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head coach: Brian Sutter

roster: C - Andrew Cassels, Michael Nylander, Cory Stillman. RW - Eric Andersson, Valeri Bure, Theoren Fleury, Jarome Iginla, Ron Stern. LW - Jason Wiemer, Chris Dingman, Hnat Domenichelli, Marty McInnis, German Titov, Ed Ward. D - Tommy Albelin, Jamie Allison, Joel Bouchard, Kevin Dahl, Denis Gauthier, Cale Hulse, Derek Morris, James Patrick, Todd Simpson. G - Dwayne Roloson, Rick Tabaracci.

standings:

Western Conference - Pacific Division
Team         GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   
y-Colorado   82  39  26  17    95  231  205  
x-Los Angeles82  38  33  11    87  227  225  
x-Edmonton   82  35  37  10    80  215  224  
x-San Jose   82  34  38  10    78  210  216  
Calgary      82  26  41  15    67  217  252  
Anaheim      82  26  43  13    65  205  261  
Vancouver    82  25  43  14    64  224  273  

x - Clinched playoff spot
y - Clinched division

team news:

by Jim Iovino, Ace Reporter

The 1997-98 season saw Calgary's Young Guns produce nothing but blanks.

The youth movement in Calgary stalled this past season as none of the highly touted young players made much of an impact on the team. Jarome Iginla struggled during his sophomore campaign. Jason Wiemer didn't show the offensive ability he's supposed to have. Hnat Domenichelli showed a hint of promise in his brief 31-game stint but not enough to make anyone salivate with excitement. Chris Dingman was disappointing the whole year. Aaron Gavey struggled.

And that's just the offense.

The young defensemen on the team didn't do as bad as the forwards, but there was still a lack of progress made that scared many in Calgary. Being a team that can't afford to run out and sign big-name free agents to lucrative contracts, the Flames employed a strategy to build their franchise from within. They're supposed to stockpile picks, draft well and let their talent develop into NHL stars.

One question: What if that talent never shows up?

The answer: You're team looks like the 1997-98 Calgary Flames.

But the youngsters weren't the only ones to blame for the Flames non-playoff season. The veteran Flames did little to ease the transition from today's team to tomorrow's.

Theo Fleury was his usual self, scoring at a decent clip and logging a ton of ice time. But besides the little guy, no one else pulled his weight. Cory Stillman was second on the team in points, but he only had 49 points in 72 games. That's not good.

Stillman did pot 27 goals, though. That's the most in his four-year career, with his previous high of 16 coming in 95-96. Stillman also scored nine times on the power play.

Outside of Stillman and Fleury, there wasn't much to cheer about offensively. Marty McInnis didn't live up to expectations, scoring 44 points in 75 games. Andrew Cassels was disappointing, as well. The crafty playmaker should have easily exceeded the 44 points he scored this past season.

But that's the problem with the Flames offense. There are plenty of setup men on the team, but no pure goal scorers. German Titov should have been the main offensive weapon for the club, but he struggled the entire season and ended up with 18 goals. More on him later.

The goaltending situation was just as much a mess as the rest of the team. After the Flames traded Trevor Kidd, the starting job was up for grabs. Unfortunately, no one wanted it.

Rick Tabaracci, Dwayne Roloson and Tyler Moss all had their chances at taking control of the situation, but all three displayed inconsistent play, leaving the team without a stable force between the pipes.

So that's the Flames' season in a nutshell. The veterans didn't produce. The rookies didn't grow up. And the goaltenders didn't show up.

Since the Flames don't have the money to go out and correct their problems by signing free agents, fans can expect more of the same next season.

Theo Fleury by Meredith Martini

TEAM MVP: Theo Fleury. He had no one to pass to. There was no one to pass to him. He was hounded by two men every time he touched the puck. But despite all of that, Fleury was still among the top 10 scorers in the league, scoring 78 points (27 goals) in 82 games.

This was an especially frustrating year for Theo because there really wasn't much more he could do to help the team win. He doesn't have the skills to blow through a defense and score by himself. But if he doesn't do it, no one else will.

Theo played the point on the power play, he killed penalties and logged a ton of ice time at even strength. And despite not wearing the "C", Fleury was the leader on ice.

Sure, Theo dogged it a little toward the end of the year, but by that time the team was out of contention and the little guy was out of gas after playing every game during the season AND playing a regular shift in the Olympics for Team Canada.

For Fleury fans, the 97-98 campaign was actually kind of sad. He plays his heart out, but he still can't lead his team to victory. At this point in his career, Fleury deserves to play on a winning team. It will be up to management to see if they can grant him that wish with a trade this off-season or next season.

SURPRISES: Rookie defenseman Derek Morris played all 82 games for the Flames this season. And you know what? He played pretty damn well.

Morris has great wheels for a defenseman, loves to join the rush and has a cannon of a shot. Although his game is still rough around the edges, it looks like the Flames might have a keeper in this guy. Morris scored nine goals and added 20 assists this season. Those numbers should rise in the years to come...if the Flames offense gets better, that is. Remember Derek Morris's name when you're drafting your fantasy teams next season. The Flames are glad they picked him.

Speaking of flames, Zippy the Wonder Chimp saw some in his driveway this morning. Zippy, you see, is a cheap bastard who won't go out and by a new car. Zip's got mad cash, but he's too cheap to spend it. Therefore, he's been trying to keep the old clunker he has now running as long as he can.

But this morning, the car finally gave out. He was driving it to work, but something wasn't right and he decided to take it back home and get his parents' car instead. As soon as he parked the car in his driveway, the damn thing caught on fire. Zip had to call the fire department in to put out the blaze.

Zippy's Car by Zippy

Now we at LCS are glad that Zip didn't get hurt and all, but ya know what? Zippy deserved it! Everyone else should take this as a lesson. If you've got enough money to get a new car, please go out and buy one. Zip tried to be stingy and milk the one he had for all it's worth, but now he's without a car, he wasted taxpayer money by calling in the fire department, he lost hours at work and he has to get the burned up car towed away.

So in conclusion, don't be a weasel like Zippy. See, you learn something every day.

Now where were we...

DISAPPOINTMENTS: German Titov has to be the biggest disappointment of the year. This guy has a ton of talent, but for some reason he couldn't get things going this year. Titov has scored close to 30 goals twice in his career, but this season he only managed 18. That's not good.

There have also been some rumors that Titov was a problem in the locker room. Could that be a reason why the Flames traded him to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Ken Wregget? Could be...

OFF-SEASON CHANGES: The biggest change was the above-mentioned Wregget trade. Wregget will get the chance to take grasp of the No. 1 job in goal while Moss and J.S. Giguere gain more experience.

Valeri Bure, who was acquired from Montreal late in the season, provided an offensive spark to the Flames and was already re-signed.

Ronnie Stern, who was supposed to have a big season for Calgary and then get a big free agent contract from another team after the year, suffered a season-ending injury early in the year. That killed his hopes of landing a big contract, but also left hope that he would return to Calgary.

The only other major change is the addition of a third jersey for next season. It's all black with red and yellow trim, has the flamin' "C" on the shoulders and, get this, a horse's head with flames coming out of the nostrils on the front of the jersey. That's right, a horse head with flames spurtin' out the shnoz.

At the Entry Draft, Flames management said the horse represents the cowboy heritage of Western Canada. Damn, if I would have known they had fire-breathing horses in Calgary I would have made vacation plans a long time ago.

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