Featured Article
Saint John Flames hopes fading
Written by: Chris McCluskey on 02/18/2003 
The franchise, struggling both on and off the ice, currently sits at the bottom of the Canadian Division and 12 points behind the Worcester Ice Cats for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. With 25 games remaining, the goal of reaching the playoffs after a year absence is not insurmountable. However, the beleaguered Baby Flames definitely have their work cut out for them down the stretch if they hope to be considered legitimate playoff threats in what could be Calgary's farm team's last push in the industrially based New Brunswick city, where the poor economy is reflecting at the box office with poor ticket sales.
The port city has not seen their club compete since their Calder Cup championship team in 2001 which was disassembled by newly hired General Manager Craig Button immediately after. Citing the fact the players who were dealt would be happier in an environment where they could prosper, Sergei Varlamov (trade), Marty Murray (not offered new contract), Daniel Tkaczuk (trade), Derrick Walser (not resigned), Darrel Scoville (not resigned), Dave Roche (not resigned), Rico Fata (waivers), Miikka Elomo (returned to Finland), Martin Brochu (not resigned), Chris St. Croix (trade), Doug Doull (not resigned), Benoit Gratton (waivers)* and Gaetan Royer (not resigned) were lost during the off-season.
However, these key departures were never really replaced and only eight from that championship team would see any ice in Saint John the following season. This is testament to the fact Button overlooked a farm club in dire need of a good season to maintain local interest in the team. Compounding the fact that Calgary has been farcically mismanaging its team, one may recall that a stunned Martin St. Louis saw his contract bought out by former GM Al Coates 8 months earlier. St. Louis later went on to become an NHL all-star this season following yet another absurd transaction by the Calgary organization.
After a disappointing 2001/02 hopes were high that Saint John could rebound, bolstered by the return of talented Russian Oleg Saprykin and leading scorer Blair Betts along with newcomers veteran Dave Lowry, former first rounder Robert Dome, rookie Matthew Lombardi, defenceman Micki Dupont, and former Baby Flames favorite Ladislav Kohn fresh off a Stanley Cup win. The chances looked good that last season's nightmare was in the past. It was expected that Saint John would get back to its winning ways despite Calgary's decision to carry several extra bodies up top which may have not only helped their AHL affiliate get off on the right foot, but benefited the development of prospects like Jordan Leopold and Chuck Kobasew as well. This was a blunder that was realized much too late.
Flames in-term Head Coach Al MacNeil correctly scrutinized the 20 year old Kobasew's play by saying that, "He looked a bit in awe yet, like a deer caught in headlights. He's got to find himself a little more, get a little more push to his game." This is something the 2001 Team Canada member has rectified at the AHL level, seeing his game drastically improve since his December 17th demotion. The "feel" MacNeil stated that Kobasew was lacking in the NHL looks to have been found with his on-ice work ethic slowly resulting in him materializing as a standout amongst the rest of the players on the ice within a two month period.
The case of Leopold is similar, only the parent Flames have once again seen their blue line depleted with a rash of injuries necessitating his services up top. The Hobey Baker incumbent has benefited from some time in Saint John which saw him put up 3 points in 3 games indicating to himself that he can play at the NHL level. This gave the young defenceman some valuable confidence. This demotion took almost five months to occur after Leopold spent time sitting in the stands for part of the beginning of the NHL season, where he could have spent playing with the big club's eastern associate.
In addition to this, the underachieving Lowry and offseason acquisition Martin Sonnenberg did not help matters. Goaltending has also been a question mark with former junior stand-out Levente Szuper failing to solidify himself as a minor-pro number one. Then there are the injuries to the parent club which inevitably plague all AHL teams. This resulted in Steve Montador as well as Oleg Saprykin, who left Saint John because he felt he was above AHL caliber, graduating to the NHL and several others spending time out West as well. Dome, Kohn, and Betts have also missed significant amounts of time each due to wounds suffered in the AHL. All of this has resulted in numerous player tryout signings just to fill roster spots to play on a particular night.
The recent acquisition of former AHL all-star Mike
Mottau, who like Leopold was also a Hobey Baker Award
recipient, from the New York Rangers was a step in the
right direction. But if Button hopes to prove to
Saint John that it is committed to having hockey in
the port city he must learn from prior mistakes and
seek to correct them as soon as possible. The reasons
for the baby Flames' mediocrity are obvious. It is
impossible to the measure the impact of head coach Jim
Playfair leaving to take an assistant's job in
Calgary, and Saint John is by no means out of it yet,
but one has to wonder how good their chances are this
late in the season.
Copyright 2003 Hockey’s Future. Do not reprint or otherwise duplicate without permission of the editorial staff.
HF Quick Navigation
