It's an off day today -- the Flames are back home, and pondering how it is they let 2 points get away when they outchanced San Jose by a roughly 10 to 1 margin. They start a stretch tomorrow where 10 of their next 12 are at home (and nine straight are televised, hallelujah!).

The Oilers are also back in Edmonton, waiting for what the team website elegantly refers to as "their fourth consecutive one-game homestand".

I was going to make this post about my fantasy teams (hence the header), but I realize I don't have a lot to talk about -- suffice it to say, the 4-7-2 noted in the top left corner of this page is the direct cause of why I'm not 1st or 2nd out of 20 in the hockey pool (I'm 6th).

I could say a bit more about the S/O loss to the Sharks, but since it wasn't televised, I don't know how much I could add. It wasn't a Stomach Punch game so much as it was a "This Can't Be Happening" game. There was a lot of talk throughout the game about how lousy the ice was; for Tony Amonte's sake, I sure hope so.

This game played out in exactly the manner required for Amonte to be successful. The part that was missing, compared to the offseason vision of the Flames brass, was the part where Amonte finished his chances.

He missed a penalty shot in the 1st, plus his shootout try that would have clinched the win for the Flames. He muffed at least one beauty of a 2-on-1 with Iginla. The whole idea of hiring Amonte to play with Iginla was to allow Jarome to be successful creating scoring chances without also needing (necessarily) to be the guy who puts the puck behind the goalie. Saturday night, Iginla was doing his job and Amonte wasn't.

After that 2-on-1, colour guy Mike Rogers brought up the dodgy ice again and said that "Jarome needs to shoot that puck himself". Sorry guys, but that's loser talk circa 2002. He's the best player in the league, but he can't usually win games by himself, and Saturday was Exhibit A.

He needs teammates to bang home his rebounds and put great passes into the open net. Also, refraining from kicking the puck into our own net would be nice (for all his solid presence, Jordan Leopold has zero points this year and at least two own-goals). I hope most of the Flames are embarrassed that there was a "-1" on the scoresheet next to Iginla's name on Saturday, because they let him down.

The thing I'm happy to report about listening on Saturday is that it wasn't a Guillotine game. I wasn't expecting bad things to happen. I still expect good things from the Flames, and no doubt they'll fulfill those expectations through November. Regehr is skating again, and McCarty is ready to go. Good--the sooner we can get Wiemer back to the pressbox, the better.