Hell on Wheels

Exacerbating the team's recent problems, the Flames suffered a 10-9 loss yesterday to the kids at the Alberta Children's Hospital. How bad is it? The Flames haven't won a single one of these in my lifetime. That's a lot of sick kids. Evidence from the scene of the crime is here.

Man, when your star d-man bags a hat-trick, and you still can't win...

Fine, back to the kids we actually should be worrying about.

Chicago is the new Nashville. Like Nashville in years past, they're going to be a fast, physical team that just leaves you gasping for breath. There are some weak spots - young players can be exploited for their mistakes after all. And Khabibulin is no Vokoun. Not these days, anyways, we'll forget about the spring of 2004...

That said, there's some good things happening on the Flames. I don't pretend that the win the other day solved all our problems. However, it's nice to see Nolan developing chemistry with at least a couple of other players: Lombardi, over the weekend, and now Conroy and Nystrom. Speaking of Lombardi, the guy is playing some of the hottest hockey of his career, and that's not just due to the dimples. His play has matured tremendously over the last year or so, and he has earned that spot on the first line - provided, of course, we see him playing on it tonight.

It'll be interesting to contrast Lombardi against Chicago's kids. While they won't be conducting footraces all night long, the crazy bursts of speed coming from both ends will be a treat to watch. So hang on tight tonight. There's been some amazing changes in Chicago since the last time we played them, and if both these teams bring their A game, it'll be a gooder.

I don't think the rollercoaster is over quite yet, though I won't be complaining that we're not playing a divisional rival. There's going to be quite a few things we're going to have to see before I'm convinced we've totally turned the corner. Special teams will have to be solid, with sustained pressure whenever anybody's kicking around in the box. I'm going to have to see that third line be plausibly dangerous again. And our d-men will have to look like, well, they left the wheelchairs at the hospital. Stuff like that...

Calgary's still going to win, course. 4-3 for the good guys.