Gameday - Chicago

Hey, that's new!

So some of you may be wondering what that thing I've installed on the side of my blog is (or not, I don't know if anyone else really cares what I put on my site). I received an email yesterday from a company called Schmap, which creates widgets that show a team's schedule, as well as a map of where the team's games are (were). I've never been one to think of myself as a corporate shill, as I usually figure myself to be a bit undermotivated to do things for myself, let alone somebody else, but some things require an exception. Most of the emails I receive about putting things on my blog are asking me to promote something, which sounds a lot like work on my part. But this will save me time and effort (and probably you too), which I think is a good thing. If you want to know the upcoming schedule without navigating your way through other sites, or if you want to know when the Flames are coming to a town near you, its pretty easy. It also lets you know where the Flames won't be playing this season (the Northeast and Atlantic divisions), since they don't show up on the map. In addition, if you click on the game it will take you to the ESPN preview for the game (ESPN still previews hockey games?). All in all, a very handy tool to have...

They are going to use me as a sample site, which mean I could use some feedback from my readers (I do have readers, right?). Of course it also means that I will have to forego my occasional reluctance to post when the team is performing poorly (did you miss me the last couple of weeks?), and I will have to keep the language above board (not that I swear all that often anyway)...

End of corporate spiel... ; D

The Flames have won a couple of games of late (including finally topping the Avalanche), so I'm a little less disgruntled than I was a week ago, and from their performance on Tuesday night, I think they might actually be rounding into shape (of course, I also said that a few weeks ago)...

Actually, on the topic of Tuesday's game, I'm wondering how often Roger Millions over-anticipates a play. At one point in the second period (or maybe the third), when the Flames were in the offensive zone and the Avs got a hold of the puck, he assumed that they would get it out and said that the Avs cleared the puck out of the zone. But they didn't. Rhett Warrener kept it in at the line and dumped it back up the boards to where Tanguay and a Colorado player were battling it out, causing the Rog to proclaim that Warrener kept the puck in the zone for a couple more seconds. Obviously he was assuming that one of the two Colorado players between Retro and Tangs would get the puck and clear it out again. But they didn't and play continued in the Avs zone for another twenty seconds or so, until Theodore eventually covered it. I know that anticipating a play is part of the play by play guys job, and they do guess incorrectly on occasion, but I would think that two sentences in a row is a bit much. You'd think he would have learned after Rhett stopped the clearing attempt, not to assume on the next play, wouldn't you? I'm sure that anyone that was listening to that on radio would have thought that Calgary kept on regaining the zone...

Of course, most of you probably all know all about Mr. Millions already, and I may just be showing off my new and limited exposure to him...

I have mixed feelings heading into tonight's game. The Nolan line is the one that has been producing as of late, which is good, but the top lines have all but disappeared. Iginla is obviously still putting up numbers, but what of Tanguay and Langkow? We need the big guns to get back on the scoresheet with greater frequency. Especially in tonight's game, with one of the only goalies with numbers comparable to Kipper's horrendous start is coming into the Saddledome. The Blackhawks are probably one of the only teams comparable to the Penguins in terms of youth and talent, so the Flames will need to find their feet, as this should prove to be a fast flowing game (unless our blueline can slow them down)...

Flames win 3-2, with goals from Lombardi, Tanguay, and Iginla. Toews and Keith answer back for the visitors...

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 - Minnesota

On the road again...

After a fairly successful 7 game home stretch, the Flames are back on the road again tonight in Minneapolis. The Flames were within a point of the Wild before the loss to the Red Wings on Thursday night (which was one of the worst games I've seen them play this season), but have since lost some ground (as well as being passed by the Avs)...



Not much to report on for this game, and I won't be around to watch it (although I will probably record it). Looking for the defence to step up, as Gaborik and Demitra are back for the Wild so they have a bit of a challenge ahead of them. Its not looking to be the most exciting game, but as long as the top two lines can pot more than 3 goals we have a good chance to take it...

And yes, I did reference a Keanu Reeves movie...

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 - Nashville

So... anything big happen lately?

As I'm sure that everyone in the hockey universe is aware, the Flames have signed Kipper to a contract extension. Details and reactions to which can be found in the Flames blogosphere here, here, here, here, here, here, and here (oh, and here)... [and from Matt]

Good move that keeps him here for what should be his most productive years, although it remains to be seen who else we can keep around after this season. We'll just have to hope that there is a significant cap increase (which I don't really expect), or we're going to lose at least one of Langkow, Huselius, or Yelle and be forced to rely heavily on what we have on the farm. But I do expect Sutter to sign Phaneuf to an extension before the season is out (the better to keep him far away from the open market)...

I'm not going to get too into the game from Friday night, beyond saying that if the rumours are true that McGeough is retiring after this season, it will be at least three years too late...

The Nashville Predators roll into Calgary tonight to take on the Flames. The Flames apparently won the last matchup in Nashville 7-4, but until I see visual evidence I refuse to believe that game ever happened (although I will keep the 2 points regardless)...

Gameday - Colorado

Just checking in...

As everyone knows, Mark Giordano and Andrei Taratukhin both chose to play in the Russian Superleague this season. As a matter of curiosity, I figured I'd check to see how they are doing over there. Unfortunately I couldn't find a site that would give me anything apporaching in depth stats for players over there, but here's what I did find...



Mark Giordano is playing for Moscow Dynamo. The team is currently sitting in 5th place in the 20 team league with a record of 8-5-5-3 for a total of 39 points (the Russian league uses a 3-2-1-0 point system with regulation win, OT/SO win, OT/SO loss, and regulation loss). Some of his fellow players on the team are Daniel Markov, Fedor Federov, Dmitry Afanasenkov, Jamie Lundmark, and Alexander Kharitonov (leading scorer).



Giordano's stats line is 16 gp 0 g 4 a 4 pts 10 pims ? +/-



Andrei Taratukhin is playing for Ufa Salavat Yulayev. The team is currently sitting atop the Russian Superliga with a record of 16-0-1-4 for a total of 49 points. Fellow players on Andrei's team are Konstantin Koltsov, Alexander Perezhogin, Oleg Tverdovsky, Stanislav Chistov, and Vladimir Antipov (leading scorer).



Taratukhin's stats line is 20 gp 4 g 4 a 8 pts 10 pims +6 +/-



I'm sure that this is a higher level of competition for them than they would get in the Quad Cities, but these numbers aren't exactly blowing me away. I'm very curious about how much time they are getting, and what kind of minutes those are. I realize it is much more than they would be getting in Calgary right now (Taratukhin at least), so I'm not to worried about that, I'm just wondering how its helping their advancement as hockey players. What kind of help are they getting to develop their games?



On to tonight's game where the Flames get to make up for blowing 4-0 lead in Colorado last week. I don't have much of a pregame, as I think most of you have at least as good of an idea as to how Coloardo is doing heading into the game as I do. I am curious to see if Hejduk is back tonight though...



With only one road win for the Avs in four starts (and it was against the Oilers, so it doesn't really count), I'm feeling pretty confident about the boys chances, especially if they can play a complete game...



Flames win 4-1 while I'm out doing some scoring of my own...

Postgame - Wild

ST's Wide World of Sports

This isn't really a column about the game last night, although it may contain some post-game comments. Its more of a chance for me to reflect on a few things going on in the sports world right now that have caught my interest. I'll start off with the Flames and hockey and work my way out...

Flames news

I was near ready to forget watching the last couple of periods of the game last night after the Flames were down 3-0 after the first. Luckily my brother came home and wanted to watch Tuesday night's episode of House, so I decided to record the last couple of periods of the game and watch them afterwards (so that I could fast forward through it if I felt the need)...

Unfortunately I was watching the FSN North broadcast, which meant that I had to listen to the play-by-play of one Dan Terhaar, who is in his first year in the majors. Normally the comments as to what was good and bad is left to the colour guy (you know, the guy that usually actually played in the league, in this case Mike Greenlay, who did a bang-up job). During the Wild broadcast, Terhaar (coming off a stint as the play-by-play guy for the Golden Gophers as well as other regional college teams) seemed to be stunned every time that the Flames scored a goal, insisting that each one had been tipped or Backstrom had been screened in some horribly illegal way. Dude needs to relax and let Greenlay (a former NHL goalie) do his job. I can't believe there is actually a guy out there that could take lessons from Roger Millions...

It was nice to see Tanguay pot a couple of goals, and Dion's fight was pretty sweet (although unfortunate that he had to go to the box opposite some scrub from the Wild)...

Also annoying was my brother's hinting every time that Calgary was about to score a goal. I may have to do the same thing when his beloved Habs play again some time in the near future (tonight?)...

Hockey news

You know how most channels have a give away during the hockey game where fans can win a phone or a vacuum cleaner or a million dollars if a certain players scores? Well, I was watching the Carolina game last night, and apparently down there you can win a John Deere is somebody scores a hat trick. Granted its a lawn mower and not a tractor, but still... stereotypes exist for a reason...

I was also made aware for the first time last night that the incoming head of the NHLPA, Paul Kelly, is also the guy that prosecuted Alan Eagleson. How was this not considered a big deal? He should have gotten the job for damn near that fact alone...

In a related news story, Eric Lindros will most likely become the first ombudsman (person?) for the NHLPA, meaning that he has decided that his playing career is all but over. He just has to hope that, as the liaison between the NHLPA management and the players, somebody doesn't get mad at him for something and punch him in the head during an argument...

Sports News

I'm sure that everyone is aware that the Red Sox beat the Rockies 13-1 at Fenway last night. I actually kind of saw this one coming, not that I wanted to. My only question is that, if the Yankees are the Evil Empire, representative of the empire from Star Wars, who do the Red Sox represent? They sure as hell aren't the rebels. Maybe we have it mixed up and the Red Sox are actually the Empire, while the Yankees are the Trade Federation? Am I thinking into this a little too much? Uhmmm... Go Rockies!!!



My beloved Chargers are being forced to move their home game against the Houston Texans for this coming Sunday due to the fires in Southern California (Qualcomm Stadium is being used as a shelter for the misplaced). The current leader in the quest for an alternate site is Dallas (Texas Stadium, where the Cowboys play). Which makes me wonder if there isn't a better alternate location that would be more agreeable to the Charger faithful, and not quite as favourable to the Houston fans (not that there are that many hardcore ones, as can be seen by the empty stadium last Sunday after the third quarter). I realize that there are a number of colleges and other teams in the Southwest that would be using some of the larger stadiums (as well as other events, such as a motocross event at University of Phoenix Stadium (where the Chargers are practicing this week). With the LA Colesium, the Rose Bowl and numerous other college stadiums just to the North, there should be something just up the San Diego Freeway. There should at least be something closer than Dallas! I do realize that Dallas is an airline hub, but you don't go tailgating in a rental car (how do you take a barbecue with you on a plane?). This would be like the Flames having to change a home game against the Phoenix Coyotes to Los Angeles because the scoreboard at the Saddledome collapsed and there was a circus at the rink in Winnipeg...