Friday, December 21, 2007

Gameday - Stars


Friday, December 21, 2007


Pengrowth Saddledome

Dallas @ Calgary

TSN, KDFI


  • The Flames return to Calgary after winning all of their games in a six game road trip, to host the Stars.

  • Dallas is at the end of a four game road trip, with a 2-1 record coming off a loss in Vancouver last night.

  • Mike Ribiero is the goals (16) and points (34) leader for the Dallas Stars, with Zubov holding the lead in assists (18). Yes you read that correctly, Mike Ribiero, the Habs cast-off is leading a team in scoring. Maybe the guy does have some skill, but he's probably just faking it...

  • Marty Turco usually plays well against the Flames (career 1.83 GAA), but you have to keep in mind that he also played against the pre-Campbell trophy winning Flames as well...

  • Apparently Dallas is the Western conference team against which Kipper has his worst record, so I can't think of a better time for him to steal a game.

  • Lombardi scored the game winner when these two teams met early in the season.

I'm not a fan of Dallas, with the possible exception of whenever they play the Oilers in the playoffs. Cause then they take up the mantle of 'Second Favourite Team in the Calgary Flames Universe'...

This game figures to be rather low scoring, as I don't see much offense coming from Texas, and the shutdown style of play from the Stars will probably be pretty efficient against a one-line team...

I watched the game on FSN-O on Tuesday night (c'mon, Roger Millions in regular definition or some Columbus homers in HD, which would you choose?), which was interesting. I got to listen to them complain about Nash not drawing a penalty when Hale decided to stop letting him lean on him and Ricky hit the ice. They must have shown it ten times from twenty different angles (or something more mathematically probable), and even my indifferent brother could tell what had actually happened. Heck, I'm sure that if Ricky decided not to take the dive (I'm not sure what kind of dive it was though, the closest thing I could come up with was a cannonball), he may have actually gotten a shot off. Stupid homerism...

Actually, I kind of like homerism. It gives opposing fans something to rant and laugh about...

Yay homerism!

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to get the Stars feed (as much as I like Darryl Reaugh's work), and I don't think it'd be in HD anyway...

I'm thinking that the Flames winning streak continues tonight and Kipper gets his first shutout of the season (I have to be right eventually, right?) against a low-scoring 'offense'. Flames win in a one-sided barn burner, 7-0. And Lombardi gets a hat trick, including a shortie (doubling the team's output on the season in the category), while playing with somebody other than Conroy and Boyd (Tanguay?). The other Flames goals come from Tanguay (who finally has a centre that can skate), Iginla, Huselius, and Godard (hey, the rest of my prediction is just as unlikely)...

Oh, and somebody will make Ribiero cry (Dion!)...

Go Flames!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

As bad as whoever that play-by-play guy and Danny Gare was, they were both better than Millions and Simmer. Which is why I'll always choose the opponent's HD broadcast as long as they're in the booth.

Have you noticed that Garrett, when he's along, tempers the Rog and makes him shut up and stop using nicknames? That's what happens when you have a good analyst.

Steal Thunder said...

I've actually only recently been introduced to the Rog, so I haven't picked up on all of his annoying habits and nuances yet.

If they are showing a game on another market's feed, I will watch it if its available (especially if its in HD)...

Actually, I think that as Centre Ice subscribers and living in Ontario (outside the blackout zone), we actually have better game coverage than those living in Alberta...

We just don't have the chances to go and actually watch a game at the Saddledome unless we go out there, nor do we have the chance to celebrate big wins with a lot of other Flames fans...

Hmmm, I'm starting to think its a bit of a draw...

Steal Thunder said...

Actually, speaking of annoying nuances, I'm starting to get the impression that I really like to use the word actually...

And I've wondered about the abilities of Simmer as an analyst. I've seen a number of them over the years, and he doesn't really seem to bring a lot to the table...