Did you see it? Approximately sixty minute's worth. What was once as elusive as the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, or a fiscally conservative Republican was out there for all to see against Washington the other day. It was awesome. Kiprusoff played well (still not quite there yet, but was it ever nice to see some of those big saves again), the defense played well, and the forwards played responsibly, for the most part. It was a thing of beauty!
The real challenge for this team is now that they've actually won a game, they need to remember what they did right and keep doing that. And what better team to start stringing the wins together than against Nashville? (Rhetorical answer: Toronto would be even better) A good hockey team plays with confidence and conviction, from the highest levels (buying into a "system", if one exists) to the lowest (not gripping the stick too hard). Watershed moments like killing a nine minute powerplay does wonders for this team, and I genuinely believe that PK is what won the game for the Flames. Now that they've won the game, it's time to carry that confidence (while avoiding any possible over-confidence) by stringing some wins together.
I happen to have Danny-boy Ellis in one of my hockey pools, so I'm not going to hope for a high-scoring game. I'm going to predict a 3-2 Flames win, with goals by Lombardi (hot hand!), Iginla, and Boyd.
So apparently after the game in Vancouver last night, Nashville is all worked up about being worked over...
...hope they're ready for a repeat.
So, I have to admit we probably didn't deserve that win Tuesday night, apologies to Bethany and Stephen (we missed the rest of this week, come again!). But I'll take it... at least we got it. It did rather confirm a couple of things I saw:
1) Kipper is back. And in good time.
2) The team as a whole is getting run-down and tattered. It's starting to be obvious they're not as young as they were, say, four years ago, let's pick a random number!
So tonight we're up against Nashville, and ST is in town! If you've been reading other Flames blogs, you'll know the crowd is going to start off at the fabled Flames Central tonight, there potentially to depart for other (cheaper) environs.
No prediction. All bets are off when we hang out. We seem to sap out the good-Flames karma, or maybe they know we love to sit around and bitch.
Sorry about that. My bad.
Sooooo...who wants in on some lottery ticket action? :)
I'm going to just go over a few positives I saw in the game. I'm sure the negatives will be more than adequately covered later on.
David Moss! My, how I missed him. I thought he put a bit of extra jump into the Boyd/Lombardi combo which Keenan seems dead set on. Not that they were flawless tonight by any stretch... but nobody was, really, tonight.
Aucoin This means no Rhett Warrener for now. Do I need to explain this? No? Didn't think so. Moving right along...
McElhinney This is one of the few times this year I've been able to watch McElhinney objectively (the Columbus game where he sat two rows ahead of me doesn't count - he could have brought his PSP and a six of beer for all it mattered to the game), and I have to say I'm encouraged. He's really damn fast, and also kind of catlike, which is strongly reminiscent of Kipper's first days in Calgary. That said, he's a bit too eager to play the puck, has occasionally awkward positioning and is really small for a goalie at this level. Like, Theo Fleury small. But he's young and will fill out... if he can improve his puck handling and positioning, maybe this time next year we won't have to dial-a-Turek.
Tomorrow's another game day...Minnesota this time. Good god, the thought of Gaborik and Demitra unleashed on our ever-potent D does not a comfortable night's sleep make.
Answer: Nashville*
(*This is an actual attempt I made at getting people to guess Nashville while playing Cranium Hoopla. You know, I named two Central Div teams, one of which doesn't have a franchise in any other majors leagues, and put them in the standings. I should have been playing with hockey fans...or even people who know Columbus and Nashville have NHL franchises. Alas.)
So...
Everybody take their flying leap off the bandwagon? Obviously the Flames still have some issues. Namely, with momentum. They will take any kind they can get, and magnify it a gazillion-fold. When we're winning, we're unstoppable. When we're losing, FORTHELOVEOFGOD JUSTFOLDTHEFRANCHISENOW!
And these same issues with momentum seem to play headgames with us especially when we're losing. The Phoenix and Edmonton games were so similar in terms of the guys not having the confidence to score (much less potting a goal anytime before the third period).
So... that means... we gotta... come out strong. Play a full 60 mins. Make sure our defence made it off the bus. Y'know, all that stuff.
Nashville has been doing pretty good even with some obvious injury issues. Radulov has been an emerging star, and the goaltending has stabilized to a large degree. Their weak point might be on defence, where Weber and Ryan Suter (I think) are still injured, but they're hardly the cornerstones of the Preds' d-corps anyways.
Oh. It was 7-4 last time we were in Nashville... let's say it's 3-0 this time.
By the way, I was looking over the YoungStars roster, and besides not containing any goalies, I have a random question: Who the HELL is Tyler Kennedy? And is he older than Sidney Crosby?
Yup, I'm sure most people barely noticed we have a game tonight. For some reason or another... Yes, it's good news. I'll breathe easier (or start hyperventilating, whichever comes more naturally) once I have a better idea what's in store for the rest of the team. The newly reno'd version of nhlnumbers.com (great job, guys), shows pretty clearly that we aren't over the tough spot yet...
Given I spent the last one mewling in pain (I had a flu-induced headache, had nothing to do with the blown lead, really...), I've been looking forward to this tilt for a bit.
The Preds have been easy prey lately. Mason hasn't looked like the starter material he did last year - in fact, Dan Ellis has started the last couple of games for them. They've got some key injuries in Steve Sullivan and Shea Weber (believe me, we're in much better shape with only Primeau in sick bay). It's definitely interesting times for the team though - it's got to be tough to be put in the spot where everybody is interested in the team, but certainly not for its performance...
Chalk up another win for us...I'm hoping now that those so-distracting contract talks are over, we'll be treated to a preview of in-the-zone-Kipper. Even if it isn't quite November yet.
An accurate description of how I feel right now.
Coach Dave has some tips for the Flames:
Tonight is the acid test, the make-it-or-break-it, the game that sees whether the Evil Twins are still lingering in hotels across the continent, or whether they've gone back to their cave somewhere in the luggage handlers' lunch room at Calgary International.
We are riding an unprecedented TWO game winning streak on the road (I believe we had one other, but this was bracketed by multiple games back in the confines of the 'Dome). Unprecedented! There's some good things that are happening on the team. I like that they have the confidence to battle back after things haven't been going well. I like that our top line looks like, well, our top line. I like guy like Primeau and Moss and Conroy coming in and lookin' damn good.
There's still some minuses. More than a week after we got him, we have yet to see David Hale in action, and we won't get that chance tonight, as apparently he's flown back to Calgary already. There's Lombardi and his magic stick-to-the-bench act. Our reacquisition of Conroy was more or less a direct challenge to him, and the role he wants to have on this team. Dude's gotta step up. And finally, there's Kipper. He cannot let in softies like the two the other night if we want to have a chance tonight.
And Nashville? I have been saying for well over a year that they are the team that scares me sleepless in the league. They're the top team in the league at present. They're a team which has had a history of frustrating the Flames to no end. They seem to have it made this year, especially with the addition of Forsberg. To be honest, despite injuries to guys like Scott Hartnell and Steve Sullivan, it still doesn't look very good.
Against their speedy forwards, we have to go back to that gritty game which used to be the hallmark of Flames hockey. And with guys on the defense like Shea Weber, our guys will just have to outlast their guys. And goaltending...we'd better remember to put as many on the net as we can. We'll need them. I think we'll be lucky if we take this to extra time. But we shall see, won't we?
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