Flames 1 – Kings 4

From top to bottom the Calgary Flames were thouroughly manhandled and embarassed. Sure, this wasn’t a 9-0 blowout, but if you needed any more confirmation that the Flames will not–no–CANNOT make the playoffs, this game was a testament. This team is terrible. THe players didn’t show up–yet again. They were outhit, had no heart, no effort, and when given glorious scoring chances either shot wide or right into a hot goalie in Jon Quick.

Yes Flames fans, the stars were aligned for the Flames to use this game agains the Kings to propel a playoff run. There were story lines galore. Instead they stunk out the damn joint and left fans with yet another head scratcher.


The reasons for excitement were huge. Renewed rivalry with a Pacific division rival. The Sutter brothers facing each other for the first time (would hate to be in that family right now, not only does nobody talk to each other Brent Sutter is the laughing stock of the family I’m sure). Mike Cammalleri’s first game back as a Flame. Hockey Night in Canada.

LA whether the weak first period pressure by Calgary and simply buried their chances like any regular NHL team would. Calgary played in slow motion from the outside edges all game.

What’s left to do? The Flames can’t even compete with teams struggling to make the playoffs, let alone leading the division. Management has tried to pull the trigger on a number of changes, and although there are injuries on this squad, it’s evident that the depth is sorrily lacking. Defensively Calgary should be better but are getting worked over. Nobody wants to hit, nobody wants to fight, nobody wants to score with any level of consistency.

The most glaring problem is down the middle. The center position is a revolving door taking applications from anyone who can win a faceoff. Blair Jones is a career minor leaguer yet somehow makes our squad as a starting PP centerman? Blake Comeau hasn’t scored in what seems like years yet runs a consistent shift. The team is a one line wonder; your top scorer is CURTIS GLENCROSS who, bless his heart, is second line at best on any real team.

This post is obviously biter. For a moment let me blog from the perspective of a homer fan. This team doesn’t show up and it’s embarrassing . This is a city for winners, and when you have one of the best fan bases who pump hundreds of millions into the team only to get s$%# in return, well you should expect a slew of disgruntled fans.

But then again, most of them have already given up and are doing more interesting things like playing in the snow…..(what? we don’t even have snow?!)