Music: {allcanada} FLAMES SEEK ANSWERS AT CENTRE

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

{allcanada} FLAMES SEEK ANSWERS AT CENTRE

The Calgary Sun believes that for all their players and eye-popping payroll, the Flames have a dearth of men in the middle.

At least men in the middle with a history of success on the top two lines.

Currently, the pivot crew from all those players consists of newcomer Roman Cervenka, Mikael Backlund, Michael Cammalleri, Matt Stajan and Blair Jones.

So, who of them do you envision skating on the top two lines?

The Flames are banking on Cervenka being one centre in the top-six crew, but remember how Fabian Brunnstrom and Jiri Dopita were considered the best players outside the NHL and arrived amidst much fanfare, only to flop miserably?

Maybe Cervenka will be different, but until then, he remains a big question mark.

Then there's Backlund, who was told to ready himself to skate between Jarome Iginla and Alex Tanguay prior to last season. Granted, a broken finger suffered on the eve of the season knocked him off track, but the 2007 first-round pick has struggled with consistency.

Cammalleri is intriguing, but the winger was put at centre as a stop-gap measure last season. Maybe he'll surprise over a full season, but Cammalleri's size doesn't invoke images of a top-two centre, plus he's known more as a shooter than a passer.

That brings us to Stajan, the oft-maligned final piece from the Dion Phaneuf trade. Stajan had stints in the top-six with the Flames, including a solid run late last season. However, he will be in tough as it is to remain on the team. His salary cap hit of US$3.5 million make him a target to trade or even send to the minors.

As for Jones, as well as Bouma, nobody is envisioning them in that role. And Roman Horak could be in the mix, but the young Czech might be better served starting the season in Abbotsford.

Maybe the Flames have a plan in the works, likely involving a trade.

"We will look," head coach Bob Hartley said Monday. "We're only in July right now and Jay can look at several options.

"At the same time, this might be the team we start with at training camp and I'm fully comfortable with it and very happy with it."