Liveblog: Audience of one

Well, that's it kids! This feels better than the last time I did this. Or the time before that. And Duncan, we missed you. You gotta watch the games, apparently.

Back to school, sigh.

9:10 PM: Oh, Dave. You're opting for Master Chief, over thissss? Lombo just gunned it and put in the net! We win! I hear "You can put it in the win column!" for the first time in a long time. Sucka!

(Yes, Dave, I'm calling you a sucker. Hasn't been the first time, has it?)

9:08 PM: Good shift for us... but it's back in our end now. Then they took it back...good chance for Aucoin and Langkow there. Sounds like, as usual, a run and gun kind of OT...

9:05 PM: We got a point! We got a point! Wait, why am I cheering? I don't know why the guys on the radio are talking shootout stats. Don't we have to survive OT first?

9:03 PM: A minute left... let's keep it clean...20s...a whistle with 2.4s left in regulation, but the faceoff will be in our zone. No pulling Kipper this time! 2.7s left, actually. And another hard shot at Kipper just as the buzzer goes. Whew.

8:59 PM: No goal there. We continue to keep the puck out of the net...

8:56 PM: I wince as they scramble for the puck in Kipper's crease. While we're on the PK. It stays out. How about getting the lead for once? Geez. They're reviewing the scramble now. Boo. Urns.

8:49 PM: Tanguay with a good chance. I was just woolgathering over the last little bit, and it feels to me at least that overall, this is a mostly consistent game. They've been almost-good all game, as oppposed to goodbadgood or some combination thereof.

8:43 PM: I am home alone, and I just yelled out loud. That's right, kids! Lombo. Short handed! Woohooo! Actually, it's even strength, just barely. I love it when Lombo remember to bring his jet pack.

8:38 PM: I am envious that kids nowdays get to be the Flames Jr. Reporter(TM). Discipline, discipline, discipline. Sarich is off again.

That almost rhymes.

8:34 PM: Great shift by the first line just now. But like I yelled at them repeatedly at points last month, just SHOOT! Dammit... muttering to myself that the period is young yet. Yet.

8:29 PM: Ummm...third period is underway? Nothing too interesting? I'm going over the stats page nhl.com has put up for this game. It's interesting. You can see quite clearly Phaneuf is having a monster night, as is Iggy. This is as it should be.

8:17 PM: Curtis McElhinney on the interview for the intermission. He talks like a robot, but mentioned he'll be back soon from his injury, and discussed his note-taking skills. This is almost school-related! (Er. Almost.)

8:07 PM: It didn't work, but I like this. With 1.2s left in the second, Keenan pulls Kipper. Awesome.

8:05 PM: Speaking of powerplays, Modano's in the box right now. It happened while I was musing about the labour market here. And speaking of squandered PPs... though the period is nearly done now.

8:01 PM: Another great Iggy chance. This was after a squandered PP... I love Calgary, where every radio commercial is a help-wanted ad. Anybody know how to work with steel?

7:57 PM: No goal. And three minutes.

7:54 PM: Oh, the plot thickens. Langkow has a fantastic chance, dings the post, and the light goes off. Incidentally, seems like some Dallas player has landed in the box. I wonder how long it'll take Peter Maher to mention Game 6...

7:47 PM: Hagman. On the PP. Fifth goal of the year. Sigh. The good news? We're about halfway through the game. As a side note, Zyuzin just notched an assist for Chicago. Oh, happy days...

7:43 PM: Warrener goes off. Or doesn't. That's Phaneuf in the box (the radio guys are convinced it should have been Warrener. I'd rather have him sitting than Phaneuf). I think I've mentioned my misgivings about discipline before, can I repeat myself? Curled up in a corner and twitching now... (Not really. But I can pretend.)

7:40 PM: I can't believe we killed all those penalties off. Especially given MG's recent misgivings. Can I curl up in a corner and sob for a bit?

7:37 PM: Sarich goes off. Gawd.

7:34 PM: Oh. Karma, huh. Or something. Dallas sends another player to the box. I wince as Lundqvist gets out of the box...and gets a breakaway. Happy thoughts, kids, happy thoughts!

7:33 PM: Bah! Iggy gets a double minor for interference...and unsportsmanlike. This takes away our PP. Yeah we were on the PP. Why didn't I tell you earlier? Dishes. So looking forward to living in a house with a dishwasher that doesn't have two legs again...

7:11 PM: I can't believe I just delivered snaps for that. But. Iggy. Oi! Oi! Oi! 1-1. With about 21 seconds left in the 1st.

7:05 PM: In other news, Andrei Zyuzin has collected a holding and a hooking minor for Chicago. We hardly missed ye. Oh, the game? Iggy had a breakaway. Couldn't convert. This Ctrl-S thing is driving me nuts. Good pressure this shift though.

6:59 PM: Jere Lehtinen gets hit. Hard. How come damn Ctrl-S doesn't work to save a post the way it used to? I sigh and resort to the mouse.

6:57 PM: Peter Maher points out how Atlanta is the only other team in the league who hasn't won a game yet either. How...appropriate (given where we moved the Flames from). A good attempt by Stu Barnes gets steered away.

6:51 PM: Peter Maher decides now is a good time to point out just how long it's been since Calgary's won a game in Dallas. What were you doing six years ago? The colour guy blames the defence. He might have a point, at that.

6:47 PM: Damn Stastny. He's killing me in various fantasy leagues.

6:44 PM: Modano. Sigh. We're down 1-0 already.

6:43 PM: I finish labouriously jotting the reference for the paper in my notebook. Having to stick to American spellings is going to kill me one day. Yes, I know we can do this electronically these days. And oh, we had some decent pressure in the Dallas zone.

6:38 PM: Puck drops. Interesting note - Phaneuf is paired again with Aucoin. Huh.

6:32 PM: The broadcast crew is re-iterating the obvious. I am looking at upside-down A's and backwards Es and a bunch of other symbols, and bitterly remember that once upon a time, this was supposed to be gibberish.

Well... here we are. I'm going to be reading some papers for school the same time as the game goes and during the liveblog...if you're here, welcome, but understand that you need a life about as badly as I do. Maybe more.