Two, Too Many? Calgary Is Not Big Enough For Iginla and Brent Sutter

"Now is the winter of our discontent." They are the opening words of the famous Shakespeare play, Richard III, and an accurate summary of the struggles that have plagued the Calgary Flames this season, most notably their captain, Jarome Iginla.

When the season began, most analysts and so-called experts believed Calgary would be battling for top spot in the Western Conference. As of Saturday afternoon, the Flames sit in 9th place with 4 games remaining on the schedule. Battling for 8th is an unfortunate reality that an underachieving Flames team now has to contend with.

So, who is to blame? The general manager, coach, captain? All three deserve some, but the blame game is far from over. What I can tell you is that Jarome Iginla and Brent Sutter have butted heads on more than one occasion this season.

Jarome Iginla is one of the 'good guys' in hockey. He is friendly with the media, respected in the locker room and revered across the league. Yet, a series of off-ice issues this season may suggest that if Brent Sutter is not on his way out of Calgary soon, Iginla may be. Rumor has it that Iginla complained about having to spend 2 days in Ottawa prior to a game with the Senators. On Saturday, February 6th the Flames played Tampa Bay and promptly left for Ottawa that night in advance of a game against the Sens on Tuesday, February 9th. Allegedly, Iginla complained to the team about not being able to spend the next day in sunny Florida. It has also been said that Iginla was involved in a yelling match with Brent Sutter, a week earlier, on a tarmac at an airport. If you look at Iginla's numbers, they would certainly suggest a rift between the Flames captain and coach exists.

Sutter clearly wants more from his captain, who is on pace for his lowest goal total since the 2000-01 season. However, it is possible that Iginla wants more from his coach. Iginla's ice time has been cut to its lowest average since that same 2000-01 season. If Iginla wants more ice time, perhaps Sutter would recommend killing penalties, which Iginla refuses to do for fear of injury. The following are Iginla's minutes per game killing penalties since the lockout:

05-06: 2:50 per game

06-07: 1:20 per game

07-08: 28 seconds

08-09: 10 seconds

09-10: 2 seconds

It's not news that Jarome Iginla no longer kills penalties, though if you look closely, maybe he should take a lesson from his peers. There are only three right wingers who have scored more goals this season that Jarome Iginla, Marian Gaborik, Rick Nash and Dany Heatley. Nash averages 2:15 of pk time per game, Gaborik, 1:00 and Heatley, :52 seconds per game. If Marian Gaborik can put the fear of injury behind him and kill penalties, so too should Jarome Iginla.

Finally, Iginla could argue that under the tutelage of Mike Babcock at the 2010 Olympic Winter games, he led all tournament scorers with 5 goals in 7 games. Under Sutter, Iginla has recorded 0 goals in his last 7 games.

Flames GM Darryl Sutter seems to be siding with his brother Brent on this one. "If our top three or four forwards and our top two defencemen don't pick up the pace, it isn't about the system, it's about guys getting the job done," said Darryl Sutter.

Whether you side with management or Iginla on who should shoulder the majority of the blame for this lackluster season, one thing is clear. Cow-town is not big enough for Darryl, Brent and Jarome.  

While some scoff at the notion that Iginla could be dealt, remember that Dion Phaneuf has already been traded this season and he was thought to be untouchable. On the flip side, if the Flames fail to make the post season both Darrly and Brent Sutter may be looking for jobs come the 2010-11 season.

Perhaps this 'winter of discontent' will be the Sutter brothers undoing in Calgary, making Brent reign behind the bench even shorter than Richard III's on the throne.