Well ladies and gentlemen, we did it. Or rather, The Predators did it. For their part, the Flames were willing to let Nashville do the dirty work and then coast into the post-season. Four straight losses to end the year, including a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the barely NHL-caliber Edmonton Oilers. Sure, it was a nothing game for Calgary once they learned the Avs had been eliminated - but it still grinds me that the Oiler's only regulation victory in 5 weeks had to come against the Flames. Ugh. To say nothing of Joe Sakic, who scored his 20th point in just his 8TH GAME against an undermanned Flames squad yesterday. God help us if Burnaby Joe ever gets traded to Nashville.
Anyways, all I can say is, "I'm glad that's over". The regular season had become one, long, endless trip to the dentist for this Flames fan, and the only thing to look forward to these last few weeks was the cessation of pain. Five game losing streak, 6 game winning streak. Lose to Chicago, beat Detroit. An ignoble back-in entrance to the post-season. Tony Amonte on the ice during the last-minute of 1 goal games.
Color me unimpressed. The Flames had their fate in their hands and they very nearly dropped it in the sewer. They stank in the last 4 games of the year - like they stank in the first 4 in October and many, many others away from the Dome all season.
Of course, all that can be thrown out the window starting today. The crappy PK, the terrible road record, the losing streak, the continued undercheivement. All that can be rendered immaterial by a solid post-season run a la 05/06 Oilers. Nervous Jimmy can be forgiven this forgettable campaign and reinvigorate his chances to remain the Flames bench boss by propelling this team beyond the first-round disappointment they were a year ago.
Am I confident it can be done? Hard to say. The Flames have been both brilliant and terrible this year. One of the best teams in the league at home and yet one of the worst on the road. More offense than anyone would have guessed, poorer defense than seems possible. From November through January, Calgary looked like an elite squad. In October, February and March, they were frequently mediocre and occasionally dreadful.
Will the team that won 10 straight home games show up for the post-season? or will it be the hapless road squad that succumbed to good and bad opposition with equal aplomb? Will the unstoppable December-version of Jarome Iginla take to the ice against Detroit? Or will it be Jarmoe, that listless doppleganger who stumbled through a 67 point season in 05/06?
I can't honestly say for certain what to expect from the Flames come Thursday. I haven't much confidence in the guy behind the bench, which, if such sentiments are shared by the players, doesn't speak well for our prospects of victory. I DO, however, hold a better view of the players themselves: 8th place seeding aside, I still think this is one of the best rosters Calgary has seen in more than a decade. The Flames have four 70+ point getters, eleven(!) 10+ goal scorers, a veritable treasure trove of defensive depth and a top 5 goalie. Hell, there are some claiming that the #1 seeded Detroit Red Wings are the underdogs going into round one.
I'm not convinced of that myself. Detroit again feasted on the Central Division's weaker sisters all year, sure, but they also handed the Flames two of their most embarrassing defeats this season. The first was a 3-2L in November - a score that flattered the Flames given they were outshot 34-15. The second was the horrid 7-4 debacle that occurred on the heels of the Andrew Ference/Brad Stuart swap. Anyone who claims that that was Calgary's worst game of the season has a solid argument: they were outshot an incredible 50-20. The score looks semi-respectable thanks only to 3rd stringer Joey MacDonald's 0.800 SV% from that night - insert Hasek in his stead and 7-1 is a much more likely scenario.
But, to echo an earlier sentiment, that's all in the past. It may not sound like it, but I'm genuinely eager for the onset of the post-season. I think the Flames match-up relatively well with the Red Wings (that's another post altogether) and few things match the fun and breathy, fervent madness of a good play-off series.
Be sure to check out a view from the other side over at Abel to Yzerman now and throughout the first round. A better, more informative (and humorous) resource for Red Wings info doesn't exist.
