CALGARY — Mike Keenan was perched in his usual spot, postpractice — in the corridor, outside the Calgary Flames dressing room — doing an excellent job of not answering the question. Actually, Keenan was more than forthcoming on many different issues — his expectations for the season and his assessment of the two rookies, Brandon Prust and Adam Pardy, who cracked the team's roster.
He just wouldn't tip his hand on the one question everyone needed answered: Who will play where and with whom in his opening-day lineup. Normally, for most teams, the NHL exhibition season would provide a few broad hints, but not with Keenan and not with this particular preseason, since the flu ran through the team for most of the past three weeks, meaning the mix-and-match nature of Keenan's coaching style was even more of a mish-mash than usual.
Centre Matthew Lombardi, for example, who started camp so well, missed the past six days because of a serious case of the flu and returned to action only yesterday. He's probable for the opener against the Vancouver Canucks, but only if his energy levels come back in the interim.
"If we said everything was 100-per-cent well done, we'd be foolish to accept that notion," Keenan conceded, "but I think we've progressed quite nicely. I'm pleased with our progression, put it that way."
Yesterday, the Flames set their 23-man roster by doing the expected and waiving three players — defencemen Anders Eriksson and Rhett Warrener and centre Jamie Lundmark. Lundmark is heading to the club's AHL affiliate in Quad Cities, while Eriksson and Warrener will stay in town for the next few days to see whether general manager Darryl Sutter can find them an NHL home. Eriksson and Warrener were casualties of the $56.7-million (U.S.) salary cap. The Flames were almost $2-million over for much of camp and needed to get compliant by 3 p.m. today, when final rosters must be submitted to the NHL for approval. By shipping out Eriksson and Warrener and their combined $4-million in salaries, the Flames get under by a nose.
Eriksson averaged almost 21 minutes of playing time last season, much of it with Dion Phaneuf. This season, Phaneuf will be paired with Mark Giordano, who is back with the Flames after playing in Russia last year.
"It is cap space," Eriksson said after losing his job. "Would this happen if there wasn't an issue about cap space? I don't think so. I proved last year that I could play and contribute — enough to at least be in the mix for one of the top eight to play. It is what it is.
"It's a business."
For yesterday's practice, Keenan had centre Craig Conroy between captain Jarome Iginla and Todd Bertuzzi, but advised against reading too much into any of his line combinations.
"I haven't got any idea at this point in time," Keenan said, noting that his decisions would depend on the "dynamics of the game" and suggesting: "Even in Game 1, there's going to be a lot of jockeying. There is going to be matchups against Jarome in Vancouver for sure. It's like starting a playoff series, it really is — and we'll be into it, right from Day 1, with the first five games in our division."
It seemed likely that Bertuzzi, Iginla and Daymond Langkow would be Keenan's top line to start anyway. Keenan played newcomer Rene Bourque, a natural left winger, mostly on the right side in camp — and indicated that experiment would continue. Logically, that would mean Michael Cammalleri and Matthew Lombardi will fill out the second line, at left wing and centre, respectively.
The only relatively set unit through the final three exhibition games was a line that featured youngster Dustin Boyd between David Moss and Curtis Glencross. The three players combined for 20 points in six games and ranked 1-2-3 on the Flames in exhibition scoring.
There is rarely any correlation between success in the exhibition and regular seasons, but if those three can provide more consistent secondary scoring than Calgary received a year ago from its third line, then that could go a long way in taking some of the pressure to produce off Iginla.
If that unit stays together, then Conroy, Wayne Primeau and Andre Roy would round out the fourth line — with the newcomer Prust, an agitator in the Sean Avery style, in reserve.
Keenan praised Bertuzzi and Cammalleri for coming in with what he called "enthusiasm and a fresh attitude."
Cammalleri said he couldn't wait to get going.
"It feels like it's been a year since camp started," said Cammalleri, who played for the 29th-placed Los Angeles Kings last season. "I've gotten to know the personalities and I expect it's a team that could compete with anybody. That's the most exciting thing for me; I expect that we'll win a lot of games."
As for goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff, he had his usual so-so exhibition season (3.65 goals-against average and .841 save percentage), but pronounced himself ready to go as well.
"I feel good," Kiprusoff said. "The team looks good. The new guys seem like they fit in well on this team. I think we are all waiting for the day we can get it on. There's not much else to say — except we're ready to start the season."
