ?If the other team only has to focus on them, it?s more challenging obviously.?

Vigneault has set the bar high for his team.

?We think we are a team that can compete for the Stanley Cup,? he said. ?We firmly believe that.?

The players seem to believe it, too, and are especially motivated after last season?s painful second-round exit in Chicago.

?I think it is still fresh in a lot of our minds,? Bieksa said. ?I thought about it all summer long ? but we learned from it and are looking to get back in that same position this year and win the games we couldn?t last year.?