Saturday, January 13, 2007
Battle Night Open Thread
For your thoughts as the game progresses. And hey Leafs, thanks for taking care of the Canucks.
# posted by Matt @ 8:00 pm 
Comments:
I'm watching the game with my best friend, who is a Flames fan. We're gonna fight tonight, I know it. But my girlfriend already set him off with a line while watching the Flames stand outside the locker room, near their wall of pride. The comment was, "Wow. Look at the all those Stanley Cups. Oh wait..."
It was a beaut, because it came from such an unexpected source, and Nate (my Flames bud) just went on a 5 minute tirade along the lines of "Oh, how original. Did you spend all day thinking of that, yada yada, yada..." But he was enraged. I could see it. Works every time.
Man, this Coldplay in the background has me pumped up. Thanks, Saddledome.
Great pace and great puck support at both ends of the rink for the Oilers.
Greene breaks out twice in one shift - tape to tape passes?
Huh?
First game I've seen Roy play - he looks alright.
Bergeron, Bergeron. He looks so good and then he just coughs it up - man oh man.
So, was everyone else as scared as I was when Millen "threatened" to just shut up for the whole game and let Hughson carry it?
You'd think as well that with CBC making so much money with ads today they could toss us a frickin bone and not make up all the commercial breaks missed.
This is nothing. Try watching the NFL. That Ravens/Colts game was a giant infomercial.
It's not just the play against Torres: Zyuzin is just getting abused out there. Why JP thought tonight was a good night to put him back in for Giordano, I can't imagine.
Is there a "this is our country" ad on CBC right now, because if there isn't, I've totally made the right choice to watch the Saints-Eagles game instead.
Also, anyone who knows Nate knows that it doesn't take very much to get him riled up.
Napped for about 85% of the game.
Me too, and I was awake.
Now that was a fast 1st period. Calgary dominated time of possession, but everything was kept outside. Why is every game between this two teams so boring?
That's why I don't watch the NFL anymore - its three and a half to four hours to watch one game.
Fast period but not a lot going on.
This Moss kid has five goals?? WHo does he play with and who does he play against?
In any sports league that wasn't run by monkeys, refereeing this appalling - and this appallingly inconsistent - would be the foremost matter of concern.
Tart Cider obviously hasn't watched an NBA game.
This Moss kid has five goals?? WHo does he play with and who does he play against?
Obviously not Jeff Friesen.
He also took a nice swipe at the ref at what turned out to be the turning point of the game.
Marginal call on the Leafs. Then another two for the bench for yapping.
Neale says "A good ref would understand that you have to have a thick skin and shouldn't be allowing that to get to you." Or to that effect.
Canucks score on the 5 on 3. Then again on the man ad. left. From 2-1 to 4-1 and game over.
Remember when there were rumours the Oilers were after Raycroft? man I am glad that never happened.
Good 1st 20 minutes. Bergeron is giving me Ulcers. The Check Mates I see them getting something soon.
The referee's have to be given the thumbs up... there were a couple opportunities to make a marginal calls but they let it go.
The highstick on Stoll well that happened pretty quick but that is why there are 2 dolts out there
Is there a worse dressed coach in the NHL than Jim Playfair? Does he have a sponsorship deal with International Clothiers or something?
What's the deal with Quasimodo going after Smith? It's not like he's gonna fight. You don't hit with your elbows in a fight.
HORRRR-COFFFFFFFF!!!
Phaneuf pounded Laperriere pretty good on Thursday night in Colorado. As for Regehr, I don't know what's going on with him this year.
I'd like to hear Roloson mic'd. It would be the closest we'll ever get to hearing Hextall mic'd.
Wait - Playfair's suit isn't a joke?
I just wish he was wearing my favorite, the mustard shirt and ties.
Tyler,
They just cycle in circles over and over again. Without Iginla they don't have a player with the confidence (or ability) to drive the puck towards the net.
Yeah, Hughson has some fuckin balls pointing out that Calgary is scoring more without making the obvious qualification that they aren't as skilled. Get it together, Hughson.
Ha ha ha Andy,
Trust me I'm from the same hometown as Jim Playfair and he's overdressed for Fort St. James. The fashion rule there is to make sure your Sorels match your checked logging shirt.
ON another note, what the hell was Hejda doing on Freisen's 1st goal? If you muff that clearing shot, you better get your ass to the slot and knock some guys over.
Jesus Chee-rist if it means trading Smyth to actually get a defenseman, then so be it.
Well Tyler, maybe he wasn't intending to comment on their skill levels, but rather their goal scoring. I thought he was fairly clear about it. Did *you* think that Calgary would outscore Edmonton this year? (Or was your answer, "Well, if the Flames get a lot of empty-netters, then yes...")
My new theory on Playfair's suit is that post-game, he's going to ditch the tie and go do Johnny Cash tunes at karaoke.
I thought maybe he had a shift at a local car dealership afterwards.
Did Greg Millen just say Tony Amonte was a great pickup by the Flames? Or was he talking about the Pinball Wizard?
At first I thought Matt was being sarcastic. Now I'm not so sure...
I imagine if you look at their respective team EV and PP scoring rates, the two teams are pretty damn close.
The thought of Phaneuf walking around his high school with his green, white and red South Side Athletic club jacket on makes me giggle.
They'll be alright Tyler - probably MacT will shorten his bench - big game, I can't see him running out any rookie D in a must win like this.
BTW, does anybody else love the River Cree Resort and Casino ads? They kill me everytime. I don't think they could find more obnoxious music.
And has anybody been there? It's like a giant brand new shiny ashtray. The added benefit being that after dropping a couple hundred on the blackjack tables you can go out back and hunt with a flashlight. It's awesome.
eyLike blackjack, hunting with a flashlight is a time honoured tribal tradition.
According to the Supreme Court of Canada, anyway.
Painful powerplay. I'm sure I'm imagining it, but it seems like their 3rd period pp with them tied or behind a goal has been abysmal all year long.
Torres made that exact play the last game I saw. Knocked a guy off the puck on the shootin, then beauty pass out front.
He makes things happen.
Has anyone else seen what I've seen? Nedved's thrown like four hits tonight and just absolutely ran over Hamrlik!
And now Sykora's stick snaps and he promptly gets a borderline-at-best holding call....FUCK....
Did we ever decide if Raffi was secretly smart or the luckiest guy on the planet?
It LOOKED like he made a stellar play there.
Sykora with the penalty. I'm calling a Horcoff goal off a broken play with #3 going for the blind elbow and missing our guy.
MC: Actually, that is the name of Calgary's mayor. Easy mistake.
So they called that horseshit on Sykora, yet miss obvious high-sticking infractions, such as the one at the end of the first period.
Bullshit, NHL. Total fucking bullshit.
Oh crap!
Once again Hejda looks like a godamn pig in a bowling alley and Roloson can't stop shit between his legs tonight.
I'm tired of all this prospects bullshit.
Start fucking winning!
Ultimately, I am going to bitch about three things:
- The call on Sykora.
- Roloson down too early on the Friesen goal.
- Roloson not down quick enough on the Lombardi goal.
I'd LIKE to see someone send a message for next Saturday and inflict some pain on a Flames player, but considering what a pussy MacT is, I doubt we'll see it.
I've counted 3 Calgary penalties that were twice the infraction Sykora made since the goal.
I hate refs.
Outside of Mr. McGoo no use blaming the refs. It's an easy excuse to fall back on when a team genuinely craps the bed by getting totally outplayed in every facet of the game.
Looks to me like Playfair spent his money on coaching books, put more into his scouting team, or even threw a few bucks to Tony Robbins to motivate his team.
The Oilers were out-played in every facet of the game?
They were in a dead heat in scoring chances, so they must've been doing something right.
Oilers lose. Eagles lose. Friesen scores. Horrible penalty call. Two defencemen decide it's a good idea to drop to the ice, including the captain. Quasimodo scores. Roloson is Ty Conklin. Hemsky tries ten moves rather than just shoot.
My pain is excruciating.
Not going to win many games when you score but once.
Lombardi burned Roy, what, twice? And Smid looked like a 20 year old rookie all night.
Jeez.
Matt Greene had a nice game though.
Sure it was all bad refs and bad luck.
But, isn't the real problem that the Vaunt only scored one goal again tonight? You can cry about the refs all you want, but you can't beat a high flying offence like the Flames with but a singleton.
Dion Phaneuf - Le Premiere Etoile!!
After a game like that, I'd be hard pressed to think of a player I'd still want on the team tomorrow. I'll be fine in five, maybe ten minutes, but right now...
Win or lose, when you call the bullshit on Sykora and see much worse NOT called (once again, the non-call on Langkow way back in the first is a glaring example), that's just shameful.
Fuck you Kimmerley and Sutherland, for ultimately factoring in the outcome of what was, until that point, a game the Oilers had more than a puncher's chance to win.
The Oilers need to win out heading into the break, as far as I'm concerned. Any less is unacceptable.
Yay 7 straight losses to NW division opponents!
Scoring chances don't mean shit unless you score on them. The Flames did, the Oilers didn't. It that isn't being outplayed then I don't know what is.
For the first time since I first saw the Oilers play in the Edmonton Gardens way back when, I'm beginning to lose hope in them.
MacT needs to pull a Bob Knight. http://www.twango.com/media/orgullodemexico.sportsaudio/orgullodemexico.10007
Scoring chances don't mean shit unless you score on them. The Flames did, the Oilers didn't. It that isn't being outplayed then I don't know what is.
So if you play amazingly the entire game and the goalie pulls a '99 Hasek and lose 1-0 on a shot from the redline, you're out-played?
That's some of the worst logic I've ever seen.
Peter:
It's one thing to try and score goals against a top-3 NHL netminder and probably a top-5 blueline, but when you're having to kill bogus penalties, it's even harder.
Enjoy your tainted win - so far, home teams have held serve in the BOA this season, and that trend WILL continue next Saturday night. Count on it.
Sure it was all bad refs and bad luck.
But, isn't the real problem that the Vaunt only scored one goal again tonight?
Huh? Your mighty offence got their second goal on the bad call. Without it...one goal. So enjoy the win, but focus the trash talk on something that makes sense.
I wouldn't anyone get too down on Roy for the third; Lombardi has pwned a lot of D-men that way this year (check out Kevin Bieksa's small lowlight reel, e.g.).
And yeah, that was a shit call on Sykora. The pendulum has really shifted at HNIC, no? They're not starting all their sentences with, "Yeah, the game is a lot better now, but.."
PDO,
At this level, one thing counts, a W.
No one gives you a point for effort.
Timbits hockey might, but the NHL doesn't
Crazycoach,
There's luck in this game. Shit happens. When you're outplaying the other team (and thus creating more scoring chances than them) you'll win more games than you lose.
Teams win games they shouldn't and lose games they shouldn't all the time. This goes down as one the Oilers shouldn't have lost.
Gotta admit, I didn't expect the Flames to win the special teams battle, even at home. The Oiler PK after the Sykora penalty was their worst in the game by a factor of about 10.
PDO,
true enough, but I just didn't see the effort out of this team, nor have I seen much the entire season.
This is slowly turning into the season from Hell, and I'm beginning to wonder just how big an impact the whole Pronger mess has had on this team. I expected a slight downturn, but I didn't imagine that the Coyotes would be creeping up on the Oilers in the standings.
I am just frustrated as hell right now.
I don't believe I left my computer and comfy room to go out and watch 6 hours of the Leafs getting blasted by the Canucks and the Oil losing on a phantom call.
Interesting how both Naslund and Friesen decided to start scoring again tonight =(.
Right now, I'm trying to decide what's worse:
The fact the winning goal was scored on a penalty that was a bullshit call, or the fact the Oilers totally folded the tent after that and tarnished an effort that I thought was otherwise pretty solid up to that point.
This team needs to get their shit together fast. I hope those two wins in California weren't just false hope.
And I'd probably be a lot less upset about this loss if not for the fact they didn't get beat by a hot goalie against Minnesota last night.
Disheartening....
Matt,
Know your comments earlier about Oiler fans?
There's guys at HF blaming that goal on Horcoff.
Delusional. Christ.
pdo:
WHICH goal are they blaming on Horcoff?
Fuck, the guy might have had one of his best games of the season tonight.
One group of fans has Horcoff as their whipping boy, another group of fans (more intelligent, non-HF folk, IMO) are laying into Lupul. I think the only common ground is some degree of blasting Bergeron for the shit he occasionally pulls.
7 straight losses against divisional opponents? Fucking pathetic....
Sweatyo:
The first one. Apparently he let Jeff Friesen walk out.
I'm not even kidding you.
HF has been on the downswing for a while... I think that comment got pretty close to rock bottom though.
Horcoff was EDM's best player tonight, and it's not really even close. Smyth and especially Pisani (who btw I would take on my team any day, although his wage is pushing the upper limit) were invisible.
There's really not an Oiler D-man who could say that he didn't give up a fantastic scoring chance on a mistake.
pdo:
HF sucks. If those guys had any pull, Robbie Schremp would have played all but five games in the NHL so far this season. and that Ladislav Smid would be paired with Jason Smith. There is a lack of common sense on that site.
Friesen goal: Hejda should have hustled out to cover Friesen, but he hesitated for half a second and got burned. Roloson went down early too. Was Horcoff even on the ice...seriously? He wasn't even on the screen during the replay of that goal, IIRC....
It's irrelevant, plain and simple.
matt:
I didn't see Smith make a mistake per se, unless you're thinking he should share in the blame on the Friesen goal.
It's clear which D-man has more NHL games than pretty much the rest of the defense combined, when it comes to the six guys who dressed on the Oiler blueline tonight. When Bergeron is your 2nd most "experienced" NHL guy, you're in trouble.
The way Lowe has handled the need for blueline help is analagous to someone driving their car with the oil light on for six months....everyone else can see the smoke coming out from under the hood, so why can't the driver? By the time he makes the trip to Mr. Lube, it's at the point where a simple Oil change (pardon the TERRIBLE pun here) isn't going to fix things.
Sweatyo:
He was playing on that side high, taking away the point shot.
I get sick when I read a lot of things there. Most of them think Smith is our worst defenseman and Smid is our best, for example.
Shawn Horcoff and Jason Smith are the two favourite whipping boys.
I seem to be the only person on the planet that likes having MA Bergeron on this team.
I want to kill Lupul.
Sweatyo:
I think he's referring to Celine's goal where Smith went down.
I didn't mind Smith going down there...
Hejda going down there was ridiculous.
pdo:
I'm sorry, but I was supportive of MA Bergeron as a 3rd pairing guy for awhile, but lately, his mistakes are increasing in consequence and intensity. Four AWFUL giveaways tonight, by my count.
Last year, you could bury him and Greene as a 3rd pairing and not worry too much due to the fact they had a solid, solid top four (44/21/24/6) during the run in the spring.
Now? Bergeron's their best offensive d-man. And if MAB is your team's best offensive d-man, your team is in TROUBLE.
Lupul fucking stinks...I think everyone can agree on that, except for the HF'ers still raving about his 40 goal potential (I'm sure there's still that faction out there somewhere).
SweatyO, that's a fantastic analogy, all it's missing is all the bystanders yelling THAT'S A LOT OF FUCKIN SMOKE THERE BUDDY
Matt,
And the guy driving the car saying that he doesn't want to fix it just yet because there'll be a sale in 6 months and he might save $5.
matt: I can't take all the credit for it; someone at Oilfans used the car analogy, but I came up with the Oil-light part.
Because that's probably the most obvious problem with a car. A lot of shit that happens, you won't see it or notice it until the critical-mass point. The Oil light (aka trading the best defenseman in the game and not getting an adequate replacement) is a pretty obvious problem that, if left long enough, is going to bite you in the ass.
But don't say for a second you didn't see it coming. Lowe KNEW the risk he was taking by thinking he could get away without bringing in approprate defensive re-enforcements over the summer, during training camp, or early in the season.
Now, instead of maybe needing one guy, it looks like they need two, and on top of that, an indirect effect of the loss of Pronger (and less team-toughness) was a freak injury to Ethan Moreau, so they need more grit at forward too.
It's an ugly, ugly cloud of smoke right now, but the Oilermobile is not beyond repair....yet.
Well I'm steadily on my way to having the worst weekend ever. I'm pretty sure not many can match it *halfbeams*. Thank the lord for leftover christmas present chocolates.
And the guy driving the car saying that he doesn't want to fix it just yet because there'll be a sale in 6 months and he might save $5.
Then he gets to the counter and finds out either
a) There's so much demand that they've jacked up the price
or
b) He gets the sale item, but needs a bunch of other shit too due to the damage to the other parts of his vehicle from driving with the oil light on all that time.
Bottom line, it's time to say it: Lowe has fucked this up bigtime. The Pronger trade and the lack of activity afterwards.
And the mad scramble to just make the playoffs and be Anaheim's first round prison-bitch has officially begun...no one can say to me with a straight face that this team shouldn't be ahead of at least 2 of VCR/COL/MIN in the standings right now. Defensive help or no defensive help. Not all of this is on Lowe. The guys who ARE here aren't doing what they're capable of.
Mouth-breathing segment of Flames fans out in full-force at CalgaryPuck tonight. No surprise there.
This Blog has restored my hope that not all Flames fans have IQ's that hover around room temperature expressed in degrees F....there's friendly trash talk and respectful conversation, then there's a raging inferiority complex which completely blinds objectivity.
In short, there is still hope!
LOL, it is so funny reading the whole thread.
The only stats that matter are Flames GP 42, Pts 50; Oilers GP 44, Pts 46
Everything else is irrelevant or history.
Not much of a record to keep when it's mostly the same people reposting. Now 122 different posters...that would be something.
Not much of a record to keep when it's mostly the same people reposting. Now 122 different posters...that would be something.
Ah, but it's the right mix of the same people posting, which makes it easy like Sunday morning.
To any who care, I finished Season 2 of The Wire tonight. Just incredible. I liked Season 2 way more than 1, and now I'm dying for Season 3. Favorite characters are definitely Omar and Freaman.
I was out at a party last night, so I recorded the game on my PVR (and somehow made it through today without learning the score until I watched it...
So excuse me for chiming in late...
In regards to that penalty on Sykora...
When you lose your stick and you are behind the guy with the puck, what do you expect to have happen when you reach out at the guy with the puck...
Sure he barely grazed him and had a minimal effect on his forward progression (if any), but you have to look at intent...
It may have been a marginal call, but its not like you can say that the guy is going for the puck...
Go Flames!
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I'm watching the game with my best friend, who is a Flames fan. We're gonna fight tonight, I know it. But my girlfriend already set him off with a line while watching the Flames stand outside the locker room, near their wall of pride. The comment was, "Wow. Look at the all those Stanley Cups. Oh wait..."
It was a beaut, because it came from such an unexpected source, and Nate (my Flames bud) just went on a 5 minute tirade along the lines of "Oh, how original. Did you spend all day thinking of that, yada yada, yada..." But he was enraged. I could see it. Works every time.
Man, this Coldplay in the background has me pumped up. Thanks, Saddledome.
Great pace and great puck support at both ends of the rink for the Oilers.
Greene breaks out twice in one shift - tape to tape passes?
Huh?
First game I've seen Roy play - he looks alright.
Bergeron, Bergeron. He looks so good and then he just coughs it up - man oh man.
So, was everyone else as scared as I was when Millen "threatened" to just shut up for the whole game and let Hughson carry it?
You'd think as well that with CBC making so much money with ads today they could toss us a frickin bone and not make up all the commercial breaks missed.
This is nothing. Try watching the NFL. That Ravens/Colts game was a giant infomercial.
It's not just the play against Torres: Zyuzin is just getting abused out there. Why JP thought tonight was a good night to put him back in for Giordano, I can't imagine.
Is there a "this is our country" ad on CBC right now, because if there isn't, I've totally made the right choice to watch the Saints-Eagles game instead.
Also, anyone who knows Nate knows that it doesn't take very much to get him riled up.
Napped for about 85% of the game.
Me too, and I was awake.
Now that was a fast 1st period. Calgary dominated time of possession, but everything was kept outside. Why is every game between this two teams so boring?
That's why I don't watch the NFL anymore - its three and a half to four hours to watch one game.
Fast period but not a lot going on.
This Moss kid has five goals?? WHo does he play with and who does he play against?
In any sports league that wasn't run by monkeys, refereeing this appalling - and this appallingly inconsistent - would be the foremost matter of concern.
Tart Cider obviously hasn't watched an NBA game.
This Moss kid has five goals?? WHo does he play with and who does he play against?
Obviously not Jeff Friesen.
He also took a nice swipe at the ref at what turned out to be the turning point of the game.
Marginal call on the Leafs. Then another two for the bench for yapping.
Neale says "A good ref would understand that you have to have a thick skin and shouldn't be allowing that to get to you." Or to that effect.
Canucks score on the 5 on 3. Then again on the man ad. left. From 2-1 to 4-1 and game over.
Remember when there were rumours the Oilers were after Raycroft? man I am glad that never happened.
Good 1st 20 minutes. Bergeron is giving me Ulcers. The Check Mates I see them getting something soon.
The referee's have to be given the thumbs up... there were a couple opportunities to make a marginal calls but they let it go.
The highstick on Stoll well that happened pretty quick but that is why there are 2 dolts out there
# posted by 
: January 13, 2007 9:00 pm
: January 13, 2007 9:00 pm Is there a worse dressed coach in the NHL than Jim Playfair? Does he have a sponsorship deal with International Clothiers or something?
What's the deal with Quasimodo going after Smith? It's not like he's gonna fight. You don't hit with your elbows in a fight.
HORRRR-COFFFFFFFF!!!
Phaneuf pounded Laperriere pretty good on Thursday night in Colorado. As for Regehr, I don't know what's going on with him this year.
I'd like to hear Roloson mic'd. It would be the closest we'll ever get to hearing Hextall mic'd.
# posted by : January 13, 2007 9:19 pm
: January 13, 2007 9:19 pm Wait - Playfair's suit isn't a joke?
I just wish he was wearing my favorite, the mustard shirt and ties.
Tyler,
They just cycle in circles over and over again. Without Iginla they don't have a player with the confidence (or ability) to drive the puck towards the net.
Yeah, Hughson has some fuckin balls pointing out that Calgary is scoring more without making the obvious qualification that they aren't as skilled. Get it together, Hughson.
Ha ha ha Andy,
Trust me I'm from the same hometown as Jim Playfair and he's overdressed for Fort St. James. The fashion rule there is to make sure your Sorels match your checked logging shirt.
ON another note, what the hell was Hejda doing on Freisen's 1st goal? If you muff that clearing shot, you better get your ass to the slot and knock some guys over.
Jesus Chee-rist if it means trading Smyth to actually get a defenseman, then so be it.
Well Tyler, maybe he wasn't intending to comment on their skill levels, but rather their goal scoring. I thought he was fairly clear about it. Did *you* think that Calgary would outscore Edmonton this year? (Or was your answer, "Well, if the Flames get a lot of empty-netters, then yes...")
My new theory on Playfair's suit is that post-game, he's going to ditch the tie and go do Johnny Cash tunes at karaoke.
I thought maybe he had a shift at a local car dealership afterwards.
Did Greg Millen just say Tony Amonte was a great pickup by the Flames? Or was he talking about the Pinball Wizard?
At first I thought Matt was being sarcastic. Now I'm not so sure...
I imagine if you look at their respective team EV and PP scoring rates, the two teams are pretty damn close.
The thought of Phaneuf walking around his high school with his green, white and red South Side Athletic club jacket on makes me giggle.
They'll be alright Tyler - probably MacT will shorten his bench - big game, I can't see him running out any rookie D in a must win like this.
BTW, does anybody else love the River Cree Resort and Casino ads? They kill me everytime. I don't think they could find more obnoxious music.
And has anybody been there? It's like a giant brand new shiny ashtray. The added benefit being that after dropping a couple hundred on the blackjack tables you can go out back and hunt with a flashlight. It's awesome.
eyLike blackjack, hunting with a flashlight is a time honoured tribal tradition.
According to the Supreme Court of Canada, anyway.
Painful powerplay. I'm sure I'm imagining it, but it seems like their 3rd period pp with them tied or behind a goal has been abysmal all year long.
Torres made that exact play the last game I saw. Knocked a guy off the puck on the shootin, then beauty pass out front.
He makes things happen.
Has anyone else seen what I've seen? Nedved's thrown like four hits tonight and just absolutely ran over Hamrlik!
And now Sykora's stick snaps and he promptly gets a borderline-at-best holding call....FUCK....
Did we ever decide if Raffi was secretly smart or the luckiest guy on the planet?
It LOOKED like he made a stellar play there.
Sykora with the penalty. I'm calling a Horcoff goal off a broken play with #3 going for the blind elbow and missing our guy.
# posted by : January 13, 2007 10:16 pm
: January 13, 2007 10:16 pm MC: Actually, that is the name of Calgary's mayor. Easy mistake.
# posted by : January 13, 2007 10:22 pm
: January 13, 2007 10:22 pm So they called that horseshit on Sykora, yet miss obvious high-sticking infractions, such as the one at the end of the first period.
Bullshit, NHL. Total fucking bullshit.
Oh crap!
Once again Hejda looks like a godamn pig in a bowling alley and Roloson can't stop shit between his legs tonight.
I'm tired of all this prospects bullshit.
Start fucking winning!
Ultimately, I am going to bitch about three things:
- The call on Sykora.
- Roloson down too early on the Friesen goal.
- Roloson not down quick enough on the Lombardi goal.
I'd LIKE to see someone send a message for next Saturday and inflict some pain on a Flames player, but considering what a pussy MacT is, I doubt we'll see it.
I've counted 3 Calgary penalties that were twice the infraction Sykora made since the goal.
I hate refs.
Outside of Mr. McGoo no use blaming the refs. It's an easy excuse to fall back on when a team genuinely craps the bed by getting totally outplayed in every facet of the game.
Looks to me like Playfair spent his money on coaching books, put more into his scouting team, or even threw a few bucks to Tony Robbins to motivate his team.
The Oilers were out-played in every facet of the game?
They were in a dead heat in scoring chances, so they must've been doing something right.
Oilers lose. Eagles lose. Friesen scores. Horrible penalty call. Two defencemen decide it's a good idea to drop to the ice, including the captain. Quasimodo scores. Roloson is Ty Conklin. Hemsky tries ten moves rather than just shoot.
My pain is excruciating.
Not going to win many games when you score but once.
Lombardi burned Roy, what, twice? And Smid looked like a 20 year old rookie all night.
Jeez.
Matt Greene had a nice game though.
Sure it was all bad refs and bad luck.
But, isn't the real problem that the Vaunt only scored one goal again tonight? You can cry about the refs all you want, but you can't beat a high flying offence like the Flames with but a singleton.
Dion Phaneuf - Le Premiere Etoile!!
# posted by : January 13, 2007 10:37 pm
: January 13, 2007 10:37 pm After a game like that, I'd be hard pressed to think of a player I'd still want on the team tomorrow. I'll be fine in five, maybe ten minutes, but right now...
Win or lose, when you call the bullshit on Sykora and see much worse NOT called (once again, the non-call on Langkow way back in the first is a glaring example), that's just shameful.
Fuck you Kimmerley and Sutherland, for ultimately factoring in the outcome of what was, until that point, a game the Oilers had more than a puncher's chance to win.
The Oilers need to win out heading into the break, as far as I'm concerned. Any less is unacceptable.
Yay 7 straight losses to NW division opponents!
Scoring chances don't mean shit unless you score on them. The Flames did, the Oilers didn't. It that isn't being outplayed then I don't know what is.
For the first time since I first saw the Oilers play in the Edmonton Gardens way back when, I'm beginning to lose hope in them.
MacT needs to pull a Bob Knight. http://www.twango.com/media/orgullodemexico.sportsaudio/orgullodemexico.10007
Scoring chances don't mean shit unless you score on them. The Flames did, the Oilers didn't. It that isn't being outplayed then I don't know what is.
So if you play amazingly the entire game and the goalie pulls a '99 Hasek and lose 1-0 on a shot from the redline, you're out-played?
That's some of the worst logic I've ever seen.
Peter:
It's one thing to try and score goals against a top-3 NHL netminder and probably a top-5 blueline, but when you're having to kill bogus penalties, it's even harder.
Enjoy your tainted win - so far, home teams have held serve in the BOA this season, and that trend WILL continue next Saturday night. Count on it.
Sure it was all bad refs and bad luck.
But, isn't the real problem that the Vaunt only scored one goal again tonight?
Huh? Your mighty offence got their second goal on the bad call. Without it...one goal. So enjoy the win, but focus the trash talk on something that makes sense.
I wouldn't anyone get too down on Roy for the third; Lombardi has pwned a lot of D-men that way this year (check out Kevin Bieksa's small lowlight reel, e.g.).
And yeah, that was a shit call on Sykora. The pendulum has really shifted at HNIC, no? They're not starting all their sentences with, "Yeah, the game is a lot better now, but.."
PDO,
At this level, one thing counts, a W.
No one gives you a point for effort.
Timbits hockey might, but the NHL doesn't
Crazycoach,
There's luck in this game. Shit happens. When you're outplaying the other team (and thus creating more scoring chances than them) you'll win more games than you lose.
Teams win games they shouldn't and lose games they shouldn't all the time. This goes down as one the Oilers shouldn't have lost.
Gotta admit, I didn't expect the Flames to win the special teams battle, even at home. The Oiler PK after the Sykora penalty was their worst in the game by a factor of about 10.
PDO,
true enough, but I just didn't see the effort out of this team, nor have I seen much the entire season.
This is slowly turning into the season from Hell, and I'm beginning to wonder just how big an impact the whole Pronger mess has had on this team. I expected a slight downturn, but I didn't imagine that the Coyotes would be creeping up on the Oilers in the standings.
I am just frustrated as hell right now.
I don't believe I left my computer and comfy room to go out and watch 6 hours of the Leafs getting blasted by the Canucks and the Oil losing on a phantom call.
Interesting how both Naslund and Friesen decided to start scoring again tonight =(.
# posted by : January 13, 2007 10:48 pm
: January 13, 2007 10:48 pm Right now, I'm trying to decide what's worse:
The fact the winning goal was scored on a penalty that was a bullshit call, or the fact the Oilers totally folded the tent after that and tarnished an effort that I thought was otherwise pretty solid up to that point.
This team needs to get their shit together fast. I hope those two wins in California weren't just false hope.
And I'd probably be a lot less upset about this loss if not for the fact they didn't get beat by a hot goalie against Minnesota last night.
Disheartening....
Matt,
Know your comments earlier about Oiler fans?
There's guys at HF blaming that goal on Horcoff.
Delusional. Christ.
pdo:
WHICH goal are they blaming on Horcoff?
Fuck, the guy might have had one of his best games of the season tonight.
One group of fans has Horcoff as their whipping boy, another group of fans (more intelligent, non-HF folk, IMO) are laying into Lupul. I think the only common ground is some degree of blasting Bergeron for the shit he occasionally pulls.
7 straight losses against divisional opponents? Fucking pathetic....
Sweatyo:
The first one. Apparently he let Jeff Friesen walk out.
I'm not even kidding you.
HF has been on the downswing for a while... I think that comment got pretty close to rock bottom though.
Horcoff was EDM's best player tonight, and it's not really even close. Smyth and especially Pisani (who btw I would take on my team any day, although his wage is pushing the upper limit) were invisible.
There's really not an Oiler D-man who could say that he didn't give up a fantastic scoring chance on a mistake.
pdo:
HF sucks. If those guys had any pull, Robbie Schremp would have played all but five games in the NHL so far this season. and that Ladislav Smid would be paired with Jason Smith. There is a lack of common sense on that site.
Friesen goal: Hejda should have hustled out to cover Friesen, but he hesitated for half a second and got burned. Roloson went down early too. Was Horcoff even on the ice...seriously? He wasn't even on the screen during the replay of that goal, IIRC....
It's irrelevant, plain and simple.
matt:
I didn't see Smith make a mistake per se, unless you're thinking he should share in the blame on the Friesen goal.
It's clear which D-man has more NHL games than pretty much the rest of the defense combined, when it comes to the six guys who dressed on the Oiler blueline tonight. When Bergeron is your 2nd most "experienced" NHL guy, you're in trouble.
The way Lowe has handled the need for blueline help is analagous to someone driving their car with the oil light on for six months....everyone else can see the smoke coming out from under the hood, so why can't the driver? By the time he makes the trip to Mr. Lube, it's at the point where a simple Oil change (pardon the TERRIBLE pun here) isn't going to fix things.
Sweatyo:
He was playing on that side high, taking away the point shot.
I get sick when I read a lot of things there. Most of them think Smith is our worst defenseman and Smid is our best, for example.
Shawn Horcoff and Jason Smith are the two favourite whipping boys.
I seem to be the only person on the planet that likes having MA Bergeron on this team.
I want to kill Lupul.
Sweatyo:
I think he's referring to Celine's goal where Smith went down.
I didn't mind Smith going down there...
Hejda going down there was ridiculous.
pdo:
I'm sorry, but I was supportive of MA Bergeron as a 3rd pairing guy for awhile, but lately, his mistakes are increasing in consequence and intensity. Four AWFUL giveaways tonight, by my count.
Last year, you could bury him and Greene as a 3rd pairing and not worry too much due to the fact they had a solid, solid top four (44/21/24/6) during the run in the spring.
Now? Bergeron's their best offensive d-man. And if MAB is your team's best offensive d-man, your team is in TROUBLE.
Lupul fucking stinks...I think everyone can agree on that, except for the HF'ers still raving about his 40 goal potential (I'm sure there's still that faction out there somewhere).
SweatyO, that's a fantastic analogy, all it's missing is all the bystanders yelling THAT'S A LOT OF FUCKIN SMOKE THERE BUDDY
Matt,
And the guy driving the car saying that he doesn't want to fix it just yet because there'll be a sale in 6 months and he might save $5.
matt: I can't take all the credit for it; someone at Oilfans used the car analogy, but I came up with the Oil-light part.
Because that's probably the most obvious problem with a car. A lot of shit that happens, you won't see it or notice it until the critical-mass point. The Oil light (aka trading the best defenseman in the game and not getting an adequate replacement) is a pretty obvious problem that, if left long enough, is going to bite you in the ass.
But don't say for a second you didn't see it coming. Lowe KNEW the risk he was taking by thinking he could get away without bringing in approprate defensive re-enforcements over the summer, during training camp, or early in the season.
Now, instead of maybe needing one guy, it looks like they need two, and on top of that, an indirect effect of the loss of Pronger (and less team-toughness) was a freak injury to Ethan Moreau, so they need more grit at forward too.
It's an ugly, ugly cloud of smoke right now, but the Oilermobile is not beyond repair....yet.
Well I'm steadily on my way to having the worst weekend ever. I'm pretty sure not many can match it *halfbeams*. Thank the lord for leftover christmas present chocolates.
And the guy driving the car saying that he doesn't want to fix it just yet because there'll be a sale in 6 months and he might save $5.
Then he gets to the counter and finds out either
a) There's so much demand that they've jacked up the price
or
b) He gets the sale item, but needs a bunch of other shit too due to the damage to the other parts of his vehicle from driving with the oil light on all that time.
Bottom line, it's time to say it: Lowe has fucked this up bigtime. The Pronger trade and the lack of activity afterwards.
And the mad scramble to just make the playoffs and be Anaheim's first round prison-bitch has officially begun...no one can say to me with a straight face that this team shouldn't be ahead of at least 2 of VCR/COL/MIN in the standings right now. Defensive help or no defensive help. Not all of this is on Lowe. The guys who ARE here aren't doing what they're capable of.
Mouth-breathing segment of Flames fans out in full-force at CalgaryPuck tonight. No surprise there.
This Blog has restored my hope that not all Flames fans have IQ's that hover around room temperature expressed in degrees F....there's friendly trash talk and respectful conversation, then there's a raging inferiority complex which completely blinds objectivity.
In short, there is still hope!
LOL, it is so funny reading the whole thread.
The only stats that matter are Flames GP 42, Pts 50; Oilers GP 44, Pts 46
Everything else is irrelevant or history.
# posted by : January 14, 2007 12:35 am
: January 14, 2007 12:35 am Not much of a record to keep when it's mostly the same people reposting. Now 122 different posters...that would be something.
# posted by : January 14, 2007 1:28 am
: January 14, 2007 1:28 am Not much of a record to keep when it's mostly the same people reposting. Now 122 different posters...that would be something.
Ah, but it's the right mix of the same people posting, which makes it easy like Sunday morning.
To any who care, I finished Season 2 of The Wire tonight. Just incredible. I liked Season 2 way more than 1, and now I'm dying for Season 3. Favorite characters are definitely Omar and Freaman.
I was out at a party last night, so I recorded the game on my PVR (and somehow made it through today without learning the score until I watched it...
So excuse me for chiming in late...
In regards to that penalty on Sykora...
When you lose your stick and you are behind the guy with the puck, what do you expect to have happen when you reach out at the guy with the puck...
Sure he barely grazed him and had a minimal effect on his forward progression (if any), but you have to look at intent...
It may have been a marginal call, but its not like you can say that the guy is going for the puck...
Go Flames!
# posted by : January 14, 2007 9:36 pm
: January 14, 2007 9:36 pm Post a Comment
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