A new era

First of all, I would like to wish Dion all the best in Toronto. I thouroughly enjoyed watching him play for the Flames, and still believe that the best is yet to come from him. Hopefully the intense media focus that will be placed on him in TO will assist him in maturing to the player most believe he can be. Thanks for the memories Dion, and for taking many memories away from players who were "Phaneufed". Am glad you are in the East.

Its hard not to be excited about the changes that Darryl has made bringing in 4 fresh faces to the team (well I am rather indifferent about Mayers). Something needed to be done to change the chemistry on this team and Sutter did it. Time will tell if Stajan, Hagman and White will make the difference that can change the Flames into a legitimate contender, or if they are just going to fade out of the playoff picture.

Its somewhat hard to gauge just how good any of these ex-Leafs are since they are just that, ex-Leafs. They have had to go through several seasons playing for a team that has had very little expectation to achieve anything, and have had very little talent to work with. Now they have a chance to play on a Calgary team that does have some genuine talent throughout the roster. The upgrade to the offence is the key here provided Stajan and Hagman can continue to produce. Having two more 50-60 point men in the lineup can never be a bad thing, but the Flames are still lacking another legitimate powerhouse up front to either compliment Iginla, or at the very least take some of the attention off of Iggy and give teams another threat to worry about.

As I said, time will tell how this trade will pan out for the Flames. Especially with the Jokinen trade seemingly stalled at the moment. This doesn't feel like its the end result that Sutter has in mind, so I believe that more movement will come. At the very least we will get a good look at the fresh faces for a few weeks before deadline day to see how it all seems to be working out. If the results aren't there, expect Sutter to be a busy man come March 3rd.

I still think Kovalchuk would look great in a Flames jersey. Lots of warm bodies, and salary space to make that happen now, especially of Olli is on his way out of town.

C