Saying 'we'll play well'
Is not the words I want to hear from you
Its not that I want you
Not to say it, but if you only knew
How easy it would be to show us how you feel
More than goals is all you have to do to make it real
Then you wouldn't have to say that you'll play well
Cos we'd already know
More than goals
What would you do if Jarome got Avian Flu?
More than goals to show you feel
That your love for wins is real
How would you play if I took those goals away?
Then you couldn't score in lieu
of playing sound defense too...
This Extreme parody would have been more appropriate when the Flames were actually scoring, but, given that getting goals is about the only thing Calgary has done with any sort of efficacy so far this year, I think it still applies.
So, 3 straight 4-1 losses, 2 against divisional opponents. Now that the big guns have cooled off, the warts are in full view. I didn't shell out the dough for last night's beating, but by all accounts it was an all around stinker. Kipper pulled after allowing 4 goals and he played well. That's the hallmark of a struggling team.
I don't think Keenan has had any measurable effect on this team yet. The October record was better than I anticipated, but that had a lot to do with a bunch of forwards getting hot all at the same time. Langkow and Juice have fallen away with a vengence and Iginla and Tanguay have to battle through the toughest assignments while carrying Conroy at ES most of the time.
The real issue, though, is the defensive game, or the lack thereof. The Flames are giving up too many quality chances against on any given night. Part of the problem to my eye is the foot-speed and transition skills on the back-end. With the exception of Dion Phaneuf, nobody on the Flames blueline could be considered fleet of foot or a capable puck mover. Sarich and Regehr are "glass and out" players, who tend to pass the puck into their forwards skates as much as they simply dump it out into random areas in the neutral zone. Then there's the 3rd pairing, that features more of the same at the best of times.
The other part seems to be, well...awareness. Experienced guys like Regehr and Aucoin are making bafflingly bad decisions on a nightly basis. watch the Statsny goal again if you get a chance. Aucoin abandons him in front of the Flames net in favor of chasing the puck carrier, who is already being capably covered by Dion Phaneuf. As a friend of mine put it, "it's almost as if Statsny can make himself invisible!" One of the theoretical benefits of having a veteran squad is they aren't supposed to make these kinds of errors. But they are, consistently, and Im not sure why.
I've already made the point in this space that the Flames are overly top heavy so I won't beat that dead horse anymore. For now.
Solutions...? Not sure. The Flames are basically stuck with a lot of the underperforming contracts they have. Nolan, Conroy, Warrener, Eriksson and Aucoin aren't going anywhere. Keenan has yet to make his mark, so there's still hope that he can mould this group into some kind of cohesive unit. A return to form by Regehr and Kipper will help salve a lot of wounds, and Iginla, Langkow etc. are bound to get hot again at some point. It's a hope for competence, but Im not sure I'd bet a day's salary on this group making it deep into the post season. Certainly not how they stand currently.
