"For the life of him, Darryl Sutter can't see what all the fuss is about.

The Calgary Flames needed a veteran centre, right?

So he signed one. Simple. Outcry? What outcry?

"Actually, (the reaction) has been really, really positive," the Flames general manager, with a straight face, said Friday morning at the Pengrowth Saddledome.

Positive? From whom? "From people who are important. Next question."

From the season-ticket holders?

"Including them. Especially them."

As the flummoxed fan-base tries to get its collective head around the return of Olli Jokinen, the underwhelming Finn, Sutter served up a couple of twisty explanations.

- Hey, Jokinen couldn't excel because the Flames had no playmaking presence . . . and now, with saucer-passing wizard Alex Tanguay back on the premises, all is good.

- Hey, Jokinen shouldered all of the blame for the Flames' lack of success . . . and now, toiling on a reduced salary, he's a piece of the solution, not the whole thing.

So, yes, Sutter's 40-minute sermon featured some spinning, some bafflegab. And, to be fair, even some truth."