Talk about an unpleasant end to what was supposed to be a great night. Kinda felt like...getting your hot dates dress off and discovering she has a schlong.
Not a lot can be taken from a single game, especially a single game in which the wheels feel off half-way through. However, a bunch of my pet peeves showed up again last night - Kipper still doesn't look like a difference maker, Conroy on the first line (F---!!) and the powerplay (double f---!!), a slow and easily exposed third pairing worth $6.3M in cap space. Here's my own humble observations, with the noted caveat that this was only a single (terrible) game:
Im worried about:
- Kipper. If you're a Flames fan and you aren't worried about the goaltending situation by now, you're either a liar or delusional.
To be fair, last night's loss can't be laid at Kiprusoff's feet. The team in front of him lost checks and gave up odd-man rushes all night long. They also didn't score a goal. Still, Kipper didn't look like an elite goalie trying valiantly to bail out his lackluster teammates last night - he looked like a thoroughly average goalie under siege. He's looked like that for awhile now.
- Aucoin. He's just so bloody immobile. As predicted, I think his 4M contract is going to look like a boat anchor all year.
- Vandermeer. Vandy is what he is: a third pairing guy who can stick up for his teammates and rattle some cages. He looks dangerous in a bad way paired with Aucoin. I can almost guarantee we're going to be talking about his needlessly large salary down the road.
- Conroy. Keenan loves Conroy. He rates him as the Flames best "checking" option and likes to roll him against the big boys (which is the only reason I can think for starting him with Jarome last night. Keenan wanted to go power v power against the Sedins). Unfortunately, Conroy has looked like shit so far and he isn't getting any younger. He wasn't good in the preseason and he was laughably bad last night.
You know what? I love Conroy too. I think he's funny, gregarious and probably a great teammate. I earnestly hope he sticks around the organization or goes into broadcasting when his career is over. But Craig Conroy doesn't belong in the top 6 nor on the powerplay. The Flames have a glut of capable centers. Cut that stupid shit out.
- Bertuzzi. Looks like we're going to see the Iginla/Bert experiment play out here. I dont have high hopes for it. I think what we're all going to realize soon is Bertuzzi is a bigger, broodier but somehow lesser version of Kristian Huselius. Juice caught a lot of flack for being soft and streaky last year. He may yet prove me wrong, but I think Bertuzzi will be both those things, except wont end up as the 2nd leading scoring on the club.
- ES scoring. Again, one game sample size, but...Calgary looked fairly dangerous when on the PP...and almost completely toothless otherwise - especially when Jarome wasn't on the ice.
What Im not too worried about (yet?):
- Iginla. I thought Iggy was great, esecially in the first half when the outcome was still in question. Plus, you know, he's Iginla.
- Giordano. Looks to me like he's notably improved since the last time we saw him in the league. If he continues to take strides this season, we have a legit top 4 defender on our hands here. His confidence and ability in the offensive zone are striking.
- Cammalleri. Relatively quiet, but there were flashes of his ability. I think once he settles down he'll be full value.
- Bourque. Frustrated me all night with his inability to bear down on opportunities or get shots through to the net. Still, all the other tools were there. I dont think he's going to score a lot and may be ill-suited for top 6 work. Still, he looks like a capable checker/PKer to me.
- The PK. Possibly the only portion of the Flames performance that was acceptable.
That's about all I'm willing to decipher from this disasters black box. Time to erase the bad memories with some stiff booze and move on.
PS - I hate you, Vancouver.
