With the NHL trade deadline two weeks away, we'll take a look this week at the situations with each of the seven Canadian clubs, beginning with the Calgary Flames on Monday.
With the NHL trade deadline two weeks away, we'll take a look this week at the situations with each of the seven Canadian clubs, beginning with the Calgary Flames on Monday.
The Situation: They haven't won a playoff series since losing Game 7 to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2003-04 Stanley Cup final and they have missed the past two post-seasons ... Flames general manager Jay Feaster has been busy. He acquired forwards Mike Cammalleri, Blair Jones and Blake Comeau in trades this year, but now Jones has been lost for the remainder of the regular season with a broken ankle ... Calgary has gone 5-3-3 since the Cammalleri trade ... With injuries to Jones as well as Mikael Backlund, out a month with an upper-body ailment, Curtis Glencross (knee), David Moss (ankle), Lee Stempniak (ankle) and Derek Smith (ankle), the Flames could use a top-six forward ... For now, Cammalleri will get a look at centre ... The Flames have a surplus of defencemen to trade, especially with pending unrestricted free-agents Cory Sarich and Scott Hannan. Sarich, however, has a full no-movement clause in his contract.
Playoff hopes: Ninth in the West, two points behind eighth-place Phoenix. Calgary has gone a solid 15-8-2 at home and have 16 games left at Scotiabank Saddledome.
Schedule: 26 games remaining (16 home, 10 road)
At Home: Toronto, Edmonton, Phoenix, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Dallas, Montreal, Winnipeg, San Jose, Phoenix, Columbus, Dallas, Los Angeles, Colorado, Vancouver, Anaheim.
On the Road: Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Anaheim, Minnesota, Edmonton, Colorado, Minnesota, Dallas, Vancouver.
Restricted free agents: Blake Comeau, Mikael Backlund, Paul Byron, Blair Jones, Leland Irving.
Unrestricted free agents: Lee Stempniak, Olli Jokinen, David Moss, Tom Kostopoulos, Tim Jackman, Cory Sarich, Scott Hannan.
No-trade clauses: Jarome Iginla, Mike Cammalleri (limited), Alex Tanguay (modified), Matt Stajan (modified), Olli Jokinen, Curtis Glencross, Jay Bouwmeester, Mark Giordano, Cory Sarich, Anton Babchuck, Miikka Kiprusoff.
Cap space: $1.74 million
On the farm: Pint-sized 5-foot-9, 170-pound centre Paul Byron has 26 games NHL experience, but he has yet to be given a shot on the top-two lines for a pro-longed time. He has been recalled with the Backlund injury. Others like forward 21-year-old Greg Nemisz, who scored 104 goals in his last three junior seasons, appear destined for third or fourth-line duty.
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'We're not going anywhere, or at least, not until we move our no-trade clauses.' OK, maybe that's NOT what Jarome Iginla, right, and Calgary teammate Olli Jokinen are talking about in this photo, but the injury-plagued Flames are in need of some offensive help and have few pieces to dangle at the NHL's trade deadline. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
Tim Wharnsby
Tim's worked the sports beat at The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Sun, specializing in Canada's one true sporting obsession - hockey. He knows the players, the coaches, the backroom boys and most importantly, the fans. That's what he brings to his stories. Knowledge, fairness and understanding are trademarks of a Wharnsby story. That's what you will get here as he writes for CBCSports.ca.
