Darryl Sutter was a busy man this off-season, changing the look and feel of the Calgary Flames.

Gone is the finesse of Alex Tanguay and Kristian Huselius, who have both been replaced with a little more sandpaper in the likes of Mike Cammalleri and Todd Bertuzzi.

"Some of our more skilled players didn't compete very hard," Sutter said referring to Huselius and Tanguay. "We've made adjustments in that area without giving up any offence. It may be a different type of an offence"

Owen Nolan will be missed in Calgary. He put up 16 goals and 16 assists in 77 games played in the single season with the Flames. The gritty veteran forward became a free agent in the off-season and chose to sign with the Minnesota Wild.

However, the additions of Curtis Glenncross and Rene Bourque bring a new depth to the forward lines. They're bigger, faster and younger than former Flames and current unrestricted free agent's Mark Smith and Stephan Yelle.

The return of Mark Giordano from Russia adds another puck moving defenceman to the blue line, but there are a few Flames left in limbo.

Defencemen Rhett Warrener and Anders Eriksson, as well as forward Marcus Nilson all cleared waivers but have not been bought out. According to Sutter, all three will be given the opportunity to keep their jobs but they're all on thin ice.

"If you look at our team now there are 15 forwards, eight or nine defenceman that are legitimate NHL players and they're not all going to play here," said Sutter. "It's a little different mindset where there are vets that have to make our team"


This was from the Canadian Press on 8/16/2008 hope you like it....