CALGARY -- Jarome Iginla was talking a few days ago about what motivates him, and it was all about winning a Stanley Cup. Iginla's Calgary Flames came close in the 2004 playoffs, losing in the seventh game to a Tampa Bay Lightning team that now, four years later, is competing for a different sort of prize, the Steven Stamkos sweepstakes, awarded to the worst team in the NHL.
In some ways, it's hard to imagine the two teams could have staggered off in such opposite directions in such a short period of time, especially since the Lightning were a genuine powerhouse that season, finishing first in the Eastern Conference and enjoying home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. The Flames came through the West as a No. 6 seed, knocked off all three division champions and came within a disputed goal in the sixth game against the Lightning of actually winning the whole thing themselves.
On paper, about the only significant difference between the Flames and the Lightning at the moment is in goal. Postlockout, Tampa let its No. 1 man, Nikolai Khabibulin, leave for salary-cap reasons. The Flames, meanwhile, squeezed three more seasons out of the less experienced Miikka Kiprusoff at reasonable dollars before a long-term extension that he signed this season kicks in next year.
Otherwise, Tampa has its dollars committed to one high-end defenceman (Dan Boyle) and two high-end forwards (Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis) in the same way Calgary spent much of its cash on an emerging defensive star (Dion Phaneuf) and the perennial candidate for most valuable player, Iginla.
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Calgary represents an intriguing unknown with the playoffs on the horizon. The Flames are coached by Mike Keenan, who has more playoff wins than any active coach in the NHL (a 91-69 record overall), but has no postseason appearances in more than a decade.
Keenan was brought in for his experience (the belief was that Jim Playfair, his predecessor and a rookie head coach, lacked that in last year's run). But mostly the Flames are like so many middle-of-the-road NHL teams of the current era - they lack playmakers beyond their one-two-three punch.
When Calgary wins, the formula for success is as simple as 1-2-3.
1. Kiprusoff outplays the opposing goalie. When he's engaged, the Finn moves well, plays big, covers lots of net, and generally limits bad goals to a manageable few.
2. Iginla, the perfect captain, rallies the troops, by word and deed, with a manner that is rare in today's NHL. With the team touch-and-go just to make the playoffs, he has turned in a first-star performance in virtually every win they've had over the past two weeks.
3. Phaneuf. Thanks to television highlight reels and commentators, Phaneuf was already a household name two seasons into his NHL career, because of a booming slap shot and a capacity for big open-ice hits. But he was also a high-risk, high-reward player and frequently would get caught out of position while going after a hit. His penalty killing was just so-so; his defensive fundamentals were not nearly as advanced as the other, more visible aspects of his game.
But in the past several months, Phaneuf has become a better all-round player. The highlight-reel hits are not so common any more, but nor are the giveaways. There has been a tangible, measurable improvement in his overall defensive game, plus he's started to score again on a more regular basis. Phaneuf had only six goals at the all-star break (Jan. 27). He has 11 goals in the 27 games since to move into a tie with the Washington Capitals' Mike Green for the league lead among defencemen. (Chicago's Dustin Byfuglien actually has 18, but he occasionally plays forward for the Blackhawks.)
Tuesday's win over the Vancouver Canucks, which moved the Flames into first place in the Northwest Division, pending last night's games, was typical of the way things have gone for them. Apart from one uncharacteristic mistake, Kiprusoff was exceptional. Iginla calmed things down in the dressing room after a disastrous first period. And with the score tied and the game on the line, Phaneuf made an aggressive play to catch the Canucks on a line change, overpowering goalie Roberto Luongo with a perfectly placed slap shot from the top of the crease.
Everyone else contributed in his own way, but with six of the 12 forwards boasting a grand total of 12 goals amongst them, you can be pretty sure they're not going to make the difference offensively all that often.
So can a team, four years removed from a Stanley Cup run, do it again? Only eight players remain from that team: Kiprusoff, Iginla, Craig Conroy, Robyn Regehr, Matthew Lombardi, Marcus Nilson, Stephane Yelle and the injured Rhett Warrener. They are not nearly as fast up front, or as mobile on defence as the '04 team, but they probably possess a greater heavyweight presence (Calgary and Anaheim were tied for most NHL fights prior to last night). Statistically, Calgary isn't at Detroit's level - or San Jose's, or even Anaheim's - but if the Flames get a favourable matchup and then get help from someone else, they could conceivably navigate a fair ways down the playoff path.
That is, of course, provided their playmakers can get the job done, night after unrelenting night, knowing full well that if they don't or can't, help probably isn't on the way from the deeper recesses of their lineup.
