The first thing I did was fire Rob Cookson as an assistant, and hired Rick Martin to fill that role. My coaching team just became much stronger. My first player signing was a utiility defencemen named Tim Hambly, who immediately was shipped to Omaha, and never did make it up to the bigs. Maybe next year for him...he could be useful.
I then proceeded to fire one of my most useless scouts (Craig Demetrick), and while I was in the mood hired two more assistant coaches...one for d-men and one for goalies. My staff is set, and I’m ready to begin the real stuff.
I made a few trades as the season went on, bringing in Michael Peca, Andrei Kostitsyn, Aleksei Emelin, Philippe Sauve, Nico Kapanen, Henrik Tallinder, Michael Leighton, Ossi Vaananen, Evgeni Malkin, and Chris Neil.
Evgeni Malkin did not come cheap (2010 1st round pick and 2011 1st round pick), but I have him now. He was on the IR when I got him, and did not get off the IR until the end of the season, so he has not played for me yet.
Some of the players who departed my squad are Marcus Nilson, Jamie Lundmark, Roman Hamrlik, Andrei Zyuzin, Matt Pelech, Kevin LaLande, Jamie McClennan, Darren McCarty and Brad Ference.
During the regular season, I bounced around the standings anywhere from 10th to 14th. My team was not playing as I expected, which prompted some trades to improve some posititions where I was weak. I qualified for the playoffs on the second last game of the year, after going 8-1-1 in my last 10.
I finished 6th in the Conference with a record of 45-33-4. My GF was 313, GA of 270. My PP finished at 18.8%, while my PK was 82.2%.Whew, I’m in the playoffs. The first round features the Flames vs the Blackhawks. I beat them 4 games to 2, and advance to the conference semi-final vs Los Angeles. This series only went 5 games, as I manage to fight my way into the conference final, where I met up with Colorado. Wow, looks like my team gelled at the right time!!!!
In the conference final, I went down 2-0, losing both games in Denver. I then proceeded to wake up and take the next 4 games, defeating them 4-2 in the series and going to the Stanley Cup Final!!!!!
Well, the Cup is guaranteed to stay in Canada, as I face the Ottawa Senators for the right to hoist the cup!!! This should be a great series. Game 1 in Ottawa saw me win 3-2 in a very close match. This was to set the tone for series. Game 2 was the identical score, and now I have a 2-0 lead in the series heading home.
Games 3 and 4 in Calgary went to the Sens, who won 2-1 and 3-2. Home ice advantage means nothing apparently. Back to Ottawa for game 5, and my team is widdled at losing 2 at home. We take it to the Senators in a 6-1 romp, and now are just one win away from lifting the second Stanley Cup in our history. So, game 6 comes back to Calgary and the city is in an uproar. The first period saw us trade goals, with Alfredson scoring on the PP and Iginla tying the match on the PP. The second and third periods saw no scoring at all. Into the overtime, we have the man-advantage. 41 seconds into the extra period, Daymond Langkow directs a beautiful pass from Alex Tanguay into the net and the Flames are the Stanley Cup Champions!!!
What a way to end my first season as GM. As the Champion. The Best. Cream of the Crop. Go Flames Go!!!!!
Great recap - I want to use the Flames, but I might try a different challenge and start off with the Pens...
