Rebuilding.  It’s an awful word to consider, especially when it’s a professional sports franchise that is hell bent on winning games and isn’t worrying about the bottom line.  Rebuilding takes a serious financial commitment, incredible faith and patience from the fanbase, and a little bit of luck (because there is no real guarantee that any sort of rebuilding process will be successful).  In the case of the Calgary Flames, they have much in terms of those three elements.  It’s exactly why all of the talk of trading Jarome Iginla (while he still has another full year on his contract) comes across as static noise to the team’s management.

Being a resident of the City of Calgary and also not being a Flames supporter, I take a step back and try to reason with what is going on with the club from time to time.  More importantly, I try to reason through the lens of all the fans that are around and how they feel with what is going on.  It’s not really hard to get a pulse of how the city feels about their Flames.  It is generally written all over the faces of the true supporters, the ranting and ravings of the casual fans, and the elevated levels of indifference from the corporate seat holders who are trying to show their clients a good time in the lower bowl of the Saddledome.  Things are not well here, but all three levels of fans hinge on Jarome Iginla.  Whether he stays or he goes and whether they want him or not.

This is where the fanbase faith is a real sticking point.

The Flames management knows that they cannot trade Iginla (or Miikka Kiprusoff for that matter) because they are the faces of the franchise. They are the players that everyone in the city pins their playoff hopes to.  As long as Iginla keeps smiling for the media and saying how much he wants to win a Cup in Calgary, the faith will remain on the better side of the middle. Most importantly for the organization, the Saddledome will keep selling tickets. While players like Olli Jokinen, Matt Stajan and Jay Bouwmeester continue to take a kicking for their lack of consistency from game to game, the fans truly need a player that can carry the whole city on their shoulders. Iginla has been that man in Calgary for more than a decade.

There is an element of naivety to the shouts from the casual fans that want to see Jarome Iginla traded away from Calgary to start the rebuilding process right now. It’s as if there is a belief that trading the captain away will make for a quick process to turn this club around.  As if there is going to be a team that is willing to trade their superstar straight-up to make the Flames better or change the atmosphere of the club.  It is far more likely that if/when Iginla gets dealt out of Calgary, it will be a deadline deal in 2013 to a team that wants to limit their risk with a future unresticted free agent forward. It’ll be a team looking to win a Stanley Cup that is willing to take his big price tag out of town.  In return, the Flames would possibly get one roster player, a good prospect, and a number of good to reasonable draft picks. It would give the Flames a boost in the proper way to rebuild this team.

No pressure Sven...

I cannot see Iginla getting moved this year. The Flames would likely get an underachieving, overpaid star in a straight salary swap if they were to move him this season. It would possibly be a player that would keep the team in the conversation for sneaking into the playoffs this season, but also likely an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. It would give Calgary the cap flexibility to do something more in the off-season and maybe a mid-round pick for their trouble.

There has to be a proper time to strike when the iron is hot. Here and now isn’t that time because the market isn’t hot for Iginla… yet.

The Flames dropping the bomb on this roster this season could be a disaster from a financial standpoint. If they conceded that the team can not succeed as currently constructed and rebuilding for the future is the best way to go, the fickle fanbase (both individual and corporate) will be more likely to take their money elsewhere from the Saddledome.

I’m not saying 100% of fans because there are a lot of real hockey in Calgary that can’t get their hands on tickets. Whether they are winning or losing, there will be those that will still support the ‘C of Red’ until the end of days.

It’s the big money that the team really worries about.  The casual fan that doesn’t come to a game that often, buys a jersey during their visit for a souvenir or the corporate groups that entertain their clients.  Those are the ones that may feel they are not getting good value for some very steep ticket prices. If the team doesn’t have anyone to pins their hopes to, well, forget about it.  It will take its toll on the Flames organization, possibly a pretty good hit to the coffers of the ownership group to which the faith in their management would likely be tested.

Call scouting and drafting what you will. Skill. Luck. A combination of both?  Historically speaking, the Flames have not had a great deal of either, but there has been some glimmers of hope with the draft picks they have been able to sneak onto the draft floors with over the past couple of seasons. The future of the Flames could very well depend on what has happened in Minnesota and Los Angeles over the last two drafts (and what is going to happen in Pittsburgh in 2012 and beyond).  If the Calgary Flames make any deals for draft picks or prospects for potential free agents at the trade deadline, they will have to lean heavily on their scouting department to find some diamonds in the rough in the junior ranks or players with skill that NHL clubs have given up on. They’ll hope that any potential prospects can adapt to the system that is in place by the current coaching staff, making their transition into the club easier and then translating that into wins on the ice.  Even if the team isn’t torn down and sold for parts, the management team is still going to have to be strong in the player development department since a lot of the good young players are hard to come by without high draft picks and/or lots of cap space.

If the Flames can find a talented fresh face that they can turn into the face of their franchise (someone the whole city can fall in love with and management can keep around for the long-term), there would be much less postpartum depression when they eventually have to say goodbye to the old era and great years gone by.  Calgary is certainly not alone when it comes to strong ties to hockey nostalgia in Canada, but if they can successfully do the ol’ switcheroo between Iginla and Kiprusoff to a couple of new young bucks, they could be alright.

Boy, I’d sure hate to be Sven Baertschi right about now, he’s right in the crosshairs for that job with an incredible junior season on the go for him in the WHL.  That is going to be a lot of pressure, when he walks in for training camp next season.

Trying to replace a legend always is.

This year we’re doing something a little different for the Trade Deadline. Every blogger out there is going to tell you who’s going to be a buyer, who’s going to be a seller, who needs this, and who needs that. And for the record, I reserve the right to do the same thing later—although it might just be more entertaining to make fun of teams and completely overreact after the fact.

But we wanted to do something a little different around here. This year, we wanted to put these same questions in front of fans who cheer passionately for their teams. Its one thing to hear answers from a blogger who follows the team and has an eye towards objectivity; but it’s something else completely when you ask the question to a diehard fan who cheers with their heart on their sleeve. We’re talking about people who watch their team every game, know what their team needs, and have strong opinions on what needs to do to get better. They’re you and me. Hockey fans.

What better place to look for passionate hockey fans all over North America than checking out Twitter? So that’s where we went—and here’s who we found! For the Northwest Division, we have Arik representing the Flames, Courtney for the Avalanche, Steven for the Oilers, Jeremy for the Wild, and Clayton for the Canucks.

Hope you enjoy the project as much as we’ve enjoyed putting it together. After checking out everyone’s views, we’d love to hear if you agree or disagree with everyone’s answers. We know you have an opinion as well!

1.  Is your team living up to the expectations they had going into the season? Do you think there’s more or less pressure to make moves at the deadline because of those expectations?

Arik (Flames): The Flames are playing far beyond expectations; they were expected to challenge for 7th or 8th and yet are currently in a tie for 4th (while most teams tied with them have games in hand, the point is they’re exceeding expectations). This puts a lot of pressure to make a move at the deadline- in some unexpected ways. The team is exceeding expectations largely because individual players are doing the same: Curtis Glencross and Alex Tanguay to name two specifically.

This puts the onus on Acting General Manager Jay Feaster to decide if the Flames are a quality playoff team instead of a one round and out team (hint- it’s the latter) and if those players who could bring back a great return should be sold for that return.

Courtney (Avalanche): Last season there were no expectations and the team made it to the playoffs, most of the experts were shocked because there should have been no way in hell they get there. In 2008-2009 the Avalanche finished dismally. It was their first time in the franchise history they had finished in the bottom five of the Western Conference, let alone League since they had relocated. It was only their second time since relocating to have missed the playoffs. The only other time was when they missed by one point to Calgary but had 96 points.

This season fans and players alike thought they should have no trouble reaching the same milestones again, and they got off to a wonderful start, they were second in goals and things just stopped working. We were seeing guys being sent down to the AHL who were NHL caliber and AHL guys who were clearly not ready for the NHL getting hefty shifts. The downward spiral the Avs got themselves into forced the ownership to make moves, but no one thought they’d be making such drastic changes.

During the off season the Avs didn’t re-sign a few players who went on to secure jobs elsewhere and do just fine. They didn’t secure solid defensemen even though there were plenty who were free agents or available to trade. They barely hit the salary floor and they gave fans the line that ‘they were giving the youth of the organization a chance’ Now here in February we get to watch the team be ripped apart, heads on chopping blocks and feel everything they told us was a lie. Refusing to give them the adequate defense they needed they set themselves up for failure. And because the Avs went from record breaking sell out streaks to being 26th in attendance, the folks at Pepsi Center are desperate to try anything to get the team back on its feet and butts in seats. I wouldn’t take the same approach they are, but I guess that’s why they have the job I want and I don’t.

Steven (Oilers): They are living up to the expectations Oilers fans had coming into the season which wasn’t much. Last year they were a nightmare to watch, this year the rookies are making things interesting. As an Oilers fan I just wanted to see some exciting hockey from the kids. I also wanted to see some of the remaining veterans show they still cared and I think we have got that from both.

It is a lot easier to see what assets the Oilers should keep going forward and what they need to improve upon. Our defense is terrible but it is nice to see a guy like Ryan Whitney step up and take the reins even though he is out for the rest of the season. Theo Peckham was also a nice surprise in the toughness department.

I think there is a lot of pressure on Steve Tambellini to make a smart move that improves the team for the future. Some of the players rumoured to be on the block like Hemsky and Penner have shown that they can put up numbers. When you are one of the only sellers in the league the pressure is on to make people over pay for your assets. Other fans seem to think that they can pick up our big names by giving the Oilers their garbage. It’s not going to happen.

Jeremy (Wild): Absolutely. I thought going into the season the team could be a playoff team. Of course there were a lot of if’s involved- IF Backstrom could return to form, IF Burns could take it to the next level, IF Latendresse could repeat last season. Well, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad and the Wild are on the cusp of making the playoffs.

The pressure now is for Fletcher to make the right choice. Does he stand pat? Does he go for it? Does he sell. If he goes for it and fails then he will take criticism for whatever he gives up. If the team falls short he will be criticized for not getting that extra piece to the puzzle.

Clayton (Canucks): Expectations are a funny thing. The expectations of all the pundits and critics had the Canucks as the best team on paper going into the season, which was all well and good. Personally, I acknowledged that GM Mike Gillis did a fantastic job of building a team and adding key pieces to the blueline, but I kept my expectations to some reasonable levels, just primarily thinking about the Northwest Division, instead of the bigger scope.

Since the Canucks have taken a stranglehold on the division, it’s fair to look beyond the four teams they compete against and see that they have indeed exceeded my expectations by leading the Western Conference and leading the whole league, off and on.

I think there will be some pressure to tinker with the club at the trade deadline, especially with the injury situation on defense, with Dan Hamhuis suffering a concussion, Keith Ballard out with a knee injury and Alex Edler out after back surgery. With all three likely to be back before the playoffs begin, pressure might be tempered from the outside, but I have the feeling that some internal pressure will be enough to pull the trigger on a deal.

2.  Will your team be a buyer or a seller? What are fans hoping to see the team do at the deadline?

Arik (Flames): As much as it pains me to say this, the Flames will be a buyer. “Should” is an entirely different question, but at the end of the day, Jay Feaster will likely try to add something to improve playoff chances.

Fans are, well, confused, about what to hope for. This is a team that was “out” of the playoff race 2 months ago and is now in the thick of a very tight Western Conference race. Players we expected to loathe (Olli Jokinen, Ollie Jokinen, and Olli Jokinen) are producing rather well (33 points in the last 37 games, albeit with some awful awful plays on the ice that negate a lot of those points).

At the end of the day though- don’t expect to see a whole lot of movement from the Flames. Jay Feaster historically is not a big trade deadline guy. He might swap third or fourth liners for depth defensemen, or something similar, but I wouldn’t expect more than that unless someone comes to him with a terrific offer.

Courtney (Avalanche): Both, we want to get rid of players that have ‘disappointed’ us and try to piece together a new team that has the building blocks we are missing. Last season we had trouble scoring and bad defense. The first half of the season we had not trouble scoring but defense continues to be a problem. With the scoring drought we’ve had, they do need to solidify the D to give the forwards a chance to score. A few older, more experienced guys wouldn’t hurt either. The main thing this team lacks is leadership and clear path. I don’t think Sherman or Sacco really provide that for the boys, they’ll need as much leadership they can get in the locker room.

Steven (Oilers): The Oilers are definite sellers. It is nice to know where you stand at the deadline compared to the other teams lingering in the 4th-14th purgatory in the western conference standings. The trick is getting someone to overpay with picks and prospects. If Mike Fisher can fetch Ottawa a late first rounder, Hemsky or Penner should be able to get you more. The Oilers also have the luxury of having a good deal of cap space. Hey Boston, care to ship over Michael Ryder for Toronto’s 1st round pick this year for one of our big forwards?

Jeremy (Wild): Prior to the Ducks game, all signs pointed to the team standing pat. I believe that was Fletcher’s preference. He wants to see what this team can do without mortgaging the future. Prior to the Ducks game I believe the only way the team would deal is if the could move their own upcoming free agents for an upgrade. Now there is the potential Mikko Koivu is going to be out a while. That changes the dynamic. If he is going to miss significant time I can see Fletcher adding a center.

The fans are torn. There is a section of fans who believe if the team is just going to lose in the 1st round they are better off throwing the season and getting a high pick. Those fans believe the team should sell, sell, sell. Other fans have a long memory of when the former GM brought in only Chris Simon at the deadline and they were upset in the 1st round. So those fans would love to see the team add.

Clayton (Canucks): Without a doubt, the Canucks will be a buyer at the deadline. The broad spectrum of fans may not agree on what the team should necessarily do at the deadline, but they all want to see the team succeed and should be pleased with moves that would increase their chances of success.

3.  What specifically does your team need if they want to take the next step?  Which players/prospects are on the trading block and could be on the move by Deadline Day?

Arik (Flames): As cliché as this is: elite talent. The Flames don’t have a single player who will break 80 points this year; Jarome Iginla is on pace for 77. Next best? Alex Tanguay on pace for 59. The second leading goal scorer is Curtis Glencross of all people, with a career high 19 goals and on pace for 26. He’s also shooting at a completely unsustainable 18.1%. If the Flames continue playing this well, then they need elite offense.  And Rene Bourque? He who started the season being proclaimed the heir-apparent to Iggy? He’s been apathetic at best on the ice, and frustrating on average.

It’s hard to guess who will be available for a price the asset-less Flames can afford. Some speculation (meaning hope) has revolved around Stephen Weiss of the Florida Panthers and Brad Boyes of the St. Louis Blues, but at the end of the day, your only hope of guessing is looking at Eklund’s “rumors” and crossing them off the realm of reality.

In the end, the Flames will have to pray for an elite scoring talent to fall into their lap for cheap if they want to do more than simply make the post-season.

As far as who’s gone or likely to be gone? If Glencross looks to be testing free agency this year and has no immediate intentions of resigning with the Flames, hopefully Jay Feaster will ship him out for a 1st rounder or something similar (I’m using Chris Kelly for a 2nd as a baseline here). And really- that’s it.

Flames fans can hope for recouping any value for Steve Staios, but that’s extremely unlikely as Darryl Sutter is no longer running a professional hockey team.

Rene Bourque is the only other remote trade possibility: he’s signed at a simply mildly awful deal and Jay Feaster failed to identify him as a “core player” when he took the reins. Is he on the block? Not necessarily, but I wouldn’t be surprised to hear his name shopped or see him leave at the deadline.

A few other names you should expect to see bandied about: Niklas Hagman, Cory Sarich, and Anton Babchuk.

In summary, there won’t be a whole lot happening for the Flames this year- no matter their position. There could be a mild acquisition or a mild sale, but anything more would surprise me. Jay Feaster’s temperament doesn’t leave him wanting to make big moves unless ordered by ownership, and his position, Interim GM, doesn’t lend itself to making big movements either.

Courtney (Avalanche): Well we have already seen Anderson, Stewart, and Shattenkirk move. There’s talk of Liles and Stastny being on the chopping block and GM Greg Sherman was on NHL Live on Monday and refused to set the record straight on Duchene. When asked point blank he could not give a definite answer to whether Matt was safe or not.

Like I said before, I think the team thinks they know what they’re doing, but every move they make, they’re alienating fans along the way.

Steven (Oilers): The Oilers just need to keep building for the future, no pressure to win today and spend money on a big free agent. The players I see on the trading block are:

Ales Hemsky: In my opinion he hasn’t looked that great since coming back from yet another concussion. As an armchair GM he would be the player that I would shop around. Over his career he has really only played one full season but he was great in the 2006 playoffs. He is pretty much a 70 point player that I think some teams may over value a bit looking for help in the scoring department going into the post season.

Dustin Penner: I would actually like to keep Penner but if someone is willing to overpay then I wouldn’t be adverse to seeing him go. What Oilers fans have to remember is that a 1st, 2nd and 3rd rounder was the original price for Penner so it would be nice to see at least a 1st rounder and a good prospect come back.

Andrew Cogliano: I have actually been impressed by Cogliano’s 2nd half so far. He has went through some tough injuries and has played through them. He could be a good depth guy for another team but I doubt anyone would pay much for him.

Sam Gagner: A lot of Oilers fans would be irate if Gagner was traded but he would likely fetch a really good return for Tambellini. If you could trade Gagner for a good return package and then draft a big centre like Sean Couturier to make up for his departure it might be worth it. He is the type of player that could get the Oilers a lot back in return.

Reddox, Fraser, Jacques, Brule and maybe even Omark might be available.

Any defenseman except for Whitney, Peckham, Petry: Need some toughness in the 5th or 6th hole? Jim Vandermeer. Need a guy with a big shot from the point: Kurtis Foster. The Oilers might also be willing to finally let Smid go. I don’t think it is likely but for the right price Tambellini may trade Tom Gilbert.

Contrary to popular belief, the Oilers won’t move Souray this season. The Oilers would have to pick up half his salary and the team acquiring him would have to put him through re-entry waivers. If the Oilers want any return for Souray they will have to move him in the offseason. Have fun in Hershey Souray, its the only playoff run you’ll see this year.

Jeremy (Wild): More than anything else the Wild need a scoring winger. The Wild have a lot of guys that contribute offensively, but they don’t have that one go to player. Antti Miettinen is a solid player, but he is not a 1st liner. You put a sniper with Mikko and Brunette and that player would easily be a 40 goal scorer.

Really the only prospects available to trade would be on defense where the team is pretty deep. Fletcher isn’t going to move a top prospect for a rental. Otherwise if he can find a way to swing it Fletcher will look to move the pending free agents- Miettinen or Kobasew.

Clayton (Canucks): Personally, I’m hoping for a bit more defense to shore up some of the injury problems, giving them a little bit more depth, just in case. If the Blackhawks and Flyers taught us anything last year, it was that great defense can be enough to go the distance (or fall just short).

A secondary goal, will likely be a little bit more bottom-six depth, which has been challenged of late in the Canucks’ schedule, with some line juggling and a revolving door of 4th line players between Vancouver and Winnipeg. More of a veteran presence, which has some versatility between the 3rd and 4th line will likely be a target.

As for pieces that could be on the way out, the Canucks have all of their draft picks in 2011, so that would be the ideal thing to move, keeping some continuity in the minors. Roster players are now unlikely to move, thanks to injuries, and possibly only a small number of prospects, if any, are in play. If a prospect moves, it would likely be because the draft pick price tag is too high.

Today’s guest post is courtesy of Arik Knapp from Matchsticks and Gasoline and 4th Line Blog. When not blogging about the Flames, you can find him on Twitter (probably talking about the Flames)…

Being a Flames fan and writer is making for interesting times right now. On the one hand, you have the Flames making a strong playoff push with one regulation loss and two extra point losses over the last 12 games. On the other hand, this is a team that that is not built for sustained success, whether through the season, the playoffs, or next season altogether.

In December the Flames were hovering around 14th place in the Western Conference. They had a few bad bounces, but largely, they were simply getting outplayed. They were slow, ineffective, and seemingly apathetic about winning puck battles along the boards. Jump to today, and the Flames have been holding steady in and around 8th place, with what seems like half of the Western Conference right next to them. For instance, the 13th place team is St. Louis with 59 points in 55 games- 4 less games than the Flames have played.

But you’ve heard all about how tight the Western Conference is, what about the Flames? A quick glance at their recent record (12-1-2) and the closeness of the Western Conference will tell the most casual observer that the Flames need to push for the playoffs. I mean, once you get to the playoffs, anything can happen right? Especially if you come into the playoffs “hot”. Because that’s what the Flyers proved last year.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case. First, let’s look at the “hot” factor. Gabe Desjardins talks about going into the playoffs “hot” or “cold” in this excellent article. And the conclusion? It doesn’t matter.

Well, okay, but anything can happen when you get in, right? Wrong. Let’s take everyone’s favorite example- the Philadelphia Flyers, who as a 7 seed that made the playoffs on a shootout win over the Rangers, who made the Stanley Cup Finals last year. Sure, they were a great feel-good team (if you ignore the fact that they’re from Philadelphia) with sneaking into the playoffs, relying on two career backup goalies, and coming back from a 0-3 series deficit.

But more important than being a “feel-good” team, they were a very very good team. Just look at the lineup. Carter, Briere, Richards, Giroux, Gagne, Pronger, Hartnell, and Leino. Not only are their personnel very good, but they played that way throughout the season, accumulating a shot differential of +243, good for fifth in the league. It’s safe to say that a combination of bad bounces and playing in the hardest division last season led them to a few regular season woes.

Neither of those apply to the Calgary Flames this year. The lineup is far from stacked- Jarome Iginla is still a top quality player, but he’s hardly the player he was when he could drag a team of 3rd liners to the Stanley Cup finals- and it shows. He’s less physical, less engaged in puck battles on the boards, and in general has taken a step back from the Iggy Flames fans love and remember. And who’s after him on the forward depth chart? Rene Bourque? Alex Tanguay? Curtis Glencross?

As much as I love them all, for they are indeed Calgary Flames, the reasonable part of my mind looks at the Flames lineup and thinks “This is hardly a playoff caliber team”. The Flames may make the playoffs. They probably will in fact. But they won’t go very far. They manage to outshoot their opposition, but there’s a lack of elite shooting ability, beyond Jarome Iginla. They rely on players like Curtis Glencross and Tim Jackman to have career years, and given that “career years” are by their very nature outliers, that’s not something that fills you with confidence.

Finally, at the end of the day, the Flames are old. They have exactly two players under the age of 26 on the regular roster (I’m not including current call-up Lance Bouma) one of whom is at best a 6th defenceman with very little hopes of being anything more.

So where does this leave the Flames and Interim GM Jay Feaster? It leaves them on a playoff bubble, with no real chances of making it past a single round. It leaves them in an even worse position next year when the team is older- and being older is a good thing for only two players on the roster (Mikkelson and Mikael Backlund). There is a lack of quality prospects (when Max Reinhart is one of the better ones, you’re in trouble) and no significant draft picks in the near future. The Flames are not a bad team right now, but they’re certainly not a good one, and have little hopes of making it there in the near future.

On the other hand, there’s something great about watching them obliterate the Colorado Avalanche 9-1.

This guest post is by Stephen A. Croiciata. Make his day and follow him on Twitter…

The NFL Draft, the MLB Trade Deadline, and the NHL Trade Deadline: What do these three events have in common? They are my three days of Christmas! Being someone who is going into Sports Management these are the days I look forward to the most all year; and to a lesser extent, the NBA Trade Deadline. Now one of those days is quickly approaching as the NHL Trade Deadline is less than a month away. Over the next few weeks you will read loads of trade deadline preview articles about team needs and predictions on who goes where, but I’d rather be simple. Being a fan of the Colorado Avalanche, I wanted to take a look at the Northwest Division and give my outlook on what each team should be looking to do at the deadline: Buy, Sell, or Stand Pat.

Calgary Flames

Back in December, the Flames seemed undoubtedly headed toward a team that would consider going into the 2011-2012 season with a whole new look. It was thrown around that the Flames may possibly make Jerome Iginla, the face of their franchise, available since the outlook for this season was, for a time, grim. Now Calgary has turned things around and have found themselves in the fight for the last few playoff spots in the West, where teams 4-13 are separated only by 8 points. Calgary has a good deal of secondary scoring supporting Iginla, but if they can improve their team while moving a contract such as Steve Staios, 1 year 2.7 million, they should jump at the opportunity. BUY.

Colorado Avalanche

Last season all of the so-called experts predicted the Avalanche to finish dead last in the West, but after a surprising season many of those same experts expected the Avs to grow on last season and get even better in 2010-11. Early on the Avalanche looked great, but of late they have slid and at times look just as bad as they did two years ago. The thing that makes the Avalanche so mysterious is they are putting up huge numbers and in fact they are the only team in the Northwest division with four guys with over 35 points and yet they still can’t gather any consistency. As an Avalanche fan myself I can recognize that this team just isn’t there yet and with even more game-changing guys in the lower levels such as Tyson Barrie, Stefan Elliott, and Joey Hishon, it may just be better off to make some changes now. They could possibly sign Peter Forsberg (Editor’s Note: Avs signed Forsberg to a pro-rated, $1 million contract), if he is ready, and then ship him off to a contender, they could trade a guy like TJ Galiardi who can be a valuable bottom 6 forward, or they may even look into trading Craig Anderson who is a UFA after this season. SELL.

Edmonton Oilers

I promise fans of Edmonton that one day this team will be very good! I myself am not a fan of Taylor Hall, but the kid seems to be the real deal. Plus they have Gagner, Paakarvi, Eberle, and whoever they happen to draft this season. Until they reach that plateau of being a competitive team, the Oilers have to continue to rid themselves of veteran players who crowd the team. Although I don’t see them moving any of their large contracts, I expect Vandemeer and Strudwick to be moved and potentially even young center Andrew Cogliano who has yet to really fit in Edmonton. SELL.

Minnesota Wild

The Wild seem to fit into a very similar place as the Calgary Flames. They were a team no one really expected to compete much this year, but as we just crossed into February they are in the mix for one of the last spots in the West. I personally do not have as much faith in Minnesota keeping up as I do the Flames. Much of Minnesota’s success has been in large part to a great performance on the road this season but can they maintain the pace. They have done a poor job on home ice in 2010-11 and usually that will come back to bite a team late in the year. The Wild have a good enough squad to sneak into the playoffs if they keep up the road warrior mentality, and I’m not so sure if tinkering with what they have will help much in improving their stance. One move I make if I am Chuck Fletcher is moving Chuck Kobasew who is a UFA at the end of the season and may bring in a decent young piece in return. STAND PAT.

Vancouver Canucks

Seriously what am I supposed to say here? This team was expected to be great and yet those expectations have been trampled. This team is expected to win every game they play and what else can you expect when you have a team with dynamic offensive twins, a top notch goalie, and a load of shut down defenders? This team has no reason to try and get better because it may not be possible. If anything, I’d say this team may be better off doing a little selling of guys like Raffi Torres and Manny Malhotra, who also happen to be 2 of the 3 regular starters who have a negative +/-. Also depending on how Sami Salo comes back from injury, they may look to move one of their defenseman. STAND PAT.

On a night when the Avalanche were dressing four rookie defensemen due to injury, TJ Galiardi thought it would be a good idea to get into the act by breaking his wrist. To recap: Peter Mueller, Kyle Quincey, Adam Foote, and Kyle Cumiskey are all out with concussions. David Jones and Ryan Wilson are also out—even if it’s for a shorter term. Enforcer David Koci broke his jaw when he let Kevin Westgarth use his chin as a punching bag in pre-season. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, they lost their franchise goaltender to injury during warm-ups on a night when he wasn’t even starting.

Mama said there’d be days like this.

The thing that has to be frustrating for Avalanche fans is that the Galiardi hit was like 50 other hits within the game. There was nothing particularly special or noteworthy about Iginla’s check on Galiardi. Well, except for the fact that he immediately dropped his glove, skated to the bench, and subsequently walked to the dressing room. Besides all that, it was just like any other hit in a hockey game.

Everyone has injury problems throughout the year. The key is finding a way to weather the storm and just hope you don’t lose too much ground while you’re waiting for the regulars to return to the lineup. The difference for the Avalanche is they’re watching all of their injuries happen at the same time. With so many defenseman out at one time, it’s key for Colorado to score as many goals as possible—because you know they’re going to give up some bad ones. Losing a top-line left winger couldn’t have happened at a worse time.

But hey, at least Galiardi’s not out due to a butt-end or something. That would just be dirty.