Flames are GREAT…!

At beating themselves…

I will not give credit where credit is not due and the Blackhawks are NOT the stronger team in this series… The Flames have played great hockey… but have yet to find the magical line combination.  I remember a good 12 years back when the Philly Flyers had their Legion of Doom Line, (John LeClaire-Eric Lindros-Mikael Renberg) which was an unstoppable force ’til they played Detroit in the finals…  Similarily with the Flames in 2004, if Conroy, Iggy and Marty (Gelinas) were on the ice, good things happened.  In my earlier blog, I mentioned Line chemistry as one of the keys to a Flames series win and I’m more convinced than ever that certain guys need to play together to be successful.  My Lines you ask? (maybe you didn’t)

(RW-C-LW, Bold = Keystone player for that line)

Line 1: IGINLA-Conroy-Cammalleri (Iggy simply needs to be the best of the best)

Line 2: Glencross-Jokinen-BOURQUE (Olli needs the size, speed and protectin of a guy like Bourque, plus the grit and hands of Glencross to be successful… Other possibility is to put Bertuzzi in for Glencross)

Line 3: Bertuzzi-LANGKOW-Moss (Langks is the keystone player of this series… if Langkow can get it going, the team plays well behind him.)

Line 4: NYSTROM-Lundmark-Roy (I can see Eric Nystrom getting a similar goal like dad did for the Islanders because of his style of play and determination… he can fit into any line and give it the gusto it needs)

Defence: I’ll leave this part blank ’til Regehr and Sarich are back playing at a 75 - 80% level…

I’m still in the agreement that Calgary will win this series but Chicago moves the puck up faster than most teams but that hasn’t stopped Calgary from dominating teams like that in past series’.  The Bulin Wall has many cracks and he’s been more lucky than good in this series.

Flames in 7!

Always a pleasure!

naoto