I was broken up by the seventh-game defeat of the Flames last night. I was hoping for an upset victory but was ultimately disappointed by their performance. However, in the end, I had a pleasant night's sleep.

The reason? At least they had a chance -- and the Oilers missed the playoffs. Again.

go flames go
 

Ladies and Gentlemen - your typical Flames fan!
 

Also, looks like this 'Lupul' is a real playoff performer. KLowe will probably want to look into him, he's a G-A-B who even has a family connection to the Oil's outgoing ownership.
Awww, someone got a case of the... wednesdays?
 

At least they had a chance -- and the Oilers missed the playoffs. Again.

Funny thing, Rob, the Oilers played in Game 82 the kind of game Calgary needed in Game 7. Even though it was a nothing game for us, it was an elimination game for Vancouver, and the Oil brought timely scoring, tenacious checking, and world-class goaltending, all things Calgary could have used in greater abundance last night.

Missing the playoffs is never a successful season, but missing the playoffs by a whisker by bringing it every game 'til the end with a rookie- and sophomore-laden line-up (and with $15 MM on IR) is nothing to be ashamed of. So we can sleep pleasantly up here too.

Especially now that the Flames are out. :D

Just kidding, of course. Congratulations to the Calgary Flames for their fine play this playoff season.
 

The reason? At least they had a chance -- and the Oilers missed the playoffs. Again.

I'm going to bust out the same line I had to hear from Flames fans from 1999-2003.

And it got you an extra two weeks worth of games. Have a cookie.
 

calgarians...measuring success one first round loss at a time.
 

Dude Rob Huck, just STFU. You're the most embarrasssing Flame fan on earth.
 

rob is right at least teh COILERS missed the playoffs once again

hard 2 deny that 7TH PLACE is better than 9TH PLACE

hope u enjoy your off season coils. try not 2 spend 2 much on resigning jarett stoll and raffi torres.

lol.
 

maybe it's just me, but didn't flames fans and oilers fans become juuust a little friendlier this year when we all realized how much more hateable the canucks are ?

just curious.

crosby
 

Kiprusoff's NHL save percentages in chronological order: .933, .923, .917, .906. Amazing that anybody can get any sleep with a clock ticking that loudly in the background.
 

i'll take the kippr over rolison's .869 any day of the week

so he had a tougher year -- big deal. they still dont get any better than the kipper
 

Dude Rob Huck, just STFU. You're the most embarrasssing Flame fan on earth.

You spoke too soon
 

Man, I must be getting old, even the Oil trash talk is getting tamer and tamer; is BoA civilizing us too much?
 

calgarians...measuring success one first round loss at a time.

I'm not sure this playoff experience is that much of a "net" positive for Calgary, thanks to Iron Mike's mishandling of his franchise netminder. In the tradition of Pelle Lindbergh, Ed Belfour, and Curtis Joseph before him, Miikka Kiprusoff ended his season sitting on the end of Mike Keenan's bench. Hard to imagine both coach and cagecop will be back in September, or if so will last through December. Given one of the two just signed a 6-year, $35 MM contract it's not too hard to guess which one will go.

Keenan's move was not only professional suicide, it was a dumb strategic move which should in itself put his job in jeopardy. In Game 5 he made the right decision to stick with his #1 when Sharks jumped to a 4-1 lead, and Kiprusoff belatedly slammed the door as the Flames crawled back to 4-3. Last night they were a goal closer at 4-2 down and Keenan seemingly pushed the panic button. Which quickly turned into the self-destruct button when Cujo let in a weak one right off the bat. Suddenly it really is a three-goal deficit, and there's just no way Calgary is going to keep crawling out of that kind of hole. But man, that would have been a lot better third period at 4-3 than it was at 5-3.

I'm interested to read the opinions of Calgary fans on this. Preferably, something a little more penetrating than "they don't get any better than the kipper". You've been following this story all season; whereas I just know enough that when it comes to Keenan and his starting goalie, it is always a story.
 

I gotta say: the initial "soft" goal by Kipper last night seems more like a fluke than bad goaltending. He was in position, and screened, and the puck managed to sneak through the smallest of mouse holes between his pads.

Bad timing? Yep. But I wouldn't call it terrible goaltending either.

Now, that goal on Cujo...
 

Mike Gillis? Awesome. Guess Gagner better get a new agent. Does this mean Tambellini is moving to TO with Burke?
 

//Dude Rob Huck, just STFU. You're the most embarrasssing Flame fan on earth.//

You spoke too soon

Oilman: Surely you realize it's a multiple-way tie.
 

Wait, though, the Cujo goal featured all six guys in Falmes jerseys standing perfectly still while the puck danced around them. Cujo was merely the last Falme to get close to the biscuit before the red light went on.
The entire team simply got worked, not just the goalies.
 

the puck managed to sneak through the smallest of mouse holes between his pads.

You mean that hole where his stick should have been?

Bad timing? Yep. But I wouldn't call it terrible goaltending either.

You mean that hole where his stick should have been?

Now, that goal on Cujo...

He didn't look ready for prime time, did he? That one was an absolute killer. A season-killer, possibly even a coach-killer.
 

3 coaches...3 first round exits...has anyone even considered the fact that maybe the flames were never really good to begin with?
 

hope u enjoy your off season coils. try not 2 spend 2 much on resigning jarett stoll and raffi torres.

Torres was re-signed last off-season, and this off-season he will most likely be traded.
Nice attempt at humor.
 

Aren't the falmes in a win now mode? In that mode aren't you supposed to put up better results than weak first round exits?

I wonder what there plan is for next year?

Hope everbody gets better and that Nolan gets younger.

I heard the a rumor the other day that they signed Lankow to a 4-year 20 million deal, has anybody else heard such a thing? If this is true thats good news......for The rest of the NW.
 

hope u enjoy your off season coils. try not 2 spend 2 much on resigning jarett stoll and raffi torres.

Hope you enjoy your summer signing players like Darren McCarty, Tony Amonte, Owen Nolan, Cory Sarich, Craig Conroy, Cujo blah blah blah

Congrats Rob Huck on your successful playoffs. If you hurry come meet us for the back 9.
 

Well, if you're going to dump Raffi you might want to get an upgrade at enforcer because Stortini is definitely the poorest enforcer in the conference, and 'Gags' and 'Cogs' are going to get pounded next year. Even odds that neither of them play 70 games.
 

I went into these playoffs confident that the Flames would not be able to invent a new way to break my heart in the first round. After losing 3 overtime games in a row to the 'Nucks in '94, that flukey Esa OT killer in '91, the Sharks in '95, that bizarre non-effort against the Ducks in '06, I was absolutely sure that I was ready for anything and no disappointment would be too great to bear.

Getting beat by Jeremy Roenick was something I never saw coming. Wow.
 

Getting beat by Jeremy Roenick was something I never saw coming. Wow.

Apparently the 4 unanswered goals in 8 minutes was some kind of Franchise record for the Sharks as well.
 

Why does this message board ultimately turn into a pissing match between Flames/Oilers fans? My Flames completely laid an egg last night so I have nothing... NOTHING!! I was even one of the poor saps that had to sit through it live.. it was disgusting to say the least. Both of our teams fell short of the ultimate goal, we just had different levels of suck.

If I'm an Oiler fan, I'm thinking my team exceeded expectations. As a Flames fan, I feel the team didn't even close close to meeting expectations. It is what it is.
 

Bruce, you're right. That was a bad coaching move: Fluke goal or not, Keenan should have called a time-out and gotten the franchise goaltender to relax instead of pulling him. I cannot say -- nor can anyone else -- what that might mean for the long-term implications of Kiprusoff's career, and it will be interesting to see how he responds to his mediocre season. I can only hope that he responds well.

Having said that, I'll take a first-round exit anytime over missing the playoffs for the third time in four years, no matter how they finish the regular season.

tick-tock, tick-tock -- that's the sound of Kevin Lowe's excuses falling away.
 

You mean that hole where his stick should have been?

It was there. Sometimes pucks just get through...

My point was that Kipper wasn't spectacular, but he wasn't Martin Brodeur bad either.
 

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Why does this message board ultimately turn into a pissing match between Flames/Oilers fans?

You're looking for the "Circle Jerk of Alberta" site - common mistake.
 

It was there. Sometimes pucks just get through...

He lifted his stick a split second before the puck was going to hit it - it was a terrible goal
 

As an Oilers fan, it still bothers me to watch all the Edmonton boys, or those with Edmonton connections, doing it for the Flames: Iginla, Phaneuf, Playfair (Oiler draft), etc. Cujo is an indirect Edmonton "gift" via a few other teams. He is washed up and his win at the Spengler (a minor league event) fooled the Flames. Pulling Kipper was a huge gaffe. He let in one bad goal (JR's first). Keenan over-coaches. Put Sutter back behind the bench.
 

Stortini is definitely the poorest enforcer in the conference

Here's some stats for you, Cynical Joe:

Zack Stortini: 66 GP, 3-9-12
Eric Godard: 74 GP, 1-1-2

Stortini: 8:10 TOI/GP
Godard: 4:42 TOI/GP

Stortini: +3
Godard: -8

Stortini: 2.38 GF ON/60, 2.04 GA ON/60
Godard: 1.04 GF ON/60, 2.60 GA ON/60

Stortini: 201 PiM, 23 fights
Godard: 171 PiM, 17 fights

Stortini: 17 penalties taken, 16 drawn
Godard: 11 penalties taken, 5 drawn

Stortini 99 hits, 17 blocks
Godard: 36 hits, 5 blocks

Stortini: 12 GV, 5 TK
Godard: 13 GV, 1 TK

Stortini: 38 shots, 7.9 Sh%
Godard: 14 shots, 7.1 Sh%

Stortini: 22 years old
Godard: 28 years old
 

tick-tock, tick-tock -- that's the sound of Kevin Lowe's excuses falling away

Ding-ding....that's the sound of midnight striking and the window closing for the Flames.

We'll see how they fare next year when their depth players consist of all the outstanding youngsters from the Flames oh-so-deep prospect pool because they've sunk approximately 25 million into four players, including 6.5 million per year into the most overrated defenseman in the NHL.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the 2009 Calgary Flames, aka "Tampa West".
 

Ba-Zing! That was awesome Bruce.
 

huck said:
>>Having said that, I'll take a first-round exit anytime over missing the playoffs for the third time in four years, no matter how they finish the regular season.<<

Nice world of absolutes you live in there huck. If that helps you sleep better at night, like first commenter rob huck, use it I guess. Course it's not really that simple. Check the post above yours...

brent said:
>>If I'm an Oiler fan, I'm thinking my team exceeded expectations. As a Flames fan, I feel the team didn't even close close to meeting expectations. It is what it is.<<

Damn right. This season was a positive one for the Oil for a number of reasons. Flames on the other hand, pissed another year away with a first round loss. 3rd year in a row. Hang you hat on that if you want, but I don't see an improvement over last year. Nor an outlook that next year will be better.

Or, as reggie sr. said:
>>Aren't the falmes in a win now mode? In that mode aren't you supposed to put up better results than weak first round exits?<<

Look down your nose at the Oilers all you want huck. Better enjoy it while it lasts. After all, another first round loss is so very impressive.
 

Julian said...
>>Ba-Zing! That was awesome Bruce.<<

What he said. Well done Bruce!
 

Ah, yes. The annual tradition: watching the Falmes fans come out and join us Coiler fans in our post-hockey misery. We are all united, and yet we are each alone.
 

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Dude Rob Huck, just STFU. You're the most embarrasssing Flame fan on earth.
# posted by Blogger McLea

Praise from Caesar!
 

dennis, he not only pulled him - he then blamed him for the game 7 loss. I see a 4th coach in 4 years in the Flames future.
 

Read all today's coverage from the SJ and Cgy papers and the guys from the latter sheet were all over Keenan for bringing in CuJo.

And rightfully so, IMO. I thought it was a stupid move.

Of course I also thought it was a stupid move in G3 but it worked back then so I guess that made it right;) Back then I thought it was risky because all it took was one goal allowed by a rusty CuJo and then the hill's just that much steeper. And of course that's what happened last night.

I have to give Matt credit, though, for his nearly Nostradaumian prediction of this series closeness because I never had any fears it would go beyond six. But, Campbell was nothing more than a defender and a fellow like Michalek was basically a nothing.

I'm interested to see how they do versus Dallas and when it comes to the Flames going forward, I'll never count them out as a playoff team but maybe they can change something during the reg season.

I'm not saying these guys hold back at any time but they'd be smart to blow their brains out in hopes of securing home ice adv for '09 because they went 1-3 on the road this time out and it made the last bit of difference.

Other than that, who knows. Phaneuf should get better as a defender and I don't think Iggy's on the downswing just yet. Flames will lose one of Huseleis or Langkow and that's gonna hurt their offensive output. Could Pardy or some other young D be better than what currently passes as their third pairing and if so, just what kind of a difference would that make?

Kipper's still a helluva goalie, though, but it does appear to be on the downswing. I don't think it's enough to damn them out of a playoff picture, mind you, but if the Oilers are for real and Gillis brings some offense into Van, there's gonna be a good team on the outside looking in come next spring.
 

Phaneuf should get better as a defender

The Norris Trophy voters are heaping him with laurels for being a great point QB who's beatable at his own blueline and has a notable tendency to float in his own end when he's not taking dumb penalties. You think he's gonna change? Why would he? He's still young, but the Phaneuf phellators in the press are no friends of the Calgary Flames.
 

Bruce;

Hey, if you're happy with Stortini, you're welcome to him, but man the guy got schooled by Owen Nolan, that well known goon. Oilers have had a ton of injuries the last 2 years, they also had Stortini supposedly protecting his teammates. Now, you can't blame every injury on Zach, but if I got a team built out of small, slight, injury prone fast guys, I wouldn't want some other team to be in position to say, 'nice little team ya got there, Edmonton, it'd be a shame if anything happened to it'.
 

Hey, if you're happy with Stortini, you're welcome to him, but man the guy got schooled by Owen Nolan, that well known goon.

1,727 career PiM, ten 100-PiM seasons ... yeah I've heard of that well-known goon. I remember the fight, too; Nolan came out fresh and took on Stortini at the end of a long shift. Just looked it up, Nolan had been out for 0:16, Stortini for 1:08. So it was either a crafty veteran move or a gutless bastard taking advantage of a tired opponent, depends on what side you're cheering for I suppose. I tend to think Nolan -- who's nobody's fool -- picked his spot pretty well and taught Stortini a lesson.

But one thing Zack has proven adept at is learning his lessons. Appearances to the contrary, he's smart, disciplined, and coachable, and was a far better player (and fighter) by season's end than he was way back on October 20 when the Nolan fight occurred.

Those stats listed above show our "enforcer" or "agitator" or whatever you want to call him, can actually play hockey. Unlike Eric Godard, who on one memorable trip to Edmonton played all of 1:32, managed to post a -1 in that short time, and took 27 minutes in penalties including a gift 7-minute powerplay for the Oilers when he gutlessly assaulted our goaltender. Now maybe that's your idea of a good enforcer, but to me that's worse than useless, and an embarrassment to his team. In fact I consider Godard the poorest enforcer in the conference.
 

As Sun Tzu says, the best possible outcome for a Battle is not to fight it at all, but to win it before it begins. Thats what intimidation does for you, thats what a player like Boogaard brings to the table. Nobody in the league is worried about Zack, so he ends up having to fight more, which exposes him as not a great fighter (and he should be able to handle Nolan after a 20 minute shift), which means less intimidation, which means more liberties taken with Oiler players.
 

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he should be able to handle Nolan after a 20 minute shift

I must be thinking about a different Owen Nolan. The guy I'm thinking of is one of the most experienced, and respected, scrappers in the game. Although not by you it would seem, Cynical Joe. Way to sell one of your toughest players short.
 

Is Owen Nolan tough, sure, but Stortini is paid so Nolan behaves himself around the Oilers. Didn't happen, Zach looked bad; just sayin'.
 

Cosh: Yeah, I think Phaneuf will get better as a defender; especially if Keenan continues to be the head coach.

I suspect that one of the few tricks Keenan has left in his bag is to chide Dion about reading his press clippings and to remind him that defensemen are supposed to, uh, defend;)
 

Re: Cosh's comments on Phaneuf

It's interesting to read a fan of the Oil dismissing an offensive-minded d-man prone to defensive screw-ups while there is an etching of Paul Coffey in the Hall of Fame.

Still, the comparisons to Scott Stevens are apt as that man was also known to have egregious defensive lapses early in his career, lapses which began to disappear with increased experience. Phaneuf's got a long way to go, but the guy is only 23 while the vintage age of most great NHL blueliners is much closer to 29 or 30. The kid improved tremendously this past season, and only fools would believe that this progress will not continue.

Put it this way: which general manager wouldn't immediately sign Phaneuf to a long-term deal worth $6.5 per -- or more?
 

"Is Owen Nolan tough, sure, but Stortini is paid so Nolan behaves himself around the Oilers. Didn't happen, Zach looked bad; just sayin'."

Yeah, right after that Nolan went out and took out Hemsky and Gagner.

Oh, wait.

Not saying Stortini made Nolan behave, but he sure wasn't misbehaved in the first place.

Difference between Paul Coffey and Dion Phaneuf? About 4 Stanley Cup rings and 3 Norris Trophy wins. Get back to us when Phaneuf's there.
 

Not to mention the fact that everytime the minimum-wage Stortini took a high-priced Flame to the penalty box with him -- Nolan, Sarich, Regehr, and Vandermeer (avg. salary $2.3 MM) all fought him -- the Oilers "won" the exchange.

For all those 23 fights, Stortini never took a single instigating penalty the entire season. No game misconducts either. Godard took 3 and 2 respectively ... what kind of idiot has to put his team in the hole by instigating a fight with Scott Parker or Derek Boogaard?