Playoff Predictions - Round 2

Quick and Dirty

Not a whole lot of time right now, as I'm off to my floor hockey game, but I figured I'd better get this out beforethe second round actually starts (I'll touch it up when I get home, but the predictions will stay the same)...

I went 5 for 8 in the first round, but I did get the East entirely right...

Detroit vs San Jose

I think the Wings have a solid team, but the Flames exposed their weakness in their defensive zone (the few chances they had in there), and also with special teams. The Sharks are a pretty solid team all around, although they do have a pretty young blueline. Sharks in 7...

Anaheim vs Vancouver

Despite the heroics of Luongo, the Canucks just don't have the firepower to keep pace with the Ducks. Especially when the twins are held in check. Ducks in 5...

Buffalo vs New York Rangers

The Sabres have a solid team, although they let a weaker Islanders team hang around last series, almost blowing big leads a couple times. The Rangers are built well and had no trouble dispatching the Thrashers in the opening round. I think momentum carries this one. Rangers in 6...

New Jersey vs Ottawa

The Senatros are finally looking like the team that everyone expected them to be four years ago and looked dominant against a young Penguins team. Brodeur hasn't looked his usually stoic self the last part of the year, as opposed to Emery, who has been improving all season. Senators in 6...

It's Over

After the Storm

I've been MIA from the blogosphere lately, but it hasn't been entirely on purpose. I wasn't home very much this weekend, and when I was, it was only to sleep or get ready to head out again...

As such, I have yet to put in my response to the play of the Flames in the last couple games or my PVR's now imperfect record of 10-1 (yes, I did watch the game live on Sunday night, sorry)...

I have the game from Saturday afternoon on my PVR still (despite being told I should just delete it), and will probably get around to watching it and the other two recorded games over the course of this weekend. I can't say that I'm really looking forward to seeing the Flames lose again, and I have already seen the highlights (and lowlights) from the game, but I will watch the game regardless. I think it will help me try to wrap my head around what happened to this team on the road and may give me a bit more closure on the season...

I've already had a couple days to dwell on the Flames being out of the playoffs, and now that I'm wide awake and sober I realize that it wouldn't have been right for this 'team' to have made it to the second round on the back of Miikka alone...

There are a couple of things that Sutter has to do in the off season to fix the team for next year, the biggest being his coaching staff. The offence was remarkably potent over the course of the season, but the defence seemed quite porous, especially on the road. And I'm not talking about the blueline alone, as there seemed to occasionally be a lack of effort on behalf of the forwards to backcheck and cover the points in the Flames zone. Which was most evident in the playoff round against the Red Wings, when the boys were giving up an ungodly number of shots due to an inability to clear the puck...

I'm not sure if there is anything else to say on this point, beyond the need for the team to do some housecleaning to get rid of what can afford to and make space for what they need. There are some players that need not be brought back for next season (Amonte, McCarty) and it would be nice to see a couple of the boys from Omaha get a good chance next year (I'm looking at McElhinney and Boyd here)...

I'm not sure who I'll cheer for in the second round yet, but it'll probably be Ottawa and the Rangers in the East, and I'll be cheering for Detroit and against the Canucks in the West...

I'd just like to thank the Red Wings bloggers that took the time to sort through some of my meaningless drivel, and I will most certainly add a couple of you to my blogroll on the side of my page. Good luck in the next round!

The picture at the top of this post is actually one I took while on vacation in Scotland a couple years ago. I've been told that I have a pretty good eye, which is good because I can't write, draw, or play music with any semblance of talent whatsoever. This pic is probably my favourite...

My not so evil twin

10-0!!!

Okay, so I got home last night in time to have caught the last half of the game, but decided to just let the PVR handle it and watched a couple other shows instead (along with bits of the other games until my brother pointed out that they might flash the Flames - Red Wings score at some point). Couldn't chance that...


When I was watching the Ottawa- Pittsburgh game with a buddy of mine after our own game, a thing came up on the screen mentioning that the national broadcast would be the Vancouver game (since it was a 3-1 series), I had to make a quick call home. I hadn't actually set the PVR myself, but I had planned on calling my brother before the puck was supposed to drop and get him to do it. Apparently I didn't have to. Not only had he already set it, but he saw the announcement for the regional broadcast as well, and had set it for one of the few stations we get that was showing it (god bless time-shifting)...


Of course, when I did get home he spent the next hour and a half asking me if I wanted to know what the score was...


But that's alright, as he's a good enough brother to not actually spoil it for me. I'm kind of stunned that he would record it for me in the first place, given that he is frequently complaining about the Flames games I already have saved on it. But he's cool like that, I guess...


Since I couldn't use my Ritchie PVR picture (as he wasn't playing lst night), I had to create a new one with Langkow...


Of course, most of my PVR's record can be attributable to home games, so the real test will be Saturday afternoon in Detroit. I have a potential finals game in my one tournament at 3:00 and a round robin game in my other tournament at 4:30, so I will be missing the Flames game regardless. Let's just hope the record can carry through...


Go Flames!!!

Taking one for the team

What did I miss?

So last night I decided to take one for the team and skip the Flames game. I set my PVR and was supposed to play an exhibition game at 9:30, but I have been so exhausted lately I just decided to stay in... and go to bed at 10:30...

I was tossing and turning for the better part of the night wondering if I did the right thing by not staying up for the game. I worried for my PVR's record (for no reason apparently) getting tarnished, which I'm sure happens to all records when they have grown a life of their own and defied the odds. Like my brother finally winning on his 41st cup of coffee in this year's Tim Hortons 'Roll up the rim to play again' contest, I know it will eventually come to an end...

But not last night! 9-0! Booya!

I'm not sure when I'll actually get a chance to watch the game (as I'm in two ice hockey tournaments this weekend starting tomorrow night, and I have a playoff floor hockey game tonight), but I've already gotten a feel for what I missed from various sources around the Flames blogosphere...

Gio played and scored a goal, Phaneuf was cheapshotted by Dan Cleary (really starting to not like that guy), Amonte played the final minutes of the game AGAIN, Iggy scored the game winner, and the Saddledome was apparently rocking...

It appears as though our collective superstitiousness (is that a word) may have payed off last night...

Back in the Saddle(dome)

Home Sweet Home...

After a couple of rough games in Detroit featuring the Evil Road Flames, the boys are finally back in Calgary in an effort to even up the series before heading back to 'the Joe'...

Not only are the boys back in town (well, not my town, but still...), but I have a hockey game of my own at 9:30 (EST) tonight, so I will have to tape the Flames game. I trust that the perfect 8-0 record will only be strengthened with the home Flames on the ice tonight. I'll probably only miss the first half of the game in all likelihood, but I hope that me watching the game on delay (and slowly catching up) will not affect anything...

Most of the key things for the Flames tonight has already been covered throughout the Flames blogosphere, so I won't go into too much detail here...

Although, since Amonte didn't get on the ice in game 2 until close to the 13 minute mark of the first period, I think I've found a way to keep him off the ice in the final minutes of every period. Unfortunately, it involves taking a penalty (as he doesn't play on the penalty kill), so I think he may actually be the lesser of the two evils...

And Regehr is apparently out again (with a different injury), which is truly unfortunate as he was looking fairly effective on Sunday while limiting shots. Maybe if he could teach this skill to the rest of the Flames blueliners before the game tonight, Kipper might actually see a little less rubber. The guy hopefully has to play more than four more games this post-season, so it would probably be a good idea if he wasn't shell-shocked after this series...

I've decided not to make predictions during the playoffs, as I'm always wrong anyway (although I am thinking of a score for tonight's game between 1-0 and 5-4)...

For the Flames of course...

Here's hoping...

The Forgotten Intangible...

When I posted my intangibles the other day, I forgot perhaps the most relevant one...

The Evil Road Flames...

I don't know how I forgot about them, but they were more than a little prevalent in Thursday's game. Let's just hope they have gone back into whatever hole they crawled out of...

Postgame - Detroit game 1

Where's the rest of the team?

While I was watching the game tonight and scaring my brother's girlfriend with my loud outbursts of profanity, I kept asking myself 'How bad would the score have been if Kipper wasn't in net?'...

Sure Detroit scored four goals, but its not like Miikka had a chance on any of them. The evil road Flames were out on full display tonight, missing checks and passes and pinching in too much. They couldn't seem to get the puck out of their own zone, and when they did they would miss the next pass or would just dump the puck in a little too far. They couldn't seem to clear out the front of the net, allowing way too many screened shots on Kipper, who repeatedly came up with huge saves on what appeared to be open nets...

And it was awful nice of Cleary to drop his shoulder as he went by Kipper at the end of the game. Sure Kipper embellished a little, but its not like Cleary tried to avoid him, just the opposite. And despite what Grabia was saying in the BofA comments section, he was not three feet out of his crease. Just brutal (which could actually be the word of the game from a Flames perspective)...

If the boys can just hold Detroit to a reasonable amount of shots, they should be able to turn this series around. I'm sure Sutter was down in the dressing room after the game, giving the team a bit of a speech and hopefully pulling Jimmy aside with a few little suit recommendations (I'm not saying Darryl dresses well, but good god Jimmy)...

I just don't know what else to say at this point... CRAP!!!

Playoffs Round 1 - Detroit Red Wings

Into the great wide open...

I think we all know the story of Icarus and his wings...

I've posted the schedule below and a bunch of Red Wings blog links to the right...

Thu, April 12 7:00 p.m. at Detroit (VERSUS, CBC)
Sun, April 15 1:00 p.m. at Detroit (NBC, CBC)
Tue, April 17 10:00 p.m. at Calgary (CBC, VERSUS)
Thu, April 19 10:00 p.m. at Calgary (CBC, VERSUS)
Sat, April 21 3:00 p.m. at Detroit (NBC, CBC)
Sun, April 22 9:00 p.m. at Calgary (CBC, VERSUS)
*Tue, April 24 TBD at Detroit (CBC, VERSUS)

Much like everyone else, I'm going to break down the series by position and intangibles from my own perspective. Unfortunately I didn't get to see as many Detroit games as I would have liked to this season (due to never being home), but I'll do what I can...

Goaltenders

I basically analyze this as a battle between a goalie who barely faces any shots, to one whose defencemen have been having trouble stopping shooters this season. Hasek is not the goalie he was 5 years ago when he won the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings, not even close. And he's even further removed from his trip to the finals with Buffalo. He's obviously older and a little slower, although he's still better than most starters in the league. I just don't know about his durability. Everyone knows about his injury history as of late, but I'm thinking more in terms of his endurance. Playoff series games are closer together than the regular season and I'm not convinced that Hasek's 42 year old body is capable of lasting for a long series, especially one that may include an overtime game or two. His save percentage this past season was the lowest it has ever been for a season in which he started at least 30 games. I honestly don't know if he'll even last through this series, especially when the two teams have to play games across two time zones on back-to-back days...

Miikka Kiprusoff may be the defending Vezina trophy winner, but it was a little hard to tell this season. His defence, which looks like it should be on an all-star roster on paper, seemed to have a propensity to let guys get around them on the outside this past season and get shots off from the outside. The previous two seasons this wouldn't have concerned me as much, but every now and then Kipper seemed to have a little trouble with some of these. I know that he is always shaky to start the season, but usually after that he develops some consistency. We didn't see that this season. Instead he seemed to go on streaks where he would shut downthe opponents for several games, and then he'd have a few games where he'd be letting in five to seven goals. Lately he started to come around a little though, so I'm a little less concerned than I was a few weeks ago. I think the major concern in regards to goaltending for the Flames is who is sitting on the players' bench. I'm sure that Detroit fans are a lot more comfortable with Chris Osgood riding their pine, than us Calgary fans are with Jamie McLennan. No disrespect to Noodles intended, but I just don't think we can win this series without Kipper in net...

Defence

When it comes to the blueline, neither of these teams are really lacking in talent. The Red Wings' blueline includes what could easily be considered the most complete defenceman in the last 10 years (if not longer), in Nicklas Lidstrom. Sharing the back end with him are Mathieu Schneider, Chris Chelios, Danny Markov, Brett Lebda, Andreas Lilja, and the injured Niklas Kronwall (probably being replaced by rookie Kyle Quincey). Much like in between the twine, a big concern here could be age. Lidstrom is 36, Schneider is 37, and Chelios is a staggering 45 years old. I have no doubt of Lidstrom's abilities to keep up with the game, but with Kronwall out the Red Wings are likely going to have to get a little more playing time out of Schneider at least. The Red Wings have no real depth at this position, so for every guy that goes down from their big minute guys, they take a huge hit in terms of effectiveness. When your replacement for your top young defenceman has only played 6 NHL games (4 of which were in the final 4 games of the season), you could be in for some serious trouble. A position I normally see as a strength for the Red Wings could easily turn into a weakness...

When you look at the roster sheet for the Calgary D-men, something that becomes readily identifiable is that 6 of their top 8 defencemen were first round draft picks, and another was an early second round pick (Warrener at 27th overall). The only guy that wasn't picked in the top 30 of his draft year was Mark Giordano, who wasn't even drafted (so essentially, no Flames defenceman was drafted later than 27th overall). In fact, there are even 1st, 2nd, and 3rd overall picks on the roster. Which would make you think that the boys should be damn near dominant in games. But for some reason they aren't. The oldest blueliner on the roster is only 33 (Roman Hamrlik), so you know that age isn't the issue. They just can't seem to get the job done when it comes to clearing the zone or keeping shots to the outside. I realize that just because a player is drafted high doesn't mean he will be an all-star, but he should be pretty well versed in the position. I'm not sure how these guys will perform on the big stage, but you would have to think that they have stepped up their game before when it mattered, so they should be able to do it when it really counts, right? RIGHT? The one thing we do have over the Red Wings in this department is our depth (a lesson learned from our last cup run and vital since Regehr is currently out), so I think we have the advantage in this department, Lidstrom or not...

Forwards

This is one area where I do have to admit a fairly big gap in knowledge about the opponent. Beyond the top line of Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Holmstrom, I haven't heard very much about these guys all year. I know Lang is still there, but he is obviously not the player he was when he first got to Motown (especially at the age of 36). Bertuzzi is expected to miss the first game, but I'm not convinced he isn't still the shell of the player that dominated in Vancouver. And to that note, I don't think he would be effective outside the top line anyway (and I don't know that they would move Holmstrom to the second line). Once you get past these players, I haven't heard a whole lot about the rest of the Red Wing forwards this season. I remember Daniel Cleary and Kyle Calder from junior, as well as Jiri Hudler and Johan Franzen, but they have not been the force they were expected to be in the NHL. Calder was on a short tear when he got to Detroit from Philly, but what has he done since then? I know this may be a foolish notion, but I think that if our defencemen can contain the top line and keep Bertuzzi out of the crease, we should be alright...

When it comes to the Flames forwards, I think it all comes down to Jimmy Playfair developing some consistency in his lines. I think we have a pretty solid top 5 forwards in Iginla, Langkow, Tanguay, Huselius, and Conroy. I would put these guys in lines, but you know that Playfair is just going to move them around throughout the game anyway. I'm starting to think the guy overmanages some aspects of the game, while neglecting others. But I'll save the Playfair talk for later. Filling out the top two lines would ideally be David Moss, who has appeared to come from nowhere this season to play an integral part for the Flames (beyond scoring goals, he also occasionally keeps Amonte off the top two lines). With Friesen out (I have completely reversed on my earlier opinion of him), it looks like the grind line will probably be Yelle, Nilson, and possibly Amonte, with Ritchie, Primeau, and Lombardi forming the other line. When McCarty returns he will probably bump Ritchie up to the press box, but we'll cross this bridge when we come to it. Overall, I'm fairly confident this group can do well. We have speed on every line to keep the Red Wings defencemen on their toes and to potentially expose any weaknesses from their lack of depth. The Friesen loss hurts a little, as he is one of our better forecheckers, but I think we have enough depth on the bench to provide a stopgap while he's gone...

Coaching

This is one area that I certainly think that Calgary is at a disadvantage. I know very little about Mike Babcock, beyond him taking the Mighty Ducks to the finals in his first season. He missed the playoffs in his second season before going over to Detroit following the lockout. I have read that he is a bit of a talker, but beyond that and his rollercoaster coaching record (which, in fairness, mostly took place in the roller coaster world of junior hockey), I don't know much about him. But I haven't really heard any bad things...

Jim Playfair on the other hand, hasn't really won over any fans since he took over the reigns from Darryl Sutter. In addition to his bad suits (although I have seen a couple that were kinda decent), he seems to lack confidence. He sets lines at the beginning of games that seem to be doing alright, but then he'll start changing them up as the game goes on (which could probably go a ways to explain those blown third period leads). He is constantly biting his nails and making other nervous gestures that I'm sure don't inspire the troops on his bench. He rarely makes real in-game adjustments to his strategies, beyond the afore-mentioned line blending. He's not much of a talker when it comes to the media either. And, worst of all, I think Amonte intimidates him with his hair, because somehow GrandpAmonte is always on the ice in the dying minutes of every period. If the Flames go to overtime at any point in this series, I have a feeling Tony will keel over after having played twenty straight minutes of hockey. I know the guy USED TO be a goal scorer, but come on, there is a lot more talent on the roster. He's not exactly Mr. Clutch (I miss Gelinas). Playfair passed on the head coaching job the first time it was offered to him because he said he wasn't ready. I think that is still the case. The only real saving grace here is that I think Darryl Sutter will be keeping a close eye on what's going on, and will step in to provide some assistance if/ when he has to. I think if Playfair can find a nice tailor before tonight's game, and get a suit that fits nice and can instill a little self-confidence, he might have a chance of giving his boys a bit of a moral boost. Come on Jimmy, SUIT UP!

Intangibles

How's this for an intangible? I was just informed through Dave over at Open Ice Hits that Mick McGeough has been named as a ref for the opening game tonight. Seriously? What did the Flames fans do to deserve this? Or fans in general actually? I had planned on discussing things like how the teams are pretty even against each other this year, with both teams sweeping at home. Or discussing their respective performance at even strength and on the power play and penalty kill, but this one just took over. This is no longer a Calgary vs Detroit series, but is now the Mick McGeough show. I'm going to have to buy more beer before the opening faceoff tonight...

Additionally, as I don't think I've pointed out yet, the Red Wings are old (Average age 31.2 years). I'm not sure how they would last in a long series, especially if the games start going into overtime. The oldest team to win the cup was a Leaf team (can't recall the year off-hand) at 31 years (and you can obviously guess that that was a long time ago)...

Oh yeah, and apparently a number of guys from the Flames have died their hair black (notably Kiprusoff, Huselius and McCarty), with Darren's spiked into a mohawk. I can just imagine if he still has his chin hair and he slicks it. The guy ALREADY looked like the devil. Intimidation?

Playoff Predictions - Round 1

Crapshoot...

I figure that I might as well put my guesses for each series out there now, as I don't think I'll be done my Flames vs Wings preview until sometime tomorrow (hopefully before the puck drops in Detroit)...


Eastern Conference


(1) Buffalo Sabres vs (8) New York Islanders

This is the one series that I could see only lasting 4 games. With DiPietro out, I just don't have any faith in Dubielewicz or Dunham to get the job done between the pipes for the Islanders. Heck, even with Ricky in minding the mesh, I'd still take this Sabres team to sweep the series. The four lines they roll are just that good...

Sabres in 4


(2) New Jersey Devils vs (7) Tampa Bay Lightning

I have no idea how the NHL thinks they can screw over CBC this badly by taking away a Saturday night Senators - Penguins game giving them this one as the Saturday night matchup instead. Seriously. This is going to be one of the least memorable series in Stanley Cup playoff history. Of course, you can say that about just about every New Jersey series. I'm so happy I won't be staying in Saturday night (not that I stay in any other night either, but I'm just saying)...

Devils in 6 very long and boring games (may not technically take forever, but it sure will seem like it)


(3) Atlanta Thrashers va (6) New York Rangers

This is one of those series that the people against divisional seeds will hold up as a reason to get rid of an automatic top 3 seed for divisional winners. And for very good reason. Although I have a feeling that the Rangers are fine with it, as otherwise they'd be playing Ottawa or Pittsburgh and who would want that (besides Gary Bettman). Atlanta has a pretty decent young goaltender and some strong scorers, but are weak at the back end. Of course, the same could be said about the Rangers. I just think the team from Manhattan is gelling a lot more right now...

Rangers in 6


(4) Ottawa Senators vs (5) Pittsburgh Penguins

This is being regarded as the marquee matchup of the first round, and for good reason. Both these clubs play fast, exciting hockey and feature a star player that was a phenom as a junior. Pittsburgh has a young squad that has really come around the last half of the season, while Ottawa hasn't exactly been sitting on its heels after a bad start. This series really could go either way, but I'll take the more experienced Senators for this year (and probably the Penguins if there was a rematch next year)...

Senators in 7


Western Conference

(1) Detroit Red Wings vs (8) Calgary Flames

Obviously I'm a whole lot biased in this one. I think the Flames have underperformed all season and are ready to come out of their funk. Of all the matchups that Calgary could have had, this is the one that best suits them. I think they match up quite favourably against the Red Wings and will surprise a fair number of people. But for more of my analysis, just check out my more in depth preview...

Flames in 6

(2) Anaheim Ducks vs (7) Minnesota Wild

The not so mighty Ducks have had a fairly potent offence all season and with Giguere faltering a little of late, have needed to rely on scoring to keep them atop the Pacific division. Unfortunately for them, the Wild don't play that style. Minnesota relies on being smart in their own end, and also have an offensive punch in Rolston and Gaborik. As good as the dynamic duo of Pronger and Niedermayer are on the point for Anaheim, I just don't think they'll get the power play opportunities that they'll need in this series...

Wild in 7

(3) Vancouver Canucks vs (6) Dallas Stars

I hate the ocean going spawns of satan and really wish that the Wild had passed them for the division lead. That being said, I think everyone knows of Marty Turco's history in the playoffs and his less than stellar record in the last few series especially. I also think that Luongo will steal at least one series, so it might as well be this one...

Canucks (ugh) in 5

(4) Nashville Predators vs (5) San Jose Sharks

Odd that the two best series will most likely be the 4 vs 5 in each conference. Of course, without the divisional seeding, this wouldn't have happened, but I'm not complaining (as it doesn't really affect my Flames anyway). With the addition of Forsberg, the Predators have added more scoring talent to a team that was already the highest scoring in the Western Conference. Although I do think that he offset the consistency that the team previously had. San jose is nothing to sneeze at though, with Thornton, Cheechoo, Marleau, and Guerin. Both teams have excellent goaltending tandems (which are often important in the playoffs - just ask greaser fans), so its a toss up there. I just don't have any confidence in the Sharks young blueline, so that will have to be my decider...

Predators in 7

Season Summary

I was MIA over the weekend (well, in the blogosphere anyway), as I was up North for a hockey tournament. For the third year in a row we finished 0-3, but this year we totally outplayed the last two teams, we just couldn't get the bounces in either end...

Did get to hang out with the majority of the Toronto Flames bloggers on Sunday night though. I will not remark on the actual game itself, as it truely appeared as though the boys heads weren't quite in it (not to mention the lack of Calgary's stars). It was cool to meet a couple more of the group, although I didn't see that whole 'Usual Suspects' moment coming...

Finishing off the season with 4 consecutive losses wasn't a very impressive way to go out (to say the least), but I've convinced myself that the last two games weren't lost, just given up on...

The road record was obviously ridiculously bad (with the possible exception of that 4 game road trip a couple weeks ago), but I don't think that will roll over into the playoffs. The special teams seemed to pick up near the end of the season, so I don't think they'll be that bad off there either. What I'm most worried about is Jim Playfair's inability to stay with the lineup he set, as well as his inability to adapt late in games. We just have to hope with a playoff series he can at least make game-to-game changes... and not put Amonte on the ice in crucial minutes...

And seriously, get some nicer suits...

Apparently if you google 'Eddy Belfour drunk', the first result links to the player profile I created...

Gameday - Sharks

The Flames are at the Shark Tank tonight taking on San Jose.

This is a big game for the Flames, as a win puts our boys into the playoffs and a loss, combined with a win for the Avalanche, keeps us on the edge...

I know we have the 'easy' game coming up on Saturday night, but I'd really rather not give the greasers the chance to play spoiler...

I know that Vancouver beating Colorado tonight is a lot more likely than the Flames winning against one of the better Western Conference teams on the road, but I still would much rather have the win, as the boys still have an outside chance of moving up to 7th...

The Sharks are a solid team. The have a potent offence, a solid young defence, and probably the best goaltending tandem in the NHL right now. Of course, having the best tandem doesn't mean a whole lot when you are only playing one game...

I think the boys can win this one...

Flames over Sharks 3-2 in overtime. Goals by Iginla, Tanguay, Langkow, Guerin, and Marleau...

Postgame - Avalanche

That could have gone better...

Hmmm, that was not the outcome I was looking for...

A chance for our boys to finish off their only remaining competition for the final playoff spot in our own barn and we missed it...

Not cool...

From what I saw of the last two periods, it doesn't look like the Avalanche outplayed us at all, they just got some better bounces...

And the questionable calls from the boys in stripes...

I think that most of us in Flamesland have resolved ourselves to taking the eighth spot in the playoffs and figure that this game didn't mean much since we still have an 'easy' game against the greasers on Saturday night. And especially since that game will be in the rink of the most dominant home team in the league, that the win is pretty much given...

But I'd rather not rely on that. We have an excellent chance on Thursday night to make a real statement with a road win in the barn of one of the top teams in the Western Conference, and I don't mean the Wild. I mean a team that actually has an explosive offense, with a young, experienced defence and a couple of solid options between the pipes...

The boys blew their chance tonight, but I think they will look at this as one of those rare 'good losses'. The ones that knock you off your pedestal a little bit and let you know that things aren't going to be a walk in the park for the rest of the season. After that 4-0 road trip maybe they needed that. They still have plenty of more opportunities to lock up that final spot, so the wakeup call tonight could have been a good thing...

I actually made the trip downtown (relative to where I live anyway) after my own hockey game to catch the Flames on the big screen(s) at Shoeless Joe's with Walk Invisible and Duncan tonight. We discussed some Flames issues over beer and wings while watching the game that I otherwise would have only gotten to listen to on the radio. Not that there is anything wrong with that option either...

Its always nice to be able to put faces to names (or in some cases, nicknames), and I don't think I could have found better company in the city of Toronto for the game tonight (except maybe if the rest of our little Flames blog community could have made it as well)...

Really looking forward to Sunday night, and hoping that I make it back down to the Big Smoke in time to catch the opening faceoff this time...

Also kinda hoping that the game doesn't matter anymore either...

Oh yeah, and I totally picked Friesen to score a goal tonight (of course, I also picked the Flames to win 5-1, but still)...

Gameday - Avalanche

The Flames return from an extremely succesful roadtrip (4-0) to host the Avalanche tonight in a game where they can clinch the final playoff spot in the Western Conference...

Prior to the road trip, the boys beat Detroit and Nashville in back-to-back games, so Flames fans are on a bit of a high right now, as well we should be...

In fact, I'm thinking we can still move up a playoff seed or two in this final week. Even though the Wild have an extremely easy remaining schedule, I have a feeling we can take them if the Oilers get lucky for a game or two. Although they are probably a little preoccupied with getting a better draft pick right now...

The Avs haven't been quite as hot lately, which I'm thinking is due to the fact that they don't really have a solid goaltender or defenesive corps. They can score all they want, but somebody has to be keeping the puck out at the other end...

Kipper has really stepped up his game recently, and I'm thinking he's getting ready to roll his way through the playoffs again...

I'm going to be heading down to Shoeless Joe's for the game (after my own game), and I hope to be there by the beginning of the second period. Or to at least catch the last half with WI and possibly Duncan...

Flames win convincingly 5-1, on goals by Iginla (2), Langkow, Huselius, and Friesen, with Wolski answering back for the golf course bound team from Colorado...

Do they have good golf in Denver?

Postgame - Canucks

That'll just about do it!

Woohoo! Nice job boys! Big win last night!

I PVR'd last nights game, and even though I hadn't used it in almost a month, it came through for me again. So now the record stands at 8-0. Although I don't know what will happen with it in the playoffs...

When I saw the Iggy fight at the beginning of the game, I had a good feeling the Flames would win it, and that first Vancouver goal was just ugly...

I'll probably watch the rest of the game that I missed at some point today, as I didn't catch all of it last night. I caught the first period and a bit at a pub in the Yonge and Eglinton area, but I knew I'd probably be leaving there before the game was over, so that is why I used the PVR. I made it down to the WheatSheaf just after the third started, so I did catch the end of the game there over a couple of Guinness at the bar (sorry you couldn't make it WI, although I don't know that we would have recognized each other anyway)...