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Bourque / Cammalleri Trade Perspectives

I find it interesting to hear (and see) the different perspectives from the media on this trade; from their viewpoint (Flames writers / Habs writers / those who report on the NHL as a whole) … and the 'feelings' purported by both people involved in the trade (Cammy and Bourque). From seeing how both people reacted on TV, to hearing their voices on the radio, to the statements attributed to them… funny how people interpret things differently based on the same exposure! Shows how everyone has an opinion… makes me wonder what makes someone with a degree in Journalism (or not!) 'right' or 'wrong'??!! Interesting….

Dean

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FEASTER: IGINLA NOT GOING ANYWHERE; FLAMES AIM FOR PLAYOFFS

TSN.CA STAFF, Jan 13 2012

Flames general manager Jay Feaster is sending a clear message to Calgary hockey fans.

After asserting all year long that the club has no intention of dealing captain Jarome Iginla and instigating a rebuild, Thursday night's acquisition of Michael Cammalleri from the Montreal Canadiens hammered the point home.

The Flames intend to compete for the playoffs this season.

"Iggy is going nowhere," he told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun on ESPN.com. "And we are going for it."

Sitting three points out in a crowded battle for Western Conference playoff berths, the Flames brought Cammalleri in to bolster their scoring.

Feaster's declaration comes after the team has rattled off three straight wins, closing the playoff gap for the Flames.

Cammalleri, 30, has scored nine goals and 22 points this season.

In his lone previous season as a member of the Flames in 2008-09, Cammalleri posted career-highs in goals (39) and points (83).

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MCKENZIE: COMPELLING (AND CRAZY) DRAMA OF CAMMALLERI TRADE

BOB MCKENZIE, TSN.CA, Jan 13 2012

I know we are supposed to make instantaneous judgments on winners and losers in big NHL trades, and the Mike Cammalleri-Rene Bourque/Calgary-Montreal transaction certainly qualifies as a big deal.

At first blush, not a lot of people seem to like it from the Canadiens' end because, well, Cammalleri has a degree of star power that Rene Bourque will never have. That was certainly my first reaction.

And let's be honest, the way things have gone in Montreal this season, GM Pierre Gauthier isn't going to win any popularity contests either, which may cloud the judgmental equation more than a little.

And, hey, Cammalleri's 13 goals in 19 playoff games two years ago is still relatively fresh in our minds and Flames' fans will no doubt recall Cammalleri's NHL career high of 39 goals for Calgary in 2008-09. Suffice to say that the diminutive Cammalleri has a "potential" offensive ceiling Bourque will have difficult rivalling.

It's also difficult to separate the nuts and bolts of this transaction from the soap opera of the last 48 hours in Montreal, with Cammalleri sounding off one day and get traded DURING the Habs' game in Boston the next night.

Compelling stuff. Pretty crazy, too.

But it's always a good idea to try to separate the emotion and drama when doing analysis. Or at least make the effort.

And, therefore, some may be surprised to learn that Bourque's goal totals compare quite favorably to Cammalleri's.

In 38 games this season, Cammalleri has nine goals. In the same number of games, Bourque has 13 goals.

In two-plus seasons as a Canadien, Cammalleri has 54 goals in 169 regular season games. A goal-per-game average of .32.

In the exact same time period with the Flames, Bourque has 67 goals in 191 games. That's 13 more goals in 22 more games, or a goal-per-game average of .35, .03 better than Cammalleri.

Okay, but let's factor in Cammalleri's 39-goal zenith in 08-09. He is, after all, returning to the scene of the crime. In his last three-plus seasons, Cammalleri has 93 goals in 250 games for GPG average of .37. Not too shabby.

But Bourque's numbers in that time are still pretty good, too. He has 88 goals in 249 games, for a GPG average of .35. Or more simply put, in one extra game in that time, Cammalleri has just five more goals than Bourque.

As for recent playoffs, it's no contest. Cammalleri had 13 two seasons ago and three against Boston in the first round last year. Bourque hasn't been in the playoffs since Cammalleri was a Calgary teammate in 08-09.

The regular season numbers are surprising, though. Shocking actually. To me, anyway. Mostly because Bourque, who incidentally is a half year older than Cammalleri, has a league-wide reputation for being an enigmatic underachiever who runs really hot and really cold. If you caught analyst Kelly Hrudey on Hockey Night in Canada earlier this season, he absolutely savaged Bourque with pointed criticism that suggested in no uncertain terms Bourque's "give a damn meter" was broken. Hrudey doesn't often rip players to shreds but he did that night with Bourque. And there are few who would argue with Hrudey's assessment at the time.

Yet Bourque's goal output has been remarkably consistent. Back-to-back 27-goal seasons and right on course for that range this season. Those are really quite good numbers for an enigmatic in-and-outer.

Bourque, of course, is bigger and, when so moved, much more physical than Cammalleri (Bourque is currently serving his five-game suspension for elbowing Washington's Nicklas Backstrom). And Montreal could certainly use some size and edge.

Bourque also makes less money, about $3 million per year less, than Cammalleri.

So someone needs to ask the question: Is it conceivable Gauthier has replaced Cammalleri's goals in the Canadiens' lineup, got bigger and tougher and done so while freeing up an additional $3 million in cap space, giving the Habs the equivalent of more than $8 million worth of cap room (according to Capgeek) at the deadline?

Gauthier also got a second-round draft pick (which is not insignificant) and a decent prospect in WHL forward Patrick Holland while giving up a fifth-round pick and Finnish goalie Karri Ramo, who is currently playing in the KHL.

Amateur scouts I talked to said Holland is by no means a can't-miss prospect. None suggested he's a potential top six NHL forward but many said he does have a legitimate chance to play in the NHL as a solid third- or fourth-liner. It's hard to know if Ramo, a former Tampa Bay prospect, will ever be a factor in the NHL, but some believe he has No. 1 potential and may one day be the heir apparent to Miikka Kiprusoff in Calgary.

Pretty much everyone, it seems, is looking at this transaction through the Montreal prism and given how the NHL season has gone for the Habs and the dramatic developments of the last 48 hours, that's understandable.

But it's worth considering the Flames' angle on this.

Calgary GM Jay Feaster has been loathe to give up draft picks and/or prospects for immediate help now because he knows all too well Calgary's cupboard isn't exactly full of either. Until now, anyway.

He made an exception this time because he's getting a player he feels can be a dynamic difference maker, though it has to be said Cammalleri has been an enigmatic underachiever himself after his great playoff run of 2010.

Feaster has never suggested he's embracing a full rebuild/youth movement of Edmonton Oiler proportions but it is fair to ask whether it's wise to be giving up a significant draft pick and decent prospect for a soon-to-be thirtysomething scorer who's on hard times and bumping up the payroll by $3 million in the process.

It's a move that is not without risk for the Flames. Is it a shrewd investment or a return to a high-ratio mortgaging of the Flames' future? I suppose that depends on Cammalleri, how much he scores off the hop and whether his addition can push Calgary to the front of the seven-team bubble group competing for the final three playoff spots in the Western Conference.

Cammalleri's playoff track record and game-breaking ability is not to be overlooked but if Calgary doesn't make the playoffs and/or Cammalleri's offensive woes continue… well, you get the picture.

At the very least, the jury is out on this move from Calgary's end and it should be at least as interesting a discussion/debate in Cowtown as it is in Montreal.

Don't get the wrong impression here. I am not endorsing Gauthier's efforts in Montreal this season. There's an unseemly quality to the events there this year.

Firing assistant coach Perry Pearn hours before a game. Firing head coach Jacques Martin before a game-day skate. Trading Cammalleri during a game, 24 hours after the player spouted off, and then saying it's a deal that has been in the works since early December. Which may be true but Cammalleri's outburst clearly triggered the deal being done.

And I can tell you there are a number of NHL GMs who had no idea Montreal was prepared to trade Cammalleri. This was not a player who was shopped around the league. Could Gauthier have gotten more elsewhere or driven up the price? Maybe, but it's conceivable he didn't want anybody else and only had eyes for Bourque. Fine, because that's how he'll be judged and judged he will be.

For what it's worth, I think Gauthier's firing of Martin's was an act of pure desperation and ill-conceived from the get-go. I have no problem with Randy Cunneyworth getting an opportunity to coach — he's worked hard and deserves the chance on merit — but the most qualified man (based on experience and expertise) in the Montreal organization to turn around the Canadiens this season was clearly Martin.

If the Habs' downward spiral continues this season, I could easily see Gauthier being fired at season's end and not too many Canadien fans would shed a tear at that.

I have to admit, I seriously misjudged the Canadiens this season. At a time when most said they were on the verge of a precipitous decline, which has fully materialized, I really thought they could have been a lot better than expected. I was wrong. Dead wrong.

So there's a part of me — the rush to judgment/first blush part we all possess — that really wants to dislike this Cammalleri-Bourque deal for the Canadiens, signalling perhaps the end of the Canadiens' speed-skill era that was so enjoyable to watch in back-to-back playoff years.

But then I look at the cold, hard numbers of it all — the goals, the dollars, the future considerations — and I wonder if I'm maybe missing the mark yet again?

We'll find out soon enough, I suppose, but in the meantime, I would suggest there should be a whole lot of people in Montreal AND Calgary who are going to be under the intense glare of the spotlight on this deal.

Now let's see who steps up.

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MARINARO: THIRD BIG CHANGE FOR GAUTHIER AND HABS THIS YEAR

TONY MARINARO, TSN.CA, Jan 13 2012

Montreal Canadiens General Manager Pierre Gauthier has tried to jump start his team on more than one occasion this season. On October 26, he dismissed assistant coach Perry Pearn just hours before a game.

Strike one.

About eight weeks later, he fired head coach Jacques Martin and replaced him with interim coach Randy Cunneyworth.

Strike two.

Last night, Pierre Gauthier swung again. In an attempt to shake things up, the Habs GM traded winger Mike Cammalleri; destination Calgary. Also going to Calgary are the rights to goalie Karri Ramo and a fifth round pick in 2012. In exchange, the Habs received forward Rene Bourque, prospect Patrick Holland and a second round pick in 2013.

Cammalleri and Bourque are both 29-year-old wingers. Cammalleri has a cap hit of $6 million per year. His contract expires in 2014. Bourque's cap hit is $3.33 million per year until 2016.

These are two very different players. At six-foot-two, 215 pounds, Bourque is a bigger, more rugged option on the wing. Over the past two-and-a-half seasons he has produced more goals. Bourque has never, however, scored more than 27 goals in an NHL season.

As for Cammalleri, he scored 34 in Los Angeles. A couple of years later, he potted 39 with Calgary. Cammalleri's best as a Montreal Canadien was back in the 2009-10 season when he scored 26 goals in 65 games. He then led all scorers with 13 goals in 19 playoff games.

Gauthier says Cammalleri's alleged comments – that the Habs had a losing mentality – had no bearing on the timing of the trade. Interestingly, word around the NHL is that many GM's didn't know Cammalleri was on the trading block. If so, one needs to ask why the Canadiens didn't notify all the other teams in order to create a bidding war. Also, why now and why not closer to the trade deadline?

Last night, the Canadiens lost 2-1 in Boston, and trail eighth-place Washington, who have two games in hand, by seven points.

On the injury front, forward Scott Gomez, who has missed the last 21 games, is likely to return this weekend. Gomez will meet with team doctors prior to the Ottawa game to determine if he's been cleared to play.

Carey Price will be between the pipes tomorrow night against the Ottawa Senators. Rene Bourque will not be in the lineup. He will be serving the last game of a five-game suspension. Bourque makes his Canadiens debut Sunday, when the Habs host the New York Rangers. Backup goaltender Peter Budaj will get the start.

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Getting it wrong in Calgary
Is GM Jay Feaster chasing his tail in Calgary?

Mark Spector, Sportsnet.ca, January 13, 2012

The on-line headline in the Calgary Herald tells the entire story: "Cammalleri deal shows Flames taking run at playoffs."

The sub-head should have been: "Future? What future? Flames will deal with that when it gets here."

Another Band-Aid trade, another second-rounder out the door, another prospect given up on. And the Calgary Flames find themselves marginally better this morning.

Yeehaw.

Is there a fan in Calgary who can look in the mirror today, even after clearly getting the best player in their deal with the Montreal Canadiens, and say the Flames have a prayer of beating the Vancouver Canucks in a seven-game series in Round 1 of the playoffs?

Because that is the measuring stick here, folks. Sure, Calgary will beat the rebuilding Edmonton Oilers by two goals instead of one for a while longer, with a rejuvenated Michael Cammalleri in the lineup. But it's not about beating the Edmonton Oilers, folks.

The facts are, a Flames fan would trade rosters with the St. Louis Blues in a heartbeat, and the Blues are still a second-tier team in the West.

It's about winning a Stanley Cup. And when your goalie is your best player most nights at age 35, and your leading scorer is 34 and can no longer carry your team the way he once did, does this trade really bring a Stanley Cup any closer in Calgary?

Or are we stuck in the right now, a futile chase for a few playoff dates in April?

"Oh, absolutely. This isn't something that's done that's future-looking," Flames general manager Jay Feaster told reporters in Calgary during the first intermission of a 1-0 OT win on home ice over the 29th- place Anaheim Ducks.

"We want to win right now. We want to be a playoff team," Feaster said. "In terms of our playoff push, we think this is a real jump-start."

We're fans of Jay Feaster, honestly. He's sharp and honest, and he's always been very fair to me. But we can't put it any other way: he's chasing his tail now in Calgary.

Look: there is no question that Feaster got the best player in the Cammalleri-for-Rene Bourque trade. Cammalleri enjoyed the best year of his career during his previous one-year stop in Calgary, where he had 39-43-82 back in 2008-09, and hopefully he finds that level again. He's a quality player and a good man, with a fire in his belly that burns far, far brighter than Bourque's.

But Feaster also traded a second-round pick for a fifth-rounder, dealt away a kid named Patrick Holland who just turned 20 and has 57 points in 40 WHL games this season, and burned nearly $3 million more in cap space for the next two seasons.

It is the ultimate "right now" deal for a team that should be thinking seriously about its future. Calgary is one of only nine National Hockey League clubs with an average age of greater than 28 years, and its six leading scorers on the farm in Abbotsford — topped by 30-year-old Krys Kolanos — average over 27 years of age.

Feaster is officially caught up in the vortex of selling off tomorrow for today. Caught up in the futility of shooting for the Brad Richards' of the world, and when that doesn't work signing Alex Tanguay to a ridiculous five-year deal that pays him through age 36.

It's being reported that the second-round pick he dealt to Montreal leaves Calgary without a second-rounder in each of the next two years. In the post-lockout NHL, we are sorry to report that that approach has been proven not to work.

"If we're going to make a run here in the second half, we need the powerplay to be very good," Feaster said. "From our perspective, (Cammalleri) is a guy who needs a change of scenery right now."

But, really. If he plays lights out hockey from Saturday until the end of the season, and the Flames make the playoffs, what then?

Is Calgary in the same stratosphere as Vancouver? As Chicago? As San Jose? As Detroit?

Like, what's the goal here? To perhaps make the playoffs as a mega-long shot, then pray that everything comes up sevens in April and May?

Or to build something with longevity?

We know: There are some contracts up after this season. Some cap room will open up. That means Feaster can build a winner through free agency, that all-or-nothing process where you get to sign over-priced, long-term deals with older players. Like the one Tanguay got.

It doesn't work that way anymore, Calgary. When will someone in that organization figure it out?

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Agent: Cammalleri didn't want out

Sportsnet Staff, January 13, 2012

Following a whirlwind 24 hours that saw Michael Cammalleri vent his frustrations with the Montreal Canadiens and subsequently dealt to the Calgary Flames, the player's agent said the disgruntled forward was not looking for a trade.

Agent Ian Pulver joined Jeff Blair on Sportsnet 590 The Fan Friday morning to discuss his client's trade, claiming that Cammalleri wanted to remain with the struggling Canadiens and help them get back on track, despite his criticisms of the club the previous day.

"Mike did not want out of Montreal," Pulver said in the radio interview. "Mike wanted to win in Montreal. He wanted the team to do better and he made his comments and whether they were accepted or not, he's in Calgary today."

Cammalleri was dealt to the Flames on Thursday night along with Karri Ramo and a fifth-round draft pick in 2012 in exchange for Rene Bourque, Patrick Holland and a second-round pick in 2013.

On Wednesday, Cammalleri had sounded off about the mounting frustration in Montreal, suggesting the Canadiens were playing with a "losing mentality". Pulver agreed it has been a turbulent season for Cammalleri and the Habs, but his client is now focused on re-joining an organization where he has achieved success in the past.

"This season seems to have gone backwards for the entire organization and (Canadiens general manager) Mr. Gauthier decided to trade Mike," Pulver added. "To go back to Calgary with Jarome Iginla and the rest of the players, he knows the city, he knows the fans, he's excited."

While the trade may appear to be a knee-jerk reaction from a Habs club that has admittedly made mistakes this season, Flames GM Jay Feaster said the two clubs had been discussing a deal for a while. Cammalleri's agent said he didn’t think a trade was imminent, even though other teams had also shown interest in the 29-year-old forward.

"Whether it’s been in the works, I believe there were inquiries made but I don’t think anything was imminent for some time,” Pulver said. “There have been teams that made inquiries about Mike's availability throughout this year, through all the coaching changes Montreal has had.”

In 37 games for the Canadiens this season, Cammalleri had nine goals and 13 assists for 22 points. He now returns to the Flames, where he had career-highs in goals (39) and points (82) in the 2008-09 season.

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Habs lose again with trade
Will Pierre Gauthier be the GM in Montreal much longer?

Gare Joyce, Sportsnet.ca, January 13, 2012

Michael Cammalleri is out of Montreal because he wasn't on message.

And with the Canadiens this gawd-awful season, the message is always things as management would like them to be, not things as they truly are.

"We prepare for our games like losers," Cammalleri told the media in the Canadiens dressing room Wednesday. "We play like losers. So it's no wonder why we lose."

That was about as far from the required script as you could possibly stray and there was only one possible outcome: Cammalleri had to be traded.

And he was, to Calgary along with a goaltender Karri Ramo (who's in Russia) and a fifth-round pick in this year's draft. In return Montreal, winds up with forwards Rene Bourque and Patrick Holland along with a second-round draft pick in 2013.

Cammalleri is halfway through a five-year, $30-million contract that he signed as a free agent in 2009 and he was one of the Canadiens' best players during their run to the Eastern Conference final in 2010. Even if Cammalleri doesn't improve on his ordinary play so far this season, even if he doesn't make his way back to the 39-goal form of his contract year in his first turn in Calgary, the Flames come away with the best player (by far) in the trade.

This is to say that the Canadiens are losers again. In a delicious irony, the winner to emerge from the latest tempest in Montreal's gawd-awful season is Cammalleri, the one who waxed about losing.

There had to be a trade and Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier kept the suspense going for as long as he could, which turned out to be about 40 minutes longer than most insiders expected. Gauthier had Cammalleri pulled off the ice at the end of the second period in Boston Thursday night. By the time his by-then former teammates got back to the dressing room after a 2-1 loss to the Bruins, Cammalleri had taken a last stick of gum off a table in the Canadiens' dressing room and had been bundled into a taxi for a safe house in advance of making his way to Calgary.

There's no knowing whether Cammalleri's name had been taken down from his stall in the visiting dressing room before the game's end. That would require a call to the Canadiens and if they deigned to provide an answer it would have to be an unlikely case of message intersecting with truth to deserve publication.

Cammalleri is insisting that he didn't want the Canadiens to trade him. His agent Ian Pulver is singing background to the same tune. And Gauthier did his best to seem dumbfounded at the mere suggestion that he would deal Cammalleri to Calgary because the veteran's dressing-room confessional had him on the wrong side of management.

"No, not at all," Gauthier said. "I didn't make a big deal about all that. There's emotion around the team, somebody says something, I'd rather see emotion than people that don't care … He never asked to be traded or anything. He's part of the team and he cares a lot. That's why he made those comments."

For our purposes, Gauthier's comments will constitute the NHL's laugh test the rest of the season — at least until Montreal's front office tries another damage-control gambit, which could be days or even hours away.

In the pages of Sportsnet magazine this week, I wrote about the Canadiens' descent from their former glories and suggested that they just don't matter anymore. Some readers will take issue with the screed and protest about my disparaging Les Glorieux. Maybe they'll be riled by my suggestion that the Canadiens have fallen from the once unchallenged No. 1 among the Original Six to No. 6 in terms of relevance. Maybe it will be my opinion that the franchise today is closer to Columbus than it is to Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Detroit or, horrors, Toronto. Or maybe it will be my argument that the Canadiens are more concerned with the packaging of history rather than dealing with the present and preparing for the future — that this is a franchise of appearances, not realities.

Your Honour, we'd like to call our next witness, Mr. Michael Cammalleri, formerly of Montreal.

Cammalleri's statements leave no doubt that the players have no confidence in management in the person of Pierre Gauthier. Randy Cunneyworth, who was promoted to the head coach's job when Gauthier fired the blameless Jacques Martin, hasn't lost the team — by Cammalleri's characterization, Cunneyworth never had the team to lose.

It's a season when what could go wrong has gone wrong: the team's best defenceman Andrei Markov looks like he won't play anytime soon, if ever, and captain Brian Gionta is shelved with a biceps tear until next fall.

Things going wrong happens. You can accept a black cloud hovering over a team for a patch. That's not the problem with the Canadiens circa 2012, though. No, it's the fact that management, Gauthier, has made a mess of everything he has picked up.

It's hard to imagine how he could have handled the challenges worse. He scape-goated assistant coach Perry Pearn and Martin. He installed a unilingual Anglophone, Cunneyworth, to work the bench and blew off questions from the French media, saying "languages can be learned." He over-committed and over-paid Markov in the off-season despite his history of injury. And now he traded Cammalleri for short change. The value in that trade is the second-round draft choice in 2013 coming over to Canadiens.

Montreal fans can take consolation that Gauthier won't be around to make that pick.

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Podcast
Dissecting the Flames – Canadiens trade

Globe and Mail, Jan. 13, 2012

Globe hockey columnist Eric Duhatschek and Montreal-based sports reporter Sean Gordon discuss the trade that sent Michael Cammalleri to Calgary and Rene Bourque to Montreal.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/dissecting-the-flames—canadiens-trade/article2301669/

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Flames offer mixed feelings after Bourque trade

Scott Cruickshank, Calgary Herald, January 13, 2012

With his first post-game sentence, Brent Sutter pounded the nail on the head.

“Well, it was certainly an eventful night.”

Not only did the Calgary Flames win their eighth straight home date — a dramatic (and sort of boring) 1-0 overtime victory over the Anaheim Ducks — they made in-game news with a swap of big-name but under-performing forwards.

Gone is Rene Bourque (and a second-round pick and prospect Patrick Holland).

Here, again, is Michael Cammalleri (and a fifth-round pick and KHL goalie Karri Ramo).

The timing, in particular, was odd.

The Flames made the news official DURING the game, meaning the shutout triumph ends up taking second billing and Bourque exited the premises before getting to say goodbye to his chums.

In fact, the Calgary players didn’t get formal word till after the game.

“He was my roommate on the road for the last four years, so he was a good friend,” Curtis Glencross said of Bourque. “So it’s one of them things you hate to do. But we’ve all been traded — it’s part of the business. I hope Bourquey does awesome in Montreal. He’s one of them guys who’s going to go there and enjoy it.

“To lose a guy like Bourquey, he’s one of those heart-and-soul guys. Hate to see him go, but it’s part of the business and it happens all the time.”

Jarome Iginla, too, mentioned the “bittersweet” aspect of the transaction. And Sutter made of point of discussing Bourque’s contributions before he’d even address the addition of Cammalleri.

“I’m going to mention Bourquey first because he’s a player that I have been coaching, someone that I’ve spent a lot of time with,” said Sutter. “I wish him nothing but all the best . . . to go there and have great success. It’s the tough part of the business, the trading part. You want it to work out well for everybody, that’s the main thing.”

The Flames captain agreed.

“I was surprised,” said Iginla. “Any trade, when they happen, are a surprise. Trades are always hard. Bourquey’s a very big part of this room. We’re all friends with him. He’s a big scoring winger. He’s going to do great. But Cammy, he’s played with a lot of us, too. A very good player, too. It’s different . . . friends going both ways. Hopefully, it’s one that’ll work very well for both teams. Both teams got very good players.

“But it’s always a surprise, even if you read rumours. You never know what’s true, what’s not.

“It’s different. On one hand, you’re excited. And on one hand, you haven’t had a chance to talk to Bourquey.”

Cammalleri, with the Flames in 2008-09, banged in 39 goals. Iginla, no coincidence, piled up 54 helpers.

Obvious chemistry there.

On opposite wings on the same line — Cammalleri being a lefty, Iginla being a righty — both could set up for their trademark one-timers.

“I enjoyed playing with him and has success with him,” said Iginla. “I don’t know where he’s going to play. But he’s a great power-play guy. He has the knack to always find ways to get open. His release is second to none. And he’s a very competitive guy. He gets fired up.

“I know he enjoyed playing here. And the fans liked him. And he liked Calgary.”

Yeah, what about that?

Olli Jokinen leaves, then returns.

Alex Tanguay leaves, then returns.

Now Cammalleri.

“It’s one of those things — they don’t really know till they get here,” said Iginla. “It’s a good city, we’re treated very well. Our organization treats us well and they want to win. Over all the years, there haven’t been many players — maybe one or two — that you hear that they didn’t enjoy it (in Calgary). It does speak volumes for the team and the organization that guys do leave and want to come back and try to win here.

“Sometimes different fits at different times.”

As fate would have it, earlier Thursday, Blair Jones had received a text from an old teammate, congratulating him on his recent trade from Tampa to Calgary.

The pal? Ramo, who, despite currently playing for KHL Omsk, was part of Thursday’s trade.

“I played with him in my rookie season in the minors (in AHL Springfield in 2006-07),” said Jones, who — oh yeah — happened to be the overtime hero. “He was a good goaltending prospect then, then I think he took a few years and played in Russia. A good guy, a good goalie. We’ll see what happens.”

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Campbell: Cammalleri, Bourque seek fresh starts after trade

Ken Campbell, The Hockey News, 2012-01-13

Something in Michael Cammalleri’s comments about the Canadiens being “losers” may or may not have been lost in translation, but the team could not have been more clear and unequivocal than it was by trading him 24 hours after they came out.

Which leads us to believe that either (a) a deal involving Cammalleri has been in the works for a time, or (b) this is the quickest and most dramatic rift between a player and management with the Canadiens since Patrick Roy was traded in 1995. Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier insisted a deal has been in the works for months, but the timing is curious, no?

One source said Cammalleri had met with Gauthier earlier in the day and expressed a desire to go back to Calgary, where he had the best offensive season of his career prior to signing with the Canadiens as an unrestricted free agent in 2009. If that’s the case, it certainly didn’t take long for the two sides to cook up a deal, with Cammalleri, journeyman goaltender Karri Ramo and a fifth round pick in 2012 going to the Flames for Rene Bourque, prospect Patrick Holland and a second-rounder in 2013.

On the surface, it looks like a deal involving two wingers who have the potential to score 30 goals a season, but both of whom are performing at sub-par levels. And if all the reports are true, both were butting heads with their coaches. Things had become so frustrating for Cammalleri that he sounded off after practice Wednesday and was quoted as saying, among other things, “We prepare for games like losers. We play like losers. So it’s no wonder why we lose.”

It appears Cammalleri’s use of the word “losers” might not have been accurately quoted after being translated into French and back to English. But it’s clear those comments did not sit well with the Canadiens, who have had to deal with one disaster after another and managed somehow to create yet another one by informing Cammalleri he had been traded in the middle of a game.

The Canadiens, who have prided themselves on doing everything the right way, have long been considered the classiest organization in the NHL, if not all professional sports. But their behavior this season, starting with new owner Geoff Molson on down, gives one the impression they’re trying to become the newest expansion team in the Federal League.

If you’re judging which team got the best player in the deal, you’d probably have to tip your cap to the Flames, who pick up a player who will be motivated to redeem himself in a city and with an organization he loved in his one season there. Truth be told, aside from his brilliant play in the Canadiens run to the 2010 Eastern Conference final – and it was something to behold – Cammalleri accomplished almost nothing in Montreal. He was often hurt and when he wasn’t injured, he endured long spells of lacking productivity, so much so that there are those who think Jacques Martin’s insistence on playing Cammalleri and some of the other veterans so much might have cost him his coaching job.

The Canadiens will save short term as far as the salary cap hit goes. Cammalleri has the rest of this season and two more on a contract that pays him $6 million a season, while the Canadiens are on the hook to Bourque for the remainder of this season and another four at a cap hit of $3.33 million. Both players have a penchant for producing in spurts and have dealt with various injuries and with only six months between them – Bourque is older – are at about the same stages of their careers.

Calgary’s game against the Anaheim Ducks Thursday night was the fourth of Bourque’s five-game suspension for elbowing Nicklas Backstrom of the Washington Capitals in the head, meaning he’ll miss the Canadiens game Saturday night against the Ottawa Senators before making his way into the lineup. His physical game is much more robust than Cammalleri’s and he’s more of a two-way player.

Cammalleri and Jarome Iginla between Olli Jokinen on the Flames first line could certainly be a lethal combination if coach Brent Sutter chooses to play the three of them together. If not, you can be sure Cammalleri and Iginla will see lots of time together on the power play. If Cammalleri finds his form in Calgary, the Flames almost certainly win the trade, but that is a form that has been absent for some time now. And depending upon which scouts you speak to, Holland may or may not be a key factor in this deal. The Flames picked the right winger in the seventh round of the 2010 draft, but he has apparently filled out since then and has 17 goals and 57 points in 40 games for the Tri-City Americans of the Western League this season. He is in his last year of junior eligibility and turned 20 six days ago.

“Let’s put it this way: If I were making a trade with the Calgary Flames I would insist on (Holland) being part of the deal,” said an executive from another team. “Is it a gamble? Sure it’s a gamble. But this guy is a good player. He’s an enigma, but he has grown into his body and he can do things now that he couldn’t do two years ago.”

Another scout said Holland projects out to be a third-line player in the NHL at best, “and certainly not a slam-dunk. He’s more a prospect thrown into the deal than a key part of it.”

Reviews are mixed on Holland, but that hardly makes him an outcast in this deal. Like so many deals that happen in the NHL today, it involves two players who are struggling and whose new teams hope they can find their games in a fresh situation. And like so many deals in the NHL today, it is filled with tons of uncertainty.

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Cammalleri will have little time to adjust before being thrown into Flames' fire

The Canadian Press, 2012-01-13

CALGARY – Mike Cammalleri's last appearance with the Calgary Flames was in the 2009 playoffs.

The club hasn't been in the post-season since but hope to change that this year after Thursday night's trade with the Montreal Canadiens that saw the Flames reacquire Cammalleri for Rene Bourque.

With bad weather in the east delaying Cammalleri's arrival in Calgary until Friday evening, he'll have just Saturday's game-day skate to get reacquainted with the Flames before stepping right into game action Saturday night with the Los Angeles Kings at the Saddledome.

"He's going to be thrown right into the fire," says Flames coach Brent Sutter. "There isn't going to be any practice time or anything like that, but he's a smart player and he knows the game and he'll adjust very quickly."

Sutter, who has never coached Cammalleri before, has not yet made up his mind on who his newest acquisition will play with. Jarome Iginla and Cammalleri played well together three years ago when Cammalleri's career-high 39 goals led the team.

But the current Flames top unit of Olli Jokinen centring Iginla and Curtis Glencross are currently red-hot and it's doubtful he'll break up that trio.

Cammalleri's presence will give the Flames an injection of emotion on Saturday, and it comes after they got a boost Thursday with the return of steady defenceman Mark Giordano, who had missed 21 games with a hamstring injury.

"I know Cammy personally. I played with him before and know him from back home. The guy works exceptionally hard off ice and on ice and we all know what kind of damage he can do around the net with the puck," said Giordano. "Any time you see guys like that who take a lot of pride in off-ice stuff and commitment in the gym and carry it over onto the ice.

"Cammy, he's a very confident player and that rubs off on guys."

Cammalleri will be wearing jersey No. 93, a departure from his No. 13, currently worn by Jokinen. With Jokinen wearing No. 21, the two were teammates for the latter part of the 2009 season after Jokinen was acquired in a trade with Phoenix.

"He wants to win. He's a very outspoken guy. He demands a lot out of himself and out of his teammates as well. Maybe we'll get a little spark in the locker-room too," Jokinen said.

Perhaps no one on the Flames is yearning for playoff hockey more than defenceman Jay Bouwmeester. The league's reigning ironman with 551 consecutive games played in the regular season, the 28-year-old has yet to appear in a playoff game in his eight seasons.

"Whenever something like this happens, it shakes things up," says Bouwmeester. "We're playing a little better now with three wins in a row and hopefully this adds to that and we can keep rolling and keep moving up the standings."

Calgary is currently tied with Phoenix for 11th in the Western Conference, three points out of the final playoff spot.

"All you really have to do is get in, then it's a fresh start for everyone," said Bouwmeester. "It seems like every year there is at least one or two lower teams, whether it's the eighth seed or whatever, that end up going a long way. So, right now the focus is just to get there."

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
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