head coach: Brian Sutter

roster: C - Andrew Cassels, Jim Dowd, Aaron Gavey, Michael Nylander, Cory Stillman. RW - Erik Andersson, Theoren Fleury, Jarome Iginla, Sandy McCarthy, Ron Stern. LW - Chris Dingman, Todd Hlushko, Jonas Hoglund, Marty McInnis, Mike Peluso, German Titov, Ed Ward. D - Tommy Albelin, Joel Bouchard, Kevin Dahl, Cale Hulse, Derek Morris, James Patrick, Todd Simpson, Zarley Zalapski. G - Tyler Moss, Rick Tabaracci.

injuries: Erik Andersson, c (concussion, indefinite); Todd Hlushko, lw (concussion, indefinite); Ron Stern, rw (knee injury, indefinite). Todd Simpson, d (returned early from knee injury October 28, missed 10 games); Mike Peluso, lw (returned from minor hip pointer injury October 22, missed two games).

transactions: recalled Tyler Moss, g, from Saint John (AHL), October 27; recalled Jim Dowd, c, from Saint John (AHL), October 27; recalled Kevin Dahl, d, from Chicago (IHL); sent Dwayne Roloson, g, to Saint John (AHL), October 28; sent Denis Gauthier, d, to Saint John (AHL), October 28; returned Steve Begin, c, to his junior club, Val d'Or Foreurs (QMJHL), October 28.

standings:

Western Conference - Pacific Division
Team         GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   
Colorado     15   7   2   6    20   49   38
Anaheim      14   5   5   4    14   32   35
Los Angeles  15   5   6   4    14   48   44
Edmonton     14   5   7   2    12   29   43
Calgary      15   3   9   3     9   39   50
San Jose     14   4  10   0     8   34   46
Vancouver    15   3  10   2     8   36   55

game results:

10/22 at Buffalo       L 4-1
10/23 at Philadelphia  L 4-3
10/25 at Toronto       L 4-3
10/28 Pittsburgh       W 6-3
10/30 Phoenix          W 4-2
11/01 at Colorado      T 3-3
11/02 at Phoenix       L 3-1

team news:

by Tony Wong, Calgary Correspondents

Two Weeks at a Glance:

Buffalo. Loss.

Philadelphia. Loss.

Toronto. Loss.

Starting with an 0-3 road trip is not exactly the thing that Brian Sutter looks for to start his weeks. Stuck at 1-8-2 at the bottom of the league, changes needed to be made.

Enter Tyler Moss.

Penguins blow a 3-0 lead. Win. Two days later against the Coyotes. Another win. Colorado? A tie. Suddenly, things are looking up for coach Sutter.

The net result? The Flames start out slow, but with Moss in the nets, roar back to end the two week period with a 2-4-1 record, going 2-1-1 over the last week.

Against Buffalo, Rick Tabaracci was weak, letting in four goals on only 21 shots. With little pressure applied by the forwards and only 18 shots on Dominik Hasek, the Sabres had their way with the Flames, resulting in a methodical 4-1 victory.

One night later against the Flyers, the Flames looked much better. With a number of fresh bodies inserted by Sutter, the Flames took the play to the Stanley Cup finalists. However, tied with only 1:53 to go, goaltender Dwayne Roloson somehow lost his stick at the most inopportune time possible. With a loose puck in the slot and John LeClair looming, Roloson vainly dove for the puck. As all great goal scorers do, LeClair calmly pulled the puck away from Roloson and flipped a low shot into the empty net. Voila! A 4-3 loss.

Against the Leafs, Calgary put in another good effort but forgot one basic concept. "Keep an eye on the other team's best player." Oops, forgot that one. Result? Mats Sundin here, there and everywhere. Playing perhaps his best game this year, Sundin had a goal and two assists. The result was a 4-3 loss, despite the Flames outshooting the Leafs 34 to 21.

After showing tremendous patience and restraint for almost a month, Sutter finally lost it. At 1-8-2, the Flames were the worst team in the league. Meeting up with Al Coates, the Flames sent down Roloson and Gauthier and returned rookie Steve Begin to his junior club. Coming up? Goalie Tyler Moss, forward Jim Dowd (from Saint John) and defenseman Kevin Dahl from the IHL.

To make sure his point was crystal clear, Sutter immediately named Tyler Moss as his starter for the Pittsburgh game.

Down 3-0 after nine minutes, Sutter's decision wasn't looking too hot. In what must be one of the brightest moments in terms of Calgary crowd creativity, the hometown crowd began chanting "No Moss! No Moss!" Renowned for their politeness, the derogatory boxing allusion was a surprise in terms of creativity and harshness. With Pittsburgh dominating, it was the closest thing to a highlight in the game so far.

Then it happened. Trailing 3-1 late in the first period, Jaromir Jagr broke in on a clear breakaway. As Jagr moved in, you could feel the collective anticipation and dread of the crowd of another Pittsburgh goal. But Moss stopped Mario Jr. with a spectacular save that turned the tide. Inspired by the stop, the Flames scored six straight goals. Rookie Tyler Moss had his first NHL victory, a 6-3 win over the Penguins.

With one in a row in their pocket, Sutter started Moss again against Phoenix. With several sprawling saves in the first period to keep the Flames in the game and a beautiful power-play goal by Theo Fleury, it happened again. The Flames won. The rookie was still undefeated.

Against division leading Avalanche, Moss started again. While Valeri Kamensky scored the first two goals in 68 seconds, it would be Moss who frustrated the Avalanche from there on. With spectacular saves on Kamensky (four times!), Joe Sakic (twice) and Adam Deadmarsh (once), Moss kept the Flames in it. Inspired by Moss's 37 save performance, the Flames overcame the 2-0 deficit and a marginal call that resulted in a penalty shot (which Sakic scored on) to tie the Avalanche 3-3.

All heady from their three-game unbeaten streak, the Flames marched into Phoenix. Both sides played a relatively uninspired game until the end of the first period. With a couple of seconds left in the first period, Fleury blindsided Mike Gartner. Shaken by the cheap shot, Gartner limped off the ice and did not return for the rest of the night.

The Coyotes awoke. Angered by Fleury's dirty handiwork, the game became noticeably more physical. The last two periods were a testy affair dotted with a number of fights and after-the-whistle scrums. Unfortunately, while the Flames got caught up with the rough stuff, they forgot to watch Craig Janney. Janney racked up three assists and the Flames lost 3-1. If there wasn't any bad blood between the two clubs, there is now. Oh, and Moss? Tyler remained undefeated, as the rookie watched Tabaracci play from the bench.

Overall, while the Flames had a tough two-week period, there was some definite signs of progress. In recalling and starting Moss, Sutter clearly shook up the team. Luckily, Moss also responded by making the most of the opportunity and playing superbly. With the goalie making saves instead of allowing goals at key moments, the young Flames became energized with confidence. That confidence translated into the kinetic play which is pivotal to the success of the Flames. Regardless of who is in net, if the Flames can maintain that energy, they may have turned their season around. The key is holding on to it.

Fleury Fury

Perhaps Fleury should start sticking to Tom Barrasso's old moniker: "no comment." No matter how hard he tries, Fleury causes trouble every time he opens his mouth.

Promoting his new book, "Fury: Biography of a pint-sized hockey player" in Toronto, Fleury let it slip that he was the player asleep in the back seat when Sheldon Kennedy was forced to perform a sexual act on Graham James. What made it worse, was the manner in which Fleury responded.

"I didn't see anything... in my eyes, (the sex act) didn't happen because I didn't see it happen."

Ouch. So not only did Fleury re-open the controversy, he insulted Kennedy by insinuating that it had never happened.

Kennedy, whose testimony of repeated abuse lead to Graham James' conviction and three and a half year prison term was outraged. Kennedy indicated that Fleury should just keep his mouth shut if he doesn't want to talk about it, instead of making ambiguous comments.

Further adding to the controversy was Fleury's response to the question of whether he had ever been sexually assaulted.

"I'm not saying yes and I'm not saying no."

Well, I guess there's nothing like adding fuel to the fire.

Tyler who?

Someone call the X-Files. The bodies of the players on the Calgary Flames are slowly being taken over by aliens. First, Cory Stillman was taken over by a rough and tumble alien who likes to shoot. Now, one who plays like Patrick Roy has taken over the body of young Tyler Moss.

Acquired in a deal that Coates made to basically accommodate Jamie Huscroft's trade request (Huscroft wanted to play on a more regular basis), Moss has made Coates look good. At 6'0, 184 pounds, the 22-year-old Ottawa native has had somewhat of an undistinguished career so far. No awards or big stats dot his transcript. However, as a NHL goalie, Moss has done one thing exceptionally well so far - make the big save. On a team that has blown a number of leads late in the third period this year, it is a trait that makes a big difference. Can he continue to do it? We all hope so.

Sutter finally blows a gasket

While the moves to the farm definitely shook up the Flames, the question remains whether or not the demotions were deserving. In a word - yes. Roloson had seen limited action, and when he did appear, was spotty - giving up a number of soft goals. Gauthier? While the youngster won praise for his physical style, he was also -5 in eight games which he saw limited duty. And Begin? While Begin played pretty well when he got into the lineup, the limited minutes he played between McCarthy and Peluso were not helping his development. Instead of letting Begin stagnate in Calgary, Coates made the smart move and returned Begin to his junior team. There, Begin should receive more responsibility and quality ice time.

More importantly though was the message that Sutter sent with the demotions. While the Flames have been giving a pretty good effort, the bottom line was that they weren't winning. And as long as they weren't winning, no one's job was safe. Not even the number one goaltender's job.

Finally, a goaltending coach!

After months and months of complaining here at LCS, the Flames have finally put two and two together and hired a goaltending consultant. After the success of numerous other clubs (most notably in Anaheim) and the goaltending problems that the Flames always seem to have, it's a bright move. Who is it? None other than Hall of Fame goaltender and world class cookie tosser, Glenn Hall. Renowned for his penchant for throwing up before games, Hall was part of the Stanley Cup coaching team back in 1986. Welcome back Glenn!

Upcoming Games:

11/5    Toronto
11/7    Anaheim
11/9    at Detroit
11/10   at Chicago
11/13   Carolina
11/15   at Edmonton

With the little bit of Moss-built momentum behind them, the Flames have a big chance to turn their season around. With five of their next six games against pretty soft opponents, the Flames could easily double their points (from 9 to 19 points) and be 8-10-3 in two weeks. To do it, Moss (or whoever Sutter decides to put in net) needs to continue making key stops and everyone else just needs to keep banging. Who knows, .500 hockey is just a few lucky bounces against Detroit away. Bounce, bounce.

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