HOCKEY'S HERE: CALGARY FLAMES

It's time to air out your gear, sharpen your skates and tape your stick -- it's hockey season. Sure, your team flat-out ached last season, but there's hope, unless you're an Islanders fan. In that spirit, Out of Left Field offers looks at all 30 NHL teams. Presenting: The Calgary Flames.

Last season: 103 points, 1st in Northwest Division; lost to Anaheim in first round
Coach: Jim Playfair (1st season)
Young gun: Hmmm.... Matthew Lombardi?
Store this name away: Daniel Ryder (younger brother of the Canadiens' Michael, he's a Calgary draft choice who may win the OHL scoring title this season)
Hey, get a load of the new guys: Alex Tanguay, Jeff Friesen, Andrei Zyuzin
Blogs (including but not limited to): Battle of Alberta, double d(ion), Red Mile
Pop culture moment: Director Ang Lee is a big Flames fan; a kid into the video for Tom Petty's Free Falling wears a Flames hat (courtesy of an anonymous reader)

In a testament to what can happen when everyone in the dressing room is half-scared of the coach-GM challenging them to a fight -- or worse yet, trading them to the Islanders -- if they abdicate their defensive responsibilities, the Flames won the Northwest Division last year despite outscoring only Chicago and St. Louis during the regular season. (Which is akin to saying you get more play than Andy Rooney and Gilbert Gottfried.)

Darryl Sutter is the full-time GM now, and Jim Playfair is the new coach, but the song remains the same for the Flames: We need Kipper to play great / If a goal is wasted / Sutter gets quite irate. Calgary missed the memo about the new NHL having more scoring; they still depend on Miikka Kiprusoff to stop everything so they can win 2-1 and 3-1. More often than not, he does.

It worked most of the time last season, just as it did in '03-04. The Flames aren't leaving it to chance that they can continue to finish so high up in the standings with such a paucity of offence, so that's why Alex Tanguay was acquired from Colorado. Tanguay'stalented, no one denies that, but the question with him is how well he adjusts to being a primary scoring threat on a team that's desperate for offence rather than being just one of many capable scorers, like he was with the Avalanche.

Aside from the coaching change, the addition of Tanguay and Andrei Zyuzin taking the traded Jordan Leopold's spot in the blueline rotation, Calgary hasn't changed much. In the absence of a serious challenger -- save for darkhorse Minnesota -- top spot in the Northwest should stay in the Stampede City.

Also in Northwest Division: Colorado Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers, Minnesota Wild, Vancouver Canucks

Back with more later. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca