This just in: Bigfoot spotted

Flames got a SHOOTOUT WIN

...

against MINNESOTA.

This is MOMENTOUS!

Glory be to Kipper and Iggy.

I am overjoyed. Too overjoyed to type coherently.

Back to our regular schedule (Minnestota pre-game)

So, the trade deadline circus was even more entertaining than usual, thanks to the melodrama going on up north. I'm not a nice person. I enjoyed it very much.

It's a bit of a shame that the Oilers have decided to rollover and die for the season already - it takes a lot of the punch out of the game Saturday night. Love the guy or hate the guy though - I'm sure Kipper will not mind not having to get up close and personal with Smyth's backside for yet another night.

My take on the trade is that it was clearly rushed. I'm not really talking about whether each side got fair value from the other. Yet, with everybody and their pet dog knowing that Edmonton has to find a strong, offensive-minded d-man, they went and got forwards. Are they planning on trading their burgeoning froshie class for help in the back? They'll have to. After all, it's not like they have their own farm team where they can stash these kids and develop them.

And a key reason we haven't noticeably stumbled due to injuries this season is the farm. The kids play together, they learn the system, they develop Pavlovian responses to red-and-black-and-yellow. A guy goes down here, no problems. We can plug a kid in, pronto. And from the one Knights game I saw this year, the kids are definitely all right.

Can the Oilers do that with their prospects, present and future? Not so sure.

I've also wondered a lot over the last day or two about would we do the same thing to our guys? Certainly the way Ference left Calgary gives you pause. But at the end of next year, or even trade deadline time next season, are we going to see some of our pending free agents leave for places barely known?

Anyways. It's game night! Unlike us, our boys are pros - I'm sure that while they were even more edgy than we were yesterday, they've got their focus back. We get Minnesota again, who seem to also have a set of Evil Twins this year as well. Like us, they boast a strong home record and a wimpy road record.

Hopefully that'll be enough to push us all the way to a 3-2 win. And then we can get ready for Saturdaaaaaay!

Karma

I urge you all to read this blog post from an Oilers fan back when Vernon's jersey was retired.

It's about the Calgary Flames and their ill-advised decision to include the Stanley Cup in the ceremony. It wasn't for decoration. That would have made the act only mildly and predictably unacceptable. But unacceptable nonetheless. No, the Flames went the country mile on this one, handing the Cup to Mike's old 1989 teammate Joe Nieuwendyk who emerged from the tunnel for the on-ice festivities with the Cup hoisted high over his head.

...

So if you're wondering how the lowly Chicago Blackhawks managed to erase a two-goal third period deficit to defeat the Flames - one of the stingiest defensive teams in the NHL later that very same night? Karma, dude. Karma.

Lord Stanley's got your back, Stanley Cup.

In light of recent events today, I think no further explanation is required. I await his latest post.

Sunny side up!

I know....I know...

The proof won't be in the pudding until we actually win on the road. It would have been easy after the last week, for the Flames to have let an easy one get past them, with Phoenix visiting.

While they didn't exactly stomp on the jugular vein of the visiting club, they seemed to have a better time of staying disciplined, and staying focused on the win. I know we're all obsessed with their road record, but lately, I've been worried that they do look shaky at home. That was better, though admittedly, Phoenix isn't the same kind of team as the other teams we'll see this homestand. I don't know how Noodles stays so sharp between starts, but he looked pretty good out there.

The more I think about it, the more I like the changes we've made to the roster. Primeau looks awesome out there, and Stuart fits in better than other additions we've made to the roster. With the addition of these two, and Conroy, some of the guys we already had on the roster (I'm thinking of Lombardi and Zyuzin specifically) have had to work a lot harder to justify the kinds of minutes they're playing.

And as Duncan noted, the price has definitely been right. I don't think Sutter will make a move today - I think the market has become overvalued, and he's too smart for that.

Some of the moves have been interesting... with Vancouver getting Sopel and Smolinski, they're starting to resemble the 2004 Flames more and more. Not sure what Atlanta was thinking giving up Coburn for a rental, but they're clearly another team going all-in to make it to the post-season.

Anyways...hang onto your pants for the rest of today - we got a big game going tomorrow.

I'm not sure I like these trade dealies anymore

I just found out via TSN that Vancouver got Brent Sopel for a couple measly draft picks (via tsn):

The Vancouver Canucks jumped the deadline in acquiring former Canuck Brent Sopel from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a 2nd and 4th round draft pick. In addition Vancouver added veteran centre Bryan Smolinski from the Chicago blackhawks for a conditional 2nd round pick.

That's peanuts for a guy like Sopel. Amazingly, he's a plus player on frickin' Los Angeles. He's got a lot of points for a d-man. He's only 30. I think with additions like this, an already solid team like Vancouver is that more dangerous.

It's amazing how much Luongo has improved that team. Now that they're starting to build up a competent defense, it's starting to worry me -- especially against Calgary. I've always been a big defensive hockey fan, so I'm naturally a bit apprehensive about the Flames' defensive play this year, or lack thereof. Playfair has almost turned the Flames into a run n' gun team, and I'm certain that's not what Sutter had in mind when he built this team. While some people blame Kiprusoff not being unreal for the reason we're letting in more goals, I think that's a small part of it. Sure, there have been an unusual amount of softies he's let in, but he's also still making unreal saves.

The problem is he's seeing too much rubber. Calgary is #19 league-wide in shots against per game (30.4) this season, while last season Calgary was #6 with 27.6 and in 03-04 we were #5 with 25.5. That is not a positive trend.

So I am definitely more worried about Vancouver now than I have been before. Their glaring weakspot is their offense -- namely, if you shut down the Sedin Sisters you win the game, but Calgary historically has had some problems with that.

Buck up, it's going to be a wild ride...

Killing Me Softly (Phoenix Pre-game)

Is there anything more boring than writing a pre-game entry for Phoenix? Yes -- reading one.

As such, this is the extent of the pre-game entry. Go Flames!

But what's really exciting are the trade deadline shenanigans. Atlanta way overpaid for Keith Tkachuk, and it's going to set a ridiculous benchmark for all forthcoming trades. Good thing Sutter made his moves in advance of the deadline.

I'm pretty sure Sutter is done, player-wise. I simply don't forsee him giving up anything else for a short-term upgrade. I'm still of the opinion that Playfair may not be coaching this team for much longer. He's had all season to turn the road record around, and it's worse now than any other time. Something's gotta change, and a little Sutter would work some magic on reducing our shots against and sloppy defensive play.

Leanne also tells me that she is incredibly excited Mark Messier will be bawling like a two year old getting weaned tomorrow night. Because he's a big baby.

The HNIC Mystery

So neither of us did a pre-game post yesterday... rather that pretending it was sheer laziness on my part, let's pretend that I was super-confident about the boys now that they're back at home. And there's this other weird effect that happens Saturday night, which I have absolute faith in.

Has anybody noticed their record on Hockey Night In Canada so far in 2007?

To date, they have been on the CBC seven times in 2007. Once and only once did they lose, in a shootout. in Buffalo. And even then, they still picked up a pity point. Admittedly, only two of those games were road games (one in Edmonton, and one in Buffalo). Though given that, and another win against Vancouver in GM Place, earlier in the season, that means 2/7 of our wins on the road take place during CBC broadcasts! Now, I know the games are not exactly distributed evenly such that 1/7 of the games in the regular season take place on each day of the week...

Weirder yet! If you look only at road games on Saturday, you'll see that we have won four times this season playing on the road Saturday nights. We're not playing half our games on the road Saturday nights, I know that much. So what gives? Why are Saturday nights so much better than any day of the week?

(Actually, I suspect it's the opposition. I neglected to mention the wins come against the Blues, Coyotes, Oilers, and Canucks, with the win vs. the Canucks taking place at an admittedly low point of their season. Oh well. Work with me here, and pretend there's some sort of meaningful trend.)

Makes you think...

So my impression of last night's game? I'm still not that impressed. I guess I've been too much of a Sutter convert to not cringe at all these 7-something scores we've been racking up lately. What's wrong with a boring, 1-0 shutdown result? I'd prefer a bit more emphasis on the defensive end, personally, since it looks like the offence packs up and goes home early on the road.

On the upside, we didn't get Drew, and I'm really happy we beat the Sharks. They've been a team that's had our number since pre-season really, and it's about damn time we showed them we can beat them, even if it is an ass-ugly win...

Agggggghhh!!

The hatchet needs to fall

It is utterly infuriating how the Flames find ways to lose road games. I've thought about this so much this season -- why can't we play on the road? The simple answer is, it's the coach. Jim Playfair isn't a coach that has any Stanley Cups or even deep playoff runs in his future.

We've got an awful overtime record and -- seemingly impossibly -- an even worse shootout record. It's a tie game with a minute left, offensive zone face-off...who does Jimmy put out on the ice? Why, of course, it's Friesen, Yelle, and Nilson. Atta boy Jimmy.

It's gotten to the point that our road games suck so bad, and Playfair is so stupid, he's willing to put 6 year old children in Halloween costumes on our blue line to "shake things up". I'm just waiting for him to get frustrated without a goal in the 1st period and start putting Hamrlik up as a centre and Huselius as a d-man. Instead of focusing on what wins us games at home, he's more concerned about changing what we do on the road. Which is certainly not the same thing, because one leads to winning ways and the other leads to unpredictable stupidity.

I'm going to say this now, with grim confidence: if Playfair is not fired, it's going to be a first round exit. And then Playfair will be fired.

Here's hoping Sutter knows what needs to be done to fix our team's road game.

Don't get mad...get even (Phoenix Pre-Game)

Aren't we all glad it's not the Avs tonight?

Not much to say. I think the suddenly burgeoning Flames blogosphere has dissected our shortcomings (especially on the road) quite adequately.

I have every reason to be completely negative. Hell, I found out yesterday that my birthday's the same day as Ryan Smyth's. But instead, I'm going to dwell on the positives. I can find some, I think. Somewhere...

We've come a long way, baby: Anyone remember what they were doing, February 2004? Weren't we anxiously waiting to see if we were getting a playoff spot? Now we're just bitching 'cause we're not in first.

Going off the deep end: Remember our team last year? Yeah, them? The guys who didn't score? The guys who, if you shut down Iggy, were going to play a 1-0 game? Remember those guys? Don't they have like, two or three lines now who can be legitimate offensive threats? (Not talking about the defensive game. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not...)

Offensive enough? Despite the so-so play of the last month, we're still fifth in the league for goals for. Teams that are ahead of us have guys named Briere, Crosby, and Heatley. Um, and David Legwand. But anyways. (Not talking about goals-against. Not talking about goals-scored at home. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not...)

Anyways, I think that missing gear, that killer instinct, that intense, mean-and-ugly play will be back. 5-1 for the good guys.

Cheer up, y'all!