Calgary Flames: First-Place Position in the Northwest Division Is Well Deserved

This will be my first time writing something like this, so I hope this goes well.

Earlier in the season, I was a tad worried about the way things were looking. Mikka Kiprusoff started with some ugly-looking, numbers, but he has rebounded tremendously. It's one heck of a pleasant surprise to see him leading the entire NHL in wins.

The power play, the scoring, and especially the Flames recent play at home has been stellar! If there was an ugly game of the year, it was that 6-1 trouncing to the Sharks in SJ. Granted, it's the Sharks, and it was played in the Tank, where San Jose hasn't lost in regulation yet this season, but the fact is the Flames had an awful game.

And that loss seemed to wake them up and plant a real fire to compete harder—and have they ever!

Sure, we've got the likes of Iggy—on pace for another  100-point season—and Phaneuf, who's unfortunately been a bit phased it seems after that Avery incident, as he's just not scoring goals much at all. The Flames also have Regehr, who has been one heck of a solid defensive presence this season. And I haven't even mentioned Kipper, who has improved all year.

To boot, Cammalleri is playing well, Bert is having a good year, and Langkow has been really firing lately.

But if there's anyone that has really stood out to me, it's been a real battle between Moss, Giordano, and Bourque. Moss is one heck of a hard worker, and his work pays off. He's been a bit of a fave for me ever since he cracked the team, though.

With Giordano, I've been a bit sour that Darryl never offered him a one-way contract before Mark decided to go overseas as a restricted free agent...but, if anything, his experience across the ocean has paid off well for him.

As for Bourque, wow. I absolutely loathed him to start the season because he just did not look good as a Flame to me, for whatever reason. But, wow, he has come alive. You know when the guy sits second on the team in goals that he's doing well.

And the fact he doesn't play any power play time at all and has scored so many goals in limited ice time only adds to his value.

And, of course, I can't leave out Glencross. I just love laughing about how the stupid Oilers traded for him and then let him just drive down Highway 2, to the Flames, so he rub the salt in their wounds this year. Hehe...

A big kudos to Pardy, Lundmark, and Sutter as well. I was so surprised that Pardy has stayed up with Calgary, not because he’s a bad player, but because it’s been a while since a rookie stuck at the start of a season.

I kind of hoped Lundmark wouldn't have been sent back so soon, or at all. He played really well, in my opinion, in his time up, and has lit it up with Quad Cities. Brett Sutter was a big surprise, especially considering it totally seemed like sheer nepotism for Darryl to call up his boy for Xmas. His three goals and nine points in 32 AHL games didn’t seem worthy a call-up, but anyone that scores in their first NHL game is okay in my books.

If there's been one major disappointment in everything, it's been an issue not related to the team.

Dan Ryder, man, he's got some serious troubles going on. Last year, he started off great with Quad Cities, then went AWOL. He has come back this year and showed little drive during training camp. As a result, he gets sent to the AHL and does awful, then gets sent to Vegas and does worse. Finally, the Flames were forced to suspend him!

Hate to say it, but I think this one is the final straw with him—such a great talent gone to waste.

But besides that, I personally can't wait to see the Flames push this energy into the postseason. We could use a playoff run in 2009 to forget about the early exits the last few years.

Here’s hoping we see some June hockey for the Flames!