ABC

Ohhhhh, it was Western night at the Saddledome last night. Harvey was wearing his best flannel shirt, country music was blarin' off the speakers (I take a moment here to whimper, slightly), and the ice girls... probably have never looked hotter, in their mini-denim skirts and... whatever. They're not my type anyways.

Game was amazing.

What, we lost? Yes, but I was sitting in the second row behind the Flames' bench. We could have gone the way of Carolina last night, and I might not have minded. That said, I started off the game real well behaved...

The game saw Iggy do his superhero captain act again, singlehandedly jolting the team (and 20 000 bystanders) awake by scoring a goal, picking a fight, notching his 700th point and throwing the team on his back and letting us enjoy the ride.

Overall, I thought we played just as well as the Blue Jackets - the one major flaw in our game was goaltending, really. Kipper did let a couple of them go which should have stayed out. And as a result of his recent play, you can see the entire team tense up in the defensive zone. I wonder if this might be why the defense has been leses than stellar lately - the difference between confidently playing ahead of an amazing goalie, and wondering if this time, it's going to bounce off you makes a lot of difference.

In the offensive zone? Can't really blame that on Kipper. But the guys are second-guessing themselves out there too - cycling the puck way longer than they have to in order to get the perfect shot. Which means they run out of time or turn the puck over before they get any shot of any sort away.

Quick notes from the game:

We lost Moss to a leg injury of some sort, and Huselius went into the boards a bit hard, from a hit in behind, though he stayed on. Huselius, for that matter, looked a bit more engaged this game than he has for a while.

Phaneuf and Nash were a matched pair the entire game. And they're both HUGE. Jaw-droppingly so from my vantage point.

We're not the only ones frustrated by the Flames' ineffectual special teams. Rich Preston did this spastic thing where he smacked the glass behind the bench during a power play which wasn't working. Twice.

Kris Beech (of ex-Hitmen glory) had a real strong night in his old barn. Hope he gets to stick around for the Teddy Bear Toss later this afternoon.

I haven't been that wide-eyed with delight at a game since I saw the Kings in town when I turned 11 (I was sitting about 15 rows up, sigh). I should have brought a damn camera, but I'm in the habit of not doing so, since I'm usually way at the top of the upper bowl with the rest of the unwashed masses.

I still don't understand the point of banging on the glass. I really don't.