I just ran the random.org for the upcoming draft to determine odds or evens!

This years draft will be

EVENS! Andrei Svechnikov & Brady Tkatchuk to name a few

Just a reminder!

That all contracts need to be extended to expiring contracts by the time playoffs start! Once playoff starts any player unsigned is going to free agency!

Also remember to qualify a RFA you have to use all 3 signing attempts

Calgary, AB - If you would have asked a few weeks agop how the Calgary Flames were doing, you'd be told "not a chance in hell". Well, maybe not that. There would have been a chance, we're just unsure how good it was. The team was outside looking in. I still do believe that is the case, but it's a much better case to be made. The team has been abused by the system for quite sometime. It's the unfortunate backlash of having improper management in place and instability warping how the organization is run. Luckily for the Flames fans and it's organziation, those days look to be over as the Flames made it official on October 6th, that a new guy was on the way - he had a plan, and things were finally going to start looking up for the organization. Now, you can't count the game on the 6th because that would be plain silly. He had nothing to do with the game, hadn't even met the players or those he'd be working with and hoenstly, hardly was making his way into the OHL yet. Quickly though, he got to work and started to figure things out. I think we get that. Since the Flames organizaiton announced that they hired Blake Campbell, you could feel change in the air. You could see it too. On the ice, within their record. In the 7 games since his hiring, the team went 6-1-0 and outscored their opponents 15-5. That's a pretty good streak and a pretty solid record coming into the later parts of the season, a newly hired GM on a struggling roster with potential. Now, he's typically a hard guy to reach and says that sometimes staying out of the media is best. We've managed to get Campbell to sit down for 3 questions - so let's welcome him and quickly get the show on the road.

1. What were your thoughts on the job offer, the other teams out there, your thoughts on the Flames and why the choice?

I don't want to go too incredibly indepth and take up a lot of your time. I too am a busy guy and need to run. When looking at the job offers, it was safe to say that there may have been other options that were more appealing. Some other teams had a few bigger players, maybe stronger in certain areas. Others maybe some extremely strong youth and pieces that made sense to take over with my skill and experience. But Calgary had McDavid. He's a pretty special piece to build around. I knew Calgary may not be as fun as Carolina. I think they were, at the time, just outside a playoff spot. Trying to get them in would have been a lot of fun. But Calgary had some great pieces and I was up for the challenge. The last 7 games have been nice. We talked with league management and found out the team had been abused. After doing some looking at systems and prior lines, that was a safe thing to say. Quite a few minor and major tweaks to the lines and we now have some traction.  6-1-0 run is nice to start my tenure. I remember being 27-31-10 and now we're 31-31-10. The streak has been nice too.

2. What are your plans moving forward?

Again, likely a shorter answer here. We didn't have the time during trade deadline to get active, fully get involved and study as much as we'd have liked. There wasn't a great amount of time to figure thing out - whether for us or other teams. What they're shopping, what is shopping, who people would want and what the overal market it. We were willing and ready to play patient. We'll never be a team that will forced into a deal and will never be afraid of the patient, safe game.

3. Thoughts on who is available and who isn't?

McDavid doesn't move. The rest? We can see if there's something to cook up. If the right price comes along, I am open to moving some things. Transactions, trades, are quite sometime away right now but discussion between managers I guess doesn't hurt. Again, slow. Safe. Patient game. We're willing to wait to see what's moving, what the off-season is going to be like and then make a plan. Calgary will be a strong organization throughout this process.

GM Brent is working the phone very hard to try and get this team figured out, so they can start climbing the standings! The AHL condors after acquiring Kempe for them seem to have found there game. Derrick Pouliot has stepped into the  NHL level and has played excellent since coming over as well, but the trading wont stop there. Until this team can actually put some winning streaks together and figure out Parsons funk! Will Parsons be on a new team by the deadline???

                                                                              After two frustrating seasons, Nashville stands a top a summit finally reaching the first plateau of their long term goals to qualify for the OCHL playoffs. Hopefully building on the franchise's farm team momentum from the previous season, the five graduates from that victorious team, and the three key additions, have turned the dismal fortunes of this proud franchise around. It still will be a long and winding road ahead full of adversity and hardship. But at least the destination is in sight.