It's back to the real deal for the Flames tonight. I, for one, am both happy and relieved the Olympics are done with: happy because they interruped one of the most interesting NHL seasons that has ever been for a Flames fan so far (top team in division, the Dion, new NHL rules, etc. etc.) and relieved because we managed to escape relatively unscathed, injury wise, from the Olympic grind.
The same can't be said, however, for the unfortunate Canucks. Saddled with fairly average back-end talent (beyond their top 3 defensemen) and combined with bad luck and a gun-shy GM, the Nucker blueline will look something like that failed CBC project "Making the Cut" roster for the contest tonight...observe:
No Jovo (nagging injury).
No Ohlund (bruised ribs)
No Salo (seperated shoulder)
Quesitonable Baumgartner (ankle)
That leaves Allen, suddenly thrust into the #1 defensman role, and...McCarthy? Brookbank? Butchenson?...err...others-yet-to-be-named??
(I bet Hulse would have been welcomed by the Canucks with open arms today. Oh well)
Here's the potential pairings for Vancouver tonight:
Allen - Baumer (if he's healthy)
McCarthy - Brookbank
Butchenson - ?
Ouch. Sucks to be considering that line-up if you're a Vancouver fan.
Further hampering the Canucks chances of victory tonight is the "Sedin Gold Medal" factor. That's right, the Sedin sisters decided to whoop it up in Sweden before returning to North America. Which means they are arriving in Calgary from Sweden on a flight TODAY. Anyone who has flown for over 8 hours from Europe can attest to the consequences; fatigue, jet-lag and generally irritable. While the Sedins may play tonight, I doubt they will be very effective. In light of Bertuzzi's performance in the Olympics (and average season overall), that's a bad thing for Vancouver (but good thing for us though).
Is there anything in the Canucks corner tonight? Rested Naslund, maybe...
So, I'd love to say that the Flames have this one in the bag. But, everytime I even HINT at making that kind of declaration, the Flames lose. See Calgary's last roadtrip. The main things going for the Canucks tonights are:
- Calgary doesn't score a lot anyways. Therefore they are less of a threat to light-up the hobbled Vancouver defense.
- Calgary seems to play horribly against lesser and weakened foes. Just ask Chicago, NY (Islanders), St. Louis, Edmonton (Sans Pronger and an NHL calibre goalie), etc.
That said, the Flames are relatively healthy (Hammer's still hurt, but that's it) and have a rested Kiprusoff. They also lead the season series against the Canucks with a 4-1-1 record. Overall, the Flames are heavily favored in almost everyway. I just hope that translates to a WIN this time.
Gameday Threat - "WIN FLAMES. OR YOU WILL BE BLAMED FOR TEAM CANADA'S OLYMPIC FAILURE."
