On October 27th of the 05/06 season, the Flames met up with the arguably inferior Phoenix Coyotes in desperate need of a win. Instead, the club turned in a pitiful 11 penalty, 15 shot performance and lost the game 3-2. It was the 12th game of the season and Calgary was languishing near the bottom of the league in most statistical categories. Going into the contest most people thought a big win over the struggling Desert Dogs was both needed and assured at the time.
Fast forward a year later. The Flames are once again floundering in the league's basement thanks to a few weeks of thorough bed-shitting. And owing to their Franchise being a total farce, the Coyotes are once again the de facto "cure-what-ails-ya" opposition. Course, my overwhelming desire is that the Flames do not repeat last season's luckluster performance this evening.
Not that they will have to play particularly well to win tonight. One of the few minor differences about this season's contest is that the Coyotes are probably even worse than they were previously (somehow). Gretzky's band of Misfits have averaged only 2 goals per game over their first 9 games, while allowing a league worst 4.22 goals against. Leading into tonight, Phoenix has lost 3 straight games, two of which were shut-outs. And their special teams have been just as bad as Calgary's...which is saying something.
As if that wasn't enough, The Coyotes are playing the second game of a back-to-back couplet tonight and are starting their back-up goaltender, Mike Morrison (3 GP, 6.00 GAA, .811 SP). They have guys named "Lisin" and "Yandle" playing more than 17 minutes a night. And Derek Morris is a chump.
So, like last year, Im looking at all this and expecting a nice, fat, juicy blow-out win. Course, like last year, the Flames could end up being fed to the bottom-feeders thanks to their penchant for being a back-up goalie's best friend. So, while the Coyotes should technically be a guaranteed win and the first, faltering step towards redemption, they may well end up pushing the Flames to rock bottom...
Mostly it will depend on which Kipper we see tonight: the Vezina winner or the preseason flopper. It also wouldn't hurt to, say, win some face-offs, block some shots, or actually score on the PP either. The latter task will be left up to the new (old) #1 trio of Jarome Iginla, Damond Langkow and Alex Tanguay. Jeff Friesen has been moved up to the 2nd line with Kobasew and Lombardi while Juice has been dropped to the 3rd unit with Lundmark and Amonte. The fourth line will consist of Nilson, Ritchie and McCarty.
Honestly, Im not thrilled with the new arrangements: Huselius may prove useless on a third line and the Kobasew/Lombardi/Tanguay was just starting to mesh nicely. I suppose the potential benefits include a very swift 2nd unit with the inclusion of Friesen as well as a (potentially) potent first line...not that that proved true earlier in the season though...
Anyhoo, grave predicitions based on past behavior aside, I think the Flames will pull out a victory. Whether it'll be thanks to Calgary playing well or Phoenix playing badly is another matter. The margin of victory will reveal which was the case tomorrow.
GO FLAMES GO!
