2008–09 Calgary Flames season.html



This article documents a current hockey season. Information may change as the event progresses.

The 2008–09 season is the 28th for the Calgary Flames, and 36th for the Flames franchise in the National Hockey League.

The Flames completed two significant trades during the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, acquiring forward Mike Cammalleri from the Los Angeles Kings as part of a three way trade that saw Calgary deal the 17th overall pick to the Anaheim Ducks. They then sent Alex Tanguay to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for the 25th overall pick, with each team adding lower round picks to the deal. The Flames signed forward Todd Bertuzzi during the off-season, a move that generated controversy amongst a fan base with which he had been previously unpopular.

Regular season

The Flames began the season with five games against divisional opposition. Despite holding leads in four of those games, Calgary won only one game, losing another in overtime.¹ Goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff became the focus of the team's early struggles, as his play was argued to be a major cause of the Flames' inability to hold a lead.² Calgary rebounded to end October in the midst of a six-game winning streak, during which Kiprusoff allowed only nine goals on 152 shots.³ The team again struggled to start November, losing five games in seven, including a pair of 6–1 losses that led head coach Mike Keenan to cancel a planned mini-vacation for the players.⁴

Divisional standings

Conference standings

* – division leader

Game log

Playoffs

The Flames are attempting to qualify for the post-season for the fifth consecutive year in 2008–09.

Player stats

Skaters

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Flames. Stats reflect time with the Flames only.
^‡Traded mid-season
Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Goaltenders

Awards and records

Records

Milestones

Transactions

Todd Bertuzzi was a controversial acquisition by the Flames.

The Flames made two significant trades at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, sending forward Alex Tanguay to Montreal and acquiring Mike Cammalleri from Los Angeles in two separate deals. Calgary sent the 17th overall selection in the draft to the Kings, and received the 25th overall pick from the Canadiens as part of the trades.⁵

Todd Bertuzzi was the most significant signing by the Flames in the free agent market. The controversial forward best known for his attack on Steve Moore in 2003–04, had previously been extremely unpopular with Flames fans.⁶ Bertuzzi, who had previously been booed by Calgary fans every time he touched the puck was greeted with loud cheers when he was introduced before the Flames' first exhibition game of the season.⁷

Trades

Additions and subtractions

Draft picks

Greg Nemisz, shown at Calgary's 2008 rookie camp, was the team's top pick, 25th overall.

The Flames entered the 2008 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa with the 17th overall selection. They dealt that pick to Los Angeles, and acquired the 25th overall selection from Montreal. With that pick, the Flames selected centre Greg Nemisz from the Ontario Hockey League's Windsor Spitfires.⁸ Listed at six-foot-three and 197 pounds, Nemisz is described as being a potential power forward who isn't afraid of working hard.⁹ Calgary drafted six other players, led by second-round selection Mitch Wahl, whom the Flames project to be a potential top-six forward.¹⁰

Rnd	Pick	Player	Nat	Pos	Team (league)	NHL statistics
						GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1	25	Greg Nemisz		C/RW	Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
2	48	Mitch Wahl		C	Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
3	78	Lance Bouma		C/LW	Vancouver Giants (WHL)
4	108	Nick Larson		LW	Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL)
4	114	T.J. Brodie		D	Saginaw Spirit (OHL)
6	168	Ryley Grantham		C	Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
7	198	Alexander Deilert		D	Djurgården Jr. (J20 SuperElit)

Farm teams

Quad City Flames

The Quad City Flames enter their second season in the American Hockey League in 2008–09.

Las Vegas Wranglers

The Las Vegas Wranglers remain Calgary's ECHL affiliate for the sixth season.

Roster

Updated November 23, 2008.[1]

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
33	Canada	Aucoin, AdrianAdrian Aucoin	2.0 D	R	35	2007	Ottawa, Ontario
7	Canada	Bertuzzi, ToddTodd Bertuzzi	7.0 RW	L	33	2008	Sudbury, Ontario
17	Canada	Bourque, ReneRene Bourque	6.0 LW	L	26	2008	Lac La Biche, Alberta
16	Canada	Boyd, DustinDustin Boyd	4.0 C	L	22	2004	Winnipeg, Manitoba
13	Canada	Cammalleri, MichaelMichael Cammalleri	4.0 C	L	26	2008	Richmond Hill, Ontario
24	United States	Conroy, CraigCraig Conroy	4.0 C	R	37	2007	Potsdam, New York
5	Canada	Giordano, MarkMark Giordano	2.0 D	L	25	2004	Toronto, Ontario
20	Canada	Glencross, CurtisCurtis Glencross	6.0 LW	L	25	2008	Kindersley, Saskatchewan
12	Canada	Iginla, JaromeJarome Iginla (C)	7.0 RW	R	31	1995	Edmonton, Alberta
34	Finland	Kiprusoff, MiikkaMiikka Kiprusoff	1.0 G	L	32	2003	Turku, Finland
22	Canada	Langkow, DaymondDaymond Langkow	4.0 C	L	32	2004	Edmonton, Alberta
18	Canada	Lombardi, MatthewMatthew Lombardi	4.0 C	L	26	2002	Montreal, Quebec
1	Canada	McElhinney, CurtisCurtis McElhinney	1.0 G	L	25	2002	London, Ontario
25	United States	Moss, DavidDavid Moss	7.0 RW	R	26	2001	Livonia, Michigan
23	United States	Nystrom, EricEric Nystrom	6.0 LW	L	25	2002	Syosset, New York
55	Canada	Pardy, AdamAdam Pardy	2.0 D	L	24	2004	Bonavista, Newfoundland and Labrador
3	Canada	Phaneuf, DionDion Phaneuf (A)	2.0 D	L	23	2003	Edmonton, Alberta
19	Canada	Primeau, WayneWayne Primeau	4.0 C	L	32	2007	Scarborough, Ontario
29	Canada	Prust, BrandonBrandon Prust	4.0 C	L	24	2004	London, Ontario
28	Canada	Regehr, RobynRobyn Regehr (A)	2.0 D	L	28	1999	Recife, Brazil
36	United States	Roy, AndreAndre Roy	6.0 LW	L	33	2008	Port Chester, New York
6	Canada	Sarich, CoryCory Sarich	2.0 D	R	30	2007	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
4	Canada	Vandermeer, JimJim Vandermeer	2.0 D	L	28	2008	Caroline, Alberta
44	Canada	Warrener, RhettRhett Warrener	2.0 D	R	32	2003	Shaunavon, Saskatchewan

See also

• 2008–09 NHL season

References