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Monday, September 6, 1999
Flames deal a great move
Saturday's trade injects excitement and much-needed hope into the veins of a frustrated city that has spent the last couple of months finding more and more reasons to abandon its Young Guns.
"This should send a message to everyone," coach Brian Sutter proudly told the Sun's George Johnson.
"If I'm a player on our team, and Grant Fuhr's playing goal behind me, I've got to feel pretty good about things."
More importantly, if you're a Calgarian, and the owners get off their wallets to prove they haven't given up hope on keeping the Flames in town, you've got to feel the urge to reciprocate and lend some support.
Fuhr is one of the only names in the league that could instantly add credibility -- and hopefully a larger fan base -- to a team of relative unknowns.
No one is naive enough to think a 36-year-old Fuhr is enough to catapult this club into the upper echelons of the Western Conference standings. He likely couldn't have done that if he was 26. However, by giving the fans someone to identify with, a superstar whose jersey you'd proudly wear outside the house, the Flames have taken a giant step forward.
If he can indeed help the Flames reach their goal of appearing in the post-season party, it is there where the legendary goalie has been known to win the odd series all by himself. Imagine, a first-round victory.
There are those who argue Fuhr's $3 million salary would be better spent elsewhere, perhaps on someone who can find the net. However, such species simply aren't made available for such a price tag. Besides, there simply isn't a position remotely as important as the goaltender.
Because of Fuhr's knee problems and age, the Flames didn't have to mortgage the future to get him. Although Fuhr may only play one or two more years, the move could have long-term benefits stemming from having a future Hall of Famer act as a mentor for Fred Brathwaite, J.S. Giguere and Tyler Moss. After all, this is the same guy who helped teach Dominik Hasek, Felix Potvin and Bill Ranford, amongst others.
Who knows, he may stick around as a goalie coach when he retires.
A great move by ownership and Al Coates prompted by a coach who has long stressed the importance of goaltending in his defensive system.
CHIP SHOTS:
There is no decision to be made and there shall be no debate: Dave Dickenson starts today, period. Wally Buono has always ensured his original starters don't lose their job due to injury. He did it with Doug Flutie, he did it with Jeff Garcia and today he'll do it with Dave ... Swingin' Sammy Sosa insists he isn't thinking about the home run race or record. However,
there's at least one guy out there that probably sweats it out every time Sosa goes downtown and that's Calgary's Todd McFarlane. A 71-homer season would tend to render his $3 million purchase of McGwire's 70th home run ball as one of the biggest busts in memorabilia history ... Believe it or not, umpire Steve Rippley is now calling Major League Baseball's treatment of its 22 dismissed umpires "ruthless"
and may quit. First of all, he seems to have forgotten those chumps, er umps, resigned. Secondly, it seems to me they were the same umps that were being relatively ruthless months back when they threatened to hold baseball hostage by walking out on the game en masse just before the post season. What comes around goes around ... Surprising to see one of the
most colourful personalities in sports today is Russian tennis ace Andrei Medvedev. A great interview and a funny man ... The little boy featured in a Stampeders photo in Friday's Sun belongs to CFCN broadcaster Tammi Christopher. The photo of one-year-old Christopher Buchanan shows the football-toting tyke trying to join a huddle of massive Stamps ... Word is Hockey Night in Canada has scrapped the
Labatt Blue fan shootout in favour of a three-on-three competition involving NHLers. The segment, which is a closely guarded secret around CBC-land, will air during the second intermission of the late game every Saturday. Here's hoping they base it on the greatest intermission entertainment of all time -- Showdown -- and that somehow Mike Palmateer is involved.
PARTING SHOTS:
There seems to be some confusion as to whether or not Jaromir Jagr's decision to cut his hair is part of Mario Lemieux's new million dollar marketing campaign ... Rod Black wins this week's Nick Kypreos Stupid Line of the Week award for his overzealous description of Mike Weir's eagle on the 14th hole yesterday: "That may be the greatest shot ever hit by a Canadian golfer."
Relax Rod, it's only the Air Canada Championship ... Eric Lindros and John Leclair have bad backs heading into camp? Wait until mid-season when those backs are forced to carry a team that still has no goaltending.
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