2:00PM afternoon start, weird for hockey in this town, but people will take it, plus it was Iginla bobblehead day for the first 2500 fans in the Dome. Matinée games are brutal to watch cause they seem so much slower, the fans even have less edge. When you can hear the players talking on the ice you know the fans are quiet.
Nashville wasted no time to get off to a quick start. Thank Dion Phaneuf for yet again arrive first in the corner, slowing up so he wouldn’t get hit, lost the puck, then chilled out with one hand on the stick losing his man in the slot who quickly scored. The Flames go down 1-0.
Hate him or Love him?
Couple Dion’s play with a lackluster crowd and before you know it the Flames saw themselves down 2-0. Both penalties against Regher and Moss were questionable to say the least….but reality is Calgary is lost on lines 3-4. Goal droughts are killing the team slowly.
Phaneuf scored on the PP thanks to a deflection. To bad he doesn’t score more goals than he causes; consistency seems to be the need in his game.
In the second period Calgary found their legs sparked by Brian McGrattan’s beat down on Wade Belak. Jarome Iginla started the comeback with a sweet snapshot for his second point of the game and 18th goal. Seven minutes later Iginla struck again banking a pass off a sprawled out Nashville defender to take the lead.
Calgary seemed to forget the gameplan with the lead in the second and started to loose battles down low. Nashville scored two more unanswered goals late in the second and early in the third to re-take the lead 4-3.
The Flames didn’t seem to have any legs in the third period barely registering hits and having trouble generating scoring chances.
The top line managed big points, Iginla with three this afternoon. The rest of the team? Dragging their feet. Bouwmeester is a seven million dollar bust with nothing producing–he won’t even make team Canada because he’s fallen off the map in the past 10 games. Phanuef is a 6.5 million dollar bust-sometimes, another no invite for team Canada. The entire lines of 2-4 on offence are non-existent.
Calgary is suffering from a simple thing that hopefully santa will fix soon: inconsistencies. They do not show up as a team for games. Only half of players are on page at any given moment. At this rate they’ll drop like a rock and become the NHL’s biggest salary laughing stock bust.
Fact of the matter is defensively we’re loosing it. Bouwmeester is now the fourth d man on the team cause of his shaky play. Gio is #2? Regehr shutting down well, Phaneuf is off and on, and 5-6 are doing OK.
5 goals on (one empty netter) 19 shots is pretty poor.
So how about this, either Sutter isn’t a good coach and doesn’t nkow DEFENSIVE hockey, or the team won’t respond.
TIGHTEN UP ON DEFENCE! and lines 3-4 need TO SCORE. Those guys started ok but now they’re not and we’re back to being a one line (sometimes) scoring threat team.
Wow are these guys really NHL professional hockey players?
Getting sick of the same old, same old. What does it take to wake these guys up? Pathetic effort after pathetic effort game after game with these guys lately… Do they have a learning disablility? I wonder cause they don’t seem to be able to realize that it takes a full 60 mins to win a hockey game!!!! Wake up you over paid MILLIONAIRES!!!!!!
They are close to putting it together but i just expect some consistency to their game. They are not an elite team but would be close if they just tightened up their existing plan.
Barry, please check my latest post and let me know what you think.
thanks
Del
me thinks that some of the Flames will find a lump of coal in their stocking Chrsitmas morn
Say, everybody, are you finding the same things I am when I receive a Flames Forum update????
What I get mixed with the usual updates are crazy messages from unknown to me people talking about the best cell phone to buy or other crazy stuff?
The latest one I received was from somebody with the moniker “omise” talking about downloading apps for his cell phone.
Maybe Barry Flames can enlighten me. It’s not exactly spam, and I own a good anti-virus software. I wonder what gives, and I really feel thet it is a little but annoying since it is un-invited.
I think it stopped. I had a plugin disabled by accident that let spam comments in. They spammed old articles where you posted and thus you got the update. If you get anymore let me know, but it should be done. Sorry about that.
I know the feeling, Del. I received some nonsensical stuff but just deleted them… Someone abnoxious who has nothing better to do.
Anyway, commenting on the game yesterday afternoon. the Flames started off really good in the second particularly after they tied the game at 2. Atleast they won the majority of the faceoffs and scored on the powerplay, which means that they can if they want to. Nonetheless, there must be something definitely amiss and that could be the reason why the team is not responding well like Daryl has mentioned. Whatever it is, I hope it is only transient.
Letting bygones be bygones, it doesn’t sound right to like them only when they are winning. As die hard fans we should stand up for our team and look for the optimistic values. Cheer up folks……..Recall 2004/5?
2004/05. You mean the year we was robbed?
You bet, Del. That year has been ingrained in my heart and nothing can erase the 3rd degree burns either in the heart of the Flames or their die hard fans….The fact remains that we lost something precious and getting it back will take a lot of effort from each and every member of the Flames’ team – they will have to hit, bang, grind and fight every inch of the way….They will have to play like they have never done before. But the sad part of the story? The Flames are not dirty players and they want to win in professionally in an unprofessional world.
I commented on #3 should be trade many times, and i’ll say it again, this guy is totally over-rated and not working out for the team, with him in the line up, this team won’t get far in the play off, not passing the 1st round again this season. ( that’s my prediction )