By the Numbers: 2008 NHL Playoff Player Profiles, Pt. 2-Calgary

Watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it is easy to be sucked into a series and lost in it as a world on its own. For a time, what happens on the ice between two teams can block out reality for a few hours, and night after night the same combatants meet to dig in even deeper. As each game passes, the names and faces of the opposing team become more and more familiar to everyone involved, including the fans.

In a thirty-team league in which sixteen make the playoffs, it is a staggering task to know the bio of each and every player iced in the post-season. Professional commentators and analysts often forget names and check cheat-sheets when discussing an unfamiliar squad, so for a layman to be conversant on any whole team is impressive.

Knowing one’s own roster is plenty, but when scrutinising the enemy it never hurts to know some details. In the spirit of full disclosure, we will identify some of the sweater numbers to look out for in this and other series.

Keep your eyes peeled for great plays, and keep track of which numbers come up big. Watch closely to catch the licence plates of the men making an impact over 200 feet of ice.

Here we are on Day 4 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs of 2008, and already fans and foes have watched heroes stepping up from all depths of the talent chart. As the players continue on with the journey, fighting for the hardest title in sport, this series heads into the Calgary Flames dressing room for a meet and greet with three of Calgary’s best, most underrated skaters.

Impact Players: Warriors, Generals and Snipers

Calgary Flames

#7 Stephane Yelle-C- 6’1”-196 lbs. Born: Ottawa, Ontario, 1974. Post-season stats: 147 GP -9-20-29 Pts 82 PIM. Best finish: Stanley Cup Champion (x2)

No one in the Flames dressing room has more playoff experience than Stephane Yelle. Drafted by New Jersey in 1992, he never played as a Devil, traded to the Quebec Nordiques a year before their move to Colorado. Yelle would find success on the rising Avalanche team and made a place and name for himself amongst the stars of the squad. He soon became known as a grinding player, and in his rookie year played 71 games and 22 playoff matches on the way to Colorado’s first Stanley Cup.

With the Avs, Sandbox developed into a textbook character grinder as both he and the team became recognised and respected. In his seven seasons in Denver the club won two Stanley Cups, played in two Conference Finals, won two President’s Trophies and made the playoffs every year. The worst the Avs fared in the post-season was a seven-game first-round exit in 1998.

Traded to Calgary with Chris Drury in 2002, Yelle found a home where his sound defensive play was a gold standard as the Flames were becoming a top shut-down squad. Though he would miss the playoffs for the first time in 2003, Stephane would be instrumental as the Flames came within a hair’s breadth of a Stanley Cup title in 2004. A key role-player then and now, he has solidified Calgary’s two-way play.

Already a talented face-off man and penalty-killer, the gritty play Yelle demonstrates every shift makes him one of the best defensive forwards in the league. Chronically underrated, his amazing tenacity as a checker - fore and back - means he can attain puck possession and maintain it, allowing his team to get set up for a play.

Two games into the 2008 Cup run Yeller has potted two goals on two shots, lifting the Flames to a win with great all-around play in Game 1 in San Jose. He only scored three goals all year for Calgary, and his career-best in post-season goals is three as well. Do not let low point-totals fool you; this player is almost more dangerous when he isn’t scoring than when he is. He eats up a lot of ice-time on the checking lines and penalty-kill, and is second only to #18 Matthew Lombardi and #12 Jarome Iginla as a short-handed threat to press.

Ready to make the big play or the selfless one, Yelle regularly abuses his body blocking shots and getting in the way of mammoth-sized stars. He has been known to lead a game in hits, blocked-shots, takeaways and face-offs won, all in the same contest. Unrelenting in his own end and on the rush, his team spirit inspires the squad as they watch his line take over a game. Used primarily on the third line, when his unit is sent out it is capable of hemming the opposition in their zone for the entirety of the shift. At the very least, he can keep an enemy puck-carrier from having anywhere to go.

One of Calgary’s key character players and the archetypal grinder, expect this assistant captain to be a constant presence on the ice and the bench. Seemingly tireless, he takes on a lion’s share of the work-load as a matter of course. However, if Calgary’s discipline issues continue, Yelle will need to dig deep to find the energy to hold the fort.

~ Trivia: Yelle, a native Bourget, ON, scored his first NHL goal against his future team, the Calgary Flames.

San Jose’s former captain embodies the stereotype of a well-rounded two-way power forward. An 18-season NHL veteran leader, Nolan was considered one of the best in his prime. These days, as a grey-beard on the Calgary roster, his role may have changed slightly but Nolan is still one of the most enduring forwards on ice.

The Quebec Nordiques thought he would work out well in the big-leagues when they drafted him 1^st overall in 1990, recognising the form of a prototypical power-forward in the making.

Believe it or not, his skill-set is not very different from that of Jarome Iginla, but Nolan was never quite able to transition into superstar status. Injury troubles cropped up repeatedly for the rugged winger and contributed in preventing him morphing from star into superstar. Developing instead into an even two-way forward, he would use his hockey sense to set plays rather than score goals and lead his team with wise and timely plays.

He would display his talent often enough in all the important little ways, and now and then he’d reward himself and his fans with something spectacular. An All-Star Game regular through the ‘90’s, perhaps his most famous highlight reel moment came in the 1997 spring break match. Already the owner of two goals in the game, Nolan, bearing down on Dominik Hasek decided to up the ante in an otherwise meaningless contest. In a move almost unheard of at the professional level, he audaciously pointed to the top right corner of the net, calling his shot up front. He promptly lifted the breakaway blast past Hasek, completing the hat-trick.

His best overall showing would come a few years later after a couple of cold seasons. In 1999-00 Buster Nolan led the league with 18 power-play markers and was second only to Pavel Bure in NHL goal-scoring, notching 44 tallies. He also led top-scorers in infraction time, logging 110 PIM and proving he is not to be trifled with physically. He carried his success into that year’s post-season, and though the Sharks were eliminated in the second round, Nolan recorded ten points in ten games played.

Since leaving the Sharks, Nolan has floated around looking for a comfortable home. Having temporarily added grit to Toronto and then Phoenix, he finally signed in Calgary in July 2007 after considering offers from around the league. Familiar with the Darryl Sutter brand of hockey from his days in San Jose, Nolan stated he was ready to contribute to the club’s style of play. In October, he played his 1000^th NHL game as a Flame and ended 2007-08 with 807 career points. His numbers have decreased slowly over the years, but he maintains his ice-time (and assistant captain’s ’A’) with balanced and dedicated efforts up and down the rink and a strong locker room presence.

Having settled in nicely as a Flame, Nolan may now be most dangerous against his former squad. In January of this year in a match with the Sharks, he played what could be his best game since leaving Northern California. Recording his first hat-trick - and his career 11^th - since 1999, he scored short-handed, got the game-winner, and handily won a bout with big-guy Mike Grier as the Flames won 5-4 at the Saddledome.

Although a dedicated Canadian and Calgary Flame, Nolan and his family still keep their off-season home in San Jose, the city where the forward developed his enviable reputation. Likely a permanent summer resident, he owns a pair of restaurants there and plans to keep a place in California after his retirement.

As rumours swirl that he is nearing the end of his career, Nolan will be increasingly hungry for a chance at the Cup, the ultimate prize for which he has never contended. Although he hasn’t made the NHL finals, he can draw on Gold medal experience as he (and Canada) stormed the 1997 World Championships and the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games. A natural leader on and off the ice, Nolan will add to the Flames forward line-up and lend support as well as keeping things steady on the back end. Watch for his intensity all over the rink.

#18 Matthew Lombardi-C- 6’0”-198 lbs. Born: Montreal, Quebec, 1982. Post-season stats: 26 GP 2-8-10 Pts 6 PIM. Best finish: Stanley Cup Final

Unquestionably Calgary’s brightest up-and-coming forward, Lombardi has talent in spades and has incrementally improved with each campaign. His best scoring year was last season when he found 46 points, but the progress he exhibited in 2007-08 shows he may be a just few tweaks away from stardom.

Chosen 215^th overall in 2000 by the Edmonton Oilers, Lombo went unsigned and continued to toil in the QMJHL before re-entering the draft in 2002. Improving to 90^th overall, he was taken by Calgary and given a year’s trial with the AHL Saint John Flames as the franchise watched for NHL ability.

Though the big-wigs felt he needed a bit of fine tuning, he spent most of 2003-04 with the big club and when the team faced their first post-season in seven years, he would be looked to for youthful presence. An early fan favourite with his boyish good looks and tantalising skill base, the “C of Red” was infuriated when Red Wing Derian Hatcher threw a vicious elbow at the young centre’s cranium in Game 6 of the second round. The play knocked Lombardi to the floor and would eventually put him off the ice for months, but he got up and finished the series-clinching tilt as the home crowd cheered. The ‘Dome only found one thing to be louder about in 2004 than booing Hatcher: chanting “Ricci’s ugly” during the following round, the Western Conference Final with San Jose.

In what had been his rookie season he had come 5^th in team scoring, tied 5^th in NHL rookie scoring, and recorded four game-winners. His team would go all the way to the Game 7 of the Cup Final, and he would suffer the ultimate frustration as he watched from the press box for the last two rounds.

It took the Hudson, Quebec product a long time to fully recover from the elbow to the head, and he recorded good numbers despite missing much of 2005-06 with the lingering effects. Regardless of the injury issue, management expected more from him when he did play, and he began to face criticism in that year. An eager competitor, Lombardi set out to round out his game. He became less tentative but more careful, and in 2007 was rewarded with a place on Team Canada for the IIHF World Championship in Moscow. His inspiring play lifted the team through the tournament and to a 4-2 Gold medal victory against Finland in the final. Lombardi collected six goals and twelve points in nine games, leading the Canadian squad in scoring and spotlighting his talent on the international stage.

Lombardi has always possessed a fantastic set of wheels, but until recently he seemed to lose the plot a bit as he neared the net. Over the last few years, he has honed his game and become a smarter player overall. He has learned patience while moving at his blinding pace, maintaining puck possession longer and making legitimately dangerous attacks on the goal. Though he still needs the wisdom further experience will afford, he makes intelligent moves and finds ways to work the play to his skill advantages.

His speed coupled with improved defensive responsibility has made him a regular highlight on Calgary’s special teams, most impressively on the penalty-kill. Terrorising pinching defensemen with his immediate speed, he has dug out ten short-handed goals in four seasons and carved himself a surprising two-way niche. As one of the fastest skaters in the NHL - he has regularly led the Flames in the speed test - he creates quality scoring opportunities almost every game. More importantly, he can now control the puck with skill, and his line has often been used to aggressively forecheck and create containment in the offensive zone. Additionally, he has become more physical and responsive lately, fighting his first NHL bout this February against Oiler Ladislav Smid.

Continuing development has and will be the key to whether Lombardi’s stock rises or falls. With his ability he will soon be expected to find the consistency and reliability that makes for an enduring star. He still has a way to go in his own end, and if he can keep his +/- rating positive he will be that much closer to the NHL marquee. He may have received criticism from Flames staff, but it is mainly due to his enormous potential and the dissatisfaction they felt from his tempered output. It is important to remember he has kept a place on his team’s top scoring list each and every year he has played, and if/when the floodgates finally breach on this young man’s talent, watch out! Current head coach Mike Keenan says he is almost too fast, and it won’t be until Lombardi’s head and hands can keep up with his feet that he will find a level of elite competency.

Check back over the coming days and weeks for a look at more impact players from the Sharks-Flames series, and around the NHL playoff circuit. There may even be a coach or two…. 

To check out Part I, follow the link.  http://bleacherreport.com/articles/17270-By-the-Numbers-Player-Profiles-from-the-2008-NHL-Playoffs---Part-I-110408