Iain Macintyre, Canwest News Service
When the Calgary Flames returned to practice this week, they found the Saddledome strewn with dirt and debris, wreckage out back and giant, grimy tarpaulins everywhere. It looked like a bomb had gone off.
Which is exactly as many thought the Flames would look when they hired Mike Keenan to coach and added Todd Bertuzzi to play.
The dirt and damage was due to a monster truck show on the weekend. The Flames, meanwhile, were neat and happy going into Tuesday night’s game against the Vancouver Canucks.
The Flames were 33-18-5 and threatening to run away with the Northwest Division, and Bertuzzi had 41 points in 51 games and hadn’t disrupted or distracted anyone. And Keenan is doing his finest work since he guided the 1994 New York Rangers to the Stanley Cup.
This is Armageddon?
“They’ve probably both made mistakes,” Flames’ defenceman Adrian Aucoin understated. “But they’re very headstrong guys who believe they’re always doing the right thing. Mike likes the way Bert plays and Bert likes the way Mike coaches and they bring out the best in each other. It’s definitely a good fit.”
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Storm bio… Todd Bertuzzi was the first player ever selected by the Storm when the club re-located to Guelph from Hamilton. The Sudbury native went on to play four seasons with the Storm and ranks third all-time in club history with 280 points. He also owns the Storm record for most goals in a Storm season (54) and career penalty minutes (538). Drafted by the NY Islanders 23rd overall in the 1st round (1993), Bertuzzi has gone on to a successful NHL career with 622 points in 848 games (as of 02/26/09).