Checking From Behind Pulling No Punches

While the Florida Panthers and the Calgary Flames both enter tonight's game at Bank Atlantic Center in beautiful Sunrise Florida in hunt for a playoff spot, one guy has something else on his mind.

Jay Bouwmeester will face his old team for the first time since being traded on June 27th to the Calgary Flames for Jordan Leopold and a 3rd round pick in 2009. This was the last thing both Jacques Martin and every Florida fan wanted to see last season, but after Bouwmeester said he would test free agency the move was one that needed to be made.

The 26 year old Edmonton native was selected by the Panthers third overall in the 2002 draft and spent his first six NHL seasons with the team. He pilled 53 goals and 150 assists in 471 games with the Panthers.

On the Flames side of the ice Daymond Langkow will play in his 999th career game, while Jarome Iginla looks to make the most of his 1,000th NHL career game by helping the slumping Calgary Flames get back into a playoff spot.
 

This past week the Flames have gone 2-1 during their 3 game homestand which saw the team had the Edmonton Oilers a 6-1 loss then lost 3-0 to Philadelphia before the registered a win Wednesday night with a 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Prior to that the Flames had been on an embarrassing 9 game losing streak during that span they went (0-6-3).

The Flames, like the Panthers, also know what it feels like to trade away their number one defencemen. After Saturday nights win over the Edmonton Oilers last weekend both Darryl Sutter and Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke put together a 7 player blockbuster which saw Cagary trade away their Norris Trophy winner Dion Phaneuf, along with Fredrik Sjostrom and Keith Aulie in return they got Jamal Mayers, Nicklas Hagman, Matt Stajan and Ian White. Wanting to really shake things up the Flames then traded Brandon Prust and Olli Jokinen to the New York Rangers for Ales Kotalik and Christopher Higgins on Wednesday night.

The Flames are now trying to gel after making complete roster changes. Wednesday nights game against the Carolina Hurricanes saw the newcomer Matt Stajan pot his first as a Flame while Curtis Glencross scored the first hat trick of his career. Miikka Kiprusoft who has stood strong during the month of January despite the losing effort of the team, made 27 saves in his eighth straight start as the Flames picked up the victory.

The Flames are tied with the Red Wings for the final playoff spot in the west and are only 0-2-2 in their last four road outings.

Bouwmeester will no doubt draw a lot of attention despite only having 2 goals and 21 points in 57 games this year.

Panthers Head Coach Peter DeBoer said, "I'm expecting that we're going to see the best of Bo here, I mean he's going to be skating with the puck and moving and jumping into the play. When he's on top of his game like that he's a hard guy to handle."

The Panthers on the other had will try to get another win tonight as they once again suit up without Nathan Horton in the lineup who is still out with a leg Injury. Florida had a five game home winning streak snapped Monday with a 3-0 loss to the Anaheim Ducks. Tomas Vokoun allowed 3 goals on 25 shots. Before this he posted a 33-save shutout of the Islanders on Sunday. He was named the NHL's third star for January as he recorded 4 shutouts for the Panthers in the month of January. The Panthers though are still 7-3-2 in their last 12 games and are just two points back of a playoff spot.

The Panthers had lost 3 series in a row  to the Flames before they had a 3-2 shootout win in Calgary last season, a game in which Bouwmeester scored for the Panthers. The Flames last won in Sunrise on December 11, 2007, and have had 5 wins and a pair of ties in their last eight trips to Florida.

Breakdown:
Calgary Flames: 28-21-8 (64 points) (On the Road 14-8-5)
Florida Panthers: 24-23-9 (57 points)  (At Home 12-9-6)

Calgary Flames: 8th Western Conference, 3rd NorthWest Division
Florida Panthers: 9th Eastern Conference, 3rd SouthEast Division

Power Play: CGY (16.2%, 28th in the NHL) ; FLA (16.3%, 26th in the NHL)

Penalty Kill: CGY (83.1%, 10th in the NHL) ; FLA (80.5%, 19th in the NHL)

Key Injuries:
Calgary Flames: Craig Conroy (Knee), Nigel Dawes (Leg), David Moss (Shoulder)
Floirda Panthers: Nathan Horton (leg)

Prediction on Winner:

Panthers take the 2 points in Regulation, Close game though

Adam Reid

adam_mapleleafs@hotmail.com