Both Calgary and Edmonton are struggling to keep pucks out of their respective nets currently. Neither Kiprusoff nor Roloson have fared well over the past couple of weeks - not that they've had much assistance from either team's d-corps.
Calgary's injury woes can at least shoulder some of the blame, however. Warrener, Zyuzin, Hamrlik and Richie Regehr have all missed time thanks to various ailments, meaning the Flames have had to dig deep into their organizational depth on a number of occassions. In addition, guys like Phaneuf and Ference have been asked to play more minutes in tougher situations, resulting in a higher number of quality chances against. Mixed with Kipper's sudden struggles, the result has been none-too-pleasant. The good news is one can reasonably assume a return to form once everyone gets healthy and Kiprusoff emerges from this "off-phase".
The situation may be a little more dire in Oiler country, however. The lack of defensive depth is definately starting to take it's toll on Alberta's blueshirts. All you need to do is watch another MA Bergeron give-away result in a goal against to realize Edmonton desperately needs at least one more competant puck mover on their back-end. At the start of the season, Roloson's heroics were masking some of these issues I think, but the grind of games and quality opposition has started to erode his stamina.
Tough to pick a winner tonight. Calgary is good at home and the Oilers are crap on the road, so that's something. Not to mention the Greasers got pummeled by Vancouver last night, hopefully leaving them weary for the impending match. Overall, then, I think the Oilers will have trouble containing Iginla, like most of the Flames opposition this season, resulting in a Happy New Year(!) for me.
Calgary 4, Edmonton 3. Iginla (2), Lombardi and Huselius with the goals.
Go Flames!
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Friday, December 29, 2006
Time To Bust Out
The Flames have only won 2 games out of their last 7. They have a bunch of injuries, Iginla and Tanguay are suddenly ice cold and Miikka Kiprusoff has been no better than mediocre.
Contributing factors to the slide? With all the injuries on the back end, Dion Phaneuf has been called upon to play nearly 30 minutes per night, often with 5th and 6th type d-men as partners. And he has struggled mightily. I would wager Phaneuf is tired and his confidence is ebbing. Further, Robyn Regehr has continued to be just good but not great. In the absense of Hamrlik, I was expecting Regehr to step up and be the stalwart I know he can be. Hasn't happened.
In addition, after ripping the competition asunder for the last 6 weeks or so, Iginla and Tanguay are bafflingly out of sync once more. Tanguay has reverted to his earlier season form - the one that features tentitive board play and forced plays everywhere. Tanguay's been so underwhelming recently he was dropped to the 2nd line with Lombardi and Kobasew.
Speaking of Kobasew, is this guy ever going to step up and actually start scoring some goals?
A few brights spots appeared to illumine the darness, however. David Moss seemed like an unlikely call-up at the time, but has managed to score 3 goals in his first 3 NHL games. That's more than Friesen, McCarty and Lundmark combined. Further, Mark Giordano continues to make a name for himself on the back-end. It's going to be tough to sit him when and if Zyuzin makes it back from injury.
Tonight Calgary have an ideal opportunity to turn their misfortunes around. The LA Kings come to town after beating up on Rolli and the Oilers 7-4 last night. In addition to being road-weary, the Kings will be playing their 4th string goaltender Berry Brust. If Kipper can't outduel Brust, something is VERY wrong. A final bit of good news for the Flames is Roman Hamrlik will be returning to the ice. Hammer was probably Calgary's best d-man before he was injured, not to mention he tends to settle Phaneuf's game down significantly. His 20+ quality minutes will be a welcome addition tonight.
So hopefully the Flames can recapture their 5on5 dominance and come out with a much needed victory tonight. Keep in mind, a win=1st place in the NW division. For now anyways.
Let's say 4-2 Flames. Huselius, Amonte, Phaneuf and Iginla.
Go Flames!
Contributing factors to the slide? With all the injuries on the back end, Dion Phaneuf has been called upon to play nearly 30 minutes per night, often with 5th and 6th type d-men as partners. And he has struggled mightily. I would wager Phaneuf is tired and his confidence is ebbing. Further, Robyn Regehr has continued to be just good but not great. In the absense of Hamrlik, I was expecting Regehr to step up and be the stalwart I know he can be. Hasn't happened.
In addition, after ripping the competition asunder for the last 6 weeks or so, Iginla and Tanguay are bafflingly out of sync once more. Tanguay has reverted to his earlier season form - the one that features tentitive board play and forced plays everywhere. Tanguay's been so underwhelming recently he was dropped to the 2nd line with Lombardi and Kobasew.
Speaking of Kobasew, is this guy ever going to step up and actually start scoring some goals?
A few brights spots appeared to illumine the darness, however. David Moss seemed like an unlikely call-up at the time, but has managed to score 3 goals in his first 3 NHL games. That's more than Friesen, McCarty and Lundmark combined. Further, Mark Giordano continues to make a name for himself on the back-end. It's going to be tough to sit him when and if Zyuzin makes it back from injury.
Tonight Calgary have an ideal opportunity to turn their misfortunes around. The LA Kings come to town after beating up on Rolli and the Oilers 7-4 last night. In addition to being road-weary, the Kings will be playing their 4th string goaltender Berry Brust. If Kipper can't outduel Brust, something is VERY wrong. A final bit of good news for the Flames is Roman Hamrlik will be returning to the ice. Hammer was probably Calgary's best d-man before he was injured, not to mention he tends to settle Phaneuf's game down significantly. His 20+ quality minutes will be a welcome addition tonight.
So hopefully the Flames can recapture their 5on5 dominance and come out with a much needed victory tonight. Keep in mind, a win=1st place in the NW division. For now anyways.
Let's say 4-2 Flames. Huselius, Amonte, Phaneuf and Iginla.
Go Flames!
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Onward
Thankfully the holidays and the Flames roadtrip are over. For me, neither were rather particularly enjoyable experiences (yeah...Im a humbugger).
Anyways, Calgary's back in the welcoming bosom of the Saddledome on the heels of their most recent road loss against the Sharks. The defeat was marked by rather average goaltending from Miikka Kiprusoff, who continues to play at a less than Godly level when out of town, and some odd officiating (The Flames were granted 0 powerplays. Zero.). I personally thought the team played a pretty decent road game up until the 3rd San Jose goal. With some better goaltending and a different referee, Calgary may have pulled out the victory. Which is something, at least.
Tonight, the Canucks roll into town. Which is good news for the Flames, because, like them, Vancouver tends to struggle away from home. In their last meeting in the Dome, Calgary scored 5 goals and chased Bingo Bango from the net.
Further, for the first time in awhile, the Flames will be skating with nearly a full compliment of NHL regulars tonight, with the sole exception being Mark Giordano who will be taking the place of the injured Andrei Zyuzin. Not that that upsets me in the least - Giordano's been the superior player from day one. Jeff Friesen is also rumored to be drawing back into the line-up, which is a shame: Calgary has a perfect record when he's sitting in the press-box. Hmm...
Let's go with a Flames 4-1 win. Iginla, Huselius, Kobasew and Hamrlik get the goals. As an added bonus, Friesen breaks his leg in the 2nd and is out for the remainder of the season...
Go Flames!
Anyways, Calgary's back in the welcoming bosom of the Saddledome on the heels of their most recent road loss against the Sharks. The defeat was marked by rather average goaltending from Miikka Kiprusoff, who continues to play at a less than Godly level when out of town, and some odd officiating (The Flames were granted 0 powerplays. Zero.). I personally thought the team played a pretty decent road game up until the 3rd San Jose goal. With some better goaltending and a different referee, Calgary may have pulled out the victory. Which is something, at least.
Tonight, the Canucks roll into town. Which is good news for the Flames, because, like them, Vancouver tends to struggle away from home. In their last meeting in the Dome, Calgary scored 5 goals and chased Bingo Bango from the net.
Further, for the first time in awhile, the Flames will be skating with nearly a full compliment of NHL regulars tonight, with the sole exception being Mark Giordano who will be taking the place of the injured Andrei Zyuzin. Not that that upsets me in the least - Giordano's been the superior player from day one. Jeff Friesen is also rumored to be drawing back into the line-up, which is a shame: Calgary has a perfect record when he's sitting in the press-box. Hmm...
Let's go with a Flames 4-1 win. Iginla, Huselius, Kobasew and Hamrlik get the goals. As an added bonus, Friesen breaks his leg in the 2nd and is out for the remainder of the season...
Go Flames!
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
It's Raining...it's pouring...
The 4th game of a 6 game roadtrip is trouble enough for a team that struggles away from the confines of home like the Flames do. But that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg as far their problems go...
Tonight Calgary rolls into LA to play their 2nd game in 2 nights after having their asses handed to them by the Ducks. They desperately need 2 points thanks to the tight NW division and already having lost 2 of the last 3 games. Problem is, they may have up to 6 regular skaters out due to injury as reports on the local radio suggest all of Kristian Huselius, Jeff Friesen and Alex Tanguay were hobbled in the aftermath of yesterday's beating. Did I mention they are playing Jamie McLennan in place of the exhausted Miikka Kiprusoff? The same McLennan who hasn't played in weeks and hasn't won a game all year?
What a friggen nightmare. Add all that to the fact the Flames road PP STILL resembles a confused pack of monkeys on vallium and one can already see the writing on the wall for this evenings contest. As far as the Kings go, they'll be getting a boost tonight with the return of blueline sniper Lubomir Visnovsky. And while LA's record doesn't frighten anyone, the fact that they are the 3rd best team in the league at generating shots should certainly give the Flames pause - mainly because they're both tired and playing their below 900 SV% goaltender.
The clouds wouldn't be so dark if Calgary weren't totally hopeless at the PP on the road. To further compound the suck-fest, the Flames primary stength - 5on5 play - has also abandonded them on this ill-fated trip (they've given up 3 ES goals against in the last 3 games). Which is, of course, not a total shock considering all the wounded personnel. But it certainly doesn't paint a rosey picture for the impending match.
I hate to be pessimistic, but I wouldn't bet the farm on Calgary tonight. Way, way too many obstacles to overcome in this one. To any Flames fan reading this, avoid the PPV this evening and start praying for a couple of Calgary wins in Colorado and San Jose. And maybe an Edmonton loss or two as well.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Jarmoe is Dead. Long Live Jarome.
Since the start of the season, I've gushed about guys like Huselius and Lombardi, Giordano and Ference (well...maybe not Ference). But, on the heels on his 2nd four point night in the last 4 games, it's about time Jarome Iginla got some press around here.
First, it's important to establish that I was one of his most outspoken critics last season. After the lock-out, the NHL saw an unprecepented explosion of offense, a renaissance evoked by more powerplays and less goaltender equipment. And Iginla was seemingly left in the dust. While players like Thornton and Jagr broke the 120 point plateau, there was Jarome, floundering behind the likes of Bryan McCabe and Jarrett Stoll. He scored less goals than Henrik Zetterberg and Marian Gaborik, even though they both played significantly fewer games than him. His ESP/60 figure was an abysmal 1.80 - smaller than many team's 3rd line wingers. Iginla's struggles resulted in the creation of the "Jarmoe" epithet, often employed by Oiler fans who delighted in his hardship(s). Even most Flames fans had to grudgingly admit that, in the face of his salary, expectations and past accomplishments, the 05/06 version of Iginla did indeed seem like a pale facsimile of the Jarome they knew before the lock-out.
Well, the 05/06 season is dead and with it, the Jarmoe doppleganger. Iginla showed up leaner and meaner in training camp and he's currently enjoying a career best start to a season. In his last 13 games, Iginla has 25 points. Only 7 players have more than Jarome's current point total, six of whom play in the much higher scoring Eastern Conference (Crosby, Jagr, St. Louis, Spezza, Hossa). The lone Western Conference player ahead of him, Teemu Selanne, has 2 more points but has played 5 more games. Further, Iginla is one of only 5 twenty-goal scorers in the league right now and the first of the 3 WC players in the top 15 in terms of goal scoring. His 29 even-strength points put him 2nd to only Sid the Kid, and his efficiency at ES is currently a staggering 3.98/60 minutes of ice. Better than double his number from last season. Only 3 players enjoy higher PPG numbers than Iginla in the league at this time, one of whom is Martin Havlat - he of the 13 game season. The other 2 are Jaromir Jagr and the phenom Sidney Crosby. Should Jarome continue to score at a rate of 1.37 points per contest, he'll end the year with 112 points. All while laboring in the offensively oppressed Western Conference, with the "offensively challenged" Calgary Flames. Wow.
The accolades don't end with his offensive stat line, however. Iginla does things most of his scoring contempories find aversive. When's the last time you saw Jagr fight anyone or grind for the puck in the corner? How often does Crosby kill penalties? (answer - almost never. The kid is sitting at just over 13 minutes of SH ice-time this season. Jarome's up around 64). Iginla's also looked upon to take important offensive and defensive zone face-offs, despite the fact that he's a winger. On the Flames, only Jamie Lundmark is better than Jarome in the dot. This is Selke nominee type stuff. Hell, all told, this is Selke, Richard, Ross, Pearson and Hart type stuff. For the first time since he signed the contract, Jarome's $7 million is actually starting to look appropriate...
Vive La Jarome!
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I probably should have shelved the Iggy fellation until after the game tonight. No doubt all this positive regard will somehow ensure a lacklustre performance from the Captain: more to make me look foolish than anything else. However, even if Iginla is again a force to be reckoned with, the cards are stacked in the Ducks favor. The Flames are lacking 3 of their top 6 blueliners, and Carlyle just LOVES to get the likes of Selanne and Kunitz out against weak-links such as Brad Ference. Not to mention the fact that the Ducks are the best team in the league and the Flames suck on the road. It'll take 2 rookies and a journeyman playing well above their heads, as well as probably the Flame's best road effort to have any hope whatsoever this evening. In fact, garnering even a single point from this match would be an admirable feat.
For a not-so-humble view from the other side, visit Sleek at the Battle of Caliornia.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Fooey and Poppycock
"I missed the game last night. How'd the Flames do?"
"Well, they got eight powerplays..."
"Awwwww crap."
If you're talking about Calgary on the road, that's about all you need to know about any given game. Lots of special teams time=loss.
Not that the Flames were any good at ES last night either. The Canucks, 2nd last in the league at scoring goals, actually outscored Calgary 5on5 3-0. Course, even a 15% success rate on the PP would have changed the game completely for the Flames. Instead, the man advantage was invariably 2 minutes of wasted time last night. Calgary should literally start purposely taking penalties as soon as they get on the PP on the road (while they're losing). They'd have a much greater chance of scoring 4on4.
There were precious few bright spots, save Lombo's great SH marker and the play of Mark Giordano. I thought he was better by half than Zyuzin (who looked like he'd never before defended a 2on1 on Sedin's goal last night). And Giordano's pass to Langkow from the corner was one of the few genuinely nice plays on the PP.
As for the rest, it's all been said before. Calgary is simply not the same team on the road as they are at home. 5 straight losses away from the Dome, 10 straight wins while at it. If the Flames don't get this monkey off their back soon - like, now - they will be hard-pressed to challenge for a play-off spot, let alone the division.
"Well, they got eight powerplays..."
"Awwwww crap."
If you're talking about Calgary on the road, that's about all you need to know about any given game. Lots of special teams time=loss.
Not that the Flames were any good at ES last night either. The Canucks, 2nd last in the league at scoring goals, actually outscored Calgary 5on5 3-0. Course, even a 15% success rate on the PP would have changed the game completely for the Flames. Instead, the man advantage was invariably 2 minutes of wasted time last night. Calgary should literally start purposely taking penalties as soon as they get on the PP on the road (while they're losing). They'd have a much greater chance of scoring 4on4.
There were precious few bright spots, save Lombo's great SH marker and the play of Mark Giordano. I thought he was better by half than Zyuzin (who looked like he'd never before defended a 2on1 on Sedin's goal last night). And Giordano's pass to Langkow from the corner was one of the few genuinely nice plays on the PP.
As for the rest, it's all been said before. Calgary is simply not the same team on the road as they are at home. 5 straight losses away from the Dome, 10 straight wins while at it. If the Flames don't get this monkey off their back soon - like, now - they will be hard-pressed to challenge for a play-off spot, let alone the division.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
SportsNet West, oh how I miss thee...
Good day all,
I am out here in TO right now, and will be for some time. So far, TO has been quite good, with one notable exception; Flames highlights.
In Ontario, the Leafs are king, the Raptors are in the upper crust, and all others are merely peasants in comparison. Last night, I attempted to find a sports bar where I could watch my hometown boys beat up on the Wild, and it didn’t go well. This however, was due more to logistics than any establishment unwillingness to show the game.
This wasn't the most disappointing part of the night however, (although there were some rather interesting curse words used by yours truly), rather it was when I returned to my hotel and attempted to catch highlights of the game I was unable to see.
SportsNet East was 97% focused on the Maple Leafs snapping their winless streak against Tampa, 2% interested in the latest Raptor News and 1% focused on other sports such as golf and baseball. BASEBALL?!? It's December! Eric Gagne, formerly of the LA Dodgers is now going to be an Astro.
Whoopee friggin do.
I had to tune in to TSN as SportsNet didn't show any highlights at all. Not one.
Why all the complaining you might ask? Why does the fact that SportsNet is catering to an obvious audience instead of out of town travelers matter? Well, in my humble opinion (and my opinion is nothing if not humble*), this is yet another example of the NHL's poor marketing.
As everyone knows, the NHL board of governors recently decided that the schedule is fine the way it is. Actually, a better way of putting that would be that they couldn't decide on a better way of doing things. To me, this is unacceptable, and I would hope that every Canadian hockey fan would agree with me. Calgary doesn't play Ottawa, Montreal or Toronto again for the next two years (if I am not mistaken). Although Canada is a huge country, we have a relatively small number of big cities, and only 6 with NHL franchises. With the number of Canadians that are moving around the country, you have built in rivalries. Case in point, when I attended the Ottawa game, there was at least 2000 fans wearing Flames gear, and those were the folks that were WEARING Flames apparel.
Now, I don't want to treat my audience like idiots, but a rivalry must consist of TWO teams that have a genuine interest in playing one another. When your local sports network covers only one team, it is a symptom of two things;
1. Toronto is the center of the universe
2. The network is catering to the needs of its audience, and since the only thing Ontario cares about is the Leaf's, (sorry Ottawa) there is no need to cover any other games.
In Alberta, depending on where you live, your two favorite teams are;
1. Calgary or Edmonton respectively.
2. Who ever are playing Calgary or Edmonton respectively.
In Calgary, we don't dislike the Oilers, we HATE them. While most Canadian hockey fans were cheering for the Oil in the Stanley Cup finals last year, we giggled and laughed when they failed to bring the cup home. As fans of the NHL, not only do we watch our home town boys, but we also watch the mullets from North Alberta in hopes that we can see them get hammered by opposing teams. Our interest, and therefore our attention are focused on two different teams.
Hopefully the NHL will change its collective minds and allow Canadian teams more of a chance to build a rivalry by playing each other more often.
How long would it take for Calgary Flames fans to rekindle the hatred of les Canadians and vice versa, when prior to a game the NHL floods the screen with Images from 1986 and 1989? Not to mention the obvious marketing that can be found when you have players from Canadian Junior teams going back to their former homes. It may be cheesy, but watch an NFL game and you cannot make it through 3 quarters without seeing one player’s family in the crowd, or hearing about how he played his college ball just down the road. The NFL wouldn't consistently waste time with these if they didn't work, they are that good.
Now I know that I'm bitter ‘cause I had to watch the end of the Leaf’s game instead of all of the Calgary Game, and that I couldn’t see any highlights of Calgary’s massive win on SportsNet East. But…how much better might the NHL be if I was bitter because my hated Canadian rival finally broke their losing streak?
I cannot believe how much I rule.
*Quote graciously lent to me by J.G.
I am out here in TO right now, and will be for some time. So far, TO has been quite good, with one notable exception; Flames highlights.
In Ontario, the Leafs are king, the Raptors are in the upper crust, and all others are merely peasants in comparison. Last night, I attempted to find a sports bar where I could watch my hometown boys beat up on the Wild, and it didn’t go well. This however, was due more to logistics than any establishment unwillingness to show the game.
This wasn't the most disappointing part of the night however, (although there were some rather interesting curse words used by yours truly), rather it was when I returned to my hotel and attempted to catch highlights of the game I was unable to see.
SportsNet East was 97% focused on the Maple Leafs snapping their winless streak against Tampa, 2% interested in the latest Raptor News and 1% focused on other sports such as golf and baseball. BASEBALL?!? It's December! Eric Gagne, formerly of the LA Dodgers is now going to be an Astro.
Whoopee friggin do.
I had to tune in to TSN as SportsNet didn't show any highlights at all. Not one.
Why all the complaining you might ask? Why does the fact that SportsNet is catering to an obvious audience instead of out of town travelers matter? Well, in my humble opinion (and my opinion is nothing if not humble*), this is yet another example of the NHL's poor marketing.
As everyone knows, the NHL board of governors recently decided that the schedule is fine the way it is. Actually, a better way of putting that would be that they couldn't decide on a better way of doing things. To me, this is unacceptable, and I would hope that every Canadian hockey fan would agree with me. Calgary doesn't play Ottawa, Montreal or Toronto again for the next two years (if I am not mistaken). Although Canada is a huge country, we have a relatively small number of big cities, and only 6 with NHL franchises. With the number of Canadians that are moving around the country, you have built in rivalries. Case in point, when I attended the Ottawa game, there was at least 2000 fans wearing Flames gear, and those were the folks that were WEARING Flames apparel.
Now, I don't want to treat my audience like idiots, but a rivalry must consist of TWO teams that have a genuine interest in playing one another. When your local sports network covers only one team, it is a symptom of two things;
1. Toronto is the center of the universe
2. The network is catering to the needs of its audience, and since the only thing Ontario cares about is the Leaf's, (sorry Ottawa) there is no need to cover any other games.
In Alberta, depending on where you live, your two favorite teams are;
1. Calgary or Edmonton respectively.
2. Who ever are playing Calgary or Edmonton respectively.
In Calgary, we don't dislike the Oilers, we HATE them. While most Canadian hockey fans were cheering for the Oil in the Stanley Cup finals last year, we giggled and laughed when they failed to bring the cup home. As fans of the NHL, not only do we watch our home town boys, but we also watch the mullets from North Alberta in hopes that we can see them get hammered by opposing teams. Our interest, and therefore our attention are focused on two different teams.
Hopefully the NHL will change its collective minds and allow Canadian teams more of a chance to build a rivalry by playing each other more often.
How long would it take for Calgary Flames fans to rekindle the hatred of les Canadians and vice versa, when prior to a game the NHL floods the screen with Images from 1986 and 1989? Not to mention the obvious marketing that can be found when you have players from Canadian Junior teams going back to their former homes. It may be cheesy, but watch an NFL game and you cannot make it through 3 quarters without seeing one player’s family in the crowd, or hearing about how he played his college ball just down the road. The NFL wouldn't consistently waste time with these if they didn't work, they are that good.
Now I know that I'm bitter ‘cause I had to watch the end of the Leaf’s game instead of all of the Calgary Game, and that I couldn’t see any highlights of Calgary’s massive win on SportsNet East. But…how much better might the NHL be if I was bitter because my hated Canadian rival finally broke their losing streak?
I cannot believe how much I rule.
*Quote graciously lent to me by J.G.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Flames/Wild Preview
Not only do the Flames have a chance to exact revenge for last week's 3-2 S/O loss, they can set a franchise record with their 10th consecutive home victory tonight.
Reasons to be optimistic:
- As Matt mentions, Minnesota's success is somewhat illusory. They have managed only 6 regulation wins en route to their NW division leading 34 points. At some point, one has to think the coin will stop landing on heads for the Wild.
- Calgary is an excellent team at home. The Flames haven't lost in the 'Dome since October. And since Calgary out-shot and out-chanced Minnesota in Minnesota last week, the Flame's probablity of victory is substantially increased this evening (assuming semi-competent officiating of course).
- Kipper has never lost to the Wild on home ice. According to the Flames website, his GAA in 6 Dome games against them is a miniscule 1.37.
- Jarome Iginla. Just Jarome Iginla.
Reasons to be Pessimistic:
- The record setting stuff. Records like this stick around for a reason. Calgary had an opportunity to set a high water mark last year (9 straight wins) but instead shit the bed against a terrible Chicago team at home and lost 5-2.
- More Matt wisdom: the Flames have an impending brutal 6 game road trip. The team may be more worried about that than tonight's contest.
- The injury bug has struck again. Nilson is still sidelined by his tweaked knee, Yelle isn't ready to return and now Warrener and Zyuzin are hurt. In response, Calgary has called up Richie Regehr, Mark Giordano and (surprisingly) Tomi Maki from Omaha. That's a pretty solid chunk of ice-time that will have to be filled by rookies and/or absorbed by vets.
- Pavol Demitra is back from IR and is a Flame killer. In 28 games versus Calgary over his career, Demitra has accumulated 15 goals and 28 points. Ouch.
- Matt is predicting a 2-0 loss. And his ability to accurately divine Flame's outcomes at home is scary good.
- And finally, I will be in attendance. The chances of Calgary winning two in a row with me there are very poor indeed.
Despite the greater number of pessimistic points, I think I'll take a 2-1 Calgary victory tonight. Iginla and Kobasew for the Flames, Demitra for the Wild.
Go Flames!
update - Matt has altered his predcition to a 3-1 Flames win. Add that to the "reasons to me optimistic" list. Thanks for the heads up HG.
Reasons to be optimistic:
- As Matt mentions, Minnesota's success is somewhat illusory. They have managed only 6 regulation wins en route to their NW division leading 34 points. At some point, one has to think the coin will stop landing on heads for the Wild.
- Calgary is an excellent team at home. The Flames haven't lost in the 'Dome since October. And since Calgary out-shot and out-chanced Minnesota in Minnesota last week, the Flame's probablity of victory is substantially increased this evening (assuming semi-competent officiating of course).
- Kipper has never lost to the Wild on home ice. According to the Flames website, his GAA in 6 Dome games against them is a miniscule 1.37.
- Jarome Iginla. Just Jarome Iginla.
Reasons to be Pessimistic:
- The record setting stuff. Records like this stick around for a reason. Calgary had an opportunity to set a high water mark last year (9 straight wins) but instead shit the bed against a terrible Chicago team at home and lost 5-2.
- More Matt wisdom: the Flames have an impending brutal 6 game road trip. The team may be more worried about that than tonight's contest.
- The injury bug has struck again. Nilson is still sidelined by his tweaked knee, Yelle isn't ready to return and now Warrener and Zyuzin are hurt. In response, Calgary has called up Richie Regehr, Mark Giordano and (surprisingly) Tomi Maki from Omaha. That's a pretty solid chunk of ice-time that will have to be filled by rookies and/or absorbed by vets.
- Pavol Demitra is back from IR and is a Flame killer. In 28 games versus Calgary over his career, Demitra has accumulated 15 goals and 28 points. Ouch.
- Matt is predicting a 2-0 loss. And his ability to accurately divine Flame's outcomes at home is scary good.
- And finally, I will be in attendance. The chances of Calgary winning two in a row with me there are very poor indeed.
Despite the greater number of pessimistic points, I think I'll take a 2-1 Calgary victory tonight. Iginla and Kobasew for the Flames, Demitra for the Wild.
Go Flames!
update - Matt has altered his predcition to a 3-1 Flames win. Add that to the "reasons to me optimistic" list. Thanks for the heads up HG.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Random Thoughts
While I wanted to make some sort of post today, I was unable to think of an overarching theme that would tie my musings together. Therefore you will be treated to me mental flotsam. Enjoy!
And now some Schadenfreude:
- The Flames were pretty much jobbed by the refs in the first period against Minnesota, but were the beneficiaries of 6 PP's of their own before the first intermission versus the Canucks two nights later. Spin world spin.
- Speaking of Saturday's game, Calgary played what was probably their best tilt of the season. Or at least it would have been had they not collapsed into complacency mid-way through the third. Speaking from a purely "entertainment" perspective, however, it made for an interesting finish.
- Matthew Lombardi was an absolute demon against the Canucks. Something has possessed Lombo this season and I hope it's never, ever excorsized.
- Coming on the heels of my own comments regarding Playfair's unfair criticism of the the Juice-Lombo-Kobasew unit, the Calgary Herald ran a story today celebrating the 2nd line's success. Of particular interest is this comment:
It's not one of those irresponsible tandems that's dangerous at both ends of the ice, either. Since their union a month ago, the line has been on the ice for just one opposition goal.
This speaks to the effort of the players as well as the success of the coaching staff. I don't have the shift-chart perusal will or abilities of Mudcrutch, but the above stat intimates that Playfair is getting the Juice troika out against relatively soft opposition - 3rd/4th lines, and 2nd/3rd pairing d-men. Keep it up Jim! - Huselius and co. have been so good recently they're starting to catch the attention of some of punditry's heavy hitters. Eric Duhatschek had a story today in the Globe and Mail talking about their contributions. In it, Hat recalls that Huselius was acquired by the Flames from the waiver-wire at about this time last year. Passed over by 29 other teams just 12 months ago, Juice is suddenly a solid and consistent offensive contributor on pace for a 30 goal/55 point season. Wicked.
- The Flames are currently 22nd in the league in terms of GF, with an average of 2.82 GPG. However, over the past 17 contests, Calgary has scored 51 goals - good for a 3.00 GPG figure. That despite the struggling PP (15.1%, 23rd). If only they could get their special teams (and by that, I mean special teams on the road) up to par!
- Dion Phaneuf has quietly crept into the top 5 in the +/- ranking (in terms of d-men) in the league with his +16 number. Granted, he doesn't yet take on the opposition's best players consistently like say, Pronger or Lidstrom...but he's on his way.
- Jarome Iginla has finally cracked the league's top 20 point-getters. However, what's more impressive is Iggy sits currently 2nd to only Vanek and St. Louis with 24 ES points.
And now some Schadenfreude:
- The Edmonton Oilers vaunted offense has thus far managed 2.76 GPG, good for 20th in the league. Course, they have some excuses (Hemsky, Smyth injuries). Nevertheless...HAHA!
- Looks like Andrew Raycroft and the Toronto Maple Leafs are as bad as I'd thought they'd be. After a decent start, Raycroft has fallen to 29th in terms of GAA (3.02) and 33rd in SV% (0.897). The team as a whole has lost 7 straight and is suddenly below the post-season cut-off in the East. And with apologies to the Toronto bloggers that I like, I fully expect them to stay there for the majority of the season.
- Thanks to the Blue Jackets recent 6-2 drubbing of the Senators, Vancouver is now the worst team in the league at scoring goals. Further, their $6 million goaltender is sporting some rather mediocre stats.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Minny Game Day Preview
The title is a not-so-clever play on words meaning this preview will be brief. Busy day today, so I couldn't put my usual half-assed effort in ('bout 1/5th assed effort today I'd say).
Stuff to know going into the game:
- The Wild have been very injured and very bad recently. However, they still have excellent special teams.
- The Flames have won a lot recently, but still need to prove they can get it done away from home. If the road PK and PP continue to falter tonight, they will most certainly lose.
- Iginla is looking for his 300th career goal and 600th career point tonight.
- A Calgary win will tie the Flames with the Wild in the NW Division standings and put them 2 back of the Oilers.
- Derek Boogaard is returning to the line-up for Minny tonight. Brandon Prust is rumored to be suiting up for an injured Marcus Nilson. There may be a David vs. Goliath rumble in the works...
For a much better, much more interesting preview, read Matt's take over at BoA. Notice, also, my Regehr post gets a mention. Im hittin' the big time baby!
Prediction:
3-2 Flames in OT. Iginla, Huselius and Amonte in the extra frame. Go Flames!
Stuff to know going into the game:
- The Wild have been very injured and very bad recently. However, they still have excellent special teams.
- The Flames have won a lot recently, but still need to prove they can get it done away from home. If the road PK and PP continue to falter tonight, they will most certainly lose.
- Iginla is looking for his 300th career goal and 600th career point tonight.
- A Calgary win will tie the Flames with the Wild in the NW Division standings and put them 2 back of the Oilers.
- Derek Boogaard is returning to the line-up for Minny tonight. Brandon Prust is rumored to be suiting up for an injured Marcus Nilson. There may be a David vs. Goliath rumble in the works...
For a much better, much more interesting preview, read Matt's take over at BoA. Notice, also, my Regehr post gets a mention. Im hittin' the big time baby!
Prediction:
3-2 Flames in OT. Iginla, Huselius and Amonte in the extra frame. Go Flames!
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Victory Over the Previous Victorious
Ho Hum another Flames home win. What's that, 26 in a row now? I guess it's more like 8, but you get the idea. Calgary is dynamite at the Dome. Now if they could only figure out how to be at least half as good on the road...
What truly made last night notable was the fact that the Flames won with me in attendance. My previous 2 December visits from last season featured come-from-behind victories for Phoenix and LA (it was during that regrettabe period of time where the a 2 goal lead for the Flames pretty much guaranteed they'd lose the game). I also happened to attend probably Calgary's worst home performance this year, the 4-1 San Jose loss. As you can no doubt tell, my expectations were appropriately repressed going into last night's contest.
The boys came through though. To an extent, at least. Neither club played with much fire for the majority of the contest. After the opening goal (scored on the opening shift), Calgary pretty much shut down the Carolina's attack. Which wasn't overly difficult since it looked like the visitors were skating in Oatmeal half the time. Perhaps they were saving their energy for the finals rematch tonight against Edmonton? I certainly hope so at least.
Anyways, as far as Im concerned, the Flames stars of the game were Lombardi, Iginla, Hamrlik and Huselius. Lombardi didn't appear on the scoresheet, but it wasn't from lack of trying. He made Commodore look foolish in the first period by blowing past him in the neutral zone; it's a pity Grahame managed to stop his patented "backhand through the five-hole" move on the ensuing break-away. Lombo also created a dangerous 2on1 later in the game with Kobasew that was broken up by a sly stick from Williams.
As for Iginla, he dominated in the offensive zone corners. There was a particular shift that drew an ovation from the crowd because the 'Cane's defenders were quite simply helpless agianst him. Had Tanguay buried a couple more of his chances, Iggy would have had 4 or 5 point night.
Juice looked like the most dangerous Flame forward for the first half of the game. His stickhandling lead to two glorious opportunities that were diverted through equal parts chance and decent goaltending. And his feed to Hamrlik on the 2nd Flames goal was picture perfect. Speaking of Hammer, not only did he score but he lead all skaters with about 25 minutes of ice. Suddenly Sutter's abandoning Lydman in favor of Hamrlik last year is starting to taste less bitter.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
With the shut-out win, the Flames remain the stingiest team around at 5on5. Thanks to their defensive prowess they now own an impressive +20 ES goal differential . Consider that Anaheim, currently the top team in the league, boasts a +14 (58 GF, 44 GA) at ES while the scoringest group of players in the NHL (Buffalo) are at +21 (74GF, 53GA). Truly elite company.
The special teams still reek and the road play has yet to impress, but one has to think that stuff like that will eventually fall in line. With the emergence of Lombardi and Huselius on the 2nd scoring unit, a resurging Jarome Iginla, a faultless Miikka Kiprusoff and the cohesive team defence, Calgary has all the tools to start climbing the NW division ladder. Especially sinced the Oilers and the Wild are decimated by injury, The Avs are just plain mediocre and the Canucks couldn't score on Philadelphia with Alan Bester in net. The key remains, however, a complete and consistent road effort. The upcoming 6 game roadtrip will determine whether Calgary will take their place among the league's best or remain firmly entrenched among the mediocre.
Next up - the wilting Wild
What truly made last night notable was the fact that the Flames won with me in attendance. My previous 2 December visits from last season featured come-from-behind victories for Phoenix and LA (it was during that regrettabe period of time where the a 2 goal lead for the Flames pretty much guaranteed they'd lose the game). I also happened to attend probably Calgary's worst home performance this year, the 4-1 San Jose loss. As you can no doubt tell, my expectations were appropriately repressed going into last night's contest.
The boys came through though. To an extent, at least. Neither club played with much fire for the majority of the contest. After the opening goal (scored on the opening shift), Calgary pretty much shut down the Carolina's attack. Which wasn't overly difficult since it looked like the visitors were skating in Oatmeal half the time. Perhaps they were saving their energy for the finals rematch tonight against Edmonton? I certainly hope so at least.
Anyways, as far as Im concerned, the Flames stars of the game were Lombardi, Iginla, Hamrlik and Huselius. Lombardi didn't appear on the scoresheet, but it wasn't from lack of trying. He made Commodore look foolish in the first period by blowing past him in the neutral zone; it's a pity Grahame managed to stop his patented "backhand through the five-hole" move on the ensuing break-away. Lombo also created a dangerous 2on1 later in the game with Kobasew that was broken up by a sly stick from Williams.
As for Iginla, he dominated in the offensive zone corners. There was a particular shift that drew an ovation from the crowd because the 'Cane's defenders were quite simply helpless agianst him. Had Tanguay buried a couple more of his chances, Iggy would have had 4 or 5 point night.
Juice looked like the most dangerous Flame forward for the first half of the game. His stickhandling lead to two glorious opportunities that were diverted through equal parts chance and decent goaltending. And his feed to Hamrlik on the 2nd Flames goal was picture perfect. Speaking of Hammer, not only did he score but he lead all skaters with about 25 minutes of ice. Suddenly Sutter's abandoning Lydman in favor of Hamrlik last year is starting to taste less bitter.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
With the shut-out win, the Flames remain the stingiest team around at 5on5. Thanks to their defensive prowess they now own an impressive +20 ES goal differential . Consider that Anaheim, currently the top team in the league, boasts a +14 (58 GF, 44 GA) at ES while the scoringest group of players in the NHL (Buffalo) are at +21 (74GF, 53GA). Truly elite company.
The special teams still reek and the road play has yet to impress, but one has to think that stuff like that will eventually fall in line. With the emergence of Lombardi and Huselius on the 2nd scoring unit, a resurging Jarome Iginla, a faultless Miikka Kiprusoff and the cohesive team defence, Calgary has all the tools to start climbing the NW division ladder. Especially sinced the Oilers and the Wild are decimated by injury, The Avs are just plain mediocre and the Canucks couldn't score on Philadelphia with Alan Bester in net. The key remains, however, a complete and consistent road effort. The upcoming 6 game roadtrip will determine whether Calgary will take their place among the league's best or remain firmly entrenched among the mediocre.
Next up - the wilting Wild
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Carolina vs. Calgary Game Day
Alex and I will be attending the game tonight as part of his birthday celebration. Happy Birthday old man!
You can therefore be assured the Flames will put forth a terrible effort - Calgary's record with me in attendance over the last 2 seasons is fairly poor - 2-3-1. I guess we could hope for a few fights at the very least.
Owing to their residing in the alien world that is the Eastern Conference, I know very little about Carolina heading into tonight's match. I know they got off to a bad start, are having goaltending consistency issues and score a lot. And most of that is secondary, sports-page knowledge.
The rest is stat-sheet perusal:
Go Flames!
You can therefore be assured the Flames will put forth a terrible effort - Calgary's record with me in attendance over the last 2 seasons is fairly poor - 2-3-1. I guess we could hope for a few fights at the very least.
Owing to their residing in the alien world that is the Eastern Conference, I know very little about Carolina heading into tonight's match. I know they got off to a bad start, are having goaltending consistency issues and score a lot. And most of that is secondary, sports-page knowledge.
The rest is stat-sheet perusal:
- Carolina has 33 points and is 5th in the Eastern Conference. They are 1 game over .500 on the road (7-6-2) and are 6-4-0 in their last 10. Calgary is still stuck at 9th in the WC, but have a 9-3-0 record at home and are 7-3-0 in the last 10.
- The Hurricanes have a butt-load of scorers on their roster. They already have two guys with 30 or more points (Rod the Bod and Ray Whitney) and 4 more with 20+ points (Williams, Cole, Staal and Walker in that order). All six players have 10 or more goals on the season, with Staal leading the way at 16. In contrast, no one the Flames has breached the 30 point mark and only 3 players (Iginla, Tanguay and Langkow) have greater than 20 points.
- Carolina isn't as adept at keeping the puck out of their own net, however. They are currently 22nd in league in terms of goals against (86), while Calgary trails only Detroit in that department (56). In fact, the Canes have allowed as many ES goals (56) as the Flames have given up total.
- Of course, comparisons between the two conferences are rather difficult. As I've noted before, the East attacks and the West defends. As such, the differences between the Flames and the Canes are rather exaggerated.
- Scott Cruickshank pointed out in the Herald today that Jarome Iginla is 6th in league in terms of ES points (20). Good to see Calgary's 7 million dollar man putting up elite ESP production.
- Jim Playfair talks about Calgary's second line (Lombo, Juice, Kobasew) in the same Herald piece saying:
"Sometimes on the road, they play really, really well, then at home they don't play so well. Sometimes at home, they play well . . . It's a line that hasn't found enough consistency at a high end."
With all due respect Jim - what the hell are you talking about? Personally I think the #2 scoring line has been one of the best out there of late. To back-up my hunch, I looked up the Flame's last 7 gamesheets and low and behold! The 2nd unit has been instrumental in all but 1 of them (LA loss). Combined, Juice, Lombo and Kobasew have 9 goals and 20 points over that time period. That's some solid production, especially considering SHAZAM! has been having trouble putting a puck in the ocean AND Lombo had a goal called back recently. I suppose this might be some sort of coaching/motivational tactic - but I don't really see what more Playfair would want out of the second line (besides some Kobasew scoring, perhaps). Hell, Lombardi is a +14 and 4th on the team in points. Juice is second on the team in goals (9). If Kobasew can actually start finishing, they'll be matching the Iginla / Langkow / Tanguay trio for production. With less ice-time to boot. Geez, Jim, if you want someone to pick on, take a gander at Friesen's pathetic point totals...
Go Flames!
Monday, December 04, 2006
What's Eating Robyn Regehr?
I've found myself asking this question while watching Flames games recently. Although I expected Regehr to be top dog on the blueline this season, he's looked very much like a 2nd pairing guy to me for weeks now. He fumbles pucks regularly in his own zone. He has trouble making the first pass on the transition. He no longer dominates along the boards or in front of the net...
which is why I was somewhat surprised to see an article in the Herald today actually lauding Regehr's efforts. The piece talks about some of the adjustments that were made earlier in the season in light of the Flame's struggles, including Regehr being paired with Rhett Warrener. It goes on to note that the club has gone 9-3-0 since the switch and the combo is a combined +10 in that time.
The implication, of course, is that the Warrener/Regehr duo had a hand in turning the Flame's fortunes around. Unforutnately, though, correlation does not always equal causation. I looked over Regehr's (other) numbers over the period of games mentioned in the article, and they are hardly flattering:
Starting at the Columbus shoot-out loss and stretching to the recent win over the Jackets, Regehr has been on the ice for 9 PP GA and 5 ES GA. While fourteen goals in a 13 game span doesn't seem terrible on the face of it, consider Calgary only gave up 23 goals total over that duration. Meaning Regehr was on the ice for close to 61% of the goals against. In fact, Regehr was a -1 in terms of goals for/against, despite the fact that Calgary outscored their opponents 36-23 during that period.
Some can point to the fact that Regehr is frequently employed on the PK (and rarely on the PP) to explain the difference. Course, he started the year off on the PP and played himself off of it by being completely ineffective. Further, Regehr's less than stellar work with a man down probably goes a long way to explaining the Flames still terrible PK figure of 79.1%, which is good for 28th best in the league.
Nothing symbolizes Regehr's struggles more than the Columbus goal on Friday. During the PK, Regehr gathers the puck up near the Flame's blueline and fumbles with it rather than drifting it down the ice (even though the line was in desperate need of change). Thanks to his bumbling, the puck barely pierces the neutral zone, resulting in a quick transition for the Jackets and a hurried line change for the Flames. The BJ's PP unit swiftly bears down on the scrambling Calgary PK unit and quickly thereafter scores their only goal of the game. All caused by the simplest of plays gone wrong thanks to, what should be, the Flames #1 defenseman.
There have been other recent examples of Regehr's struggles. The Wolski goal in the 5-2 win over Colorado was another simple play needlessly bungled. On the Tuomo Ruutu goal versus Chicago, Regehr lost the puck in his skates and then failed to take Ruutu who was able to spoil Kipper's shut-out bid with a sudden, rising backhand. This is the kind of stuff I expect out of Ference or Zyuzin. Not Robyn Regehr.
To clarify, I dont want to throw the big guy under the bus. He hasn't been terrible by any stretch - just not good by Regehrian standards. The problem I see is Regehr's bread and butter is shutting down the opposition - he doesn't bring a lot of offense to the table - so when the Bad Guys are scoring the bulk of their goals (61%) with him on the ice, there's something wrong...
Identifying that something is another task altogether. The Loss of Leopold as a defense partner and/or a nagging injury seem to be the most plausible explanations. Regehr himself points to the vast differences between his last few partners in the linked article. Further, it's been suggested by some (well...me) that the Downey hit rattled Regehr psychologically. He's seemed far more pensive, unsure of himself and less physical since that event. In fact, the only other Regehr check I can remember over the last month or so was the plastering of Cleary when Detroit came to town. Otherwise it's been a relatively quiet and demure Robyn Regehr patrolling the left-hand side...
Whatever the cause, here's hoping he turns it around soon. A healthy and effective Regehr would go a long way to curing the Flames ailing penalty kill, which would, in turn, propel the Flames further up the conference standings.
which is why I was somewhat surprised to see an article in the Herald today actually lauding Regehr's efforts. The piece talks about some of the adjustments that were made earlier in the season in light of the Flame's struggles, including Regehr being paired with Rhett Warrener. It goes on to note that the club has gone 9-3-0 since the switch and the combo is a combined +10 in that time.
The implication, of course, is that the Warrener/Regehr duo had a hand in turning the Flame's fortunes around. Unforutnately, though, correlation does not always equal causation. I looked over Regehr's (other) numbers over the period of games mentioned in the article, and they are hardly flattering:
Starting at the Columbus shoot-out loss and stretching to the recent win over the Jackets, Regehr has been on the ice for 9 PP GA and 5 ES GA. While fourteen goals in a 13 game span doesn't seem terrible on the face of it, consider Calgary only gave up 23 goals total over that duration. Meaning Regehr was on the ice for close to 61% of the goals against. In fact, Regehr was a -1 in terms of goals for/against, despite the fact that Calgary outscored their opponents 36-23 during that period.
Some can point to the fact that Regehr is frequently employed on the PK (and rarely on the PP) to explain the difference. Course, he started the year off on the PP and played himself off of it by being completely ineffective. Further, Regehr's less than stellar work with a man down probably goes a long way to explaining the Flames still terrible PK figure of 79.1%, which is good for 28th best in the league.
Nothing symbolizes Regehr's struggles more than the Columbus goal on Friday. During the PK, Regehr gathers the puck up near the Flame's blueline and fumbles with it rather than drifting it down the ice (even though the line was in desperate need of change). Thanks to his bumbling, the puck barely pierces the neutral zone, resulting in a quick transition for the Jackets and a hurried line change for the Flames. The BJ's PP unit swiftly bears down on the scrambling Calgary PK unit and quickly thereafter scores their only goal of the game. All caused by the simplest of plays gone wrong thanks to, what should be, the Flames #1 defenseman.
There have been other recent examples of Regehr's struggles. The Wolski goal in the 5-2 win over Colorado was another simple play needlessly bungled. On the Tuomo Ruutu goal versus Chicago, Regehr lost the puck in his skates and then failed to take Ruutu who was able to spoil Kipper's shut-out bid with a sudden, rising backhand. This is the kind of stuff I expect out of Ference or Zyuzin. Not Robyn Regehr.
To clarify, I dont want to throw the big guy under the bus. He hasn't been terrible by any stretch - just not good by Regehrian standards. The problem I see is Regehr's bread and butter is shutting down the opposition - he doesn't bring a lot of offense to the table - so when the Bad Guys are scoring the bulk of their goals (61%) with him on the ice, there's something wrong...
Identifying that something is another task altogether. The Loss of Leopold as a defense partner and/or a nagging injury seem to be the most plausible explanations. Regehr himself points to the vast differences between his last few partners in the linked article. Further, it's been suggested by some (well...me) that the Downey hit rattled Regehr psychologically. He's seemed far more pensive, unsure of himself and less physical since that event. In fact, the only other Regehr check I can remember over the last month or so was the plastering of Cleary when Detroit came to town. Otherwise it's been a relatively quiet and demure Robyn Regehr patrolling the left-hand side...
Whatever the cause, here's hoping he turns it around soon. A healthy and effective Regehr would go a long way to curing the Flames ailing penalty kill, which would, in turn, propel the Flames further up the conference standings.
Friday, December 01, 2006
Blue Jacket Preview
Calgary faces the Hitchcockian Blue Jackets tonight, who are an unimpressive 1-2-0 under their new taskmaster.
While I agree with the Hat that Hitchcock has the ability to turn things around in Ohio, I don't think the BJ's are anything to fear just yet. They are 1-8-1 in their last 10 games and 2-8-o away from home. They have the worst GF mark in the league (49), despite boasting some relatively impressive young talent in Zherdev, Nash, Brule and Klesla. And although their roster also includes guys like Segei Federov, Anson Carter and Freddy Modin, the team's top point getter is actually David Vyborny, who boasts 4 goals and 14 assists for 18 points. Speaking of Carter, he's doing everything in his power to convince the hockey world that his career season last year had more to do with playing on a line with the Sedin twins in Vancouver and little or nothing to do with his own ability. So far this season he has 3 goals and 7 points - less than Duvie Westcott. That's approaching Friesen-type suckage.
Owing to their inability to score, almost no one on the Blue Jacket's roster is a plus player. The leader in that category is, oddly, ex-Flame-cast-off Anders Eriksson with +3. Two other nobodies are in the black (Hartigan, Tollefson) while Adam Foote, with a -16 mark, brings up the rear. Rick Nash, the youngest guy to win a Rocket Richard trophy, has all of 7 goals so far this year is a -6. Such is the state of the car wreck in Columbus.
Course, Calgary is one of the few teams Columbus has beaten this year. In fact, it was the 5-4 S/O defeat that ignited the Flames 6 game winning streak back at the start of November. Anyone who watched the contest knows that 2 goats - Calgary's PK and the rustiness of Jamie McLennan - handed the BJ's the game. Even then, it took many, many rounds in the shoot-out to come to the decision.
This time around, Columbus will be facing Miikka Kiprusoff and a Flames team that is far more adept at special teams (since the game's at the Dome, of course). In their last 4 home victories, Calgary has scored 8 PPG's while only allowing 2 PPG's against.
I think it's fair to expect a Calgary win tonight. The BJ's have the worst record in the league, are terrible on the road and can't score to save their lives. The Flames are tops at preventing goals at ES and have beaten the likes of Anaheim, Dallas, Detroit and Colorado at home recently. Expect at least a 2 goal margin this evening.
As for myself, Im going with a 3 goal victory:
Flames - 4, Blue Jackets - 1. Lombardi, Tanguay, Kobasew and Lundmark for the Flames. Zherdev for the Jackets.
Go Flames!
Visit Army of Ohio for a view from the other side.
While I agree with the Hat that Hitchcock has the ability to turn things around in Ohio, I don't think the BJ's are anything to fear just yet. They are 1-8-1 in their last 10 games and 2-8-o away from home. They have the worst GF mark in the league (49), despite boasting some relatively impressive young talent in Zherdev, Nash, Brule and Klesla. And although their roster also includes guys like Segei Federov, Anson Carter and Freddy Modin, the team's top point getter is actually David Vyborny, who boasts 4 goals and 14 assists for 18 points. Speaking of Carter, he's doing everything in his power to convince the hockey world that his career season last year had more to do with playing on a line with the Sedin twins in Vancouver and little or nothing to do with his own ability. So far this season he has 3 goals and 7 points - less than Duvie Westcott. That's approaching Friesen-type suckage.
Owing to their inability to score, almost no one on the Blue Jacket's roster is a plus player. The leader in that category is, oddly, ex-Flame-cast-off Anders Eriksson with +3. Two other nobodies are in the black (Hartigan, Tollefson) while Adam Foote, with a -16 mark, brings up the rear. Rick Nash, the youngest guy to win a Rocket Richard trophy, has all of 7 goals so far this year is a -6. Such is the state of the car wreck in Columbus.
Course, Calgary is one of the few teams Columbus has beaten this year. In fact, it was the 5-4 S/O defeat that ignited the Flames 6 game winning streak back at the start of November. Anyone who watched the contest knows that 2 goats - Calgary's PK and the rustiness of Jamie McLennan - handed the BJ's the game. Even then, it took many, many rounds in the shoot-out to come to the decision.
This time around, Columbus will be facing Miikka Kiprusoff and a Flames team that is far more adept at special teams (since the game's at the Dome, of course). In their last 4 home victories, Calgary has scored 8 PPG's while only allowing 2 PPG's against.
I think it's fair to expect a Calgary win tonight. The BJ's have the worst record in the league, are terrible on the road and can't score to save their lives. The Flames are tops at preventing goals at ES and have beaten the likes of Anaheim, Dallas, Detroit and Colorado at home recently. Expect at least a 2 goal margin this evening.
As for myself, Im going with a 3 goal victory:
Flames - 4, Blue Jackets - 1. Lombardi, Tanguay, Kobasew and Lundmark for the Flames. Zherdev for the Jackets.
Go Flames!
Visit Army of Ohio for a view from the other side.
Poll Time!
I think it is that time again where I do another poll to see who you think will win tonights game. Here we go!
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Huselius Heralded
The Calgary Hearld printed a little feature on the guy who's currently justifying my taking him in the 10th round of my hockey pool...
In the article, Huselius doesn't confirm or deny the assertion that being benched turned his game around. Little does he know it was actually a Toronto-localized critic that got his mojo going...
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
S-M-R-T - Updated
I should be celebrating the Flames return to form.
I should be reveling in Oiler fan misery.
But instead, Im laughing at tsn stupidity.
Update - Not sure when it happened, but some savvy tsn'er has fixed the problem. At least someone over there has a measure of reading comprehension.
I should be reveling in Oiler fan misery.
But instead, Im laughing at tsn stupidity.
The Philadelphia Flyers rewarded forward Mike Knuble with a two-year, US$5.6-million contract extension on Wednesday. Financial terms were not disclosed.If they happen to edit this page later on in the day, rest assured this was the article's actual sub-heading.
Update - Not sure when it happened, but some savvy tsn'er has fixed the problem. At least someone over there has a measure of reading comprehension.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Flames at the Quarter Pole
Just over the 25% mark and the Flames have as many questions as they have answers. Inconsistency, terrible special teams and non-existant secondary/teritiay scoring is the bad news. The good news is the big guns are actually getting points, Kipper is a league leader again and the Dome is still a tough place to visit.
And now the bullets.
To wrap-up, I'll include the Flames current ESP/60 stats.
They basically show what I've been saying: the top end players are carrying the weight offense-wise while the bottom enders (and the defensemen) are basically useless at producing at ES. Notice in particular Jeff Friesen's appalling figure. One point six million tears should be shed for his contract.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tonight Calgary takes on divisional rival Colorado. Thanks to a pre-november bet, yours truly will win $50 if the Flames lose (I bet on a 6-4-3, 15 point record for the month). Therefore, expect an absurd blow-out in the Flames favor. Their strength at home and my inability to catch a break in these sorts of circumstances virtually guarantees a Calgary victory...
Flames 7, Avs 2. Iginla, Tanguay (2), Lombardi, Huselius, Regehr and *snicker* Friesen with the goals. Brunette and Wolski for the Avs.
Go Flames!
And now the bullets.
- Like last year, Calgary started out poorly, only to right the ship in November. Unforunately, the Flames have fallen back to .500 recently thanks to their inability to play anything resembling decent hockey on the road. With the latest 1-3-0 skid, Calgary is once again in the basement looking up at their divisional rivals. In order to climb back into contention, the Flames will have to figure out how to ratchet up their special teams play to at least middling levels on the road. In their 3 most recent defeats, Calgary has allowed 5 goals against on 14 penalty kills. In contrast, the Flames only scored 1 PP goal during those 3 games in 15 opportunities. The resultant PK and PP rates, 64% and 7% respectively, go a long way to explaining the Flames road issues. Consider that in their last 3 wins (all at home), Calgary scored 5 PPG on 16 chances (31%) and allowed only 1 PPG against on 13 opposition opportunities (92%). It's like mensa at home and Earnest on the road. If the Flames can strike a balance between the two, while continuing their strong ES play, they'll be a very good hockey club. For now, they are a very mediocre one.
- Like the shoddy away play, a consipicuous lack of scoring from the supporting cast is another malingering issue from last season. Combined, the 6 players that make up the 3rd and 4th units (Byron Ritchie, Jamie Lundmark, Darren McCarty, Marcus Nilson, Jeff Friesen and Tony Amonte) only have 8 goals - 5 of which are from Amonte. That's less than Kristian Huselius. The total of their summed points (21) is less than Jarome Iginla's point total. And he's not even in the top 20 in league scoring. Granted, a number of these guys don't get much of a chance to play - McCarty has averaged 5:35 in his 19 GP - but one has to expect the bottom liners to contribute at least occassionally. If they can't score at least sometimes (or worse, can't even play enough to make any kind of difference), it's time to waive, trade or bring up a rookie.
- On the sunnier side of the picture, Jarome Iginla and Miika Kiprusoff have been the team's undisputed stars. Kipper is currently 4th in the league in terms of GAA, 2nd in SV%. For his part, Iginla is on pace for a 41 goal, 89 point season. A significant improvement over his 60 odd point campaign last year. At least part of the reason for Iginla's resurgance is the presence of Alex Tanguay, who has only recently started to find his groove in Calgary colors. Over the last 8 games he has 1 goal and 10 assists.
- Not that it's just the first liners scoring. Matthew Lombardi is this season's most pleasant surprise. He currently has 7 goals and 16 points and is a team best +13. Also, Kristian Huselius is probably the hottest Calgary forward currently - over the last 7 contests, he's managed 6 goals and 8 points.
To wrap-up, I'll include the Flames current ESP/60 stats.
They basically show what I've been saying: the top end players are carrying the weight offense-wise while the bottom enders (and the defensemen) are basically useless at producing at ES. Notice in particular Jeff Friesen's appalling figure. One point six million tears should be shed for his contract.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tonight Calgary takes on divisional rival Colorado. Thanks to a pre-november bet, yours truly will win $50 if the Flames lose (I bet on a 6-4-3, 15 point record for the month). Therefore, expect an absurd blow-out in the Flames favor. Their strength at home and my inability to catch a break in these sorts of circumstances virtually guarantees a Calgary victory...
Flames 7, Avs 2. Iginla, Tanguay (2), Lombardi, Huselius, Regehr and *snicker* Friesen with the goals. Brunette and Wolski for the Avs.
Go Flames!
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Road Woes
After last nights loss to what is destined to be a non-play-off club, it's become quite clear that the Flames are just a bad, bad team away from the 'Dome.
"On the Road Again" is not a song you'll hear in this teams dressing room.
Calgary was a game below .500 on the road last year if I remember correctly. And they still won their division. I wrote literally thousands of words last season bemoaning the Flame's Jekyll and Hyde tendencies. And now here we go again this season. World beaters at home. Apathetic push-overs on the road. Calgary's special teams are losing them games - when they're the visitng team. I haven't crunched the numbers, but you can bet the Flames would have at least median PP & PK numbers if their away performances were anything like their home ones...
which is naturally the most frustrating part. The Flames obviously have the ability to get the job done - but simply can't seem to put the pieces together when staying in hotels.
Not that any of this is a mystery to the players. Only 21 games into his Calgary career, Alex Tanguay has already noticed the marked difference between Home Flames and Away Flames:
And the task doesn't get any easier tonight. Calgary is facing the WC leading Anaheim Ducks, who are a mighty 11-1-4 at the Pond (or whatever it's called these days) so far. Not the best place to visit when your road record is 3-6-2. The only good news for Flames fans is that Calgary tends to play better in the 2nd game of back-to-backs for some reason. They beat St. Louis on the road after losing to Columbus in overtime the night before and recently beat up on Chicago after suffering a loss to Edmonton 24 hours earlier. Tonight I guess we'll see which pattern will win out: 2nd night winners or Domesick losers.
Visit Sleek for a view from the other side.
"On the Road Again" is not a song you'll hear in this teams dressing room.
Calgary was a game below .500 on the road last year if I remember correctly. And they still won their division. I wrote literally thousands of words last season bemoaning the Flame's Jekyll and Hyde tendencies. And now here we go again this season. World beaters at home. Apathetic push-overs on the road. Calgary's special teams are losing them games - when they're the visitng team. I haven't crunched the numbers, but you can bet the Flames would have at least median PP & PK numbers if their away performances were anything like their home ones...
which is naturally the most frustrating part. The Flames obviously have the ability to get the job done - but simply can't seem to put the pieces together when staying in hotels.
Not that any of this is a mystery to the players. Only 21 games into his Calgary career, Alex Tanguay has already noticed the marked difference between Home Flames and Away Flames:
"It seems like we play a different game on the road, so we need to sharpen up and play the same way we play at home. We know if you don't work hard, you're not going to play in their zone very often. And in the third period, we didn't work as hard as we needed to."Course, knowing about a problem and doing something about it are two different things.
And the task doesn't get any easier tonight. Calgary is facing the WC leading Anaheim Ducks, who are a mighty 11-1-4 at the Pond (or whatever it's called these days) so far. Not the best place to visit when your road record is 3-6-2. The only good news for Flames fans is that Calgary tends to play better in the 2nd game of back-to-backs for some reason. They beat St. Louis on the road after losing to Columbus in overtime the night before and recently beat up on Chicago after suffering a loss to Edmonton 24 hours earlier. Tonight I guess we'll see which pattern will win out: 2nd night winners or Domesick losers.
Visit Sleek for a view from the other side.
Friday, November 24, 2006
East and West Disparities
I looked over the scoring stats and was somewhat surprised to see that despite having the best start of his career, Jarome Iginla is only 25th in league scoring. Then I took a closer look and noticed that 20 of the top 25 point getters are from the Eastern conference. Twenty! The first WC representative to appear in the list is Patrick Marleau at spot #11 with 27 points. Below him is Teemu Selanne at #12, Joe Thornton at #16, Chris Proner at #22 and then Iggy at #25. The rest are EC players.
On the flip side, team GA stats are primarily dominated by WC teams. The top GA/G clubs are Dallas, Detroit, Calgary, Anaheim and San Jose in that order. New Jersey and Montreal are the only two EC teams to crack the top ten in terms of GA/G. A number of strong EC conference teams share the latter half of the GA/G list (BUF, TOR, ATL, NYR, CAR) with WC bottom-feeders (CHI, CBJ, LAK, STL and PHX).
The goaltending stats are similarly skewed. Only 3 EC goalies crack the top ten in terms of GAA average and two of them (Huet and Emery) have played less than 14 games. WC represntatives include Hasek, Kipper, Giguere, Turco and Roloson...and they've all played the bulk of the minutes for their teams thus far.
So it seems one side of the league has opted for an all-out attack strategy while the other has decided to stick with a stout defensive one. There has always been a slight difference between conferences in the past, but I don't remember it ever being this marked before. I mean, Iginla is among the top 5 WC scorers but doesn't even crack the leagues top 20. It makes one wonder just how many points he would accrue on a team like Buffalo or Carolina...
Im at loss to describe precisely why the two conferences differ so much. Is the WC's asshole tightening in response to the Flames success over the two seasons? It certainly seems like clubs such as Detroit, Dallas and Vancouver have moved closer to a Calgary brand of hockey this season. All three are apparently sold on the "win through strong goaltending and team defense" mindset. Build from the back-end out. Even the Oilers are exceling at the "d" part of the game over the "o" thus far.
So is there simply an imbalance in the league? More scorers in the east, better goalies in the west? Or is it coaching and strategy that is causing this polarization? Hard to say. I think I'll leave it to more astute observers like Tyler Dellow and Tom Benjamin to sort it out though.
On the flip side, team GA stats are primarily dominated by WC teams. The top GA/G clubs are Dallas, Detroit, Calgary, Anaheim and San Jose in that order. New Jersey and Montreal are the only two EC teams to crack the top ten in terms of GA/G. A number of strong EC conference teams share the latter half of the GA/G list (BUF, TOR, ATL, NYR, CAR) with WC bottom-feeders (CHI, CBJ, LAK, STL and PHX).
The goaltending stats are similarly skewed. Only 3 EC goalies crack the top ten in terms of GAA average and two of them (Huet and Emery) have played less than 14 games. WC represntatives include Hasek, Kipper, Giguere, Turco and Roloson...and they've all played the bulk of the minutes for their teams thus far.
So it seems one side of the league has opted for an all-out attack strategy while the other has decided to stick with a stout defensive one. There has always been a slight difference between conferences in the past, but I don't remember it ever being this marked before. I mean, Iginla is among the top 5 WC scorers but doesn't even crack the leagues top 20. It makes one wonder just how many points he would accrue on a team like Buffalo or Carolina...
Im at loss to describe precisely why the two conferences differ so much. Is the WC's asshole tightening in response to the Flames success over the two seasons? It certainly seems like clubs such as Detroit, Dallas and Vancouver have moved closer to a Calgary brand of hockey this season. All three are apparently sold on the "win through strong goaltending and team defense" mindset. Build from the back-end out. Even the Oilers are exceling at the "d" part of the game over the "o" thus far.
So is there simply an imbalance in the league? More scorers in the east, better goalies in the west? Or is it coaching and strategy that is causing this polarization? Hard to say. I think I'll leave it to more astute observers like Tyler Dellow and Tom Benjamin to sort it out though.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
The Skirmish of Alberta Summary
What a listless affair. "Battle of Alberta" is a misnomer when it comes to last night's effort. "minor dust-up" of Alberta, perhaps. "Polite disagreement", but certainly not "battle". Both teams seemed to be playing to lose. Edmonton spent most of the contest trying to give the game to Calgary while the Flames spent it civilly declining the offer. Zero fights, or even pushing-matches after whistles, a few frantic puck-battles and lots of mistakes at either end. Blech. You're bound to see a couple of stinkers during an 82 game season, but I never thought an Edmonton/Calgary clash would be one of them. Disappointing.
Speaking of disappointing, could there have been a more ignoble end to the Flames 5+ game ES shut-out streak? Kipper flubs a shot resulting in a big rebound and his teammates stand dumbly around (or skate away...which I'll get to later) while a rival scores the GWG. Pathetic. It's one thing to be outdone by a highight reel end-to-ender or a slick tic-tac-toe passing play. But witnessing the streak end in such a fashion was like discovering your most favorit-ist and most respected celebrity dead on the toilet with his pants around his ankles and a porn mag open on his knees...
Which leads in to my nominee for "scapegoat of the game": Tony Amonte. His was the penalty that lead to the 5on3 goal. And it was his baffling decision to skate away from the Hemsky rebound in the third and allow Sykora to score the game winner. If, like me, you were yelling at the screen "What the FUCKING HELL are you doing?" you probably woke up today still puzzling over what could have possibly been going through Tony's aged brain during that sequence. Following is my official "reasons for Amonte's bonehead gaffe" list:
Tanguay and Langkow both reverted to play that had annoyed me earlier this season: Langkow was worse than useless in the face-off dot and frequently buggered simple passes all night. Tanguay was frequently trying to force passes through multiple defenders resulting in give-aways. Not to mention part of me was secretly glad Zyuzin got injured half way through the game. He looked lost whenever he was on the ice.
Bright-spots? Lombardi was pretty strong for most of the contest, despite not getting on the scoresheet. So was Lundmark, who pushed the issue whenever he was on the ice. Huselius scored in his 4th straight game, although the goal was a gift. Chuck played a decent first period, but was definately lacking most of the SHAZAM! he displayed against Detroit.
Not much else to say. Calgary played well enough to lose. In fact, just after they had thrown away their 5th straight PP I turned to the girlfriend and said, "Calgary's going to lose. I bet you Edmonton scores some garbage goal with about 5 minutes left." Then I began humming "Coming in the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins. Just one of those games.
Luckily the Flames have a chance to redeem themselves almost immediately against the Blackhawks this evening. I honestly thought that Chicago would be the team to snap the November winning streak (as they did last year), but now that that's done with, Im hoping the Flames can get back to the excellent defense and at least semi-competent offense that characterized the 6 games previous to Tuesday night's crapfest.
Speaking of disappointing, could there have been a more ignoble end to the Flames 5+ game ES shut-out streak? Kipper flubs a shot resulting in a big rebound and his teammates stand dumbly around (or skate away...which I'll get to later) while a rival scores the GWG. Pathetic. It's one thing to be outdone by a highight reel end-to-ender or a slick tic-tac-toe passing play. But witnessing the streak end in such a fashion was like discovering your most favorit-ist and most respected celebrity dead on the toilet with his pants around his ankles and a porn mag open on his knees...
Which leads in to my nominee for "scapegoat of the game": Tony Amonte. His was the penalty that lead to the 5on3 goal. And it was his baffling decision to skate away from the Hemsky rebound in the third and allow Sykora to score the game winner. If, like me, you were yelling at the screen "What the FUCKING HELL are you doing?" you probably woke up today still puzzling over what could have possibly been going through Tony's aged brain during that sequence. Following is my official "reasons for Amonte's bonehead gaffe" list:
- Some effects of advancing age include senility and incontinence. Take your pick.
- Since removing the mullet, he's been looking for new ways to anger and disgust people.
- He took "over" on the over/under for the game.
- Petr Sykora resembles a high-school crush that had rejected Tony in the past. The hurt and embarrassment came rushing back when he saw Sykora bearing down on the rebound and was forced to turn away.
- He got tired of people complimenting his play.
Tanguay and Langkow both reverted to play that had annoyed me earlier this season: Langkow was worse than useless in the face-off dot and frequently buggered simple passes all night. Tanguay was frequently trying to force passes through multiple defenders resulting in give-aways. Not to mention part of me was secretly glad Zyuzin got injured half way through the game. He looked lost whenever he was on the ice.
Bright-spots? Lombardi was pretty strong for most of the contest, despite not getting on the scoresheet. So was Lundmark, who pushed the issue whenever he was on the ice. Huselius scored in his 4th straight game, although the goal was a gift. Chuck played a decent first period, but was definately lacking most of the SHAZAM! he displayed against Detroit.
Not much else to say. Calgary played well enough to lose. In fact, just after they had thrown away their 5th straight PP I turned to the girlfriend and said, "Calgary's going to lose. I bet you Edmonton scores some garbage goal with about 5 minutes left." Then I began humming "Coming in the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins. Just one of those games.
Luckily the Flames have a chance to redeem themselves almost immediately against the Blackhawks this evening. I honestly thought that Chicago would be the team to snap the November winning streak (as they did last year), but now that that's done with, Im hoping the Flames can get back to the excellent defense and at least semi-competent offense that characterized the 6 games previous to Tuesday night's crapfest.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Battle of Alberta v.5 (I think)
"Let's fight!"
"Them's fighten' words!"
(fight ensues)
Yet another chapter will be written tonight in the never ending struggle for Alberta supremacy. The Oil have somehow managed to win 3 straight, with the mulleted man-o-the-crease Ryan Smyth leading the way (he's currently on pace to score 57 goals). Roloson has been better than solid for Edmonton thus far this year; he's currently 4th in league in terms of SV% with .923. Only Toskala, Kipper and Emery are ahead of him.
The Flames are riding a 6 game high, largely on the backs of Tanguay (8 points in 4 games), Iginla (10 points in 7 games), Huselius (4 goals, 5 points in 5 games) and, naturally, Miikka (1.00 GAA over 6 games).
Stats and such:
The two teams have pretty similar GPG figures: Edmonton is currently scoring at a rate of 2.90 (16th) goals per game while Calgary is averaging around 2.78 goals per contest (18th). The Greasers have managed eight more goals at ES (38-30) than the Flames, but have played 2 more games. As far as GA are concerned, Edmonton has surrendered as much as they've scored at ES (39), while the Flames are a league low 15. The Oil have the superior PP (15.2% vs 14.3%) and PK (90.1% vs 80.4%).
Which means:
- The Flames will try to play as much as possible at 5on5. While Calgary's special teams numbers are slightly skewed by their terrible start to the year, their overriding strength is still their ES play. Considering the Oilers are currently a -1 at ES compared to the Flames +15, a special teams-less match will almost certainly result in (another) Calgary victory.
- Shutting down Smyth and Sykora will also be a priority tonight. Smyth is the reigning King of tips and screens in the NHL. Warrener, Regehr and Phaneuf will be intrumental in keeping his ass out of Kippers face most of the night. Staying out of the box will go a long way in accomplishing this goal.
- Sykora is Edmonton's 2nd leading scorer and more of a high-slot sniper. shot-blocking and beating up on his setup man, Ales Hemsky, will make containing Sykora a lot easier.
Misc:
Visit Mudcrutch, Covered In Oil and Irreverent Oil Fans for a view from the other side. Expect cracks about how Calgary only wins because of Kipper mixed with mentions of 5 stanley cups and probably a few cheapshots regarding "boring Flames style hockey". You may also see complaining about the Oilers powerplay amongst other signs of insecurity. Grabia has another pregame post up over at Battle of Alberta. Stay away if you dislike mangled Shakespearian rhymes.
Prediction:
Flames 4, Stinktown Greaseballs 2. Iginla(2), Huselius(1) and Amonte(1) round out the scoring for Calgary. Winchester and Broken Stick for the Oil.
Monday, November 20, 2006
That's just...wow.
Im on (blog-filling) fire today...
anyways, check out this post over at VCOP for an example of the out-right blind stupidity that lurks within the NHL office(s). There should be some kind of "Darwin Awards - Business and Marketing section" for stuff like this.
anyways, check out this post over at VCOP for an example of the out-right blind stupidity that lurks within the NHL office(s). There should be some kind of "Darwin Awards - Business and Marketing section" for stuff like this.
Hockey-Recap Gold
I mentioned Hockey-Recap (link over in sideboard) awhile ago around the time of it's onset. Recently some of the site's excellent features, such as the incredibly in-depth game-reports, were brought to my attention by Off-Wing Opinion.
This site is a veritable gold mine for poolies, stats-geeks and the morbidly attentive hockey fan. The game reports, for example, include a plethora of basic stats, as well as forward and defensive unit shift-charts. The latter is particularly useful for pool players - wanna know if that winger that's available plays on the fist line? How about his total ice, and how many "events" (goals scored for or against) occured while he was on? It's all there.
Another interesting hockey-recap contribution is the "impact" stat, which is basically a figure that establishes the effect each individual player had on a game. Goals, assists, face-off wins, blocked shots, hits and ice-time are among the factors that go into calculating the impact score. Good stuff! Make sure to check it out if you get the chance.
This site is a veritable gold mine for poolies, stats-geeks and the morbidly attentive hockey fan. The game reports, for example, include a plethora of basic stats, as well as forward and defensive unit shift-charts. The latter is particularly useful for pool players - wanna know if that winger that's available plays on the fist line? How about his total ice, and how many "events" (goals scored for or against) occured while he was on? It's all there.
Another interesting hockey-recap contribution is the "impact" stat, which is basically a figure that establishes the effect each individual player had on a game. Goals, assists, face-off wins, blocked shots, hits and ice-time are among the factors that go into calculating the impact score. Good stuff! Make sure to check it out if you get the chance.
SHAZAM!
"When Billy Batson speaks the name of an ancient wizard,
he is magically transformed from boy to man
-- the world's mightiest mortal!"
If you're old enough or nerdy enough you probably remember the ill-conceived comic book "SHAZAM!". If you're unfamiliar, "SHAZAM!" was the "magical proclamation" Billy Baston (one of the umpteen Superman rip-offs created over the years) used to become "Captain Marvel" - which was basically Clark Kent with a lightning bolt on his chest (or bulging swimsuit as it were).
I was reminded of this campy old comic character by Chuck Kobasew on Friday night. To me, Charles seemed to have magically transformed from boy to man - from punching bag to pugnacious thug. I mean, he almost singlehandedly beat the Red Wings into submission. Besides his 2 assists, Kobasew co-lead the team in hits with 4 and was a constant offensive presence on the ice. I think it's safe to say Charles had the game of his life (including his hat-trick last year). I don't know whether it was a magic phrase, a twist of psychology or some steroid induced psychotic-rage that created the Charles of Friday night, but I liked it. A lot. Here's hoping Kobasew doesn't revert back to a his pre-Detroit self anytime soon.
Not that Kobasew had the only noteworthy performance of the evening. Both of Calgary's top two lines were constant threats to score. Huselius got his 4th goal in 5 games. The PP actually scored 3 times, capped by Phaneuf's sniper-like, top-corner shot in the 3rd period. Kipper was 40 seconds away from being unbeatable again and Regehr was plastering guys left and right. Overall, the triumph over the Red Wings was the most complete 60 minutes of hockey put in by the Flames to date...
Other accomplishments worth noting include Calgary's continued ES shut-out streak. I think the last team to score on the Flames at 5on5 was St. Louis way back when - and that was just as Regehr had stepped back onto the ice after serving 2 minutes. Which makes it more than 5 games and counting since any opposition has managed to score on Kipper at even-up. Five games! Consider that Anaheim, Dallas and Detroit were among the visitors to the Dome during that stretch. Talk about a reversal of fortunes since I wrote this Chicken Little post (Which was, ironically, the review of the last Flames/Red Wings game). After Detroit's loss to Edmonton, Calgary now sits first overall in terms of GA at ES and 4th overall in terms of total GA/G.
Whew. Imagine if the PK was up to snuff!
Personally, I can't wait for the next installment of the Battle of Alberta. Both teams seemed to have found their winning ways, so tomorrow's should be a titanic struggle. Considering Calgary's most recent performances, I like our chances. Especially if Kobasew can SHAZAM! his way back onto the scoresheet.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Caltroit Versus Deflames
Has anyone else noticed that the streaking Detroit Red Wings bear a striking resemblence to the streaking Calgary Flames?
In fact in many ways the two clubs are mirror images of each other:
- Detroit has allowed the fewest goals in the league at even-strength with 12. The Flames are second at 15.
- The Flames are averaging 2.71 GPG thus far this season (20th). The Red Wings are at 2.76 (18th).
- Calgary's PP sucks pretty badly (11.8%, 27th). The Red Wing's is the worst in the league (9.1%, 30th).
- Neither team excels with a man-down either. Calgary has managed to kill of about 80% of their penalties so far (25th), while Detroit is only slightly better than that (81.2%, 21st).
Course, there are some differences as well. Detroit excels at limiting shots against. The Flames have been less effective in that regard so far. This particular contrast is rooted in the dissimliar manner in which each team plays the game: Detroit is a puck possession hockey club. They spend a large portion of the game making the other team chase the puck around like tykes. If you watch the match tonight, you'll notice that there will be instances where Detroit doesn't even seem to be skating all that hard - and yet the Flames won't be able to get the puck away from them anyways. Smart, pin-point passing reigns in Detroit.
On the other hand, Calgary employs a high-tempo puck pursuit strategy. Low risk plays like dumping the puck in on the rush and rimming the puck along the boards on the break-out is how the Flames roll. In a pinch, Calgary players will neglect the middle of the ice because it's safer to play along the boards. Physical play, hard work and timely scoring built on a foundation of stout goaltending and defense are the keys to any Calgary victory.
So two winning streaks collide this evening. Two teams with polar opposite gameplans that have thus far rendered highly equitable results. Hard to predict who's going to win, though it's safe to say it'll be a low scoring affair. I guess whoever manages to get a PP goal will be the victor...
Go Flames!
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
The Canucks Suck
You know, I was all prepared to like the Vancouver Canucks this year. Well, as much as anyone can like a hated divisional rival.
I guess what I mean is I was prepared to despise them less. Largely due to the fact that Nonis ejected the 3 scumbags that drew the majority of my contempt: Jovo, Bertuzzi and Ruutu.
Jovo because, well...I think he's an asshole. He cheated as much as possible during the 03/04 series between the Flames and Canucks and then managed to whine childishly after their game 7 defeat. Something to the effect of:
"They won it on a horseshit call."
This after the refs missed blowing the play dead when a sweater was thrown onto the ice in the final minute of the game AND after Morrison slashed the stick out of Iginla's hands during the ensuing backcheck. Which of course resulted in Matt Cooke's tying goal. Not to mention the fact that Jovo purposely pushed Kiprusoff over during a Canuck powerplay in an earleir game, paving the way for a Naslund goal (and a Canuck victory). This guy had the gall to point a finger at the officials. As if complaining about the reffing after a loss wasn't poor enough.
Then there's that cheap punk Ruutu. Hammers tiny guys like Ritchie during preseason games, trips and goads everyone else and yet runs and turtles at every opportunity.
The inclusion of Bertuzzi is self-explanatory.
So with the expulsion of the above corruption I supposed I could go back to merely disliking Vancouver in the typical obligatory fashion...Until recently.
You see, Vancouver is mired in a losing streak. And with the losing has come the foot-stomping and the sniveling: not by a fringe player or green rookie either. By their supposed captain:
Not that it ended there. Here's what Naslund had to say after the 3-2 stinger against Red Wings last night:
This is what passes for a Captain on the West Coast? No wonder these guys missed the play-offs last year. And probably will this year. As intangible and amorphous as qualities like "leadership" and "character" may be, one can soundly say Marcus Naslund possesses only negligible amounts of either of them. What a loser.
Sorry Vancouver. You're back on "the list".
I guess what I mean is I was prepared to despise them less. Largely due to the fact that Nonis ejected the 3 scumbags that drew the majority of my contempt: Jovo, Bertuzzi and Ruutu.
Jovo because, well...I think he's an asshole. He cheated as much as possible during the 03/04 series between the Flames and Canucks and then managed to whine childishly after their game 7 defeat. Something to the effect of:
"They won it on a horseshit call."
This after the refs missed blowing the play dead when a sweater was thrown onto the ice in the final minute of the game AND after Morrison slashed the stick out of Iginla's hands during the ensuing backcheck. Which of course resulted in Matt Cooke's tying goal. Not to mention the fact that Jovo purposely pushed Kiprusoff over during a Canuck powerplay in an earleir game, paving the way for a Naslund goal (and a Canuck victory). This guy had the gall to point a finger at the officials. As if complaining about the reffing after a loss wasn't poor enough.
Then there's that cheap punk Ruutu. Hammers tiny guys like Ritchie during preseason games, trips and goads everyone else and yet runs and turtles at every opportunity.
The inclusion of Bertuzzi is self-explanatory.
So with the expulsion of the above corruption I supposed I could go back to merely disliking Vancouver in the typical obligatory fashion...Until recently.
You see, Vancouver is mired in a losing streak. And with the losing has come the foot-stomping and the sniveling: not by a fringe player or green rookie either. By their supposed captain:
''After Iginla's goal, we had a lot of chances to get that third one but they ended up tying it up on, in my mind, a really flukey goal.''says Naslund after the recent loss to the Flames. That's right. Calgary's tic-tac-toe passing play that culminated in Warrener's tying goal was flukey. Somehow. I guess maybe he was confusing it with Salo's double-deflection-off-two-players PP marker.
Not that it ended there. Here's what Naslund had to say after the 3-2 stinger against Red Wings last night:
"I thought (Bulis' penalty) was a borderline call and that could have turned the game around [...]we don't get the breaks right now."Boo-hoo-hoo. I guess scoring goals without tripping the opposing goalie is probably where you should start focusing your energy there Nazzy.
This is what passes for a Captain on the West Coast? No wonder these guys missed the play-offs last year. And probably will this year. As intangible and amorphous as qualities like "leadership" and "character" may be, one can soundly say Marcus Naslund possesses only negligible amounts of either of them. What a loser.
Sorry Vancouver. You're back on "the list".
Yay! We're Not Last!
Okay so we're winnning. Five in a row, after a terrible 4-7-2 start. Sorta Like last year. "Sorta" meaning "exactly".
Here's a thought - let's ride this seemingly inexorable wave of deja vu till the end of the season and then get off right after we win the division but before we lose out in the first round...deal? Deal.
If you can assume the existance of such an escape clause then there's lots to like in "Flames Country" right now. No one can score on Calgary at even strength. The goaltending is fantastic. And the fatter end of the payroll is starting to work together to produce picturesque scoring plays.
True, the special teams still languish in the league's cellar. But they'll come around eventually.
So good stuff all around. The worst part about last night - besides the infuriatingly frequent "Panago" ad that features some sweaty troglodyte standing stupidly in a field, wearing a gold hardhat, babbling at a Buffalo - was the play of Rhett Warrener. His typical "can't catch a slug in a glue-spill" skating ability was less than impressive. Plus he took three penalties in a row - lucky for him his third lead to Juice's fantastic SH roofer (The Flames 4th SH goal of the year so far).
At this point I'd say Warrener isn't much more valuable than Giordano (on the ice, at least), therefore making his $2.5 million/year salary (which stretches until 08/09) into a big, fat, leaden anchor of a contract. Expect him to be dealt for a prospect next summer at the latest.
It's a shame Lombardi didn't get on the scoresheet last night. He created no less than 2 shorthanded break-aways, one of which he still managed to get a shot away (despite being hooked on the play), and was generally effective everywhere on the ice. He drew penalties, killed penalties and played more at ES than the currently anointed #1 center, Langkow (who also played pretty well...I guess).
Oh! The Flames won more face-offs than they lost. Anyone got a "hell frozen over" graphic?
And one last bit of gloating...how about that SH-top-corner-shot by Huselius, hey HG? He's got 3 goals in his last 4 games as well...Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!
Next up - the Red (Hot) Wings
Here's a thought - let's ride this seemingly inexorable wave of deja vu till the end of the season and then get off right after we win the division but before we lose out in the first round...deal? Deal.
If you can assume the existance of such an escape clause then there's lots to like in "Flames Country" right now. No one can score on Calgary at even strength. The goaltending is fantastic. And the fatter end of the payroll is starting to work together to produce picturesque scoring plays.
True, the special teams still languish in the league's cellar. But they'll come around eventually.
So good stuff all around. The worst part about last night - besides the infuriatingly frequent "Panago" ad that features some sweaty troglodyte standing stupidly in a field, wearing a gold hardhat, babbling at a Buffalo - was the play of Rhett Warrener. His typical "can't catch a slug in a glue-spill" skating ability was less than impressive. Plus he took three penalties in a row - lucky for him his third lead to Juice's fantastic SH roofer (The Flames 4th SH goal of the year so far).
At this point I'd say Warrener isn't much more valuable than Giordano (on the ice, at least), therefore making his $2.5 million/year salary (which stretches until 08/09) into a big, fat, leaden anchor of a contract. Expect him to be dealt for a prospect next summer at the latest.
It's a shame Lombardi didn't get on the scoresheet last night. He created no less than 2 shorthanded break-aways, one of which he still managed to get a shot away (despite being hooked on the play), and was generally effective everywhere on the ice. He drew penalties, killed penalties and played more at ES than the currently anointed #1 center, Langkow (who also played pretty well...I guess).
Oh! The Flames won more face-offs than they lost. Anyone got a "hell frozen over" graphic?
And one last bit of gloating...how about that SH-top-corner-shot by Huselius, hey HG? He's got 3 goals in his last 4 games as well...Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!
Next up - the Red (Hot) Wings
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Onward
Maybe it was the immensely grating prattle of Greg Millen or maybe it was the fact that the Flames were playing like garbage (or perhaps a combination of the two). Whatever the cause, I was compelled to turn off the Calgary/Vancouver tilt in the middle of the second period.
Up to that point, the only things the Flames had managed to do was take penalties and then suck at killing them off. Few scoring chances to speak of, zero ability to make simple plays with the added disadvtange of having played the night before. I figured I'd save myself the pain of the inevitable defeat and watch a movie instead...
Imagine my chagrin when checking the scores later that night. D'oh!
If you subscribe to a sort of chaos theory in which everything is metaphysically and inextricably related, then perhaps my simple act of turning off the game somehow lead to the improbable Calgary comeback; like a butterfly's flight causing a hurricane. And, if so, then you all owe me a debt of gratitude. The player's too. And it's something I would gladly do in the future to evoke further Flame's victories.
Course, if my abandoning half-finished games in disgust was so powerful you no doubt would have seen Calgary best the Ducks in game 7 of the play-offs last year as well...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
16 games in and Calgary's back to an even 500. While a record of 7-7-2 hardly seemed palatable at the beginning of the season, it's certainly far more preferable to what Calgary was sitting at only two weeks ago.
The current turn-around has a lot to do with improved goaltending. After somewhat of a rocky start, Kiprusoff has worked his way back into the top 10 in the league in terms of GAA and SV%. Calgary's even-strength play has continued to be it's major strength thus far as well: in the last 5 games, Calgary has outscored the opposition 13-1 when 5on5 (plus 1 short-handed goal).
Which is pretty darn encouraging. A decent 5on5 goal differential is often a true measure of team's overall ability: one can reasonably expect the special teams to fall in line if the ES play is strong. So while the Flames pretty much stink on the PK and PP right now, I can honestly say I don't think that will remain true for the majority of the season. The Flames have the roster and the ability to bring those up to at least median levels of respectability. And, should their ES play remain as dominant, the wins will soon come tumbling after.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tonight the lowly Blues come a-callin'. St Louis has a 5-8-3 record over 16 games, which might actually be an improvement over last year's version of the same team, but is still hardly fearsome. The Blues have scored 1 less goal than the Flames over 16 contests, but have allowed 12 more. Not that St. Louis is totally feeble, however: they already have 6 players with 10 or more points including the much-maligned Jenny Craig patron Keith Tkachuk (16 points), the surprising sophomore Lee Stempniak (13 points) and ex-Oiler-Star Bill Guerin (13 Points). For those uber-poolies or straight-up stats geeks out there, this Stempniak kid is even more impressive considering his 9 ES points were gathered in only 165 minutes of ES ice. Meaning his production is right around 3.27 ESP/60. That's a pretty elite number considering that Jarome Iginla was leading the Flames with a 3.08 ESP/60 figure back around game #13. Course, one might well imagine that Stempniak isn't facing the toughest opposition most nights (no doubt reserved for the likes of Weight, Tkachuk and Guerin), but kudos to him for making the most of it so far. Definately someone to watch for in the future.
Guys to watch for on the Flames side of the ledger include Iginla, Lombardi and Tanguay. Iginla's excellent start to the season has been well documented by the mainstream media. No need to go any further into that.
On the other hand, Matthew Lombardi's impressive early play has gone by basically unnoticed. Lombo has 12 points in 16 games so far and is a team high +10. If you missed it, it was Lombardi's end-to-end rush that set-up Huselius' winnning marker aginst the Canucks on Saturday. He frequently looks dangerous breaking across the oppostion's blueline and has become rather proficient in his own end as well (as evidenced by his excellent +/- rating). Not to mention he's also Calgary's top penalty-killing forward in terms of ice-time currently. Huzzah!
Further, Alex Tanguay certainly looks like he's turned a corner. He's got 4 points in his last two contests, including the incredibly slick feed that set-up Warrener's game tying goal on Sunday. Slowly but surely Tanguay's becoming more comfortable and thus greater offensive threat every game.
With all that in mind, it'd be nice to see Calgary score a PP goal tonight. It's becoming more and more difficult to even remember what that feels like anymore. Killing the majority of penalties they take sure would be swell too. It's all just sugar coating if they manage to win the game, but it would no doubt be an easier win if they could somehow muster one or both of the aforementioned feats...
Anyways, prediction time. 4-2 Flames - Phaneuf (PP), Lundmark, Lombardi and Huselius with the goals.
Go Flames!
Up to that point, the only things the Flames had managed to do was take penalties and then suck at killing them off. Few scoring chances to speak of, zero ability to make simple plays with the added disadvtange of having played the night before. I figured I'd save myself the pain of the inevitable defeat and watch a movie instead...
Imagine my chagrin when checking the scores later that night. D'oh!
If you subscribe to a sort of chaos theory in which everything is metaphysically and inextricably related, then perhaps my simple act of turning off the game somehow lead to the improbable Calgary comeback; like a butterfly's flight causing a hurricane. And, if so, then you all owe me a debt of gratitude. The player's too. And it's something I would gladly do in the future to evoke further Flame's victories.
Course, if my abandoning half-finished games in disgust was so powerful you no doubt would have seen Calgary best the Ducks in game 7 of the play-offs last year as well...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
16 games in and Calgary's back to an even 500. While a record of 7-7-2 hardly seemed palatable at the beginning of the season, it's certainly far more preferable to what Calgary was sitting at only two weeks ago.
The current turn-around has a lot to do with improved goaltending. After somewhat of a rocky start, Kiprusoff has worked his way back into the top 10 in the league in terms of GAA and SV%. Calgary's even-strength play has continued to be it's major strength thus far as well: in the last 5 games, Calgary has outscored the opposition 13-1 when 5on5 (plus 1 short-handed goal).
Which is pretty darn encouraging. A decent 5on5 goal differential is often a true measure of team's overall ability: one can reasonably expect the special teams to fall in line if the ES play is strong. So while the Flames pretty much stink on the PK and PP right now, I can honestly say I don't think that will remain true for the majority of the season. The Flames have the roster and the ability to bring those up to at least median levels of respectability. And, should their ES play remain as dominant, the wins will soon come tumbling after.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tonight the lowly Blues come a-callin'. St Louis has a 5-8-3 record over 16 games, which might actually be an improvement over last year's version of the same team, but is still hardly fearsome. The Blues have scored 1 less goal than the Flames over 16 contests, but have allowed 12 more. Not that St. Louis is totally feeble, however: they already have 6 players with 10 or more points including the much-maligned Jenny Craig patron Keith Tkachuk (16 points), the surprising sophomore Lee Stempniak (13 points) and ex-Oiler-Star Bill Guerin (13 Points). For those uber-poolies or straight-up stats geeks out there, this Stempniak kid is even more impressive considering his 9 ES points were gathered in only 165 minutes of ES ice. Meaning his production is right around 3.27 ESP/60. That's a pretty elite number considering that Jarome Iginla was leading the Flames with a 3.08 ESP/60 figure back around game #13. Course, one might well imagine that Stempniak isn't facing the toughest opposition most nights (no doubt reserved for the likes of Weight, Tkachuk and Guerin), but kudos to him for making the most of it so far. Definately someone to watch for in the future.
Guys to watch for on the Flames side of the ledger include Iginla, Lombardi and Tanguay. Iginla's excellent start to the season has been well documented by the mainstream media. No need to go any further into that.
On the other hand, Matthew Lombardi's impressive early play has gone by basically unnoticed. Lombo has 12 points in 16 games so far and is a team high +10. If you missed it, it was Lombardi's end-to-end rush that set-up Huselius' winnning marker aginst the Canucks on Saturday. He frequently looks dangerous breaking across the oppostion's blueline and has become rather proficient in his own end as well (as evidenced by his excellent +/- rating). Not to mention he's also Calgary's top penalty-killing forward in terms of ice-time currently. Huzzah!
Further, Alex Tanguay certainly looks like he's turned a corner. He's got 4 points in his last two contests, including the incredibly slick feed that set-up Warrener's game tying goal on Sunday. Slowly but surely Tanguay's becoming more comfortable and thus greater offensive threat every game.
With all that in mind, it'd be nice to see Calgary score a PP goal tonight. It's becoming more and more difficult to even remember what that feels like anymore. Killing the majority of penalties they take sure would be swell too. It's all just sugar coating if they manage to win the game, but it would no doubt be an easier win if they could somehow muster one or both of the aforementioned feats...
Anyways, prediction time. 4-2 Flames - Phaneuf (PP), Lundmark, Lombardi and Huselius with the goals.
Go Flames!
Friday, November 10, 2006
Flight of the Mallards
That odd and unfamiliar you noise you might hear coming from up North tonight may be the sound of Oiler fans actually cheering for the Flames.
Spite will be their driving motivator, you understand. Spite and Schadenfreude.
Course, Oil fans haven't been given much to savour in terms of the latter sentiment so far this year: the Pronger lead Ducks broke an NHL record last night by beating the Canucks and gathering a point in their 16th straight game. Further, Pronger himself is enjoying a career season with 15 points in 16 games and a rating of +12. Oh what a bitter pill!
The Traitor's not the only thing the Flames have to worry about tonight, though. The Ducks have been successful so far because they're good at just about everything. They have the 2nd best win percentage in the league (.875), 3rd best Goals for average (3.56), 3rd best GA average (2.00) and the fourth best powerplay AND penalty kill. They are +15 at even-strength (37 goals for, 22 against) and a staggering +25 overall (57 goals for, 32 against).
What this means for Calgary tonight is they will have to play a complete game at both ends in order to compete. If the PP fails again or if the PK falls on hard times once more, the Ducks will undoubtedly be adding to their record setting start to the season. Im not too worried about the Flames at ES - that's been the clubs strength thus far - but the other areas have been inconsistent at best and downright crappy at worst. The good news is, Calgary has been steadily improving over the last week or so. Not to mention the Quackers will be playing for the second time in two nights; let's hope they used up all their mojo on the West Coast last night. Plus...well...Anaheim has to lose at some point. Right Edmonton fans?
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Tanguay Injury News
According to TSN, Tanguay is suffering from a pinched nerve in his neck. Lucikly it doesn't sound too severe meaning it's possible he's going to play against Anaheim on Friday (yay!).
Back on Track. Kinda.
The Flames took advantage of a tired Dallas team to get the victory last night.
To a degree, anyways.
Calgary further improved on a bunch of stuff in yesterday's game: they won the majority of face-offs for a change and their PK was a second away from being flawless. They lead in the hits department and Kipper was the best goalie on the ice.
On the other hand, some of the weaknesses that have been apparent since day one were still quite obviously in attendence: a terrible, terrible powerplay and an easily stuffed break-out. The result of the two was the inabilty to generate more shots than the opposition, another affliction suffered by this club more often than not thus far this season.
I won't rain on the parade any further, however. This win was quite obviously a step in the right direction. The Flames are slowly but surely shoring up their deficiencies while maintaining their strengths. Im not sure that the Calgary break-out will ever improve much (it's been the same the last few years - rim the puck along the boards. Ugh), but one more goal a night out of the PP would do wonders for the Flame's record, no doubt. Consider that Calgary has allowed the 2nd least amount of goals in the league at even strength. If the PK is indeed back on track, Calgary would easily get back into the black in terms of total goal differential if they had any sort of PP worth talking about. And a positive goal differential always = wins.
Positives:
- Tony Amonte. Probably his best game as a Flame. Tireless penalty killer and actually looked dangerous in the offensive zone. All this after I've been ripping into him around here for the last few weeks.
- Roman Hamrlik. He's enjoyed a renaissance since being re-teamed with Phaneuf. Is currently the Flames #1 defenseman.
- Jarome Iginla. Takes draws, kills penalties, sets up teammates on the PP. There's nothing that Jarome currently isn't doing well.
- Andrew Ference. Big fight and a relatively error free evening. Lord I hope he keeps it up.
- Miika Kiprusoff. Although the team played well, Kipper is probably the reason they won the game.
Negatives:
- The PP. 0 for 7 and only 2 shots on goal. Laughable.
- The break-out. I've concluded that the Flames break-out is one of the worst in the league. It's the primary reason the Flames get hemmed in their own end for long sequences. More direct tape to tape passes and something besides rimming the puck to a winger standing still on the half-boards is required.
- Only 17 shots on goal. The Flames actually generated a decent amount of scoring chances, but ended up either making one too many passes or hitting the post most of the time.
- Injury woes. Here we go. With Zyuzin, Friesen and Yelle already on the shelf, messiah-turned-scapegoat Alex Tanguay hurts his shoulder delivering a hit. No word on the extent of the injury yet.
Next up - the mighty (in nature if not by name) Ducks.
To a degree, anyways.
Calgary further improved on a bunch of stuff in yesterday's game: they won the majority of face-offs for a change and their PK was a second away from being flawless. They lead in the hits department and Kipper was the best goalie on the ice.
On the other hand, some of the weaknesses that have been apparent since day one were still quite obviously in attendence: a terrible, terrible powerplay and an easily stuffed break-out. The result of the two was the inabilty to generate more shots than the opposition, another affliction suffered by this club more often than not thus far this season.
I won't rain on the parade any further, however. This win was quite obviously a step in the right direction. The Flames are slowly but surely shoring up their deficiencies while maintaining their strengths. Im not sure that the Calgary break-out will ever improve much (it's been the same the last few years - rim the puck along the boards. Ugh), but one more goal a night out of the PP would do wonders for the Flame's record, no doubt. Consider that Calgary has allowed the 2nd least amount of goals in the league at even strength. If the PK is indeed back on track, Calgary would easily get back into the black in terms of total goal differential if they had any sort of PP worth talking about. And a positive goal differential always = wins.
Positives:
- Tony Amonte. Probably his best game as a Flame. Tireless penalty killer and actually looked dangerous in the offensive zone. All this after I've been ripping into him around here for the last few weeks.
- Roman Hamrlik. He's enjoyed a renaissance since being re-teamed with Phaneuf. Is currently the Flames #1 defenseman.
- Jarome Iginla. Takes draws, kills penalties, sets up teammates on the PP. There's nothing that Jarome currently isn't doing well.
- Andrew Ference. Big fight and a relatively error free evening. Lord I hope he keeps it up.
- Miika Kiprusoff. Although the team played well, Kipper is probably the reason they won the game.
Negatives:
- The PP. 0 for 7 and only 2 shots on goal. Laughable.
- The break-out. I've concluded that the Flames break-out is one of the worst in the league. It's the primary reason the Flames get hemmed in their own end for long sequences. More direct tape to tape passes and something besides rimming the puck to a winger standing still on the half-boards is required.
- Only 17 shots on goal. The Flames actually generated a decent amount of scoring chances, but ended up either making one too many passes or hitting the post most of the time.
- Injury woes. Here we go. With Zyuzin, Friesen and Yelle already on the shelf, messiah-turned-scapegoat Alex Tanguay hurts his shoulder delivering a hit. No word on the extent of the injury yet.
Next up - the mighty (in nature if not by name) Ducks.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Dallas Game Preview
The surprising 11-3-0 Dallas Stars are the opposition tonight. Riding on the back of stellar penalty-killing, other-worldly goaltending and relatively soft opposition, the Stars have leaped out to their best start in franchise victory.
As good as their record looks, I personally think the great start by the Stars is somewhat illusory: of their 11 wins, 6 have come at the expense of the LA Kings (3), the Coyotes, Blackhawks and the Blues and one came at the official-caused victimization of the Oilers. The Stars 3 losses came against the Sharks, the Red Wings and Vancouver last night. Hmmm...
Also, as mentioned, Dallas has benefitted from some ridiculously good goaltending from both puckstoppers so far. "Ridiculously" as in "unsustainably" good. In 11 games so far, Marty Turco has a 0.931 SP and a 1.99 GAA. His freshman back-up, Mike Smith, has managed even better firgures in 3 contests: 0.951 SP and 1.31 GAA. Impressive. So impressive one can't resonably expect it to continue in that vein indefinately. Not that Turco isn't a fine goalie and all - his career numbers are pretty impressive and he's a perrenial league leader in terms of goalie stats. But even Kipper, who won the Vezina and Jennings trophies last year, only managed a 2.07 GAA and 0.923 SP over the course of last season.
So expect Turco's (and Smith's) number to take a bit of a dive, eventually. Especially when Dallas starts playing some stiffer competition on a more consistent basis.
As for the Flames, they're looking to win two in a row for the first time this season. Calgary probably would be on a bit of streak had they received NHL caliber goaltending in Columbus, but...that's the way it goes when you're struggling. Thankfully, the last two contests have featured some positives for the first time in a few weeks. I didn't get to see the game against the Blues, but the team finally looked something akin to what I expected from them this season against the BJs...
Course, Calgary is still really bad on the PK. Columbus scored all 4 goals with the man advantage and both of St. Louis' markers came on the PP as well (basically). The Flames are currently 26th in the league in terms of penalty-killing with the likes of Washington, St. Louis, Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia ahead of them. What this means to me is Calgary cannot possibly continue to be this bad one man down. A defense-first philosophy with a strong blueline and the best goalie in the league should eventually equate to a strong PK. It'll help once Stephane Yelle returns as well.
Overall, if Calgary can continue to improve, most notably by addressing their special teams issues, it should be a pretty competitive contest tonight. However, if Turco continues to play godlike and if the Star's dominate the PK and PP, expect another mark in the loss column come tomorrow morning.
Go Flames!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)