A Rant Directed to Dan Barnes

Dan Barnes wrote a doozy of a column in the Edmonton Journal yesterday that really irked me. The column is When old-time hockey lacks old-fashioned accountability: Quinn, Iginla were both out of line on Thursday night.

While he rightfully dismisses Quinn's rant as unacceptable, he also calls for supplementary discipline and possible suspension for Iginla. His reasoning is as follows:

Because, despite their stated intentions to do no harm, the impact of Iginla's carelessness and the context in which Quinn delivered his nostalgic appreciation for vigilante justice demanded they both receive a slap. Iginla was penalized for tripping, but should have been fined or suspended because he placed his stick in a dangerous position and Souray suffered a concussion as a direct result. Quinn was fined Friday because anyone listening to his post-game remarks could easily have come away thinking he wanted one of his players to club rather than fight Iginla, though Quinn stressed Saturday that was not his intent.

It's quite clear from the footage that it was nothing but an accident. If you look at the video, Iginla was lucky he didn't get a concussion himself as he went head-first into the boards pretty hard. He also has a sterling track record and is widely known as one of the most respectful and classiest guys in the league.

So supplementary discipline? Even throwing around the word "suspension"?

Give me a break.

It's a fast-paced sport with hard-fought battles and a lot of room for a lot of things to go wrong. Sometimes they do. To call for the suspension of a player for something that was indisputably an accident is the height of stupidity that I've seen from sports journalism this year. So, congratulations Dan Barnes...

Flames off to an odd start

The opener against Vancouver was a bit of a roller-coaster.  That first period is the way a hockey club should open a season -- relentless, quick, drawing penalties, finding the back of the net...and all in those amazing retro jerseys.  But it was downhill from there -- the Flames kept the foot on the gas, but switched the gear to neutral in the second and reverse in the third.

I can't say that I'm surprised, but I'm definitely disappointed.  If there's one thing that drove me nuts last year (and the year before) it's the alarming inconsistency -- from game to game, and sometimes period to period.  It's, of course, way too early to make any substantive judgments but I'm hoping the structure and discipline that Brent Sutter brings to the team will transform it from the wildly-inconsistent team of the past to a consistent, defensively-sound team.  It's what we're all hoping for, I'd expect.

I'm still thrilled about the J-Bo acquisition.  He's such a calming presence on the ice, and the tandem with Regehr is going to be one of the best -- if not the best -- pairing in the league.  Phaneuf's new-found spot in the 2nd pairing is much more appropriate than the 1st pairing, he still has a lot to learn about defensive coverage and responsibility -- and perhaps just a little bit of humility.  I thought both Phaneuf and J-Bo acquitted themselves well in the opener and I hope it continues.  Phaneuf's thunderous check of Daniel Sedin in the closing seconds of the 1st was a fantastic reminder of the kind of play we should expect from him this year.

I don't think we could've asked for anything more from our 4th line -- they were outstanding.  Grinding it out, putting the puck in the net, doing everything that was expected of them and more.  Please, please...hopefully McGrattan stays far, far away.  I see chemistry in this line and they should not be bumped.

Speaking of chemistry, there was none to be found on the first line.  That has to change, and I suspect it will tonight.  Edmonton's first defensive pairing is a notable dropoff from Vancouver's, which will help, but I'm mostly counting on a rebound of effort from Iginla, Jokinen, and Moss (who honestly, probably shouldn't be on that top line).  The talent is there, but there's a nagging feeling I have that Jokinen and Iginla just aren't going to click.  I think the Flames would be served putting Jokinen on the second line and Langkow back on the first.  It'd spread out the (theoretical) scoring potential on the team a bit more, but I think it couldn't do anything but help the team at this point.  Iginla and Jokinen never really clicked going back to when they first were put together, and some players just won't have that spark.

As for Kiprusoff?  That was a pretty impressive game.  What else can we say?  Hope he keeps that up, we'll need him to.

I'm going to predict a (narrow) Flames win tonight, 4-3 on goals from Iginla, Glencross (x2!), and Phaneuf.

(Also: I've updated the blogroll links on the right.  Added some, removed some dead sites.  If I've omitted a great NHL site or Flames blog, please let me know)

Pre-game: Happy New Year! Edition

So after a fabulous, turkey-full Christmas replete with distractions, I think we're ready to get back to work here.

It's been an excellent Christmas for the Flames. They've had a chance to rest up, got to play the sad-sack Senators and the nosediving-in-slow-mo Wild, and now Edmonton's up.

Edmonton played a bit of a bad-luck game against Ottawa last night. Not only did they permit the Sens to end their really long losing streak, they also lost Pouliot and Hemsky to injury.

And the Flames? They haven't been playing perfect* hockey for weeks and have still managed to scrape by. I'm particularly encouraged that the scoring is coming mostly from guys not named Jarome, and not named Slopp^w Dion. That said, it would be nice if they could string together some goal-scoring, and get Dion out of his -11 hole. Our best players should be well, our players who play the best, and at the moment, I'm not convinced they are.

(*like that ever happens even in a really good year)

So I'm basically expecting a holly jolly good time at the 'Dome. Fireworks at 8.

Who will be our Mikko Freakin' Koivu? | Pre-Game: Battle of Alberta

Mikko Freakin' Koivu killed me last night in various fantasy pools.  He also killed me because in one league (where I'm behind by assists), I drafted him but dropped him before the season started to get Peter Mueller (Ben Stein's voice is running through my head with that name still...).  Gaborik sat out with a shocker of an injury, and Koivu stepped up to deliver his team a win.

Do we have a player capable of that on the Flames?  It's got to be either Lombardi or Boyd right now, they need to play possessed and start delivering on their promise -- Lombardi in particular.  The Flames need some hope from the young guys offensively, we need a kid who can provide something new and exciting to the team and start lighting the lamp.  For years we've had to trade for new scorers, but in the process trade away an existing scorer -- we're just keeping the status quo.  Time to step it up, for my sanity.  As I've said before, this year is really Lombardi's last year to prove himself as someone with 1st or 2nd line potential, otherwise he'll be a career 3rd or 4th line grinder, which is such a shame with his speed.

Tonight we face yet another divional rival.  Is it just me, or do other teams get to play more teams from outside the division to start the season?  The Flames and most of their key players always "start slow"  so it's a bit of a pain in the ass to give our rivals so many points so early, especially to Vancouver.  I'm pumped for tonight's game, regardless, as I always am for games against the Oilers.  It's time to get a nice, solid, defensively-sound victory...please.

Who will be in net tonight?  We've got a back-to-back with the Oil...my guess is Kipper gets both, he need the practice.  But there is the distinct possibility that McElhinney will get one of the starts...and what happens if he outplays Kiprusoff?  And gets more starts?  I'm getting a headache already.

No Joke

Hi boys:

Me again. Just get it over with, alrighty? Get it out of your system, or get out of the playoffs. I hear Quebec and Halifax City are scenic, this time of year...

Catch my drift? Yeah.

Don't fuck up.

Love,

Leanne

Worst March Ever

(Photo inspired by Scarlett Ice)

Yeah, that was ugly. This whole month has been weird to me.

I should hate the Oilers. I really, really should. But damnit, they have been impressive. I actually have a soft spot now for the little-team-that-could, and on another level I'm jealous of all of the young talent that is emerging on that team. Particularly when I'm comparing it to our prospect closet, which is as barren as the Queen of England.

The Oilers have come up from the depths of hell to be battling -- rather successfully -- for a playoff spot.

Simultaneously, the Flames fumble to find the suck knob and crack that sucker sky-high such that instead of pulling comfortably into a division title -- as they were headed -- they start losing games when you can't lose games, to teams you can't lose to. Flashbacks to last season

To make matters worse, Vancouver came out of nowhere to dominate tonight's game. I realize it's only two losses in a row, but these are not trivial games. The effort needs to be there. It's not. We've got 3 more games, on the road, and this isn't going so swell.

What is the problem? We don't have Playfair as a scapegoat this year (though he is still around...). My original thought was too many strong personalities in the room, too many former Captains, and basically too many people playing solo instead of playing as a team. But this isn't totally the case...Iginla put in a strong game tonight anyway. It shouldn't be overconfidence because this team, post 03-04, has underperformed.

What is the problem? Fuck if I know, but if it's not going to get fixed soon...well, nothing. I'll just be as pissed as I am these days.

It's not all doom and gloom. Still in the playoff picture. 3 more games to go. Plenty of time for this team to man up and pretend like they want a shot at the cup, though I'm starting to guess just how many people on the team actually care.

Meh.

Lights Out for Earth Hour... and for Edmonton

Really, if they want to hold an awareness-raising, life-changing event like Earth Hour? They gotta check out the hockey schedule first.

So my computer will be going and my TV will be showing those moving picture-sound thinguses tonight... there are never games on the schedule as big as the ones against Edmonton.

We shouldn't expect a cakewalk tonight, nevermind what the big Huselius drama ends up turning out. The Oilers been really, really good lately, minus a few hiccups. Mind you, they are barely clinging to the edge of playoff contention, and with a strong game tonight, we can stomp on their fingers and send them flying down the cliff (Listen for the "SPLAT" when they hit bottom, it's the best part.)

I have had several friends over the last couple of days suggest that in the mutual interest of seeing Vancouver not make it to the dance, we should throw this one for the Oil... but really, where's the fun in that?

That said, three days off doesn't necessary let the Flames rest - could very well throw them off their game. That said, I'm expecting a good team, a hungry team, a team that is hitting their stride just as they're hitting the playoffs. And they'll be the ones wearing red and black.

Go Flames.

Would the real Flames please stand up?

Oh, my.

That was quite the game the other night, wasn't it? While it wasn't quite what I had in mind, I think the best thing about the game was that it was old-school Battle of Alberta nights, re-visited. The intensity (missing for at least a year and half) and the nastiness was back, plus some.

It's so easy to be frustrated by our fickle forwards however...either Alex Tanguay is totally snakebit, or he needs to work on his timing when it comes to shooting at the net. Lots of good chances gone bad.

I want to put out some kudos especially to David Hale - he's had a strong couple of outings.

No major complaints, unlike the Chicago game (I didn't see what happened - things went south after I left the house, evidently).

I've sat on the standings for our fantasy hockey league for far too long...let me do a belated update here:

1. Woolly brained (me)
2. The Pant Weasels (Dave's brother)
3. The Hopelesses (MG)
4. Flaming C
5. Completely Hammered (ST)
6. The Pantless Pirates (Dave <------ FINALLY not dead last!)
7. Craig Conroys (Duncan. Guy, you can't let Dave get ahead!)

Overall, it's pretty tight at both the top and bottom, with lots of room in the middle. I am, however, in complete awe of MG's +/- totals, at an unbelieveable +92. Crazy stuff.

That's one to be purged from my memories

Nicely done, Leanne. Your prediction was almost spot on, but you were off-by-one^H^H^H^HSegmentation fault (core dumped).

(I make no apologies for this post, this team deserves it tonight).

Happy Belated Everything!

So this time last year (thereabouts), a bunch of blogs were born.

Happy first anniversary to all our other co-Flames bloggers out there. It's been a crazy year, and I'm (and I assume Dave is too) delighted to have met many of you on occasion.

How crazy a year has it been? Let me present to you our year in fabulous, hilarious greatest hits, Open Ice Hits style:

Dear Road Flames
Liveblog vs Dallas: the Kill me Now edition
Dave's not-quite excellent adventure in Detroit
Oh, Captain, our Captain
All hail Nilson!

(And yes, I know the end of the month has passed. I'm not kidding about the belated-everything of the post title. Fantasy standings up shortly. Really. Just let me climb on top again.)

So tonight we're playing the Oilers in what will be a momentous (I'm hoping not) first start for Curtis Joseph, the ex-Coyote, ex-Leaf, ex-Oiler, ex-ex midseason signing we made. It'll be a momentous start also for the Oilers' newly acquired Curtis Glencross, who tanned our asses last time the Jackets were in town (alas, I had front row seats to the tanning, and thus actually didn't get a good look at anything).

Should be a good game for us, not so good a game for our surly hosts. 5-1. Iggy with the half-Nilson hat trick.

Blowout!

What else would you call a 17-0 win?

Oh. That wasn't an NHL win? They were girls? Oh well. Props to the U-18 goodness that happened in Calgary this week. Never fear. I think those feisty Finns will have a more potent response come next year. (Or the year after that or at some point in the future. You know.)

Also without this tourney, I would have never learned the following:

Atlanta rookie Tobias Enstrom, besides having a sister (the youngest of them all) named Tina, also has brothers named Thomas and Tommy. They're all good hockey players, apparently, but is there a dearth of first names for boys in Sweden, beginning with 'T'?

Also, Phil Kessel's sister is our David Moss' cousin. Which, unless given some sort of sordid bizarre family connection, means that Moss and Phil Kessel are cousins. Cool, huh?

(I know...useless, but still cool)

So tonight brings us to a team I actually care about playing, unlike, oh, the last two or three teams. Edmonton. Good times, yes?

It's kind of a shame that the contests over the last couple of years (blame the schedule, like I do) have been dropping in terms of intensity. It might be due to the disparity in terms of the performance of both teams, who knows? (blame the schedule!)

We've been losing, and they've been winning, but I don't think either streak will last. Mind you, Edmonton has improved their goaltending significantly since they started using Garon regularly, but of course he's no match for the almighty shot of ummmm....y'know... Godard and Yelle and Warrener.

On our side... geez, has anyone mentioned that the defence needs to improve? No? Well...they do. No giveaways, no standing around, nobody doing their best pylon imitations. And most of all, no lazy.

And the outcome? Even though the Home Flames of 2008 are determined to scuttle our plans for sleeping well at night, we're on the road, heh. Kipper gets his first shutout of the year. Unfortunately, it's not a 17-0 outcome like the girls managed - but I think 2-0 is doable.

Some belated post-games

Not too many surprises this weekend...

The Flames played the who-are-they-now? Oilers on the weekend, generally outplaying them. It was pretty close until Kipper stole one, some guys who haven't been scoring lately managed to hit the twine, and presto! All was well with the world.

Less than 24 hours later, the Flames were in Vancouver to play the Li... sorry, the Canucks, and unsurprisingly, looked like a team playing their second game in 24 hours. Lackadaisical is probably the nicest word to describe their play. Despite coming out ahead in the shot clock, genuine scoring chances were few and far between, and that turned the game into a loss. It definitely didn't help to have Regehr and Moss gone for parts of the game (is it just me, or does Vancouver have horrible karma injury-wise?) It was a bit disappointing given that the Canucks' D is sorely lacking... well, players, at present, and a chance to capitalize on the Manitoba Moose's simplistic defensive scheme was squandered. I don't think the schedule is an adequate excuse for last night's performance - if they can't do this every so often, how legitimate a playoff team do you expect them to be?

There's just a couple of things I'd like to get out there, as well:
Rumours: Let's just get this clear, hey? If we didn't change the coaching at this point in the season last year, it's not happening this year. Take any muttering that says "Keenan," and file that next to the UFO sightings and the alien abductions. Also, I hereby pre-emptively cancel the Flames' incessant search for a #1 centreman - between Langkow, Lombardi and Conroy, we average out to a 1.352-center*, and will probably be just fine. You're jokin' if you're thinking about Jokinen. Marleau is also highly unlikely, given the Flames' cap situation.

*(Yes - I know that if you take 3 whole numbers and average them, you're going to get a x.0, x.333333, x.666666. And?)

Things I like: Oh. This is harder than I thought. Kipper had a good game Saturday? That's the goalie I remember the Flames having. Um. Lombardi's really good, as of late. He might not be ready for the toughest minutes yet, but I like his work on the PK, and well, that goal that Nolan set him up for was a beauty. Won't see a better one.

Things I would like to change: Special teams. The PK has been terrible, and that's no secret. One of the key points in yesterday's match were the powerplays (three minors which translated into two overlapping 5-on-3s, essentially) which the Flames enjoyed early in the second period. Shortly after nothing happened there, we got dinged with a penalty and Vancouver never looked back. Uh-oh.

Also, the D. They've just looked awkward this year. I'm not sure whether it's the rotating pairings, but...argh. With a D-corps so supposedly stacked, losing Regehr should not be so glaring a gap.

The big thing is the three (or has it been only two? Sadly, I'm losing count) weeks of squandering divisional games. I think I'd be ok if we lost a pile of games, as long as they were against the Eastern Conference. Remember that at the start of this stretch, the Flames were, in the eyes of many, off to a great start. Not so much anymore. And losing to divisional opponents sucks, and it just sets a bad precedent for the rest of the year.

Anyways, that's enough for now. If you want more, look to MG and Matt for much more (and much more fantastic) detailed analysis of the way things have been.

Look for another divisional tilt tomorrow... I hereby nominate Dave to do the pre-game. And it'll be amazing. Right Dave?

Pre-Game: Calgary @ Edmonton

Can Calgary build together a 2-game winning streak in the face of tremendous talent of the injury-ridden suspect-even-without-injury Edmonton Oilers? I sure as hell hope so.

I'm refraining from blasting Keenan as much as I did Playfair last year, but it's getting harder to resist. I just don't know what's wrong with this team sometimes, and it's frustrating on so many levels. They display all of the components, just individually and on different nights. Kiprusoff is clearly better than what he's shown us so far this season, and I can't really explain why he's not on top of his game.

Iginla and Phaneuf are perhaps the only two players that I see consistent efforts out of. It's time for everyone else to "step it up" or "bring their A game" or other shit. Edmonton's not a very good team, but hey, neither are we right now. And Garon is playing like he actually enjoys the game. Who knows?

I do! Prediction: 4-3 Flames win, with goals from Iginla, Phaneuf, Huselius, and Lombardi.

Hemsky and Regehr

Who else is sick of the whole Regehr / Hemsky debacle in the blogosphere? I know I am.

You've all seen the hit. The observant people among us have watched it about a dozen times or more. So let's get this out of the way.

Is it suspension-worthy? No.
Why? Because it was a battle for the puck. It looks to be an unfortunate set of circumstances that ended up in a fortunate manner, with no injuries to anyone involved. It's a scenario that happens dozens of times a day in the NHL, two players jockeying for the puck as they race down the ice. In this case, Hemsky comes up from behind, gets the position on Regehr. In most cases, Regehr would simply pin Hemsky along the boards as they jam at the puck at their feet. In this case, Hemsky's skate picks the ice, throwing him off balance as they approach the boards and Regehr's attempted pin sent Hemsky flying face-first into the boards.

Yes, it looked scary. Really scary. But is there anyone here to blame? Sure. I think the boarding call on Regehr fit just fine.

I'm bored of this story. What else can we talk about? Oh! How about the Flames are sucking? I really don't know what to comment on, though. Truth be told, last week was brutally busy for me and the only thing I saw was period 3 of the Oilers game (which didn't look too bad -- but Garon isn't that good). It's time for Keenan to return the Mr. Nice Guy costume to Walmart and whip out "Iron Mike".

Pre-Game: Edmonton

Errr... Dave did say I was allowed to be lazy.

I don't have much to add to last game's pre-game. We saw a lot more of Eriksson than I feel comfortable with, though it was easily his best game for the Flames so far. Sarich's ice time was cut significantly down which I found interesting, but inexplicable. Injury?

Anyways, we need a win. It's been like a week. Go Flames!

Post-mortem

Not bad, not bad at all.

Is it kind of funny that the kid-ridden Oilers have a Raffi and a Penner (Dustin, not Fred, sadly) on the roster?

I won't comment much on the Oilers. Sam Gagner's first NHL goal coming in an arena where he practically grew up is definitely a feel-good story. The rest of the game...not so much. The kids seemed to be doing just fine for the Oilers, but the absence of vets in general to mentor this kids has got to be hurting the team.

On our side...it was an overly expensive win, losing Primeau to a busted ankle and Moss to Raffi Torres. I may comment on that some more later. Right now I'm kind of guiltily thinking about my musings before the game that so far, Calgary's been pretty lucky injury-wise. I thought Torres' hit was questionable at best (Translation: That punkass was effin' dirty), and can only give up kudos to Nolan and Warrener who made it clear that nobody on our side liked it.

That said, I liked most of what I saw this game. Kipper made a couple of jaw-dropping saves, tough to do with as much quiet time as he had during the game. We saw Eriksson checking out the view from the press box for the first time, and Hale was definitely a marked improvement, with a strong physical presence and no glaring game-losing giveaways. With the top two pairings in particular, I love what's going on with the D this year. I like that Phaneuf is taking more chances in front of the net (and being smart enough that this isn't a defensive liability of McCabe-like proportions), and that Regehr is actually shooting at the net.

The forwards were decent too. The top two lines had another, mostly consistent game. Even Godard, who got more time thanks to the absences of Primeau and Moss, seemed to capitalize on his extra ice time (though I had to laugh as he chased down a puck to try and prevent an icing call...wouldn't that make the guy ahead of him skatefaster?)

Oh well, it's all good! Next game against San Jose.

Bring. It. On.

Er...this is a bit late, but here goes.

Basically, I'm expecting nothing but good from this game. The boys are clicking in ways we never saw in the pre-season, when they did play Edmonton, they've been winning recently, so there's no headgames the way we know they're all so prone to playing...

This isn't to belittle Edmonton, who haven't been as terrible as they could have been since the start of the season. There is light at the end of the tunnel, if all their prospects turn out to be as promising as Gagner and Cogliano have been. BUT... remember that one of those guys is also Schremp. So....not so much.

But whatever! There's a chill in the air, I've got popcorn ready to go, and I've been snickering at the Leafs' awesome ability to maintain a lead. It's Saturday night, and things are going to be just dandy.

Flames. Win. That's all I got.

Post-game: Sigh

Welllll... it was Craig Conroy Promotional night at the Saddledome, but no sign of him at all...maybe they had him locked in a room in the back signing jerseys?

Also no Huselius or Lombardi or Yelle. So faced with a team like Edmonton which is young and fast, the outcome wasn't too surprising...

Here's what I noticed:
Aucoin: Besides firing the shot that lamed Ethan Moreau, he exercised a calming influence on a Flames PP which later in the game, seemed unable to settle down
Eriksson: Of our new acquisitions, Anders is my leading candidate to become this year's Andrea. Awkward on the puck, and really shy with the hits. Oh, my.
Tanguay: Made a pre-emptive strike on the doghouse this year by making a pile of hard hits early in the game - with speedier playmakers to go to, he might have made a game of it.
Kipper: Spotted with a bowl of popcorn hal...no, not really, but he's in no rush for the season to start.
Jr. (Sutter): Needs to bulk up a bit, and then we'lll see him around on a more consistent basis. I imagine right now, his dad has got him signed up for boarding school in Quad Cities.
Boyd: Like a smaller Chuck Kobasew. Good points, and bad.
Stevenson: Turned out a solid game with a ton of minutes. I'd expect him to stick around
Nervous Jimmy: Still nervous, except when Keenan tells him to stick his hand in his pockets. Managed to find some nicer shirt and tie combos.

Pre-Game: I have tickets so make it look good Edition...

'Nuff said.

There were a pile more roster cuts since Wednesday night's um, effort in Vancouver. What we're seeing now is the final roster, pretty close to completion. Edmonton's got a lot of zippy young 'un's in camp - expect our defense get tested. Often.

I do expect a better outing tonight than we've seen from them before; for one thing, the Stampeders had a terrible night in Hamilton, resulting in Burris being injured, and swinging the Stamps/Flames mojometer back to favour the Flames.

(For those of you who care little about Canadian football, there appears to be a trend with pro sports teams in Calgary. Namely, either the Flames do well or the Stampeders do well, but never both at the same time. Such an event would likely indicate the end of the world, before lunchtime the day after. Scientific? Naw. Does it work? Just you wait...)