So Calgary won the New Years match against the Oilers for the second year in a row. The fact that the victory propelled the Flames back atop the NW division standing is less fun and interesting than the great wailing and tooth gnashing that has arisen from the Oiler faithful in it's aftermath. Ahh my foes how I love to wallow in your misery!
What's more, Jarome Iginla managed his 50th, 51st and 52nd points of the year against the Greasers. Talk about "bounce-back player of the year"; Iggy is currently 3rd in the league in terms of overall points and 1st in terms of ES scoring. The only other WC player even approaching Jarome on the list is Teemu Selanne with 50 points. And he's played 4 more games. As it stands today, Iginla has the 2nd best PPG pace in the NHL behind Sid the kid and is hovering around an incredible 3.90 ESP/60 figure. Wow.
Another Flame leading a statistical category is Kristian Huselius. In the midst of a career season himself (and on the strength of 2 recent empty-net goals) Juice is 2nd in the league in shooting percentage behind only Alexander Radulov. And given his recent play and subsequent promotion to the top line with Iginla and Langkow, don't expect this number to take a plunge any time soon.
Speaking of offense, did anyone notice that the Flames are actually averaging 3 goals per game??
So Roman Hamrlik returns and low and behold!, Dion Phaneuf is back to playing a lot on the PP and a little bit on the PK. Thank God. Not insignificantly, Hammer's return also pushed Andrew Ference back onto the 3rd pairing where he most certainly belongs. Roman's importance to this team, and Kipper's stats, can't be overstated.
Also, did anyone notice Zyuzin was scratched in favor of Mark Giordano last game? Was that an injury thing or has Playfair finally realized, like the rest of us, that Gio is the superior player?
Finally, tonight the Flames take on the Canucks for the umpteenth time in the last 2 weeks. Frankly, I thought Vancouver was extremely fortunate to come out of the last game with 2 points: they got a couple of really lucky bounces, including the OT winner, and Kipper played one of his worst games in recent memory. In addition, Jarome wasn't much of factor, which has been a rare occurance this season. Meaning one or both of the Flames superstars are bound to make some significant contributions this evening. Also, I can't see the Canucks beating the Flames at the Dome twice in a row, especially now that Hamrlik has returned. As the magic eight ball once said, "all signs point to yes" (yes being a Calgary win).
Calgary 3, Vancouver 1. Lombardi, Hamrlik and Iginla with the goals.
Go Flames!
