The New Year brings 3 hockey games in four nights, great for fans, and even better if the home team wins. Tonight the Flames looked to extend their monster one game win -streak to two games versus the resurgent LA Kings. Things barely got underway when the tone was set by Dion Phaneuf’s hellacious hit on Anze Kopitar in the Calgary end. Dion got a 5 minute penalty thanks to the acting job by Kopitar. Replays showed a play where two players chasing towards into the boards ready to fight for the loose puck; this kind of play happens 50 times a period. The difference seemed to be both Kopitar’s embellishment and Phaneuf going for the man too soon and not angling towards the puck.
The game misconduct will be reviewed by the league and it will be interesting to see if they make a comment. The refs in general tonight, however, were atrocious. Granted Calgary got too many powerplays-which they did nothing with- but some huge questionable calls were made.
Both coaches had a brief yelling match between each other that got the crowd riled up. After that the Flames picked up their game and both teams started throwing their weight around.
During the ensuing 4v4 play after Dion’s penalty Calgary went up 1-0 thanks to a great pass from the rushing Jay Bouwmeester (who didn’t make team Canada). Rene Bourque scored his second goal in as many games.
LA’s goon Ivanans tried to respond for the monster hit later in the first by putting his elbow in Moss’ face, but he only ended up taking 16 minutes in penalties.
A penalty shot was called in the second period on a ridiculous play. Apparently you can call a penalty shot for a slash even when another defender was back in time. The hilarious part of the whole turn of events was on the ensuing penalty shot Dustin Brown lost control of the puck and 20 000 Flames fans promptly pointed at the hapless player laughing their heads off. EPIC FAIL!
LA tied the game early in the second period, but after the Dion hit and the ensuing tempo you really had the sense the old Calgary Flames were back in business spending most of the time playing their game in LA’s end.
The go ahead goal came in the third period when Craig Conroy scored his first goal of the season. nice to see Connie get a garbage goal and put the Flames up by 1.
Note: Every year the LA Kings defenders are among the lead leaders, like Dustin Brown, in hits. The only reason that’s the case is because the morons in LA don’t know how to properly COUNT HITS. Duh.
Jarome Iginla still a no0show on offence along with Jokinen. This is a huge cause for concern with no end in sight.
Next up, Oilers in town tomorrow for the NYE special.
Compliments to Craig Conroy for notching his first of the season. Way to go, Craig!!!
Congratulations to Rene Bourque (a goal and and assist), Giordano for the amount of ice time and great plays; and Kiprusoff for making 23 saves!! Way to go team.
I am in totaly agreement with you, Barry about the so-called “boarding penalty” call on Phaneuf. Honestly speaking, the replays did not seem like an intentional hit to me. In fact, the “monstrous hit” on Moss seemed more like an intentional crash and it was tragic that the Flames were unable to capitalize on their powerplay opportunities. However, my main focus was on the goal tender interference penalty that should have been called against the LA Kings. Was that just my imagination??.
Needless to say, it had been a rough 1st period, but should NHL suspend Dion, then the penalty had been UNINTENTIONAL and there will be a loud cry from the fan zone about previous intentional hits to the Flames’ players; some of which had resulted in injuries.
Letting bygones be bygones, let’s hope that the Flames are ready and hot for their Albertan counterparts again tomorrow night! Go Flames Go!!
Congratulations to the Captain, Ollie Jokinen and Mikka Kiprusofff for being part of the Olympic team.
Calgary 2. Referee’s 1. Abysmal officiating. Tried their best to destroy the game. Gary Bettman dingbats.
You are right about that, Del. The officiating had been abysmal. Talking about GB??? Does he know hockey?
Yeah, he knows hockey, but he thinks it’s a Russian family living in Pravda.
How the fuck is Kopitar embellishing it? My god you Canadian fans always have some conspiracy theory about Bettmen. Watch the replays. Phaneuf angles on Kopitar. Kopitar is trying to angle on the puck….how do you embellish someone slamming you into the boards like he did…sideways…off his feet?
“Any contact between opposing players while pursuing the puck on an icing must be for the sole purpose of playing the puck and not for eliminating the opponent from playing the puck.*Unnecessary or dangerous contact could result in penalties being assessed to the offending player.”
In the rulebook.
You guys know if that was Matt Greene who did that to “Insert Flames player here” You all would have been screaming for him to be thrown out. Wise up and try to see things from outside your ridiculous point of view.
*Unnecessary or dangerous contact could result in penalties being assessed to the offending player.”
Penalties yes, but not “game mis-conduct”.
Your entitled to your view of the hit whether it was legal or not.
What really burns me is the obvious mistakes made by the officials (on both sides) through-out the game that could have lead to an even nastier night than it was.
The issue in my mind is that the same play goes on countless time s in NHL hockey that’s never called. If it’s Regehr getting pounded by Greene in the same way there is ZERO call. It’s not the same rules for everybody and if you lie on the ice a bit you automatically get 5 and a game. That’s the implicit rule. The worse the injury the worse the penalty. If Kopitar had gotten up right away like he did on the very next shift then Phaneuf would have received TWO MINUTES.
That’s the issue here, a player trying to eject another by lying on the ice only to return a shift later. The hit was huge, interference, although that play happens countless times a game and is never called, and Kopitar will never go into the corner again the same.
Hi Jason,
I appreciate how you feel about Kopitar, but upon seeing the replays, that was an unintentional hit but at least Phaneuf had been penalized for it. Alternatively, can you imagine how the Calgary Flames’ fans felt when their goal tender had been interfered with on three consecutive occassions (by American teams – Anaheim, Detroit and Columbus) without any goalie interference penalties being called? Isn’t there a rule for goal tender interferences?
Furtheremore, even Bourque had been intentionally injured twice by American players – once during the critical playoff period and one recent episode without anything being said or done. Can you appreciate how hurtful that must have been for the players, particularly when it was all about winning the Stanley Cup?
More importantly, can you recall 2004/5 when the entire world so how the Stanley Cup had been conveniently re-routed to Tampa Bay and nobody so much as did anything about it leave alone apologize for the biggest blunder on earth? These and many other incidences were ridiculous blunders that the Calgary Flames players have suffered along with their fans; so if you think we haven’t seen anything worse, try replaying all these tapes.
Well said, Daryl. There are never any calls made when the Flames get pounded. Yes, Kopitar was just making it up. Did you see what happened to the Oiler-Flames game tonight? Bourque got penalized for what Gilbert did. Shouldn’t it have been the other way round?
I’m getting used to getting the shit end of the stick being a Flames fan. The biggest shit end was getting robbed out of the Cup in 2004. Need I say more….
Well said Flaming Moe. The fans have now had the regular doses of immunization towards being victimized and I think it doesn’t make any difference as long as they get the opportunity to see their team being victorious in the New Year.
Keep it up, boys.