Seventh Heaven

If you had told me three weeks ago that yes, we would indeed embark on a six game winning streak, I would have guessed that you were kidding. (And if you told me the Flames would be awesome the same time as the Stampeders are, I'd ask you what you were smoking)

Last night's game was particularly interesting since it marked another occasion where but for the services of the third and fourth lines, we would have been in considerably more trouble. The goals we got for the most part weren't pretty - they were garbage goals for sure. Just look at the number of players who got credit for the first one - Prust, then Primeau, then Nystrom.

And that last shift - wow. I don't think we've played a more exciting minute of hockey this year. And finally we saw some shot blocking. Yay, shot blocking.

Bertuzzi is settling down to become the player I thought we were getting. Iggy is taking a nap after his big week last week.

And a big congratulations to another member of the Flames family. I had heard about this a couple of days ago, but Jim "Bearcat" Murray is all set to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Next to Lanny and Theo, he was certainly one of the big parts of the Flames' early glory days when I was growing up, and figured prominently in one of the funniest stories of the Cup run, potentially garnering a +1 after the LA series.

I can't help but think how far the role of the trainer has advanced since his era; but that is a pile o' musings for another day. Anyways, kudos!

Today we're in Anaheim - we're hot, they're doing better, especially after Getzlaf finally got his root canal. They're rested, we just might see the McE finally start a game. Who knows?

I don't have too many thoughts on this. Check out the Battle of California for awesome intel from the other side for this weekend trip.

What else, what else! Well, October has ended! Which means it's time for a Open Ice Hits Fantasy Update! (No, it is NOT true that I wait till I get into first place before I put this up! Well, not really)

It has been a crazy month, but finally teams are sorting themselves out this year. I'm pleased to say that for once, Dave does NOT suck, and that yet again, I'm burning through games like crazy.

1. The Naughty Nilsons (me)
2. Steel Thunder(ST)
3. The Pantless Pirates (Dave!)
4. Flaming C (the mysterious Paul-Marc)
5. Wasilla Meth-Heads (Dave's brother. Hi, Adrian!)
6. Bancouber Pucks (Marcel)
7. Retired Warreners (MG Kent W)
8. FB Craig Conroys (Duncan)
9. screaming dobermans (WI)

Stay tuned next month for our next update! (Though yes, we'll blog again before then. It's not our fault life is crazy)

Amateur Night

There's several views from several angles, and I've had to perform the excruciating task of looking at several views of this on YouTube, but for your viewing pleasure this Saturday, I'm able to present the following:



Two questions:

After his Guitar Hero pwning of his Flames teammates earlier this season, and this latest performance, is there anything Nystrom can't do?

Why was I not told earlier? (I only found out from cracking open, of all things, the morning paper)

Um. So I wisely (in retrospect) opted to go out and do other things last night, thus missing the Flames going down by a goal in the first 35 seconds of the game. I don't think any of us were too surprised... the boxscore last night shows all the hallmarks of a typical Flames game this season.

Weak start, penalty parade, meh. It would be nice if we could start playing in the first period, just like the other team does.

I'm looking for them to bounce back against the Coyotes tonight. We know the Coyotes are a much better team than in prior years, so it'll be a nailbiter. Expect it to be close, maybe even go to a bonus round.

Oh, Kippy

Let's not talk about the first half of last night's game, shall we? The most entertaining part was the girl sitting behind myself and Dave. Over an hour and a half, she turned out such gems as "SLAPSHOT!" (used anytime a Flames player touched the puck), "HIT HIM, LOMBARDI!" (used anytime Matty came near any Duck... doesn't she want him to keep his pretty face?), and "AIM IT AT THE NET!" (used anytime the Flames dumped the puck in the opposing zone).

Her male companion was mystified that no icing was called when the puck was dumped down the ice during penalty kills. I'll...just leave it at that.

At least Dave and I were still laughing, rather than angrily demanding our money back or ripping our eyeballs out of their respective sockets. The Flames were, simply put, terrible through the first half of the night. Slow. Clumsy. Awkward.

The crowning moment seemed to be when Dion doffed the gloves to fight, only to step on his own stick and fall on his ass.

I have to admit, at that part, I was still laughing. Hysteria, you know.

But the game had a phenomenal finish despite all the gaffes and skating through molasses and not doing jack of the first half. Eriksson (of all players!) had a nearly decent night, with one nice play that took away a breakaway even without a stick. Aucoin played a smart game - no mad skillz here, but enough experience to know where to be. And that takeaway by Huselius was just sick.

One can expect the league's two leaders in fighting majors to be all scrappy and such, and the night didn't disappoint. Nolan got in a couple of shots against Bertuzzi which were enjoyed by all.

And the score? Damn fine. Just like the game.

Pre-Game: Anaheim @ Calgary

First off, thanks to everyone who came to the Flames blogger meetup earlier this week. Was great to put a face to the name of everyone there. I took a few pictures that I'll post if they're any good when I get home in Toronto.

Right now, I'm watching Canada collapse spectacularly against Sweden in the world juniors. I'm not especially superstitious, but by the 100th time the commentators marveled at the shutout streak and subsequently the winning streak by Canada I was thinking "you know, you're just asking for a jinx". Lo and behold...whatever.

The Flames! Back on home ice, which isn't encouraging, but against Anaheim, which is somewhat encouraging. I'm leaning towards a Flames win tonight, if only because they owe me a win for a game I actually attend. It's been brutal, especially since the last game I was at was Sunday's vs the Devils (enough said, I'd hope).

I'm going to predict a 3-2 Flames win with goals by Iginla, Lombardi, and Nilson.

Edit: At least Backlund set that play up. ;)

Iggy Iggy Iggy

804 games is a hell of a lot of games.

And one thing I've taken away from those is that there is always a way to stay upbeat and positive. It seems appropriate that on a milestone-setting night for Mr. Positive himself, I plug my fingers into my ears and sing "LaaaalalaladodododododooooICAN'THEARYOU" somewhat loudly, in response to all sorts of dark mutterings elsewhere, it's all good!

Yay optimism!

I don't know if there's anything more that can be said about Iggy. Go check out what we've had to say before, we've had some gooders.

It's the 804th game for Iggy, it's the first NHL game to one Tim Ramholt. Welcome to the circus, guy. Hell of a way to get tossed in.

I'm not expect too much that's amazing tonight. The extras are pretty injured, with a groin strain to Yelle, shoulder problems for Aucoin, and five golden... no, hip issues for Nolan. And there was something about Nilson and a concussion...

No matter what the Ducks have been up to (go check out Sleek's take at Battle of California), I expect Iggy not to be embarrassed, Ramholt to be hung out to dry once (well, they're not allowed to haze him anymore, right?), and Kipper to be better than last time.

Um. 3-2 for us, the Ducks will have to wait another game for a win, sorry.

The World's Highest-Paid Opportunistic Forward Who Doesn't Play Defense

Our friends in the frigid tundra known as Edmonton now have them selves a shiny new toy: Dustin Penner. At the cost of $4.3M a year for five years. And a first round draft pick this year. And a second round draft pick this year. And a third round draft pick this year.

There really is no point in discussing the stupidity of such a deal. Here's the Coles Notes Version:

• This guy is unproven. He played with super-talented linemates on a stacked team. He's undrafted with one decent year (what is it, about 0.5 points per game?).
  
• How the hell do you become a minus player on the Ducks last season? That takes talent. I haven't exactly studied Penner, admittedly, but I'm not convinced he's a very solid defensive player at all. And, as I've pointed out earlier, the Oilers are severely lacking on solid defensemen in general with nary a plus-rated d-man in the entire group.
  
• Edmonton is essentially in a re-building mode. I don't think there's anyone expecting Edmonton to make a run for the cup next year, yet they've given up an enormous amount of draft picks

So who will he play with? From what I've been hearing, it's Hemsky. This is starting to look a seriously defensively-deficient team, and one hell of a porous top line. I'm really giddy right now, I'm terribly excited about the prospect of playing such a top line eight times next year. In their defense, a dangler like Hemsky may just work well with a "goal scorer" like Penner (note: 29 goals isn't really that much, in terms of being a top line scoring threat). But I'm still not convinced, at all, that this will materialize into anything substantial. I think the massive defensive liabilities of that top line will certainly keep their +/- deep in the red, even if they can pot a few goals.

And really, folks, I don't care if Hemsky gets 60 assists and Penner gets 60 goals if they are responsible for 120 goals against.