Flames Moving Forward

[Flames GM]

"After a heartbreaking loss in the final minutes of Game 7, it is only natural to dwell on what might have been. We came into the playoffs with high hopes, as the 1st seed in the Western Conference. Most of those in the hockey world expected us to skate circles around the Colorado Avalanche, but instead, they showed us just how little the regular season means when it's all said and done.

However, there's no point in looking back now. What's done is done, and all we can do is look ahead to next season.

Firstly, the Calgary Flames are very excited to announce the signing of LW Mike Hoeffel, who we drafted earlier today. We are glad that we were able to reach a deal so quickly, and are excited to have Mike as a member of our organization.

Also, the Flames are excited to have kept our strong core of players for next year, with Captain Jarome Iginla, Alex Tanguay, Mike Modano, Dion Phaneuf, Robyn Regehr, Brad Stuart, Daymond Langkow, Dainius Zubrus, Dan Boyle, Tony Amonte, Martin Erat, and Marty Turco returning next year. We feel that we have created a good mixture of veterens and youth, and we look forward to seeing these players in Flames uniforms again next season.

The Calgary Flames also wish to congratulate RW Alexander Mogilny on a great season, and a remarkable career. He will be missed next season, but we wish him the best of luck in his new life after hockey.

So yes, the Flames are very much looking forward to next season. Currently the organization's braintrust are hard at work planning for both the UFA draft, and mapping out a gameplan for next season. Jim Playfair and our coaching staff, as well as the rest of our organization will of course be evaluated on their performance this past season, but the focus still remains on how we can improve on this result for next year and reach our goal of bringing the Stanley Cup back to the great city of Calgary.

Thank you all for attending our press conference this evening. The floor will now be opened up for questions."

[StarsGM]

Darren Dreger - Is Playfair going to be behind the bench next season, I mean can you give us a straight forward answer

[tbone/Preds GM]

Tbone, from the Calgary Herald here, just one question for you Flames GM. Were there any trades that you made during the season that you wish you hadn't made now that your team is heading home so early?

[Flames GM]

gm said:

Darren Dreger - Is Playfair going to be behind the bench next season, I mean can you give us a straight forward answer

"I think it's too early to comment on that at this point. As I said, Jim and the rest of our coaching staff will be evaluated, and we will then continue from there. We're looking to do what's best for the organization at the present time."

[Flames GM]

tbone said:

Tbone, from the Calgary Herald here, just one question for you Flames GM. Were there any trades that you made during the season that you wish you hadn't made now that your team is heading home so early?

"That's a tough one. I believe that all of the moves we made this season benefited us in some way, but moving Kipper to Dallas and then having them go farther in the playoffs than us was a tough pill to swallow, for sure. However, at the time Kipper wasn't playing as well for us as we would have liked, and you could also argue that, if not for the contributions of Mike Modano in the final stretch, we would have lost our hold on the Western Conference. But like I said, the regular season means nothing now.

We feel that Marty played well for us in the playoffs though, and really did his part to keep us in Game 7."

[StarsGM]

Bob Cole from CBC - Do you look at Turco right now and say, he messed up just like every year. I mean the guy has yet to win a series in 4 years

[Flames GM]

gm said:

Bob Cole from CBC - Do you look at Turco right now and say, he messed up just like every year. I mean the guy has yet to win a series in 4 years

"I think it would be completely unfair to blame the failings of an entire team on one player. Marty played great for us right until the end, but the rest of the team came up short."

[StarsGM]

Dreger Will you be watching the rest of the playoffs. Maybe to scout or watch players that you might want on your team?

[Flames GM]

gm said:

Dreger Will you be watching the rest of the playoffs. Maybe to scout or watch players that you might want on your team?

"Absolutely. We will be looking for any players that we think might be a good fit here in Calgary."

[StarsGM]

Random TSN reporter how in the hell were the avs able to beat the Flames? It seemed pretty impossible a couple of days ago. What did they do that you didn't?

[Flames GM]

gm said:

Random TSN reporter how in the hell were the avs able to beat the Flames? It seemed pretty impossible a couple of days ago. What did they do that you didn't?

"In the games they won, the Avs really did a great job of controlling the tempo. They just seem to be a team that matches up well against ours, as they gave us trouble all year. I think we underestimated them."

[StarsGM]

Thanks for your time Darryl Sutter