Picture of Brian, Josh and Trevor in the office on gameday!

In less than 24 hours your Calgary Flames will be going toe to toe with arguably the hottest team in the NHL for the past two months.

The San Jose Sharks are a younger, less experienced team than Calgary. They are currently on a 2 game losing streak, have lost the season series to Calgary and have been dumped by the Flames the last time they met in the playoffs. If this doesn’t make for an exciting, unpredictable series then I’m not sure what else you can say. All things being equal, there is less pressure on the Flames than the Sharks and as such, Joe Thornton have a lot to prove tomorrow night.

What about the Flames?

Let’s see - they have a fairly healthy lineup. Dion Phaneuf is looking to redeem himself after playing through last year’s playoff on a BROKEN FOOT and not dominating …. shame!!!!!!!!!!! Kipper looks to be back in form. Iginla has battled all season to carry his team into the playoffs and like the titan Atlas himself, Iggy can bear the weight of the world on his shoulder and inspire his teammates to elevate their game. We have a veteran team that knows what playoff pressure is like and can help the youngsters through the grind. All in all, the Flames can play loose and look to unseat the favored Sharks. San Jose has to live up to the regular season success, however as the last game against Dallas showed it is easy to get under their skin and make them lose their composure.

GO FLAMES!

Okay, i’ve already got my consolation prize.

Tonight’s victory against the dastardly Oilers reignited my hatred for those blue shirted devils. Okay. Maybe it was their beer swilling tube jockeys that punctuated a predominantly Flames crowd tonight at the Zoo. Playoff hockey began for the Calgary Flames last week and by my count we are still down 2 games to 1. This was a character win for the Flames who had their hands full with an energetic Oiler crew. Make no mistake about it, the Oilers would be in the playoffs if they did not lose 3 to 4 of their veteran players for the season. They will be a better team next year. For now, i’ll savor in our victory and cross that other bridge when we get to it.

Mikka Kiprusoff responded as usual with a sparkling performance after a lackluster performance in the last game against Vancouver. Matthew Lombardi is contributing more to our offense as the playoffs looms (always a good time to get hot). The ‘cagey’ vets have elevated their game as well; Owen Nolan came up big when the team needed him the most. We played a disciplined game tonight, limiting our time spent in the box and capitalizing on the PP as well. These are all metrics for success for the Calgary Flames.

Go Flames

Wow.

The race to the finish line is coming down to the wire. Another exciting year in the NHL is about to wrap up and we have quite the dogfight in both the eastern and western conferences. Should things always come down to the wire? I don’t know. Don’t we all tend to procrastinate a little bit in our lives even though we say next time i’ll start earlier etc?The Calgary Flames are fighting for their playoff lives and unfortunately are on a 2 game losing streak. Am I going to panic? Nope. The loss to the Oilers was a tough one to take as the team played quite well and certainly put in the effort, but just didn’t get the result. The Vancouver game was a blowout - but some lessons in life are best learned from falling and learning how to pick ourselves up again. This team had it’s nose bloodied by a fiesty Vancouver squad. If anything, we should take our mad out against the Oilers tomorrow night as we look to regain our lost footing. Should we focus on winning the division? I think that might be a bit out of reach right now. Instead, the Flames forwards have to rededicate themselves to helping out the defense. Our star goalie needs to get his concentration back. Most importantly though, we need to be physically punishing our opponents every time they set foot across our blue line.

I’m inspired to write this post based on the WHL game I caught on the weekend where the Lethbridge Hurricanes beat the Brandon Wheat Kings, from pillar to post, in every conceivable category. Led by a strong fore check, the Hurricanes did not let the Wheat Kings dally for too long in their (Canes) zone. They physically dominated the game with numerous high-light real hits and they never let up for most of the game. The Flames could learn much from watching this team. On another positive note, the Calgary Hitmen have advanced to the second round of the WHL playoffs (along with the Hurricanes) and as such I can safely say that over the course of the next 2 months I will be seeing some amazing hockey. Forget social gatherings, forget the party’s forget relationships…its about hockey.

I love this time of year.

Go Flames

P.S. Go Hitmen…Go Hurricanes (except if Lethbridge plays Calgary then its Go Hitmen)

“I don’t have to qualify him [to retain his rights], but I will,” Risebrough told the Star-Tribune. “It’s a bad message not to do that. He’s a good player. He needs a motivation [to rehab], and he doesn’t need that stress in his life.”

Doug Risebrough - Minnesota Wild

After the Patrick / Jonathan Roy shenanigans that has dominated hockey for the last week or so, its really nice to hear a great story from the Minnesota Wild. TSN has the story here.

Of course, this is the same hockey club that has sold out every single game since its return to the city. I wouldn’t expect anything less from such as classy organization and city.

Go Flames.

Here we go again.

I rolled my eyes and cursed under my breath as Vancouver scored their second goal 12 seconds after their first. In a game that Calgary needed to win, things were not looking good for the boys in red,yellow,white and um black. The small contingent of Vancouver fans in attendance at the Dome certainly made their presence known. Oh how they must have basked in the glory of their insurmountable lead. All the Nucks had to do was play shut-down hockey. Right? About 50 or 60 games ago I would say that would have been a solid strategy. However, they were facing a Flames club that has gone through a season of trials and tribulations from both the coaching staff and the fans. This is a Calgary squad that is playing more like a team as the playoffs loom ever so closer. This team has heart. It has found that missing element that has eluded them for most of this season. Then why are they still in the playoff hunt? Simple. Talent. On paper, the Flames are a very deep and skilled team - perhaps the best skilled team that the Calgary organization has ever fielded. It would seem that they have finally found their voice. As I have often said, the quality of the play will point towards success or failure for this team. The Flames have responded by showing tremendous effort as of late.

Iginla, Kiprusoff and Phaneuf. The stars came out to shine once again and led our team to victory. Demonstrating that they can bounce back after a frustrating game, the Flames have proven tonight that they are ready to play and compete. Hold on boys and girls, the best is yet to come.Go Flames!

The Flames deserved a better fate tonight.

Although the Colorado squeaked out a victory, the boys in red put up a valiant effort in the first of a back to back session. 2 points meant an awful lot to both teams and this certainly puts a bit more pressure on the Flames. However, that same pressure would still be there should they have won anyways. Except for the PP, I was pretty happy with the effort that the Flames put in tonight as it was leagues ahead of the Columbus effort. This was a gritty effort put in by the Flames but the Avalanche played with more desperation and so they got the two points. The 2 man PK was pretty big for Calgary and I’m happy that this team can play short handed and so I hope that effort keeps up. The Powerplay, as I mentioned earlier, needs to crank it up by quite a few notches.

Knowing that Vancouver was coming up, it was a wise decision to pull Kipper after the 2nd goal (where was the icing call???????) as he will more than likely be starting the next game as well. While this was a tough 2 points to give up, it certainly does not spell doom for the Flames. Most importantly though, was the effort was consistent - a complaint I have had about this team in the past. This was a loss I could feel good about as I know that they will take their anger out against Vancouver tomorrow night. I am really looking forward to the Oilers game on Saturday as that should be a pretty epic battle.

Go Flames

I can’t do it. I just can’t do it.

Cheer for the Oilers?

No. Not in this lifetime or the next. I was screaming for joy when Carolina took them out in the finals a couple of years ago. Even though the Oilers can ‘help’ the Flames by beating the Wild tonight, I still will not root for them. To say that Oiler fans are cheering for the Flames is a bit of an exaggeration. The Oilers and Flames are arch rivals. End of story. You don’t cheer for a new George Lucas movie and you don’t cheer for the Edmonton Oilers - or if you were a *shudder* an Oiler fan, you don’t cheer for the Flames. In fact, you wish the worst upon your enemy, you kick them when they are down. You think of as many ways as possible to incur the wrath of your opponents by slandering them with as many accurate or inaccurate analogies to a variety of unpleasant images as possible.

To be frank, the Oilers are playing way over their heads. Everyone is talking about the feel good team of the year…and how they have overcome the odds to make hockey magic..yada, yada, yada. The Oilers suck. The are scoring many goals but they are letting in a horrible amount as well. Based on the legit games they have won, they do not deserve to be in the hunt for the playoffs. As soon as they come to realize that, the better the hockey world will be.

P.S. Go Wild (but only against the Oilers).

Caught this on CBC last night. No excuse for this behavior.

So the Calgary Flames have come to play

In a very physical affair, punctuated by some fireworks of the fisticuffs variety, Calgary picked up an important 2 points in their quest to finish first in their division. This was a very tough game tonight and may have given us a sneak preview of a possible playoff matchup. As we all knew, Calgary needs their top players to pick up their game if we have any hope of winning. Check. Calgary needs their physical players to set the tone and give their opponents a rough ride all night long. Check. Calgary’s goaltending needs to come up with the big saves when it has too. Check. This was a determined hockey club that fought off an equally determined Minnesota club. With the exception of the Vandermeer / Simon scrap, Calgary was the better team tonight. As with the Colorado game, Calgary was initiating the play and not following - as they have done so many times in the past. Iggy’s 3 goal performance was the icing on the cake. Lombardi’s game winning breakaway goal was ever so timely. All this and a shorthanded goal by Phaneuf to boot made for one rockin’ dome.

This was a gritty and gutsy performance by a playoff bound hockey team. Game on.

Go Flames.