Randy Sportak, who covers the Flames for the Calgary Sun, was kind enough to answer a few questions about the Flames prior to last night's tilt with Edmonton. Hopefully, this helps you get ready for tonight's game:
Q: Talk about the Flames' trade of Kyle Greentree to Chicago for defenseman Aaron Johnson. What does Johnson bring? Do you like the trade?
A: Johnson is a depth defenceman the Flames need right now. With Cory Sarich out (foot), they only have six healthy defencemen here. On the farm, the oldest defender is 25, and any other youngsters are too young to have sitting in the press box. The trade made sense. Kyle Greentree had a good season in the minors last year, 39 goals, but has trouble skating at the NHL level.
A: He's been pretty good. The average (3.00) may seem high, but he's been great when the team's needed him. In the first three games, Kiprusoff faced 45 shots in the third periods, and allowed two goals. Basically, he's slammed the door when the Flames needed him. He has allowed a couple of weak goals, but been better. The team's been better defensively, too.
Q: Tell us what to expect from the Calgary power play. It's had a great start, on top of the conference thanks to 5 goals. What has made it so successful so far?
A: Depth helps. A few of those goals have been because of the second unit. They are doing a better job of creating traffic in front of the net, which was lacking last season.
Q: Who is the best Flames player that Stars fans may not have heard of?
A:David Moss is coming off a 20-goal season, which came while mainly in a third-line role and on the second power play. He's on the top line with Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen this year. Could be a draft pool steal.
Q: Talk about the top line and how they complement each other.
A: It's a work in progress because Jokinen and Iginla haven't been told to learn defence the past couple of seasons. Once they stop playing and reacting, they'll be better.
A: They love him. And he's a really good coach, teaching in practice, ensuring players have a structured system. It's refreshing.
Q: How do you think the Stars will do this season? What do Flames fans think of the Stars?
A: Honestly, I don't think the Stars are a playoff team. They don't have enough depth up front and the defence corps is middle of the road. Marty Turco will have a tough time being a top-five goalie with that in front of him. I think they took a step back behind the bench, too. I think the Stars are a bit of an "out-of-sight-out-of-mind" team to fans.
Q: Anything else Stars fans should know about Calgary?
A: You're going to see a different team from the past few seasons. Jay Bouwmeester is an outstanding defenceman and they have a structure to their game that was painfully lacking under Mike Keenan. It's a guess, but I think Curtis McElhinney will be in net, but that's just a guess.
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Richard Durrett
Richard Durrett joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He writes about colleges, the Dallas Stars and the Texas Rangers. Richard spent nine years at The Dallas Morning News covering the Rangers, Stars, colleges, motorsports and high schools.
