{"id":26758,"date":"2010-09-21T13:34:01","date_gmt":"2010-09-21T18:34:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.capperspicks.com\/blog\/?p=26758"},"modified":"2010-09-21T13:34:01","modified_gmt":"2010-09-21T18:34:01","slug":"predictions-2010-calgary-flames-betting-preview-210910","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/nhl\/predictions-2010-calgary-flames-betting-preview-210910\/","title":{"rendered":"2010\/11 Calgary Flames Predictions \u2013 Odds \u2013 Season Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>Calgary Flames 2010\/2011 Season Preview<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>CappersPicks.com\u00a0<a href=\"\/nhl\/\"><strong>NHL Betting<\/strong><\/a> and gambling site provides the BEST Online\u00a0<a href=\"\/handicappers\/\"><strong>hockey predictions<\/strong><\/a> for you to bet on for the 2010\/11 NHL hockey season! Stick with us all season long! <!--more--><\/p>\n<p><strong>2010-11 NHL Predictions\/Previews: Calgary Flames<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>CALGARY FLAMES<\/strong><br \/>\nStanley Cup odds: +3500<\/p>\n<p>The Calgary Flames are undoubtedly one of hockey\u2019s most polarizing teams in betting circles right now. Flames fans and their supportive bettors see all the big names and think this veteran-laden squad is a Stanley Cup contender. Others think the Sutter family is slowly but surely sinking this ship.<\/p>\n<p>Time to find out where I stand \u2013 and how I think you should approach the Flames in your betting this season.<\/p>\n<p>The Flames had a rare season as an offensive juggernaut in 2008-09 but said goodbye to sniper Michael Cammalleri and returned to their defensive approach last season. It worked \u2013 sort of. The Flames did a fine job keeping pucks out; Miikka Kiprusoff had his best season between the pipes in years and he had a sturdy group of defenseman in front of him.<\/p>\n<p>That shouldn\u2019t really change this year: Jay Bouwmeester, Robyn Regehr, Ian White, Cory Sarich, Mark Giordano and Steve Staios give the Flames one of the league\u2019s deepest, most well-rounded defense corps.<\/p>\n<p>Offense, however, is another story. The Flames posted the league\u2019s 27<sup>th<\/sup>-ranked power play last season; they really missed Cammalleri out there. Jarome Iginla, longtime face of the franchise, posted his lowest goal total in nine years. It\u2019s possible that he\u2019s finally losing a step at age 33. Jay Bouwmeester was supposed to jumpstart the offense from the back end but scored a miserable three goals after tallying 15 each of the previous two seasons.<\/p>\n<p>Will the Flames score more this year? They believe returning two golden oldies \u2013 Alex Tanguay and Olli Jokinen \u2013 will help. Neither guy is ancient but neither guy has played good hockey for a several seasons now. Secondary options like Rene Bourque and Daymond Langkow can help when they play but they\u2019re both perennially banged up.  <\/p>\n<p>Last season, the Flames pulled a trade that I believe marked the beginning of the end for this particular team\u2019s contending days. They sent Dion Phaneuf, just a year or two removed from being considered a top-three defender in the game, to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a large package of players. <iframe allowtransparency='true' src='http:\/\/ff.connextra.com\/Bodog\/selector\/client?client=Bodog&#038;placement=Ext_RS_Sports_250x250&#038;cxt_aff_id=151627' class=\"alignleft\" style=\"margin: 1px; border: 3px solid #FFFFFF;\" width='250' height='250' scrolling='no' frameborder='0' style='border-width:0'><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The Flames kept most of what they received for Phaneuf, including Ian White, Niklas Hagman and Matt Stajan. But the trade represented a team in denial. Instead of keeping a 25-year-old franchise pillar to pair with Bouwmeester for years to come, Darryl Sutter made a knee-jerk, desperate move to save his job, hauling in a pile of competent but ultimately mediocre veterans. I fully expect that trade to haunt Calgary for the next decade.<\/p>\n<p>Calgary reminds me of the Toronto Maple Leafs at the end of John Ferguson Jr.\u2019s tenure \u2013 and not simply because they have so many of his players. <\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re delusional. Their team is aging, with thirtysomethings playing virtually all the key roles. Their management is hell bent on earning a low playoff seed instead of seeing the bigger picture and realizing it\u2019s time to rebuild. The Flames could\u2019ve cashed in Jarome Iginla for a huge return this summer. <\/p>\n<p>Maybe he would\u2019ve waived his no-trade clause to play for the Stanley Cup. It would\u2019ve seemed sacrilegious \u2013 but remember when the Flames cashed in veteran Joe NIeuwendyk a decade ago? Do you know who they received in return? Some guy named Jarome Iginla.<\/p>\n<p>The Northwest Division belongs to Vancouver, Colorado and, soon enough, Edmonton. The Flames\u2019 vets may squeak them into the eighth playoff seed one more time but make no mistake: Calgary has commenced a long, hard fall.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2010 Preseason Schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Day\tDate\tOpponent\tTime MT\tVenue<\/strong><br \/>\nTuesday\tSept. 21\tVancouver\t7 pm\tSaddledome<br \/>\nTuesday\tSept. 21\tVancouver\t8 pm\tGeneral Motors Place<br \/>\nSaturday\tSept. 25\tTampa Bay\t7 pm\tSaddledome<br \/>\nTuesday\tSept. 28\tPhoenix\t7 pm\tSaddledome<br \/>\nWednesday\tSept. 29\tNew York Islanders\t7 pm\tCredit Union Centre (Saskatoon)<br \/>\nFriday\tOct. 1\tEdmonton\t7 pm\tRexall Place<br \/>\nSunday\tOct. 3\tEdmonton\tTBA\tSaddledome<\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bodog.ca\/welcome\/151627\/betting-offers\/capperspicks-football-deposit-bonus.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">NOTE: To all the Canadians visiting CappersPicks.com today! The Bodog.ca Sportsbook has a particular focus on Canada\u2019s most popular sports: NHL Hockey and CFL Football. CHECK THEM OUT TODAY! CLICK HERE!!<\/a><\/h3>\n<p><strong> <\/strong><br \/>\n<em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shea Matthews weighs in with his 2010-2011 Calgary Flames Season Gambling Picks and NHL Preview, plus he provides the lastest NHL odds, Flames future lines, and Stanley Cup predictions&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":26759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[34781,34782,34783,34010,34011,34784,34013,34014,17866,23618,34785,34786,34787,17867,2994,2996,3080,17638,895,3207,17823,1968],"class_list":["post-26758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhl","tag-2010-flames","tag-2010-flames-predictions","tag-2010-flames-season-preview","tag-2010-nhl-predictions","tag-2010-nhl-stanley-cup-odds","tag-2010-2011-calgary-flames-season-betting-preview","tag-2010-2011-nhl-predictions","tag-201011-nhl-preview","tag-bet-on-flames","tag-calgary-flames","tag-flames-2010-preseason-schedule","tag-flames-nhl-schedule","tag-flames-odds","tag-flames-picks","tag-hockey-picks","tag-hockey-predictions","tag-hockey-wagering","tag-nhl-hockey-predictions","tag-nhl-picks","tag-nhl-predictions","tag-nhl-season-preview","tag-stanley-cup-odds"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26758"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26760,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26758\/revisions\/26760"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}