Back in the Saddle: A Resurgence in Calgary

Batman and Robin, Abbot and Costello, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and Huey Lewis and the News. All of these people have one thing in common: They were all made notable by the company they kept, and were all amazing duos (and yes I'm counting The News as a whole person).

But there's one duo in the NHL that might surpass them all.

No it's not Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, or Sidney Crosby and Colby Armstrong, or Sidney Crosby and whoever else is on the Pittsburgh Penguins roster.

It's not Jonathon Toews and Patrick Kane, although one day they'll bring the Blackhawks back to respectability on their shoulders. It's not Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin (you can't have an All-Star duo with the same first name can you?) or Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa.

For this duo, you'll have to go west, young man.

Jarome Iginla and Kristian Huselius have been lighting it up in Calgary this season. Between the two of them, they've combined for 52 goals, 55 assists, and 107 points on the year. Both are on pace for over 35 goals and 80 points, and Iginla has been selected as a starter to the Western Conference's All-Star team.

Despite both of them being on pace for career highs however, they also haven't lost sight of the main goal: getting the Calgary Flames to the playoffs and winning a Stanley Cup.

But let's look a little closer at this dominant duo shall we?

(On a side note: I think the term "Dynamic Duo" is overused in sports. Why not try introducing a new phrase? What about "Sprightly Duo" or "Inventive Duo?" Why do we even need to use the word "duo"? What about the "hyped-up doublet of Jarome Iginla and Kristian Huselius?" We'll definitely be coming back to this in the future.)

Huselius came to the Flames midway through the 2005-06 season, while Iginla is ten years his Calgary senior, as Iginla has been with the Flames since 1995-96 (although he didn't play his first game for the Flames until 1996-97).

Before Huselius' arrival, Iginla had the NHL hardware to back up his career. Two Rocket Richard trophies, an Art Ross, a King Clancy, and the Lester B. Person Award all resided in Iginla's trophy case at one point, while Huselius was having a hard time getting motivating on a moribund Florida team.

However, since Huselius arrived in Calgary, both have had dramatic upswings in their production, as in 2006-07 Iginla topped 90 points for the first time since 2001-02 and in the same year, Huselius topped 70 points for the first time in his career.

Then came this season.

With Mike Keenan behind the bench, the Flames were expected to have a grittier look, and be able to win the close games.

The season started off slowly for the Flames, and while both Huselius and Iginla were producing, it just wasn't together.

In the month of October, Huselius assisted on one of Iginla's eight goals, while Iginla assisted on one of Huselius', and each had an assist on the same goal twice. This kind of production was only able to earn the Flames 13 points, and a 6-5-1 record.

As October became November, nearly identical numbers were produced:One assist on an Iginla goal for Huselius (Calgary's Captain scored five that month), both assisted on the same goal twice, and Iginla failed to assist on any of Huselius' goals for the month (It probably didn't help that he only scored one).

The near identical stat line produced a near identical record, at 7-7-0.

(A tell-tale sign that the Flames were struggling: After two months of the season, the Toronto Maple Leafs had 32 points and 88 goals for, while the Flames had 27 points and 72 goals for. Writing that statistic made my head hurt, not because of the stats you're about to see, but because I'm trying to remember a time when Toronto actually won games. I wouldn't blame you if you don't believe those statistics from the first two months of the season, it took me four hours just to stop crying due to the shame of what's happened in Toronto. Um....anyways...)

Then came December.

Whether it was because the team was feeling the heat from the lower-portion of the conference, or the wrath of "Iron Mike," the duo lit up.

Huselius assisted on six of Iginla's fourteen goals, while Iggy complied with two assists of his own, as Huselius potted nine in December. Throw in to the equation that the two scored hat tricks in the same game (a 9-6 win against Tampa Bay) and the Flames were smoking, as they finished the month 10-4-0.

Currently, the Flames sit in sixth place in the west, while Iginla is second in the league in goals and third in points. In the month of January, Huselius has already assisted on four of Iggy's five goals, and Iginla's helped out his buddy on one, as the Flames start out the New Year 3-1-0.

It's clear that each of the gift of being able to affect the outcome of any given game, but they are truly dangerous when together as they've accounted for 16% of Calgary scoring when both of their names appear together after a goal.

Iginla is fresh off of signing a five year extension in July, but perhaps, with numbers like these, they should look at keeping Huselius in the budget for a little while longer too. 

Talk about bang for your buck.