Hold me, I'm scared! (Nashville Pre-game)

Tonight is the acid test, the make-it-or-break-it, the game that sees whether the Evil Twins are still lingering in hotels across the continent, or whether they've gone back to their cave somewhere in the luggage handlers' lunch room at Calgary International.

We are riding an unprecedented TWO game winning streak on the road (I believe we had one other, but this was bracketed by multiple games back in the confines of the 'Dome). Unprecedented! There's some good things that are happening on the team. I like that they have the confidence to battle back after things haven't been going well. I like that our top line looks like, well, our top line. I like guy like Primeau and Moss and Conroy coming in and lookin' damn good.

There's still some minuses. More than a week after we got him, we have yet to see David Hale in action, and we won't get that chance tonight, as apparently he's flown back to Calgary already. There's Lombardi and his magic stick-to-the-bench act. Our reacquisition of Conroy was more or less a direct challenge to him, and the role he wants to have on this team. Dude's gotta step up. And finally, there's Kipper. He cannot let in softies like the two the other night if we want to have a chance tonight.

And Nashville? I have been saying for well over a year that they are the team that scares me sleepless in the league. They're the top team in the league at present. They're a team which has had a history of frustrating the Flames to no end. They seem to have it made this year, especially with the addition of Forsberg. To be honest, despite injuries to guys like Scott Hartnell and Steve Sullivan, it still doesn't look very good.

Against their speedy forwards, we have to go back to that gritty game which used to be the hallmark of Flames hockey. And with guys on the defense like Shea Weber, our guys will just have to outlast their guys. And goaltending...we'd better remember to put as many on the net as we can. We'll need them. I think we'll be lucky if we take this to extra time. But we shall see, won't we?