Atlanta Pre-game

Well. It has been just a bit over three years since we played Atlanta. February 10, 2004 was the day.

Back then, it was a battle of two teams which were honestly, barely marginal. Calgary had yet to squeak into the playoffs and then take off to the finals, and gain credibility as a contender from that point onwards. Atlanta's stars had yet to mature and turn the team into an offensive threat. Hell. They still had Dany Heatley.

We've heard lots of complaints about scheduling. And this should be a prime example. Shouldn't we be able to see teams like these more often? The two teams playing tonight are absolutely nothing like the teams they were three years ago. And fans from both sides should have been able to enjoy the evolution of both teams, every step of the way.

Well. Not much else to say. Let's just hope the Calgary team we get tonight are nothing like the ones who didn't exactly show up to play on Sunday. That was clearly their worst showing for quite sometime, and judging from the reports in the Sun and Herald, the boys knew it too. I'm kind of glad I had to leave for volleyball in the middle of it.

Playing Atlanta wouldn't be my top preference for a game like this, where we do need to come back strong after back-to-back losses against teams like Buffalo and Detroit.

But we're back at home, the guys are just a bit angry now, and we need to come into that three game series vs Colorado which will be the rest of the week (another rant about scheduling may yet follow) with a bit of momentum, and better yet, a bit of swagger.

My prediction: Phaneuf runs into Kovalchuk and Hossa with a luggage cart (who else has seen that commericial?) on the same shift; Stuart has a grand ol'time playing back in the Dome for the home team.

5-2 for the good guys, just like it was three years ago.