Some Blues -
St. Louis is in town tonight to face the Flames. I don't have to say Im worried about this game. And Im certainly not going to say Calgary should WIN this game. That never seems to happen in these circumstances. So, basically, what Im hoping for is one of three good things to happen:
- The Flames forwards score some goals (more than 2) en route to the end result (be it win or loss).
- Ference and Warrener don't screw up royally.
- Jarome Iginla plays well. Not relative to any old player well. Jarome plays well for JAROME.
I figure if any of the above happen, I'll be somewhat satisfied with the outcome tonight. Moreso if it's a "W" of course...
Some Concern -
If the blog has tended toward negativity over the last little while, there's a reason; the Flames haven't been that good for awhile. Since January, Calgary has varied between very good to downright abysmal in equal measures. Blending equitible proportions of white and black typically yields grey.
And this case is no exception.
From January 1 up until now, the Flames have been nothing more and nothing less than mediocre. In 19 games played, Calgary has posted a 10-6-3 record (10-9, technically). They managed to score all of 49 goals in those 19 games, which is an average of about 2.58 GPG. Conversely, Calgary has allowed 44 goals against in that time for an average of about 2.32 GPG. Of course, the latter figure would be more than adequate if the former was appropriately higher.
Two of the 3 OTL suffered by the Flames over that time time period came against sub (SUB) 0.500 teams in St. Louis and Columbus. In addition, the Flames have recently managed to flub three straight games against their closest rivals, the Vancouver Canucks - including the most recent set-back that featured half of the Manitoba Moose. In addition, Calgary was embarassed (7-4) by another divisional rival, the Colorado Avalanche, in Philipe Sauve's last game as a Flame early in January. Two other uninspiring defeats came at the hands of the pitiful NY Islanders (3-2) and the woeful Chicago Blackhawks (2-0).
During February, the Flames managed to win two games convincingly against the Ducks and the Sharks and pull-out an overtime-powerplay-assisted squeeker against the Blues. Unfortunately, they also managed to lose two games convincingly to the Canucks and fall in a S/O squeeker against Columbus.
And that's the way it's gone the last 6 weeks or so. The Flames have been a mere "even-keel": they play three good games and then three bad games. An average game followed by a terrible game. A great game followed by an ugly game. Defeating top teams one night (Buffalo, 4-1 win) and falling to bottom-feeders the next (Chicago, 2-0 loss). The result is an average record despite being handed a schedule littered with "should-win" games against the leagues non-play-off contenders.
This certainly seems to be a team coasting on the inertia of their incredibly strong November and December performances. Since then, I've seen only fleeting evidence of the strong forecheck and the "will to win" that characterized this team last year (and for part of this year). I can't really speak to the cause of this recent bout of "meh" play, nor can I reasonably suggest that a trade at the upcoming deadline will make a difference. I can simply hope that the Flames turn it around, one way or the other, for the majority of this last push (and for the play-offs beyond)...
