Postgame - Nashville

At least my surroundings were good...

As some of you may know, I'm currently in Alberta to take in a little hockey while on my vacation (and I'm ever so happy not to be in Ontario right now). And since this is a hockey vacation, I may throw a little extra stuff out there that isn't completely hockey related and you probably don't really care about...

On Friday night my brother and I went to Flames Central where we met up with WI, MG, Rob and Leanne to watch the boys lose to the Nashville Predators. We really aren't good luck for the boys when we gather in large groups, but unless we decide to start getting together for Oiler or Canucks games, I don't really see a way around this (maybe we'll just have to wait until they wrap up the division and the games don't mean as much). Unfortunately, Rob had to jet before the game even started to take care of famiilial obligations, and Leanne missed the start, but it was good to get together to meet some more members of the Flames blogosphere and have a few pints (which were a little pricey, but apparently not nearly as expensive as they used to be). And I'd have to recommend the Club sandwich, which was pretty good, as were the fries that came along with it...

The atmosphere was pretty good, as it seemed like pretty much everyone in the place was a pretty solid hockey fan, even if the ones that got up on stage during the intermissions knew less about the Flames than my Habs-loving brother. And it was pretty neat seeing a huge room full of Flames fans booing the Oilers in the early game...

The Flames game itself wasn't overly inspiring, as the boys looked slow again, which may be why I have a difficult time remembering everything (of course, it may also be due to the fact that I'm typing this out a few days later)...

Gameday - Vancouver

Excellent!

Time for a little housekeeping before the Flames host the Vancouver Canucks tonight...

I'm not sure if any of you caught any of the pay per view the other night with Theoren Fleury on it, but it was pretty amusing. Somehow it took my brother about 5 minutes to figure out that it was Theo doing the colour (he wasn't talking all that much, and when it did, it was with his typical prairie boy charm). I'd already known that Fleury had gotten into the concrete flooring business and that it was for quality finishes (as opposed to just pouring floors), but I was unaware of this little bit of info...

Are you a fan of Theo Fleury’s? Theo will sign your floor, driveway or walkway – just ask before we seal it!

I don't think I've ever been more inclined to move to Calgary and buy a house (or at least a small piece of land I can pave over)...

I was watching the end of the Detroit - Nashville game the other night and I think I figured out why the attendance is so bad at Joe Louis lately. Once the game was over (Detroit won in a shootout), as the teams were leaving the ice they began to blare this really bad song over the loudspeakers. It was kind of like the Wayne's World theme (the one the studio made for them), but with the words 'Red Wings' in place of the show title. I had to watch it a few times to be sure, but I know that if I was a wing fan, I'm not sure if I'd want to sit around an arena that plays crap like that all night. At least if I watch it at home the play by play and colour guys could drown it out a little bit...

Rascal Flatts covered Tom Cochrane's Life is a Highway for a car commercial that played near the end of the Carolina game the other night. I'm still not sure how I feel about that...

For those of you that are curious, Irene Ryan played Granny on the Beverly Hillbillies...

I had a bunch of other things on my mind, but I can't remember them right now. I may have to update later...

The boys come home after a brutal stretch of games that saw them lose three consecutive times by a score of 4-1. I think the Ocean-going Spawns of Satan back at the Saddledome is just what the doctor ordered...

Of course, I think I'm as curious as anyone as to just who the doctor is that orders all the weird stuff like a beer on a hot day, or a an easy opponent after a hard stretch, or a one night stand after... uh, nevermind...

Anyways, I think the boys are most definitely due for a big game. I'm thinking 6-1 and Lombardi pots a couple...

Gameday - Detroit

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I've done this before...

Its been a couple of weeks, so I thought I'd check in to see how the Flames have progressed in regards to the power rankings around the sports pages. And yes, as I've said before, these don't mean anything...

TSN now has the Flames at 14, down from 11 last week, but up from 20 the week before. Seeing as I have only missed one Flames game in that time, I'm pretty sure that Scott Cullen has missed them all...

Sportsline put Calgary at 10 this week, as well as last week, up from 13 two weeks ago.

ESPN jumped the Flames up to 8th from 10th last week, but has them at the same spot they were two weeks ago.

Fox Sports seems to be all over the place, having Calgary at 13th this week, down from 11 last week, but an improvement on their 20th place ranking two weeks ago.

Sports Illustrated has the boys from Cowtown at 10th this week, down from 9th last week, but right in line with where they were the week before.

Finally, I've added Yahoo to the list, where they have the Flames at 15th, up from 18th a week ago. No wonder I didn't check them out before. They are also the only site to have the Red Wings at number 1, as opposed to number 2 (despite missing Hasek). And you can't say it has anything to do with their record, as Ross McKeon also has the Penguins at 6th with a worse record). It should be interesting to see where they put the 15th ranked Flames after a win over #1 Detroit tonight...

Overall, Calgary is ranked approxiametly 12th (11.67), down slightly from 11.5 last week, but up from 14.2 two weeks ago. And it should only be going up from here...

Excellent game from Kiprusoff on Tuesday night, as the Flames rolled through the Nashville Predators for the second time in as many games this season. Maybe the contract extension was all Miikka needed to get out of his early season funk...

The Flames host the Red Wings tonight, in what should be an entertaining game. Hasek is out with an injury, but Osgood has been playing well in his stead. Looking for the top two lines to keep rolling and for a little better performance from the blueline than what we've seen previously this season. And somebody needs to stop Zetterburg, as he's scored at least a point in every game so far...

Gameday - Detroit

Steal Thunder vs Styles

The Flames visit Detroit tonight to take on the Red Wings and their 'Fire on Ice' theme...


Seriously, how dumb is that... Maybe 'Wings take flight' or 'Flying Monkeys' would be more appropriate... After the 'Red Wave' from last year I think that the Wings slogan for next year will probably be something like 'Flaming Pucks' or 'We're Burning Up'... Maybe they'll redo the 'Young Guns' theme... or worse...


Obviously this is a rematch of the 2007 first round playoff series where the Red Wings dominated on home ice. If you found your way here, then you obviously must have passed by that information at least a couple of times already, so I'm not going to get into it...





The matchup that will provide the most interest and debate tonight (in my household, anyway), is which game gets the most airtime in the Smith household. Thanks to my subscribing to Centre Ice before the season (a bipartisan act to see more of my Flames and my Chargers, while letting my brother catch his beloved Habs games), there will be a bit of a conflict tonight on the television. Calgary at Detroit and Montreal at Pittsburgh both tip off at 7:30 and young netminder Carey Price will be between the pipes for Les Canadiens against Crosby and the rest of the young guns from Pittsburgh (they're like fire on ice)...


I would do a poll as to which everyone thinks we should have to watch, but he doesn't have a blog, so I don't think that would really be fair... in an entirely unrelated note, keep your eyes peeled for a new poll going up in my right hand column shortly... just kidding... kinda... ; )



Although I wouldn't mind catching some Gary Roberts intensity...



Maybe my brother and I will have to have a Guitar Hero showdown to determine which puck drop we watch...

And I have no idea as to why his friends call him Styles...

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...

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?

Gameday - Red Wings

The Flames host the Red Wings at the Saddledome. With their road record, every game at home is a must win, no matter who they are playing...

Detroit is on top of the Western Conference right now, so this is obviously going to be a hard game. If the Flames can't win tonight AT HOME against Detroit and then AT HOME on Thursday against Nashville, then they shouldn't be going to the playoffs anyway, as it will probably be a four game blowout regardless of which of these two teams they would have to play...

Everyone knows that the boys have the talent to compete in this conference, they've just been horrendous on defence for the majority of the season, which is supposedly our biggest asset...

As far as I'm concerned, the Flames haven't played since the Dallas game on Thursday. It wasn't on TV anywhere, so it didn't actually happen...

Actually, I was just too busy/ lazy to do any posting this weekend, so I decided to take it off...

I think the boys finally get their heads out of their collective asses tonight and turn it on against a team that doesn't really scare me right now. They probably should, but they don't...

Flames win this one 3-2, and I really don't care who scores for either team. Take this one boys, and I might start caring again...

Give me something to believe in...

Postgame - Red Wings

Wow...

Didn't quite see that coming...

If that isn't a kick in the ass for the boys, I don't know what else can be done...

• Outshot 50-18, by at least 10 in each frame...

• Huselius' streak is ended (10-11-21 in 15 games)...

• Kipper got chased from the net after allowing 3 goals on 14 shots, then Noodles came in and faced another 36 shots, stopping 32 of them...

• Friesen scores another goal (WTF?), so maybe he finally figured out how to find the net again...

• We get one point on a 3 game road trip where we probably should have had four...

• Stuart and Primeau didn't do a hell of a lot, but I think it will take them a few games to get into the system...

Back home against Atlanta for tomorrow night, so hopefully the boys get a solid practice in and get accustomed to the two new guys...

Gameday - Red Wings

Again I'm running short on time, as I have to leave for my hockey game shortly and the game actually starts in an hour, so this will also be brief, only to be updated later. Most likely after the game is actually over...

Final game of the road trip in Hockeytown (although apparently it is having trouble living up to that moniker lately, according to the latest issue of The Hockey News)...

There are rumours that Hasek may be injured, which is a little encouraging...

Huselius is looking to extend his point streak another game, hopefully in a winning effort this time...

With the Datsyuk and Zetterburg pairing heating things up again, they are obviously the line to watch (along with Tomas Holmstrom)...

I actually have a good feeling about this one. Its an important game from a standings point of view, so I think the boys will step it up and actually take a game at Joe Louis...

Flames win 4-2 to head home to face Atlanta on a bit of a high. Goals from Iginla, Moss, Primeau, and Giordano. Zetterburg pots a couple for the other guys...