| 01 February 2010
Philadelphia Flyers at Calgary Flames
NHL Hockey Monday February 1, 2010
Two preseason favourites lock horns tonight as the completely renovated Calgary Flames play host to the Philadelphia Flyers at the Pengrowth Saddledome.
What a hectic day for NHL fans yesterday as the Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs played the lead roles in the beginning of the roster revamping trading season. These two clubs put up a blockbuster deal involving 7 players and some marquee names that made this trade one of the biggest in about 10-15 years. Once thought of as the cornerstone franchise defenseman in Calgary, Dion Phaneuf was sent packing as Calgary needed a major upgrade offensively. The Flames received two of Toronto's top 4 scorers in Matt Stajan and Niklas Hagman as well as defenseman Ian White and journeyman enforcer Jamal Mayers. After all the transactions for both clubs it'll be interesting to see how they perform in the first couple of games, and that starts tonight for the Flames as they host the Flyers.
Calgary comes into tonight's action in 8th place in the Western Conference with a disappointing 62 points through 55 games. The Flames have received stellar goaltending as per usual from Miikka Kiprusoff, and have a really strong defensive core, especially with the emergence of Mark Giordano this season. However, Calgary is among the league's worst in goals for which undoubtedly was the catalyst for all the off ice movement in the last couple of days.
Philadelphia on the other hand has played extremely well over the past month after an uncharacteristic slow start. The Flyers sit in 4th place in the Eastern Conference and are poised to be buyers at the trade deadline to increase their chances at a deep playoff run.
This is a tough game to call as the Flyers are clearly the better team at the moment, however Calgary has a lot of emotion on their side and they will look to win their first game with the new look roster. The smarter play here is to attack the total, and I think this game will go under. The Flames have had great difficulty scoring this season and I feel that should continue tonight as the newest additions to the team have had less than 24 hours to get to know their new teammates. That spells a disaster offensively as many of the new guys will play a reserved style of game as to not screw up in their debut for their new club.
On the other hand, Calgary has been able to keep the puck out of their net, and the Flames defense looking to make a statement in this one with Phaneuf, I expect a really low scoring game.
Kyle's Pick: Under 5.5
Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites
.gif&AffUrlID=768)
