Post by John Davidson on Sept 28, 2007 17:56:35 GMT -5
CALGARY - Calgary Flames coach Mike Keenan will never directly admit to it, so one is left to infer from his diplomatic answers and his actions.
The question is about fighting in today's NHL. The Anaheim Ducks won the Stanley Cup last season with a team that led the league in fighting majors, and the number of fights in the 2007-08 pre-season is significantly up over last season.
The message seems to be that fighting is back in vogue, and while Keenan won't say so, he referred on Monday to Anaheim's success with that game plan, and it's hard to overlook the fact that Eric Godard is the lone Flame skater to have dressed for all four pre-season tilts to date.
"Anaheim said right from the very beginning that they were going to play physical in all areas of the ice surface, and they won the Stanley Cup," said Keenan, whose Flames host the San Jose Sharks tonight at the Pengrowth Saddledome. "And (Ducks GM) Brian Burke has said it again, that they want to be an aggressive team. If that leads to fisticuffs, then they're going to engage, and that's going to be part of their team personality.
"They won the Stanley Cup. I don't know what each team is going to take on in terms of a mantra or a personality, but the champions are going to come back and try to do it the same way."
And with Godard expected to take on a more prominent role with the Flames this season, don't count on the Flames backing down.
The 27-year-old winger skated in 19 games with the big club last season, notching one assist and 50 penalty minutes; in 36 games with the Flames' American Hockey League affiliate in Omaha, the Vernon, B.C., product had five goals, four assists and 94 penalty minutes.
Those numbers, plus two other telling stats - six-foot-four, 221 pounds - were apparently good enough for the Flames to sign Godard to the first one-way contract of his nine-year pro career.
"It felt really good," said Godard, whose summer highlight reel included building a new house at the famed Predator Ridge golf club overlooking Kalamalka Lake in the Okanagan. "It's always nice to have a little more security."
Godard returned the favour by showing up at camp in peak physical condition after spending the off-season in Vernon training like a fiend, hoping not only to improve his physical play but his skill-set with a stick in his hands - a prerequisite, says Keenan, to fitting in to his system.
"I've tried to have a player who could play responsibly as well as if he was a tough player," said Keenan. "Dave Brown, Stu Grimson, Joe Kocur - those types of people I've had in the past, they had to be able to play first.
"Eric has improved as a hockey player. I keep watching him and he's an individual we want to continue to work with and improve the skill-set in his ability to play the game. He's worked at it very hard; he came in very fit, and he's worked at his game in the areas where we want him to improve his skills."
Still, Godard recognizes that his size and knuckles are a big part of why he got that one-way deal, and that Anaheim's Cup-winning philosophy - while perhaps not aesthetically pleasing - didn't hurt, either.
"Oh, definitely - it might have been the best thing for the role (of NHL tough guy) to have that happen," he said. "It just shows the guys are out there playing and grinding, and the tough guys have ended up playing an important role."
But as for the spike in fighting majors this pre-season, Godard isn't expecting a return to the days of the Broad Street Bullies once they start dropping pucks - and gloves - for real next week.
"It goes up and down, right?" he said. "Some teams just have more guys in camp who can do that, and they might end up playing another team with a lot of (tougher) guys. And then other teams might not have any (tough) guys. It's just luck of the draw."
The question is about fighting in today's NHL. The Anaheim Ducks won the Stanley Cup last season with a team that led the league in fighting majors, and the number of fights in the 2007-08 pre-season is significantly up over last season.
The message seems to be that fighting is back in vogue, and while Keenan won't say so, he referred on Monday to Anaheim's success with that game plan, and it's hard to overlook the fact that Eric Godard is the lone Flame skater to have dressed for all four pre-season tilts to date.
"Anaheim said right from the very beginning that they were going to play physical in all areas of the ice surface, and they won the Stanley Cup," said Keenan, whose Flames host the San Jose Sharks tonight at the Pengrowth Saddledome. "And (Ducks GM) Brian Burke has said it again, that they want to be an aggressive team. If that leads to fisticuffs, then they're going to engage, and that's going to be part of their team personality.
"They won the Stanley Cup. I don't know what each team is going to take on in terms of a mantra or a personality, but the champions are going to come back and try to do it the same way."
And with Godard expected to take on a more prominent role with the Flames this season, don't count on the Flames backing down.
The 27-year-old winger skated in 19 games with the big club last season, notching one assist and 50 penalty minutes; in 36 games with the Flames' American Hockey League affiliate in Omaha, the Vernon, B.C., product had five goals, four assists and 94 penalty minutes.
Those numbers, plus two other telling stats - six-foot-four, 221 pounds - were apparently good enough for the Flames to sign Godard to the first one-way contract of his nine-year pro career.
"It felt really good," said Godard, whose summer highlight reel included building a new house at the famed Predator Ridge golf club overlooking Kalamalka Lake in the Okanagan. "It's always nice to have a little more security."
Godard returned the favour by showing up at camp in peak physical condition after spending the off-season in Vernon training like a fiend, hoping not only to improve his physical play but his skill-set with a stick in his hands - a prerequisite, says Keenan, to fitting in to his system.
"I've tried to have a player who could play responsibly as well as if he was a tough player," said Keenan. "Dave Brown, Stu Grimson, Joe Kocur - those types of people I've had in the past, they had to be able to play first.
"Eric has improved as a hockey player. I keep watching him and he's an individual we want to continue to work with and improve the skill-set in his ability to play the game. He's worked at it very hard; he came in very fit, and he's worked at his game in the areas where we want him to improve his skills."
Still, Godard recognizes that his size and knuckles are a big part of why he got that one-way deal, and that Anaheim's Cup-winning philosophy - while perhaps not aesthetically pleasing - didn't hurt, either.
"Oh, definitely - it might have been the best thing for the role (of NHL tough guy) to have that happen," he said. "It just shows the guys are out there playing and grinding, and the tough guys have ended up playing an important role."
But as for the spike in fighting majors this pre-season, Godard isn't expecting a return to the days of the Broad Street Bullies once they start dropping pucks - and gloves - for real next week.
"It goes up and down, right?" he said. "Some teams just have more guys in camp who can do that, and they might end up playing another team with a lot of (tougher) guys. And then other teams might not have any (tough) guys. It's just luck of the draw."