(Spoiler alert: There’s only going to be a little bit of hockey this year)

Okay, so I’m riffing pretty heavily off of CBC here, but whatever, they’re more broadly covering this whole thing, where as I, as a service to you, the noble Flames fan, am keeping this pretty Calgary centric, because obviously that’s what you care about.  Or at least I assume you are, considering you’re actually reading this.

There are, in the event of a full hockey season (realistically even if there is only half a season.  Which there’s only going to be a half a season, so let’s all go ahead and get used to that) a number of milestones that the loyal charges of your Calgary Flames are poised to hit this season, and they’re more or less worth noting, so I’m going to go ahead and do just that, because mostly I have nothing better to do.

Our boy Miikka Kiprusoff, Man of Vowels, Saviour of Both Pucks and Seasons, is a game away from 600 for his career, which is pretty meh, and no one really cares, because starting games really mean nothing other than playing in games, which is not a far cry from LOSING games, although Kipper hasn’t done a WHOLE LOT of that during his tenure in Calgary.  Let’s hope Kipper can hit these milestones before inevitably being traded to The Leafs or the Islanders or let’s face it probably the Leafs for like Mike Komisarek or something.

More excitingly, which is apparently a term now, is that our Finnish super hero and best goalie in franchise history is only six shutouts away from 50 for his career, which is pretty decent when you consider a good number of them have come as a member of Flames teams that have had the likes of Bryan Marchment, Anders Eriksson, Steve Staios, Anton Babchuk, and Cory Sarich defending in front of him.  The more I think about it, the more amazed I am that Kiprusoff hasn’t had a nervous breakdown by now (although would any of us really be able to tell if he did?  That accent, man)

Alex Tanguay, meanwhile, is 18 games away from 900, which is not bad for a guy who’s not renowned for any degree of longevity. (Note: CBC says he’s 18 short of 1000, but everywhere else says he’s played 882 games, which if you do the math, is not 18 less than 1000)  What this means is that, while not being known astough as nails, fight through the pain kind of player, at 32, Tanguay has played way more games than he’s missed.  In fact, over 4 seasons in Calgary, Tanger has only missed 26 games, which is, I don’t know, something.

This all means virtually nothing, of course, but young Alex is also only 3 assists shy of 500for his career, which is actually a pretty big deal.  If 500 goals is considered to be such a monumental milestone, 500 assists should not be that far behind.  Unless you don’t put too much value into assists, in which case, uh…

Mike Cammalleri is only 3 goals away from 200 for his career.  Which I guess is 200 more than I ever scored, so who am I to judge a 30 year old offensively minded player who only has 200 goals at this point in his career?  In all seriousness, it’s kind of a big deal, and I expect Cammy to pot a whole bunch more than 200 by the time his career is all over and done with, but it does seem surprising that he’s only hitting this milestone now.  He’s a far more offensively capable player than that.  Here’s hoping he shows it.

Matt Stajan is also nearing in on an important landmark, as he’s only 3 games away from playing 160 games in a Flames uniform with a ridiculous contract that he never earned or has ever lived up to.  By the end of the year, that number could be well over 200 games.  Quite an impressive feat indeed.

Jarome Iginla needs but 12 games for 1200 total games played with that awesome forehead crease he has proudly rocked for an entire illustrious career.  Rumour has it it’s responsible for at least 600 of his career 516 goals.

Bob Hartley is an asshole and always will be.

Clint Malarchuk is 20 days away from going a whole month without finding some completely ridiculous way of almost killing himself.

Finally, a note on Sven Baertschi, who will be given every chance to shine this season in his rookie campaign.  Sven is poised to break records in rookie adorableness, hardest name to spell., rookie assists, hits, and heart of the fanbase capturing.  By the end of the year we will be erecting a statue to honour his middle name only, as every other part of his essence cannot be simply encapsulated by some bullshit statue.  It will be known as the third most impressive rookie season in Calgary, trailing only Joe Nieuwendyk and the first season of MacGyver.

This all will coincide nicely with the 95th all time Book of Loob blog posting, as the most fabled and beloved blog in Calgary Flames history currently sits at 94 entries following the conclusion of this piece.

Tags: ANDERS ERIKSSON?, Cammy, Hartley, Iginla, Kiprusoff, Malarchuk be crazy, Sarich, SVEN!, Tanguay

Posted in Hlushko Hodgepodge |