The Flames’ First Half MVP

Yesterday, Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy released his Midseason Most Valuable list,listing an MVP for each of 30 teams. Now, most of the picks are pretty good (Mikhail Grabovski, Tobias Enstrom, and Frans Nielsen are particularly inspired choices)- but the Flame’s selection was somewhat…lacking. Picking Jarome Iginla because he leads in points? Well okay then (though to be fair, Giordano did get a name-drop).

So instead of just looking at points, I decided the people who watch the Flames every game should decide in a vote for the real Flames MVP. I'm going to put forward 4 different players, an argument for each, and you, dearest Flames fans, decide the winners in the poll below.

Jarome Iginla, RW- Just because I'm not a fan of the Captain being the first half MVP doesn't mean everyone else isn't. What's he got going for him? 18-21-39, for the team lead in scoring. Unfortunately, his scoring has come with a price: inconsistency. In 43 games, he has 20 zero point games. Just as bad, a fair few of his points (I'm not pouring through 43 boxscores to find the exact numbers on this) are coming in garbage time, when the game has been decided one way or another. Still, the points are a strong arguement for Iginla as the MVP.

Mark Giordano, D- The honorable mention of the Puck Daddy article linked above, Mark Giordano has been lights out for the Flames this year. He leads the defense in points with 4-18-22, is second in TOI/G behind Jay Bouwmeester and leads all defensemen in PPTOI/GM at 3:21. Giordano also leads the team in blocked shots with 118, 45 more than the next player (Robyn Regehr with 73).

Jay Bouwmeester, D- Jay Bouwmeester has finally been playing up to something resembling his contract. Will he ever play at that level? Not unless he turns into Chris Pronger overnight. Regardless, Bouwmeester has had a great year and finally looks comfortable on the Flames. He leads the team in TOI/G as well as SHTOI/G and has been a rock…mostly. There’s still the odd off night where he misses a defensive assignment (see: CGY vs. NYI), but by and large, Jay Bouwmeester has been steady, reliable, and everything you want in a number one defenseman.

Alex Tanguay, C- An offseason free agent signing by Darryl Sutter, and realistically speaking, the only one that’s panned out, Tanguay has brought something the Flames had been missing for a year or so: someone that doesn’t look terrible when playing with Iginla. Tanguay leads the team in assists with 22 and is second in points with 32. He also has a relatively not terrible +/- of -1, which looks pristine next to Iginla’s -7.

That's it- those are your choices for midseason MVP. Vote below, and if you don't like any, pick "Other" and let us know why in the comments.

by Arik Knapp