Battle of Alberta: Welcome Back Comrie Edition

Before looking ahead to tonight’s game against the Oilers, there are a few things about the season opener on Thursday that I’ve not yet been able to shake. Granted it was only one game, but considering it was our first look at the new look Flames (sporting some sharp old look jerseys) there are some informative things coming through already:

• The fourth line of Prust/Nystrom/Sjostrom was excellent all night long and they were used! Under Iron Mike, any time things went back for the Flames last year he’d throw whichever line had Iginla on it over the boards, even if it was that line at the root of the problems. B Sutter didn’t do that on Thursday and with the fourth line having the ability to play a solid ten minutes like they did against the Canucks, here’s hoping he doesn’t. Especially since Prust (a personal favourite before he was dealt to Phoenix) is willing to step up for any teammate and give—or more frequently, take—a beating if he feels there’s liberties being taken with teammates. That’s something the Flames missed last year after dealing him away and it’s good to see he’s returned to be part of an effective fourth line.
• While it fell apart towards the second half of the game, the Flames system is something I like already. As with the Devils in previous seasons, I suspect it will take the first month of the season for the Flames to get B Sutter’s system down to the point where they can respond without thinking. Also, using the umbrella on the powerplay and setting up Bouwmeester or Phaneuf up for a shot is going to make a huge difference to special team effectiveness. Keenan didn’t have a powerplay system and famously didn’t practice it. Moving away from that will probably help the Flames add some goals with the man-advantage and help the team scoring. Speaking of which…
• It’s amazing to read and listen things coming from outside Calgary, which think the Flames are going to have big troubles with secondary scoring. While I suspect they’re may be some drop-off the talk is way overblown and shows ignorance of the team. A full season of Olli Jokinen will make up for a lot goals of Mike Cammalleri. Add in Bouwmeester who can easily surpass Aucoin’s totals from last season and then things aren’t as desperate as people try to paint. Even the loss of Bertuzzi’s secondary scoring is overrated. For the 15 goals he scored as a Flame, his frustrating defensive play, tendency to take terrible penalties and slothfulness were a bigger issue. If Dustin Boyd, Curtis Glencross and Nigel Dawes have seasons close to or slightly better than their ok outputs of last season that more than makes up for any offensive deficiency that Calgary is suppose to have.  That’s without even mentioning the benefits of improved defense will have on the overall club.

Game 2: Flames @ Edmonton Oilers

Calgary heads up the QE2 highway tonight to help a slightly renovated Edmonton Oilers club open their season. It’s the Oilers’ home opener and the late game on Hockey Night In Canada so the crowd should be pretty lively. As if Flames and Oilers games needed more reason to be entertaining.

Better Know Your Enemy:

The Oilers have added a new coach and signed a 36 year old goaltender with back troubles for four seasons and added a couple of decent coaches, but the moldy core of last year’s team still remains. Their forwards remain undersized and they lack a player to play on the first line to compliment Ales Hemsky. Their defense can provide some offence, especially if Sheldon Souray is allowed to charge up his shot, but they’re prone to running around in front of their own net. Not the best trait in a corps that costs just $2.5 million less this season than the Flames much steadier defense.