December 3, 2010 at 9:51 pm - By: Ro · Filed under Post Game
Two bottom basement dwellers in the NW division faced off tonight in Minnesota. Calgary is coming off a season worse 7-2 loss against rivals Vancouver. They had a chance to meet the Wild again for the second time in 5 days.
The Flames won Monday, and they needed a crucial 2 points against a very beatable team tonite. (The Flames need to play about .620 hockey the rest of the way.) It took a shootout but Calgary prevailed, barely....
December 1, 2010 at 11:48 pm - By: Ro · Filed under Post Game
Massive Loss: 7-2 v. Canucks
Ok, so we know the economy for the past few years in Calgary has been better than anywhere else in the country. For that we get endless fans from other cities. Tonight, Vancouver Canucks fans came out of the woodworks, and Calgary fans has zero answer. Honestly, don't go to hockey games if you can't cheer. Having said that, i would be among the lame fans tonight as the home team gave nothing to cheer about.
It's disheartening to watch your team confirm all negative assessments. As a whole, the Flames are a bunch of under achieving and overpaid hockey players who are stuck in a system/regime that's lost in 2004.
Other teams have rebuilt in the new NHL. Not Calgary. Just look what happens when we play the likes of Vancouver, Pittsburgh, etc. It's not pretty, and it won't get better.
November 29, 2010 at 11:58 pm - By: Ro · Filed under Post Game
Now THAT's more like it. Yes, the Flames should beat a team like Minnesota every time, but standings wise Calgary is at the bottom clawing their way back up. Back from a recent Eastern road trip the Flames were happy to play in front of the home team (although I have to say it was quiet and there were more empty seats than I've seen in a while).
No worries though, Calgary brought their lunch pail and got to work early. It didn't seem like much was going on offensively for either team in the first period, but Calgary managed to assert themselves and set up a solid forecheck.
Key lines included a new European flavour, the first time in perhaps 2 decades the FLames have had an all European forward line, with Backlund centering Jokinen and Hagman.
November 27, 2010 at 2:33 pm - By: Ro · Filed under Post Game
The Calgary Flames concluded a lengthy Eastern road-trip with yet another loss. Another loss to keep this team in the basement of the West. This afternoon was perhaps their stiffest test and they failed miserably. The Flames looked like a minor league team against the powerful Penguins, and if it wasn't for the heroics of Kiprusoff the score would have been 3-4 more.
That's not to say that all is loss. Calgary was victimized by some bad luck throughout the trip, and when you consider their overall play the team has certainly improved. Of course, that means little if you are still stuck losing game. But 3 wins next week and Calgary will be back in the hunt.
All is not lost yet, albeit the thread is getting thin and fans could really use something to cheer about these days.
November 26, 2010 at 3:54 pm - By: Ro · Filed under Post Game
Calgary should have lost this game. Not because they didn't put in a great road game--at 11AM to boot. Not because of some iffy unsportsmanlike call on Chris Pronger for pulling a 'Sean Avery' on Kipper. No, the Flames should have lost in the OT period when Jarome Iginla, when it was 3v3, literally lost his marbles and didn't move an inch in the defensive zone. He CAUSED the loss in OT against Detroit and did it again today. If it wasn't for an insane desperation paddle save Calgary would be losers.
Now back to the exciting conclusion of this afternoon's game. All game I was wondering to myself:
Either this is a rookie ref or he got paid off
An incredible amount of soft calls were made, most against the Flames. Ghislain Hebert made the vast majority of the calls. He has under 20 NHL games of experience. I guess you have to start somewhere, but the difference between him Don VanMassenhoven was evident. If I did'nt know about his 'rookies' status I would've concluded cash changed hands, but then this call against Pronger happened in OT that called-back a goal.
November 24, 2010 at 9:25 pm - By: Ro · Filed under Post Game
What do you get when you put two of the most boring hockey teams together in the same room? Boring hockey. Aptly summed up in this tweet:
@DarrenZed I think the #Flames and #Devils are in the midst of setting back the #NHL a decade or so.
Actually, the game wasn't that boring, and Calgary did well to control the play. Much like they did against NY last night. The problem? Scoring. Plenty of chances, again, just like last night, but finishing is an issue. Someone tell Tanguay to buy some new sticks cause he had a few open nets but flubbed on the shots.
November 22, 2010 at 8:39 pm - By: Ro · Filed under Post Game
Someone please tell me why Derek Boogaard has an NHL contract? His sole purpose is to injure other players. This is what's wrong with the NHL, they either intentionally or unintentionally breed violence. This has lead to a deterioration of the on ice product in many cases, but also a nose dive for respect. That lack of respect is exactly what will put Matt Stajan out with a concussion.
The NHL has never had a concussion epidemic as they do now. Year after year players get bigger, faster, and the pads get harder. None of those items are decreasing. That means one attempt to injure will injure. Matt Stajan got a head full of shoulder pad in what the NHL will boast as a legal hit. Yea it was legal, but intentional blows to the head need to be eliminated from the game, period.
November 21, 2010 at 8:38 pm - By: Ro · Filed under Post Game
How much money changes hands to fix NHL games do you think? The answer is not as much as NFL, college, or NBA. Nonetheless you have to really shake your head at officiating. Calgary as a whole got the royal screw job from officials today in both the NHL and the CFL.
SEVEN penalties against the Flames including a crucial last minute phantom call on Bouwmeester that gave Detroit a chance to win it in overtime. Why oh why does the NHL continue to advocate for a shotty product on ice by condoning diving? Seriously, to mess around with questionable calls on 'holds' and 'hooks' ruins the hockey games.
With that rant over, the Flames lost cause they just didn't close. For some reason Sutter has a brilliant idea of defensive shell with a 4-2 lead. Tanguay's goal was the last shot the FLames had in the third period. Heartbreaking loss for sure, but you just invite disaster with timid play with league elite's.
November 20, 2010 at 12:37 am - By: Ro · Filed under Post Game
The Calgary Flames needed this. Sitting at 14th sot just above the lowly Edmonton Oilers, the Flames were looking for momentum facing off against the reigning Stanley Cup winning Chicago Blackhawks. Calgary doesn't have a good history with beating the Hawks. Couple that with the upcoming road-trip out East against tough opponents and and you can understand why the Flames needed to find their winning ways fast.
Surprisingly, the team came out in full force firing on almost all cylinders.
November 18, 2010 at 12:46 am - By: Ro · Filed under Post Game
Let me break down this game the way I saw it. I actually thought the Flames played a decent game. In fact, they should've won but bad luck truly stymied the team. I'll get to my complaints about how horrific the officiating/diving was from the sad excuse of an NHL team Phoenix is later since it didn't really factor into the final decision.
But back to the game. Calgary had 40 shots, Iginla was strong, and they had plenty of chances to score 3-4 goals. Phoenix scored one lucky goal off the goaline (Kipper is always slow for covering sharp angle shots, that's the book on him), and another on the PP.
Calgary generally kept to their game plan until the phantom Jokinen 5 minute major.