I don't think anyone can argue that this season was somewhat entertaining, for lack of a better word. With a poor start to begin the first half of the season, only to become one of the better teams through the last half of the season, the 2010-11 Calgary Flames truly was a Jekyll & Hyde hockey club.
Rumors of trading away THE BEST franchise player this team’s ever had was a regular topic throughout much of the 2010 calendar year among local fans and national media alike. Rumor-mongering of this sort can be justified considering how the team performed in 2010 going back to last season. Iginla wasn’t the only one targeted for trade talks... Aside from Giordano and Jackman, nearly all of the Flames roster took their turn in the spinning wheel of relocation. But surprisingly, only Ian White and Brett Sutter fell victim to the wheel. Out of all the player transactions (or lack thereof), the single biggest transaction the Flames did this season was the removal of savior and one-time hockey genius, Darryl Sutter from the General Manager's position. Almost everyone can point to the turnaround of the Flames season solely on this decision, and rightfully so. A change in culture and a breath of fresh air was finally flowing through the locker room. Coaches were able to drive their message across, players were playing loose and having fun, team started piling up wins and fans were getting excited again. Pretty soon, all the rumors seemed to slowly disappear… or has it?
Here’s a quick glance at the current Flames roster and what the landscape looks like for the upcoming season:
Player [Age] – 2010-11 Salary (Cap Hit) / 2011-12 Salary (Cap Hit)
---FORWARDS---
Jarome Iginla [33] – $7.0M (7.0) / $7.0M (7.0)
Daymond Langkow [33] – $4.25M (4.5) / $4.5M (4.5)
Matt Stajan [26] – $4.5M (3.5) / $4.5M (3.5)
Rene Bourque [28] – $4.0M (3.333) / $4.0M (3.333)
Niklas Hagman [30] – $3.0M (3.0) / $3.0M (3.0)
Olli Jokinen [31] – $3.0M (3.0) / $3.0M (3.0)
Alex Tanguay [30] – $1.7M (1.7) / UFA
David Moss [28] – $1.3M (1.3) / $1.3M (1.3)
Mikael Backlund [21] – $0.875M (1.271) / $0.787M (1.271)
Curtis Glencross [27] – $1.2M (1.2) / UFA
Brendan Morrison [34] – $0.725M (0.725) / UFA
Tom Kostopoulous [31] – $0.95M (0.917) / $1.1M (0.917)
Raitis Ivanans [31] – $0.6M (0.6) / $0.6M (0.6)
Tim Jackman [28] – $0.55M (0.55) / $0.55M (0.55)
Fredrik Modin [35] – $0.8M (0.8) / UFA
---DEFENCEMEN---
Jay Bouwmeester [26] – $6.6M (6.68) / $6.6M (6.68)
Robyn Regehr [30] - $4.0M (4.02) / $4.0M (4.02)
Cory Sarich [31] - $3.7M (3.6) / $3.3M (3.6)
Steve Staios [36] - $2.2M (2.7) / UFA
Anton Babchuk [26] - $1.4M (1.4) / UFA
Mark Giordano [26] - $1.075M (0.892) / $4.02M (4.02)
Adam Pardy [26] - $0.7M (0.7) / UFA
Brendan Mikkelson [23] - $0.688M (0.688) / RFA
Brett Carson [24] - $0.5M (0.5) / RFA
---GOALIES---
Miikka Kiprusoff [33] - $7.0M (5.833) / $6.0M (5.833)
Henrik Karlsson [26] - $0.5M (0.5) / UFA
---OTHER NOTABLES---
F - Ales Kotalik [31] - $3.0M (3.0) / $3.0M (3.0)
F - Lance Bouma [20] - $0.57M (0.693) / $0.595M (0.693)
F - Greg Nemisz [20] - $0.875M (1.046) / $0.875 (1.046)
F - Stefan Meyer [24] - $0.5M (0.512) / $0.525 (0.512)
D - T.J. Brodie [20] - $0.575M (0.733) / $0.575M (0.733)
D - Matt Pelech [23] - $0.6M (0.6) / RFA
G - Leland Irving [23] - $0.765M (1.193) / RFA