Will we stay or will we go now?

Tonight, the Flames do battle with Colorado. We need to get out of #8 in the West to have a chance at surviving the first-round of the playoffs, so we need to string some wins together. My aggravation with Playfair continues to reach new heights, I'm sure Leanne will get sick of me yelling at him during tonight's game.

In my eyes, there is absolutely no reason why this team should not be in 1st in the NW, comfortably. The only thing I can possibly think of is the team is somewhat direction-less. As far as I can tell, there is no cohesive strategy or system which is in pale contrast to Darryl Sutter's approach. I think a lot of players simply get confused by the lack of rigid structure. This works to the benefit of many players, including most of our forwards, but it results in higher goals against also.

I'm thrilled our boys are scoring, but we're letting in too many. Last season I was far more confident in our team than this season, simply because the efforts are inconsistent and even our good efforts seem to result in a lot of goals against. This is not Flames hockey, and until we start playing Flames hockey with this new group of players, the Flames will not become a truly elite team.

I need the Flames to restore my confidence tonight. Tonight will be a litmus test for me: if they let in more than two goals, I'm going to be very, very upset.

I would make my token prediction at this point, but your guess is as good as mine. This team is unpredictable...

Edit: As I post this, I see the article from CBC in our "recent nhl feeds' feature, and see it touches on many of the same points I have. hockeygirl is in a similar depressive funk about the team as I'm in, but she seems to be seeing the bright light coming. Hopefully I can be in the same boat after tonight's game.