"Jay Bouwmeester signed with Calgary to get his first taste of playoff hockey, yet he's done little to help his chances of getting there.

On a Flames team full of players who've failed to live up to expectations this season, Bouwmeester may be the most disappointing of all given his salary and the reputation he brought as being one of the league's most complete blueliners.

And while he's too nice a guy, too smooth a skater and too dependable defensively to be deemed an outright flop, even he would admit things haven't gone the way he'd hoped this year.

"It's been alright," said the soft-spoken defenceman whose two measly goals betray the talents of a man coming off back-to-back

15-goal campaigns.

"It probably hasn't gone the way I wanted it to offensively.

"It's been an up-and-down year for everybody."

Days before planning to file for unrestricted free agency last June, the 6-foot-4,

214-lb. Edmonton native was acquired from Florida by Flames GM Darryl Sutter, who used a third-round pick and Jordan Leopold to buy a closed door meeting with

Jay-Bo and his agents. "