Monday, January 23, 2006
Boom
That...was a thumping. I see the Flames were outshot by ten, so the temptation might be to say Kipper was the difference. Not so much.
Kiprusoff was very solid, but this was just one of those games where the better team won. Iginla got irritated early, and then popped a couple of goals. The Flames cycled the puck well in the Oilers' end. They picked up loose pucks, and won battles. Tonight at least, we saw two teams headed in different directions.
If you watched the game, who would you say was the best Oiler? Torres was pretty good, and seemed to have more pluck than anyone else. Smyth was OK; Stoll was OK. Hemsky and Horcoff were pretty invisible. I barely noticed my man Peca, after that 1st period sequence where he headed (helmeted?) the puck and then gave Leopold a hard two-hander on the back. And the defensemen: in a big, home, divisional game, how can your D be so timid? I don't recall a single big hit delivered by an Oilers' D-man, let alone a big play that could have helped their team's result.
With Vancouver's loss to the worst team in the NHL (again), the Flames are now alone in 1st in the Northwest with a game in hand. Also, the Flames have now earned 9 points this season in the Battle of Alberta, the Oilers have earned 4, and there's two games left. By at least one measure, the Flames just clinched the season series.
The Flames now have bigger fish to fry, trying to move up from the 3rd seed in the conference. The Oilers had better sack up, as that comfortable margin over Anaheim and San Jose is narrowing, and rapidly.
It was a pretty good night for Calgary Conservatives, of which I am nominally both but strictly neither. Congratulations to Stephen Harper: I guess the next time I see the Prime Minister in a Flames sweater, I'll know he means it.
Kiprusoff was very solid, but this was just one of those games where the better team won. Iginla got irritated early, and then popped a couple of goals. The Flames cycled the puck well in the Oilers' end. They picked up loose pucks, and won battles. Tonight at least, we saw two teams headed in different directions.
If you watched the game, who would you say was the best Oiler? Torres was pretty good, and seemed to have more pluck than anyone else. Smyth was OK; Stoll was OK. Hemsky and Horcoff were pretty invisible. I barely noticed my man Peca, after that 1st period sequence where he headed (helmeted?) the puck and then gave Leopold a hard two-hander on the back. And the defensemen: in a big, home, divisional game, how can your D be so timid? I don't recall a single big hit delivered by an Oilers' D-man, let alone a big play that could have helped their team's result.
With Vancouver's loss to the worst team in the NHL (again), the Flames are now alone in 1st in the Northwest with a game in hand. Also, the Flames have now earned 9 points this season in the Battle of Alberta, the Oilers have earned 4, and there's two games left. By at least one measure, the Flames just clinched the season series.
The Flames now have bigger fish to fry, trying to move up from the 3rd seed in the conference. The Oilers had better sack up, as that comfortable margin over Anaheim and San Jose is narrowing, and rapidly.
It was a pretty good night for Calgary Conservatives, of which I am nominally both but strictly neither. Congratulations to Stephen Harper: I guess the next time I see the Prime Minister in a Flames sweater, I'll know he means it.# posted by Matt @ 11:15 pm 
Comments:
What a great night. The Flames lay an absolutely righteous stomping on the Oil (exemplified best perhaps by Chris Simon -- yes Chris Simon ragging the puck for the better part of a minute as the Flames wound down the clock and the Oilers, needing 2 goals could not take it from him.
Think about that for a minute. Chris Simon was too much for the Oilers in the dying minutes. Iggy was too much for them in the first 58 minutes. Kipper was too much for them all night.
If I was a Duck or a Shark I'd be licking my chops about now (do Ducks have chops? Do Sharks? I dunno, but they are licking whatever passes for chops among waterfowl and whatever it is sharks are.
Then, to top off the gloriousity of the Flames win, Landslide Annie walks into a landslide in Edmonton Centre and the other Red Team is sent across the floor. Mr. Dithers packs it in. Good on them.
And, since the Flames, have now secured 9 of a possible 12 points from the Oilers and have clinched the Battle of Alberta, I'm not sure if there is any reason to keep coming back to this blog anymore.
It's all over now, right?
Yeah, we're just trying to line up that #2-#7 matchup so we can open the airlock on you in April. You guys are slow figuring this shit out, aren't you?
#7?? That's some big dreams, based on what I saw last night. Are we sure Pronger even wants to make the playoffs? Maybe he prefers a strict 6-month schedule in his old age.
Damn, I forgot to put this in the main entry, but it needs to be said:
- Pronger on Iginla: suddenly I like our chances if we ever meet this jackass team in the playoffs
Boy, Iginla finds some space and focus in one game and suddenly Matt is humping his leg like a borzoi in the springtime. Is the league's most expensive disappointment going to wait until Game Six of the playoff series to start throwing his weight around?
In the last 5 games Iggy has 6 goals.
C'mon, you've got to do better than "Boy, Iginla finds some space and focus in one game...". If you are comparing the season to a playoff series, the Flames are up in the series 3-2 and winning game 6 by the same score.
I'm not one to gloat, so I'll just say that the Flames played well and the Oilers did not. However, the Flames have to keep playing well, since we've all seen what can happen to a slumping team in the NW division. And speaking of the Oilers, they had better get their ass in gear. We know they can play better so maybe it has something to do with needing to be a little tougher mentally.
What's up with the 2/3 slave? Peca always look terrified, as if big George LaCock has made him his bitch or something.
I'm one to gloat, so where is my price since I predicted the 3-1 score? I take canadian dollars. ;)
I give you this. ;)
I kid!
Here's how things seem to go:
1) Iginla has a scoring slump
2) Sacamano beaks off about how he's overpaid, underperforming, why's he getting a free ride from Flames fans, etc. etc.
3) Iginla goes on a tear, destroying everything in his path and generally running the show.
It's happened twice so far this season. If the Flames & Oilers do meet in the playoffs, I sincerely hope that all you Oiler fans (in particular my co-publisher) express plenty of doubts beforehand about ol' Jarmoe's ability to get it done.
I will admit that Ole Jarmoe was dominant last night. And just in time for the Olympics, too. I don't mind.
I'll also admit that the Oil were pretty weak. However, I'm still confident that playoffs will be another story.
There's only three things you need to know about the Oilers and the Flames in the playoffs:
(1) It's the Oilers.
(2) It's the Flames.
(3) It's the playoffs.
A lot of tough playoff talk on behalf of a team that is on the playoff bubble right now and got thumped pretty good at home last night by their biggest rival in one of those January 'must win' games.
I admire your confidence and all that, but it's not 1990 anymore and I'll take the Flames recent playoff performance over the Oil's tyvm.
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What a great night. The Flames lay an absolutely righteous stomping on the Oil (exemplified best perhaps by Chris Simon -- yes Chris Simon ragging the puck for the better part of a minute as the Flames wound down the clock and the Oilers, needing 2 goals could not take it from him.
Think about that for a minute. Chris Simon was too much for the Oilers in the dying minutes. Iggy was too much for them in the first 58 minutes. Kipper was too much for them all night.
If I was a Duck or a Shark I'd be licking my chops about now (do Ducks have chops? Do Sharks? I dunno, but they are licking whatever passes for chops among waterfowl and whatever it is sharks are.
Then, to top off the gloriousity of the Flames win, Landslide Annie walks into a landslide in Edmonton Centre and the other Red Team is sent across the floor. Mr. Dithers packs it in. Good on them.
And, since the Flames, have now secured 9 of a possible 12 points from the Oilers and have clinched the Battle of Alberta, I'm not sure if there is any reason to keep coming back to this blog anymore.
It's all over now, right?
# posted by 
: January 23, 2006 11:30 pm
: January 23, 2006 11:30 pm 
Yeah, we're just trying to line up that #2-#7 matchup so we can open the airlock on you in April. You guys are slow figuring this shit out, aren't you?
# posted by : January 23, 2006 11:49 pm
: January 23, 2006 11:49 pm #7?? That's some big dreams, based on what I saw last night. Are we sure Pronger even wants to make the playoffs? Maybe he prefers a strict 6-month schedule in his old age.
Damn, I forgot to put this in the main entry, but it needs to be said:
- Pronger on Iginla: suddenly I like our chances if we ever meet this jackass team in the playoffs
Boy, Iginla finds some space and focus in one game and suddenly Matt is humping his leg like a borzoi in the springtime. Is the league's most expensive disappointment going to wait until Game Six of the playoff series to start throwing his weight around?
# posted by : January 24, 2006 7:37 am
: January 24, 2006 7:37 am In the last 5 games Iggy has 6 goals.
C'mon, you've got to do better than "Boy, Iginla finds some space and focus in one game...". If you are comparing the season to a playoff series, the Flames are up in the series 3-2 and winning game 6 by the same score.
# posted by : January 24, 2006 9:05 am
: January 24, 2006 9:05 am I'm not one to gloat, so I'll just say that the Flames played well and the Oilers did not. However, the Flames have to keep playing well, since we've all seen what can happen to a slumping team in the NW division. And speaking of the Oilers, they had better get their ass in gear. We know they can play better so maybe it has something to do with needing to be a little tougher mentally.
What's up with the 2/3 slave? Peca always look terrified, as if big George LaCock has made him his bitch or something.
# posted by : January 24, 2006 9:38 am
: January 24, 2006 9:38 am I'm one to gloat, so where is my price since I predicted the 3-1 score? I take canadian dollars. ;)
I give you this. ;)
I kid!
Here's how things seem to go:
1) Iginla has a scoring slump
2) Sacamano beaks off about how he's overpaid, underperforming, why's he getting a free ride from Flames fans, etc. etc.
3) Iginla goes on a tear, destroying everything in his path and generally running the show.
It's happened twice so far this season. If the Flames & Oilers do meet in the playoffs, I sincerely hope that all you Oiler fans (in particular my co-publisher) express plenty of doubts beforehand about ol' Jarmoe's ability to get it done.
I will admit that Ole Jarmoe was dominant last night. And just in time for the Olympics, too. I don't mind.
I'll also admit that the Oil were pretty weak. However, I'm still confident that playoffs will be another story.
There's only three things you need to know about the Oilers and the Flames in the playoffs:
(1) It's the Oilers.
(2) It's the Flames.
(3) It's the playoffs.
# posted by : January 24, 2006 11:44 am
: January 24, 2006 11:44 am A lot of tough playoff talk on behalf of a team that is on the playoff bubble right now and got thumped pretty good at home last night by their biggest rival in one of those January 'must win' games.
I admire your confidence and all that, but it's not 1990 anymore and I'll take the Flames recent playoff performance over the Oil's tyvm.
# posted by : January 24, 2006 12:06 pm
: January 24, 2006 12:06 pm Post a Comment
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