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Calgary Rebound Against Phoenix

The Calgary Flames continued their dominance on home ice, but time will tell where they end up in the NW division race. They will have to start winning on the road with similar efforts like tonight. If you had to describe this win in one sentence it would be: secondary scoring.


Calgary's new third line did most of the damage of the night. Amonte-Lombardi-Primeau combined for two goals. Things start slow as as usual for the Flames but it was David Moss getting his 7th on the PP that opened the scoring.

Jamie Mac shut the door in the 1st and 2nd, giving Miikka a much needed rest, and played very well all night. Another PP goal from Kristian Huselius 29th gave the home team a 2-0 lead in the 1st.

Wayne Primeau scored twice in the second, getting his first goal as a Flames, and Andrei Zyuzin scored his first as a Flame in the second as well. The third line was on fire, the first not so much. It appears that Conroy is not he fit for Jarome right now.

Next up, Minnesota on Wednesday. Should be a good test to the defensive game. Calgary needs to continue to tighten up and pull down shot totals as they make a playoff push.

notes: Moss returned to the line up, Giordano was a scratch. Rumours have another trade is in the works for more depth up front.

Shoot Out at the OK Corral

Calgary bounced back early in this one from yet another poor road trip. The fans are getting ancy and early on the Flames didn’t disappoint. In fact, they jumped to a 2-0 lead in the 1st period courteousy of goals from Phaneuf and Langkow.


The only difference in the this game compared to others was Kiprusoff. He made some solid breakaway saves early in the game that was the difference maker. As usual, the Flames fell asleep. Calgary cannot play for 60 minute games anymore. That little bit of a problem will cost them a playoff berth if they don’t put their crap together soon. Things were looking all fine and dandy but then came the second period.

The second period rolled around Calgary took the night off, at least defensively. San Jose scored 4 goals in the second, however, in a strange turn, Calgary scored right after, one time 8 seconds after, to tie the game at 4. That was a PP goal off a Hamrlik shot (for his third assist of the night). Fact is, we can score, fact is, we can’t defend.

Luckily Langkow got an insurance goal with his second of the game. Tanguay did some great work down low and Iginla fed Langkow a pass in the slot. A neat deflection was enough to beat Nabokov who had an average night. Nilson would later get the empty netter.

List of Flames Players Who Are Defensive Liabilities

Warrner must be hurt, he’s terrible on D these days. Blown coverage, bad decisions.

Giordano. I still say play Zyuzin, this guy can move the puck sure, but he can’t take his man properly.

Nilson. Absolutely poor defensive abilities lately. The past 3 games he’s been a liability.

Conroy. The past 6 games his defensive game as been the worst of any Flames. He consistent causes goals. Craig Conroy causes at least 1 goal per game in the last 6 because of bad defensive coverage

Iginla. Right behind Conroy is Iginla. The guy doesn’t work anymore in the D zone and just floats like Gretzky. He doesn’t cover his man and only looks for the breakaway. Yes he has 3 points tonight, but they didn’t come from defensive zone coverage. Albeit, he got the job done tonight offensively.

20 seconds into the third Iginla would net his 30th of the season off a nice goal from a Tanguay rush. The third period would see more Sharks domination, only this time, they couldn’t capitalize on some good chances. You have to wonder what system the Flames adopt defensively because they are losing battles all the time against any team.

Notes: Godard may factor in the lineup Monday, but not tonight. Primeau put on the visor after a fight in the first.

Calgary returned to action after a disappointing three game series against the Colorado Avalanche where the Flames only managed to collect 2 of 6 points. The NW division will leave the Flames in the dust if they don’t start winning, and Phoenix is beatable team to do this.

Flames Continue to Disgrace Themselves on Road Ice

It would be Calgary who would hit the scoreboard first. The second line with Amonte-Tanguay-Lombardi hit the PP first and stayed out for over a minute. It would pay off as the Phoenix box collapsed and Calgary had enough guys downlow to execute a nice cross-crease pass–Amonte to Tanguay for his 18th.

The play was pretty much even for the remainder of the 1st. The second period, it was all Phoenix. Calgary just rolled over and died there were maybe 3 minutes of sustained pressure in the Coyotes zone the entire second period.

Top Players Continue to Lead by Laziness

Of course, things aren’t easy when your top players don’t play. Every time Jarome Iginla is on the ice the Flames are shorthanded in their own zone. Just watch the guy play, he is without a doubt the worst Flames player in his own zone. I am certain that with Conroy in the lineup with Iginla the game would have been much worse since both are terrible defensively.

So who do you blame? The coaches? You can’t really do that unless the philosophy is ‘float near center’. Let’s face it, Calgary is not doing a THING to help our defencemen. The Flames forwards are terrible coming back to help and terrible helping with breakouts. This will cost us games and the coaches should be fired if they can’t come up with another game plan.

Kiprusoff is also a liability. He made some average stops then let in yet another soft goal off an Oleg Sprykin shot that was made BEHIND the goal line from the corner. Albeit the shot went off Phanuef’s skate, Kiprusoff no longer makes the key save. He is tired and needs rest, but there’s no chance he’ll get it. Playfair doesn’t not believe in Jamie Mac and will play Kiprusoff the rest of the way even if he’s tired.


The third period was just as terrible and horrible. Calgary never showed up, and haven’t showed up for a 60 minute game for months. This is really hard for Flames fans to swallow since they are used to a team that works hard all the time. The new Calgary Flames are too lazy and paid way too much to care it seems. The likes of Iginla and Kiprusoff aren’t pulling their weight, and nobody is picking up the slack.

People may have said that in the third period Jarom redeemed himself getting over 10 shots for the night. But quite frankly he never scored nor set up anybody who came close to scoring. Stephane Yelle did manage to put Calgary up briefly but that was short lived. 2-2 would be the score going into OT.

Playfair Out-Coached Yet Again

If we won he would have been brilliant, but we didn’t. Calgary tried going with 3 forwards and 1 D man. Calgary clearly did not practice this option beforehand as the three forwards had no clue what to do on the ice. Guess what, the play was in Calgary’s end and there were consistent 3-1 and 2-1’s. Doan would score to cap off a Pheonix domination to win the game.

Calgary never showed up again. For 15 minutes in the third they were around, but largely, only newcomers Stuart and Primeau deserved any ice after this disgrace.

Notes: Conroy was a late scratch, which was OK since his defensive game has been less than average lately. Zyuzin came out and Girodano came in. Godard played less than two minutes which was stupid since he could have set the tone early, yet another dumb coaching move. Stuart looks solid, one of the best Dmen out there.

Avalanche Work Harder - Calgary Chickens Without Godard

But hey, Bettman would prefer strong US markets than clean hockey. Colorado continues to show why they are quickly becoming the dirtiest team NHL. Vannannen wasn’t even fined for his brutal hit on Moss, nor have any Flames punched his face in. Hey, take out the fighting so goons don’t roam the league, that’s perfectly fine with me, but stop disgracing yourself (NHL) by leaving players unpunished for intent to injure plays.

It appears the Calgary Flames are emotionaless without tough guy Eric Godard in the lineup. Hopefully he gets in for Phoenix (Laraque v Godard?!) because this team is dead on the road without him. Plus their defensive zone coverage is garbage, more on that later.

Of course Colorado didn’t stop there with their dirty play. Ritchie was charged and hit behind on the same hit. Yet another example of how Colorado continually hits from behind. Would that be the end? Not a chance. Lombardi, just before his tripping penalty was drilled from behind with a two handed cross-check.

Colorado had a great forecheck going and Calgary’s defence was exceptionally poor. You would expect rookies to continually make poor decisions and display horrendous defensive zone coverage. Unfortunately, Conroy is the oldest Flame and has screwed up once in each of the last 5 games costing the Flames at least 5 goals in very bad defensive play.

Amonte scored on a nice feed from Primeau and Phanuef scored on the PP. Of course, what good is that if Calgary conitued their horrid defensive play.

Hejduk would score a nice goal after the Calgary D thought it would be better stick check him than take the man. Hejduk scored off a weak backhand that Miikka should have clearly had. Kiprusoff needs to rebound with better games. His play as of late is poor and indicates he is very tired in net. Will the coaches give him more rest? doubt it. That ends the first period.

The second period would start with another blown call by the officials. Tanguay streaks in on a partial break and a defenceman dives and grabs his foot. Call? Not a chance, and no goal. Unreal. But, Huselius was playing exceptionally well in the second period getting many chances.

He would eventually score, but not off his own dangle, he had the whole open net, but from Iginla’s hard board work that lead to a nice pass to wide open Huselius. 3-3 game now, would the Flames regain composure? It was still shaky but things were slowly getting better, however, remember, the Flames were on the road.

The rest of the period was pretty equal in terms of forecheck. There was an alarming amoutn of running the goalie against Calgary, but the refs let the contact go even when Kipper was all the way to the face off dot from a hit, (well half way at least.)

The third period started with yet another blown/phantom call by the officials. Iginla went off for a ‘hold’. On the ensuing powerplay Yelle stole the puck and was about to go on a break but Sakic ran interference and tripped Yelle. Penalty? Not 5 seconds later the Avs would score on a breakaway. Yet another game being blown away by the referees, so sad to see the game being reduced to this garbage.

But hey, you can’t keep blaming bad officials, you have to keep yourself out of the box and play better defensive hockey. The Flames did neither. There was plenty of PP opportunities in the third with a 5v3 for a time being to get back on the board. Calgary just couldn’t click though, unable to score on the 2 man advantage. Even on the PP Colorado continually outmanned Calgary on the puck downlow. There were some opportunities but Calgary was unable to capitalize, hey, it was just that kind of game.

These days Calgary is proving that their preparation is not where it should be. This team is not ready for a playoff push or a pre-playoff push. 60 minutes games have been few and far between, and in the NW division, Calgary Flames hockey needs to improve their hockey tenfold.

Calgary Chips Away for Home Win

Jim Playfair apparently like to bench one of the leagues hottest players. In fact, even in tonight’s game, Kristian Huselius started the game on the 4th line. However, this didn’t stop him from making an impact. Huselius had two gaols and a nice set up on Dion Phaneuf’s tiebreaking goal.

After being benched for parts of Thursday’s 7-5 loss to the Avalanche, Huselius responded with the kind of dazzling offensive display that had almost become routine during a recent 15-game scoring streak.

With the score tied 2-2, Phaneuf put the Flames ahead at 16:31 of the second with his 14th goal of the season. As Huselius cut towards the middle, he slid the puck back the opposite direction to a waiting Phaneuf, who ripped a slap shot past Avalanche goalie Peter Budaj.

Jarome Iginla (28th) and Stephane Yelle, with an empty-netter, also scored for Calgary.

Huselius’ second of the night and 27th of the season came at 9:08 of the third period, on a wrist shot over Budaj’s blocker from a near impossible angle after being set up by Iginla.

In the back-and-forth Northwest Division race, the Flames climbed back into a tie for first place with Vancouver. Minnesota is just one point back. Colorado sits 10th in the Western Conference, nine points back of the eighth-place Wild and will play Vancouver tomorrow.

Calgary will have to play another solid game Tuesday to capitalize on a hurting Colorado team. But, hopefully they’ll beat Vancouver tomorrow.

Notes: David Moss did not return to the game after being hit from behind by Ossi Vaananen who received a game misconduct. Calgary could not score on the major powerplay.

Calgary Blows Another Lead

It’s becoming a regular catch phrase in the Flames lingo, ‘they were outworked’, only this time it was in their own building. Calgary started the game with a nice 2-0 lead but collapsed late (with a minute left) in all three periods. For some reason the preparation and mental toughness of this team is lacking.

Being outworked is starting to be a regular occurrence for the Flames. Colorado controlled the puck deep in the Calgary zone for the last two periods, whereas Calgary just couldn’t find the heart or the grit to respond. Yes they scored five, but they let in seven.

Sakic scores 600th Goal

Sakic only had a 5 point night, and if the Flames want to win the next two against the Avs they’ll have to do a better job with Sakic and Hedjuk. The top line for Calgary garnered a number of points, but all the other lines were out to lunch. Iginla had 2 goals and 2 assists, Tanguay had his share of assists as well, but it wasn’t enough.

Playfair for some reason has difficulty getting his team on the same page. Yes, today Lombardi scored two, but lines were juggled all night. Huselius was benched, I mean come on now, how can you not appease one of the hottest players in the entire NHL?

Defensive zone coverage is also horrid. One of the worst parts of the Calgary game is their defensive zone coverage. Too many times players we’re left unmarked and Flames players were left watching the puck. This easily cost Calgary 5 goals tonight. What used to be the bread and butter for Calgary is one of their biggest liabilities.

I also wonder why we have a more expensive Friesen 2 on the team in the form of Primeau. Yes he’s got size, but Ritchie has more goals. Seems like an expensive 2006-07 Leclerc.

Notes: Calgary has Colorado for the next two games, Saturday and Tuesday.

Flames Bounce Back Winning All the Battles

After a 7-4 drubbing two days ago in Detroit (should have been 13-0), the Calgary Flames were looking for revenge, or at least to right the ship. The game was a later start to accommodate an Edmonton game on TV (they lost 3-0). This didn’t matter as the Oilers game went late and I was getting fancy about the the hockey I’d miss. Turns out the Flames game started 15 minute slater than expected and I missed nothing.

There’s no place like home for the Flames. The game started with an early powerplay that looked boring to start, but Phanuef managed to the puck off a transition and fired a shot that should have went way wide but Langkow got his stick on it and potted his 23rd.

Right at puck drop after the goal Eric Boulton thought he’d try boost his team by fighting Eric Godard (the Flames are unbeaten with him in the lineup). Somebody has got to get the book on Godard cause he’s going to beat you down. Boulton walked away with a bloodied face having not thrown a punch….See the fight in the fight gallery.

The second powerplay that came mid-way through the first was boring and typical of the Flames game. Ha, yea, but I guess the Flames are in the mood for ‘boring powerplay–SCORE!’. Jarome Iginla took advantage of some bad coverage in front of the net to score his 25th. (BTW, Roger Millions, you’re not saying Tanguay right.)

With 6 minutes left the Thrashers went to the box again. Well how would the worst–wait a minute the 16th best in the league–scored right off the bat with patient Huselius hooking up with Langkow for his second of the game.

If that wasn’t enough. Exelby and Primeau (who plays for Calgary in case you weren’t following) had something going earlier on in the game and finally dropped the gloves. Check the gallery again for that one

The second period saw more Flames domination. Trying to get things going early, the Thrashers took a penalty 5 seconds in…. ON the ensuing PP Langkow had a wide open net for the hat-trick but missed. The next ten minutes was all Calgary until midway.

Phaneuf had the longest shift of the game, probably 3.6 minutes long. The Flames just couldn’t get the puck out of the zone and paid for it after a poor clearing attempt. Hemel scored (remember the guy who Phanuef blew apart in Ottaway) as a result of a DeVries shot.

The 3-1 score wouldn’t last long as the next shift the top line (this time with Conroy) clicked. A poor neutral zone turnover lead to a 2-1 with Jarome Iginla leading the way passing to Tanguay who popped a nice shot top corner for a 4-1 lead.

The third period was more Flames. The forecheck was humming all night and Atlanta looked like a team waiting for the final buzzer. So the Flames got some message, they came out mad and they continued their home dominance for a 4-1 win going 6-3 on the powerplay.

Notes: Zyuzin and Ritchie sat, Godard drew in. Huselius had the puck on a string all night. Primeau had his first fighting major with the Flames.