The Fifth Liners

This article was first posted on  the4thlinepodcast.com In the first article in this series, we looked at the NHL’s 1967 expansion, when the league doubled in size. 1970 brought the addition of two new NHL teams, and the divisions were shuffled. The Chicago Black Hawks (the name change came in 1986) moved over to the West, making space in the East division for the new boys. 1970 Vancouver Canucks The history of the Vancouver Canucks effectively starts in 1945, but ice hockey in BC’s largest city goes back much further than that. The Millionaires (later renamed The Maroons) represented Vancouver in the PCHA and WCHL for 15 years, and in that time brought home the Stanley Cup. A feat that to date, has not been repeated in Vancouver. In 1915 the winners of the PCHA and NHA competed for the cup, the Millionaires defeated the NHA’s Ottawa Senators (the original Senators) to lift the cup for the first and only time. In 1926 the team folded. Fast forward 19 years and hockey ret...

After becoming a free agent, today Martin St Louis has announced his retirement after 16 glorious years. There has been much speculation about the 40 year old's future, but after only 1 goal in 19 playoffs games last season, team were not stepping up to sign him. St Louis scored an impressive 391 goals and 1,033 points from 1,134 regular-season games in a career that took in Calgary Flames , Tampa Bay Lightning and lately the New York Rangers . In 2004, St Louis had his most successful year as he helped the Lightning to a Stanley Cup win and was also awarded the Art Ross, Ted Lindsay and the Hard Trophy for his career best showing. He was also selected for over six different All-Star games. Noted for being one of the smaller players in the NHL, St Louis was noted for being a passionate player. Also he felt that being forced into a more checking role whilst at Calgary 'helped to round out my game'. Even when he was traded to the Rangers in 2014, St Louis was still a fe...

If you want to join Alex and myself in the  Fifth Liners NHL Bracket Challenge , feel free to join our league. Good luck! Quarter Final Predictions St Louis Blues v Minnesota Wild For this one, I have go with Minnesota Wild purely for the fact that they have been a real surprise package in the latter half of this season and I think they will be eager to please come playoff time! St Louis on the surface appears to be a perfect package after being seeded first overall. But in previous seasons they have looked impressive in the regular season,, but typical fall short in the playoffs! Also a good playoff run would be the perfect ending for Wild goalie, Devan Dubnyk who has had a career season! This one will be tight and I am prepared to be proven wrong, but right now I have to go with the Wild! Prediction: Wild Nashville Predators v Chicago Blackhawks  The Predators have had nothing short of an amazing season and although they have made the playoffs 7 times in the la...

Ever since long time star, Jarome Iginla packed his bags and said goodbye to the circus, fans of the Calgary Flames have endured a bleak season in Alberta. Last season was truly one to forget because aside from surprising yet massively amusing line brawl that broke out against Vancouver, they finished only 6th in the Pacific Division with a depressingly low goal total of 209 and a whopping 241 goals against! Along with the retirement of hero goalie Miikka Kiprusoff , the atmosphere at the Canadian Tire Centre had turned barren and many experts wrote the Flames off as a lost cause. But in this off season, a few key acquisitions have paved the way for a possibly brighter 2014-15 season. The first step was drafting young star centre Sam Bennett fourth overall at the 2014 Draft. Touted by many as 1st overall pick, Bennett surprisingly was passed over by Florida in favour of defense-man Aaron Ekblad . Although he may have been disappointed at being denied this distinction, the Flames h...

On June 27/28 all eyes will be on the 2014 NHL Draft  at the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia and the big question to all experts will be who is going to be the first name called out by the Florida Panthers. All though there is huge speculation about which player it will, this is one event teams always need to think about carefully because they young men could well be the future of a franchise and will have to be chosen carefully- no one wants another Alexandre Daigle or Patrik Stefan after all! So as we analyse the top picks, which one will great;y benefit which team? Here I will look at the first six picks (partly to include Vancouver). 2014 NHL Draft Order 1. Florida Panthers Sam Bennett: The Panthers badly need an offensive spark as their goal numbers have still remained dangerously low, something that number 2 pick Aleksander Barkov has so far failed to raise. So far 18 year old Ontario kid Sam Bennett has been listed as the top North American prospect in the NHL draft...

Things got wild in the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 over the Calgary Flames last night as on the opening face-off we saw a mass line brawl which result in all 10 skaters on the ice going to the box and there were a total of 204 penalty minutes and 8 game misconducts handed out. This also left each side with only 4 defensemen and missing four other players for 65 minutes! Either way, it provided the high point of the Canucks shootout win! Check it out below

If you hadn't heard of Reto Berra before last night, you're not alone. Despite being drafted by St. Louis in 2006 (106 overall), the 26 year old stayed in his native Switzerland until he was included as part of the Jay Bouwmeester trade. Having played top level hockey in Switzerland and at Olympic level for his country, Berra wanted to gain experience playing in the US, and was assigned to the AHL's Abbotsford Heat. Calgary's affiliate. Berra's first taste of the NHL couldn't have come against a tougher team. Current Stanley Cup holders Chicago aren't quite the unstoppable force they were last season but any game at the United Center is always gonna be a trial by fire. After facing 44 shots and missing only two, I think we can safely say that we'll be seeing a lot more of Berra between the sticks. Calgary won the game 3-2 in overtime.

... a secret. In slightly bizarre news from the Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary Flames coach Bob Hartley has been talking about there was really only one choice when it came to replacing Jarome Iginla . He won't say who that choice is though. Click here for the full non-story . I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. It's definitely a strange news week.

With the  retirement of Miikka Kiprusoff , the Calgary Flames are left without a starting goalie. At a time when the Flames are rebuilding the franchise, this is a headache that Jay Feaster can really do without. So who can step up and take the number one spot? The Flames played four goalies last season. Kiprusoff and Joey MacDonald took most of the games, while Leland Irving and Daniel Taylor played eight between them. This leaves Feaster with two likely outcomes, does he promote MacDonald to the number one spot and allow Irving or Taylor to back him up? Or does he spend some money and bring in another experienced goalie. Either option is risky. The Flames aren't exactly on solid ground right now. MacDonald is only entering his second season with the Flames but he's an experienced goalie, having defended the nets for Detroit, Boston, Toronto and the Islanders, as well as some affiliates. I've no doubt he'd make a decent number one goalie. The other option ...

The Calgary Flames have been dealt another blow with the season only weeks away with the announcement yesterday that goalie Mikka Kiprusoff has officially retired! According to Kiprusoff in a statement officially released by the team “"I decided to retire at the end of last season; I appreciated Jay Feaster and the Flames organization permitting me to take the summer to be 100 percent sure. It's an important decision for me personally, my family, the Flames organization and fans. Jay and I had conversations over the summer and nothing had changed for me and upon returning to Calgary last week, I once again spoke with Jay and confirmed with him that I would be retiring.” Kiprusoff leaves Calgary with a record of 305 wins from 576 games, 41 shutouts and a save percentage of 0.912. Acquired in a trade from the San Jose Sharks in 2003, Kiprusoff made an immediate impact and guided them to a Stanley Cup final in 2003. But his best season came in 2005-06 when his remark...

Alex asked me this week for my divisional wooden spoon predictions. My immediate response was "Canucks!". August is a bad sports month for me. There's no NHL and no NFL. Sure there's the soccer, but I follow a team who quite honestly, suck right now. So after opening the season with a 4-0 loss (it really could have been a lot more), I've been in a serious sports funk. Alex's team won at the weekend. Just to rub salt in the wound. Anyway. I do not think that the Canucks will be propping up the Pacific Division next season. I was just angry at the world of sport. So. Who will be leaving the party early? It's tricky to say at this time but here goes. Metropolitan Division - Philadelphia Flyers Atlantic Division - Florida Panthers Pacific Division - Calgary Flames Central Division - Colorado Avalanche We'll revisit this halfway through the season and see how things are going.

Alex's question this week focused on what the Calgary Flames can do to have a productive 13/14 season. In perhaps fortunate coincidence, Bleacher Report recently named Flames' GM Jay Feaster as the NHL's worst GM . You can't swing a virtual cat on the internet without finding hatred for Feaster. His questionable trades have left a lot of fans scratching their heads. The Flames' trade policy has been about bringing in young players who haven't peaked yet. Except when old players become available, that policy goes out the window. This inconsistency in the boardroom will be reflected on the ice. The loss of Jarome Iginla left a huge gap in the Flames' roster and the club is still yet to announce its captain. Mike Cammalleri has his eye on the C but with after finishing on -15 last season, is he the best candidate? So what next? How do the Flames rebuild? Here's a few pointers: Appoint a new captain. The Flames have just resigned TJ Brodie to ...

With the new schedules come the new divisions, instead of being three divisions in each conference, there's now only two. With the changes will come new rivalries, which Alex will talk about later.  Let's start with the Western Conference. The Western has 14 teams while the Eastern currently has 16. This accommodates for the expansion in the west that the NHL has been looking for. Detroit and Columbus have moved over to the Eastern while Winnipeg makes the sensible move west.  Pacific Division Anaheim Ducks Calgary Flames Edmonton Oilers Los Angeles Kings Phoenix Coyotes San Jose Sharks Vancouver Canucks Dallas leaves the old Pacific Division, but three of the Canadian teams; Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary have joined it from the disbanded Northwest Division.  Central Division Chicago Blackhawks Colorado Avalanche Dallas Stars Minnesota Wild Nashville Predators St. Louis Blues Winnipeg Jets With Colom...

Nathan Mackinnon was selected as the 1st overall pick by the Colorado Avalanche in New Jersey last night, after an impressive season with the Halifax Mooseheads in the Quebec Major Junior League it came as little surprise to many and capped an impressive comeback after a knee injury during the World Junior Championships had threatened to lower his ranking. Young Finnish centre Aleksander Barkov was chosen as the second selection by the Florida Panthers and Mackinnon's Halifax team mate, Jonathan Drouin was picked as the third overall choice by Tampa Bay Lightning . Biggest surprise of the night came when original number one prediction Seth Jones was only selected fourth by the Nashville Predators . Swedish centre Elias Lindholm was the fifth choice for the Carolina Hurricanes while Sean Monahan was added to the Calgary Flames at sixth overall. There was a shake up at  the 9th overall pick as the Vancouver Canucks unexpectedly traded Cory Schneider to the New Jersey...

1. Jarome Iginla  After a decade as captain of the Calgary Flames, Jarome Iginla this year made the decision to pack his bags and leave the Saddledome with his team at the bottom of the Western Conference standings to join championship chasing Pittsburgh Penguins who acquired him in exchange for one their first round draft picks in this years draft! But after a good start scoring 11 points in 13 regular season games- the Penguins were swept by the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference final with Iginla failing to step up when needed and this leaves his Pittsburgh future in doubt. At 35 Iginla still has some miles left in him and no doubt there will be a stampede of offers for him because each franchise needs a frequent goal scorer like him (take note of this Tortorella) 2. Nathan Horton  This man has been at the helm of the Boston Bruins recent success since his arrival from Florida in 2011, but recently Horton has run into trouble with Bruins management over an ar...

Lots of rinks are multi-purpose and host other sports however I doubt very much anyone expected Mother Nature to turn the Scotiabank Saddledome into a swimming pool. As the flood subsides and residents are allowed to return to their properties, the Calgary Flames posted internal and external pictures of the arena and it's immediate surroundings. Needless to say it's a mess.  Click here  to view the pictures. The Flames' President Ken King has stated though that the arena will be ready for the start of the season in October. Needless to say though both our thoughts are with all the Calgary residents affected by the flood.

The Nashville Predators join the Calgary Flames and the Colorado Avalanche in the list of teams out of contention for the Western playoffs. The Preds welcomed the Vancouver Canucks and got a 5-2 kicking in return. Full story  here.

Vancouver gave more belief that they will be a force during the Western Conference playoffs with a dominant 4-1 win again over Calgary at the Scotiabank Saddledome last night. It was a win that also saw a rare appearence in net by Roberto Luongo, who made several important saves to deny the Flames forward line. Good to see the Canucks management is getting some use out of his $64 Million dollar contract! After a tight first period where the scores were tied at 1-1- the Canucks came alive in the 3rd period and aided by a flurry of goals by Maxim LaPierre, Mason Raymond and Daniel Sedin, another win was ensured and Vancouver are now sitting pretty at 3rd in the Western Conference. Elsewhere the Boston Bruins won a thrilling contest 5-4 against New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center. After a stunning start the Bruins found themselves 4-0 up by the beginning of the second period! But after a brief fight back through Zajac and Elias, The Devils...

The Vancouver Canucks gave new hope to making their mark in the playoffs with an impressive 5-2 win against Calgary Flames at the Rogers Arena last night led by an outstanding display by the Sedin Brothers who were directly involved in almost every goal! Dan Hamhuis gave the Canucks fans the perfect start with a goal inside 34 seconds! Soon Dale Weise would deflect a Jason Garrison shot to put them 2-0 up before the periods end. But Flames winger Dennis Wideman would score to reduce the score to 2-1. The second period however, the Canucks would firmly take charge and Alexandre Burrows and a spectacular slapshot from Alex Edler would push them forward. But the scorelines didnt reflect the match and the Flames continiously pressed forward and finally midway through the 3rd period, Alex Tanguay gave Calgary hope and a tight finish looked likely. But the Flames would find themselves continually frustrated by the excellent goaltending of Cory Schneider who made several im...

There was a goal feast in Wednesday nights NHL action, with the most notable scoring being the New York Rangers blitzing Pittsburgh 6-1 at Madison Square Garden! Ryan Clowe was the stand out with two debut goals in an impressive start, before this he had gone scoreless all season long and Rangers fans will no doubt be delighted that he has discovered his scoring touch again. There was also scoring debuts for John Moore and Derek Brassard- who had only arrived from Columbus hours before! Goalie Henrik Lundqvist also chipped in with 26 saves and Wednesdays win takes New York to 7th overall in the Eastern Conference. In the absence of Sidney Crosby, the Penguins looked worryingly thin on quality and despite Pascal Dupuis' lone goal, things are starting to look troubling for the Stanley Cup contenders!   Meanwhile Edmonton Oilers three number one picks shone brighly in their 8-2 win against an un-inspired Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome to go five games unb...