Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Five Hole Fanatics/Matchsticks & Gasolines' Kent shares (pre-Bouwmeester signing) Flames FA thoughts

H/T to Vance from Bangin Panger for another great PhotoShop

Please keep in mind Kent sent me this post before it was announced that Jay Boumweester signed a big contract with the Calgary Flames. Congrats to Kent and Calgary fans for that; good luck to Sutter as he tries to make some kind of sense of the team's cap situation.

Anyway, as always, we thank Kent for his considerable loyalty and generosity to CLS. Make sure to follow both Five Hole Fanatics (for the number cruncher in you) and Matchsticks & Gasoline (for the Flames information). Thanks, Kent!

1.) Which player, for the love of God, do you NOT want to see in your team's sweater in the 09-10 season?

Todd Bertuzzi. And it's not because he's a violent criminal (this time). It's because he's an ineffective hockey player. His stats line may look alright from last year, but he was, for very long stretches, the worst player in the Flames top 9 forwards. Lazy and penalty-prone, Bertuzzi also favored the excessively fancy play to the right one. I dubbed him "sore thumb" for the manner in which he stuck out during amongst the Flames top 6 forwards. His inappropriate use of back-hand passes became a punchline in Flame circles. He's big, but he plays like a man who's had numerous back surgeries. He's also injury prone. His offensive totals from this past season are almost totally based on Keenan feeding him lots of ice time and good line mates.

If the Flames re-sign Bertuzzi, I may have to turn in my fan card.

2.) Conversely, pick a potential move by another team that would just crush your soul/favorite team's chances.

I would hate to see Marian Hossa land in Edmonton or Vancouver. He's easily one of the best two-way forwards in the league and he instantly makes any team he's on better.

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