With Bouwmeester and Jokinen, it's no surprise the Flames can't get a whiff of the playoffs.
The Calgary Flames have plenty of concerns moving forward. Everybody knows that.
One of the biggest problems, though, is when coach Brent Sutter surveys his bench trying to decide who he wants on the ice, two of his go-to guys couldn't find the playoffs with a built-in GPS System.
Centre Olli Jokinen, 32, is in his 12th NHL season and has only been to the playoffs once, in 2008-09 with the Flames who traded him to the New York Rangers the following season. Mysteriously, former GM Darryl Sutter decided if the team was to get back to the playoffs after missing last season, Jokinen was needed so he signed him as an unrestricted free agent last summer. The thud you heard was the entire hockey world's jaws hitting the ground.
Playoffs? Olli Jokinen?
Granted, Jokinen played on some pretty lousy teams in New York with the Islanders and Florida, but at some point you have to draw a parallel to having him on your team and not participating in the post-season, don't you?
When coach Sutter looks down the other end of his bench, he sees Jay Bouwmeester. He leads all Flames in ice time at an average of just over 26 minutes per game and yet has never played an NHL playoff game. That's seven years in the show and no playoff games. To make matters worse, he didn't play a post-season game in three years of junior with the Medicine Hat Tigers. Yikes!
Jokinen and Bouwmeester, 27, have had productive years in the NHL, but you could easily make the case neither is playing to his potential this season in terms of offensive production. Jokinen is fourth in club scoring with eight goals and 21 points in 37 games while Bouwmeester has three goals and 13 points in 40 games. Ironically, both players had their most productive years in Florida. Jokinen has seasons of 38, 39 and 34 goals while Bouwmeester had seasons of 12, 15 and 15 goals.
When the Atlanta Thrashers decided to rebuild after trading Ilya Kovalchuk, new GM Rick Dudley placed a premium on acquiring players who knew how to win -- how to get to the playoffs. A reason why the Thrashers are one of the NHL's most improved teams this season is because they brought in Andrew Ladd, Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Sopel and Ben Eager from the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks.
Atlanta coach Craig Ramsay must feel a certain level of comfort when he scans his bench for a line change. Brent Sutter? He must feel like he's in the Twilight Zone. Jokinen and Bouwmeester are good hockey players, but if you are depending heavily on them getting your team into the playoffs, well, good luck.
YOU WANT PAIN?
Sure it was painful for Canadian hockey fans to watch Team Canada blow a 3-0 third period lead in losing the gold medal game Wednesday, no doubt about it.
But that pain doesn't come close to what Canadians felt when Canada was shocked 7-3 against the Soviet Union in Game 1 of the 1972 Summit Series. Canada went on to win the series, but for those of us old enough to remember that shocking loss in Montreal, it was humiliating to the Nth degree.
The Canadian NHLers truly believed they would slaughter the bumpkins from the USSR and jumped into a quick 2-0 lead. The Soviets tied it before the period ended and then thoroughly dominated the final two periods. That was the night all of Canada was alerted to the fact there were others on the planet that played the game of hockey, too.
The Soviets, who were in much better physical condition than the Canadians, wore down their opponents and lit up Ken Dryden for seven goals.
Canada got stronger as the tournament progressed and won it on heart, but since that night, nobody could ever be surprised when a team from the Soviet Union, and now Russia, wins a big game. That's why as disappointing as it was to see Team Canada lose at the World Junior Hockey Championship this year, it could not be called a shock.
Game 1 of the Summit Series -- now that was a shock!
