We were wondering if UFA Rene Bourque would be back next year, or whether the Flames would yet again part with another LW. Turns out he has signed as reported by the Flames. Yes, there is still NHL hockey going on despite the country being glued to the TV to watch the Canadian men and women go for gold.
The Own the Podium campaign has been a bust. But everyone has said so long as we win gold in hockey we'll put up with the below average performance by the rest of the Olympians. But what happens if we lose in the quarters?
Canada's national pride was taking out back yet again and spanked hard. The dream team? The super team? Try a bunch of hockey players performing like the rest of the Olympic team--subpar. Canada lost to an average American squad 5-3 who capitalized on mistakes and rode a hot goalie to victory.
Canadians aren't happy. Twitter is rampant with people casting blame here and there, but frankly the blame rests squarely in two places: Brodeur and Babcock.
@dtjbrown said: Mike Babcock is and idiot. Here's a guy who coaches by the names on the back, not the crest on the front.
True words indeed. Let's take a step back and scrutinize the team from top to bottom.
Is it just me or are you embarrassed as a Canadian to watch women's hockey at the Olympics? In it's fourth Olympics the competition hasn't gotten any better. In fact, the HUGE disparity between countries is a sad testament to hockey development and an indication that it's completely outside of the spirit of the Olympics to maintain. Some agree with me and suggest that the sport should be dropped by 2018.
Think of it like this, Canada destroyed Slovakia by a 18-0 margin. Slovakia in turn destroyed Bulgaria 82-0. Your kids tyke team could do better. That's embarrassing and clearly points out that developing nations can't put out a product that rivals Canada or the US. They don't have the money for development and likely never will. The product will eventually get better, and we may have to sit through blowouts as the sport grows, but in the meantime it's not worthwhile to watch Canada run up the score on hapless competitors. Your thoughts?
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Calgary will go into the two week Olympic break with a win, something they' found only 5 times in the last 17 games. Who would've thought that the Flames would be struggling for 8th place. It's like 2004 all over again....mind you the outcome then was pretty good.
Tonight at home Calgary fed off some new lines and the home crowd to pull out a victory. The bulk of Calgary's offence came from their captain, who seems to win games hands down, but unfortunately only shows up for every third game....
At this point of the year every game is crucial because if you're out of a playoff spot before the Olympics, you probably aren't going to the post-season this year. Turns out the Calgary Flames players haven't got that message yet.
Even following Calgary's monster trades have really fixed NOTHING. In fact, tonight, the only person who scored was a Dallas player in his own net.
Morrow potted the puck, or rather wired a shot, into his own goal to give the Flames the lead. Jarome Iginla should take note, he spends the entire second half of the season up to this point floating around the edges, and when he drives to the net he gets rewarded. Huh, what a concept, fight harder for the middle of the ice!
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I wish Ottawa was an American team so we could blame Gary Bettman. Or maybe we'll blame Stphane Auge who was the primary official tonight. Or better yet, blame the nation's capital for, I dunno, proroguing parliament or something.
Tonight an otherwise exciting game between two Canadian clubs was absolutely ruined by horrific officiating. It sucks to complain about officials, cause generally they do a great job, but man alive, it was frustrating tonight.
Calgary opened the scoring thanks to Iginla's pass to a floating Hagman who bombed a slapper top shelf. After than it all came crashing down.
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I could go on and on about how cheap the win was against the Flames tonight but nobody would care. Tampa Bay (and Florida) exists in America's wang where nobody gives a damn about hockey so covering those games is pointless.
Nonetheless here is a quick run down of the game:
1) Rene Bourque lost after one shift after taking a cheap shot to the head. I will say it AGAIN, the NHL is a JOKE of a professional league because it's the last sport that PERMITS and ENCOURAGES shots to the head (and thus decreasing the careers of players). The hit Bourque took was clean--he was smoked by a player coming out of the box--but the lack of respect on ice and no head shot rule means a clean hit is not only unpenalised but you lose players. Bourque didn't return.
2) Kotalik threw a nice hit on the ice, but apparently nice hits (this wasn't even that 'hard') need to be 'punished'. Kotalik had his first fight, yes a fight, as a Flame, but was thrown out of the game for not having a tie down. I don't understand that stupid rule either if someone instigates a fight and you don't have a tie down.... I digress.
3) The same suspects don't score, Iginla namely, Langkow, Higgins (since NY), and so on.
The 'New' Flames started their first game on a brief Eastern road trip visiting the sunny skies of Florida. In fact, the Flames won't leave until after their game tomorrow against Tampa Bay.
Most fans are still uneasy with the new look, many haven't seen the likes of Higgins or Kotalik closely. Jury's still out on Stajan and Hagman too.
This evening, all goals came on special teams where Calgary looked surprisingly in control.
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Edmonton beat Carolina two days ago, Calgary was expected to win. However, that's not a gimmie especially given the fact a third of the lineup has changed in two games. New Flames Kotalik and Higgins drew in th elineup and played with Langkow. Neither played much of a factor in the game, but Kotalik did lead the team with shots on goal with 5. The other new Flames didn't do much either. Stajan with his first goal, Mayers with a fight and instigator.
The difference tonight was a) Calgary played a weak Carolina, b) the secondary scoring lost for the last 15 games briefly re-appeared in one player: Curtis Glencross.
You are the heart of diehard fans who always thrive to see you succeed; whether it is against the Edmonton Oilers or the Chicago Blackhawks. Whether you win some or lose some, our feelings never change.
The month of January had been terrible for everyone: for you and your loyal fans and it had been difficult to keep pace with the pessimistic comments from some of the rival team’s fans. However, the hardest hit came from the recent blockbuster trades because we lost some of our precious players. It was beyond belief and made every fan in Calgary outrageous. We realize that it must have been harder for some of you who lost your line mates.
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