The knives are out in Calgary.

Following their fourth consecutive first-round playoff exit, the Flames, if you listen to the frothing columnists in Cowtown, are a team in disarray that needs to fire its coach, fire its general manager, blow up the roster and begin again.

Some teams — hello, Toronto, Buffalo, New York Islanders, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Columbus, to name a few — would kill to have made it to the playoffs five seasons in a row.

Perhaps the Flames trip to the 2004 Stanley Cup final has spoiled its fans and the fickle typists in the media? While it’s true that only four teams have made it to the playoffs in each of the last five years — Calgary, San Jose, Detroit and New Jersey — does anyone seriously consider Calgary an elite team?

No offence to the denizens of The Red Mile, but the Calgary Flames are not a serious Cup contender, notwithstanding the fact they came within one win of a championship in June 2004. Nikolai Khabibulin beat them then, and he beat them again last night.

We know from sports and from the economy that is lying in tatters that past performance is no indicator of future performance, but it may be worth noting that in the 19 seasons since the Flames won the Stanley Cup with Lanny McDonald, the team has made it out of the first round once. Not exactly a dynasty.

Yes, the Flames were badly beaten up with injuries and their bench looked more like a M*A*S*H unit, but that doesn’t excuse the Game 5 clunker that more or less sealed their fate.

Jarome Iglinla, as he always does, took the blame, but it may be the men in suits who pay the cost of failing to meet expectations.

Another day, another drama in Montreal.

Less than 24 hours after the Canadiens were swept out of the playoffs in embarrassing fashion in a four-game sweep by the Boston Bruins, Habs general manager Bob Gainey was “lashing out” at Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Brian Lawton for allegedly breaking an agreement on naming names during Vincent Lecavalier trade discussions.

It’s no secret the Canadiens were after Lecavalier, but what was less known were the players the Lightning might be seeking from Montreal in return for a potential Lecavalier deal.

Now we know: Josh Gorges, Tomas Plekanec and Christopher Higgins.

Lawton says Gainey’s allegations of breaking an agreement by taking those names to other teams in hopes of swinging a deal with a different team are “preposterous.”

At this point, it’s he said-he said conjecture, but who really cares? Both teams had miserable seasons and are out of the playoff picture.

What is interesting is how Gainey was able to expertly switch channels and turn the focus of the conversation away from the nagging questions about his competence as a general manager following Montreal’s dismal end to the season and equally miserable performance in the playoffs.

The fact that Montreal’s centennial season turned into a train wreck, the former player/hero Guy Carbonneau was fired as coach and the cool-as-a-cucumber young goalie Carey Price lost that cool in what turned out to be the last game of the season were all neatly avoided in favour of a fake controversy that Gainey seems to have engineered out of thin air in order to not have to answer some pointed questions about whether he should be the general manager.

There is a raft of impending free agents on the Habs’ roster, there may be a new owner by the time the 2009-10 season starts and Gainey almost certainly won’t be the coach next season.

The drama continues, as does the Cup-less streak, which now stands at 16 years.

Anything can happen in the playoffs.

It’s a lesson that bears repeating. And doing a pretty good job of instructing us on this timeless sports truism are the New York Rangers and the Anaheim Ducks.

When the Rangers’ pop-gun offence walks in and steals two games in Washington and then the President’s Cup-winning San Jose Sharks lose two in a row at home — they lost just five times at home the entire season — to Anaheim, you know the fun has begun.

The Capitals have righted the ship somewhat with a 4-0 win over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Monday, but the Sharks are in deep trouble as they head south for Tuesday’s game 3 in Anaheim. Twenty-six points separated the Sharks and Ducks in the regular season, and now two wins separate the Ducks from the final eight and the Sharks from dusting off their golf clubs.

All the goodwill and expectations may be shot for the Sharks as they look at another early playoff collapse, which, according to at least one guy employed to write about these things, will be among the biggest Bay Area el foldos in the last 30 years.

Of course, head coach Todd McLellan and the Sharks may prove us wussies in the media wrong, but if that is to happen, the Sharks are going to have to get angry and focused, and with shy (Patrick Marleau) and laid back (Joe Thornton) stars leading the team, who can verbally pull the Sharks up by their garters?

Here are some potential motivational speakers in the Sharks’ dressing room.

MONTREAL - With his long flowing locks, Mikhail Grabovski has the rock star look.
Upon arriving at the Bell Centre for the morning skate here today, he was treated like one.
While his arch-rivals, the Kostitsyn brothers, did not skate this morning, as was the case with most of the Canadiens, Grabovski easily was the topic of conversation, Given the ongoing feud he's had with Sergei Kostitsyn, his former teammate with the Habs and AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs, Grabovski was in the spotlight of the media throng when he stepped off the ice.
Facing about 35 reporters afterward, Grabovski, wearing the type of grin usually sported by someone stumbling out of a Crescent St. watering hole at 3 a.m., kept his composure, refusing to add fire to this Belarusian feud.
"I just have to concentrate on the game," he said,
That was a boring answer.
OK. What if one of the Kotstitsyn's comes after you?
"We have plenty of big guys on the team that can take care of it," Grabovski said.
Whether Sergei Kotstitsyn and

If there was ever any question about how classy a man Bobby Ackles was, it was answered by the tears in Dave Dickenson's eyes.
The former Lions quarterback was visibly shaken days after news the club's top exec died of a heart atack at age 69.
Not only did he do so much for people like Dickenson and for franchises like the one in Vancouver he almost single-handedly saved, he also raised a hell of a family, evidenced by the class of son Scott who heads up the Stampeders.
Ackles was one of those guys who never forgot anyone he met.
I first met him in Las Vegas for the opening game of the XFL and he always made sure to say hi when our paths crossed.
The game could use more people like Ackles.
So could this world.