Sunday, April 20, 2008
Flames Game Day
This is Alex Tanguay. I spent much of the middle part of this season banging the drum for him, whether it was regarding trade rumours, or what to do to retain Huselius (there's a topic not broached much lately), or just the state of the club in general. Naturally, he ended up posting very indistinguished G-A-Pt numbers, and really, just didn't have a great season.Game 6 vs. San Jose goes tonight (6PM MT, CBC) at the 'Dome, and my victory scenarios (and 2-game winning streak scenarios) all involve some bounces going his way.
Signs from the last couple of games, in this regard, are promising. The puck has been following him around. My personal bellwether for whether Tanguay is being effective is if a lot of fans are annoyed by his refusal to shoot more. If they are, that's good! -- it means he has the puck a lot in and around the scoring areas, and a career's worth of precedent tells us that it will regularly end up in the other guy's net when that happens.
I don't have a prediction for tonight. I really hope the Flames play as well as they can. Next year, the team will look different; their biggest hole is forward depth, and they're going to be going backwards before they can go forwards. Right now -- even down 3-2, to a very good team, in only the first round -- their odds of winning the WC and the Stanley are probably better than they are for next season.
Go Flames!
# posted by Matt @ 9:12 am 
Comments:
Should Sutter be fired? Nonis is gone for not addressing the offense problem. Sutter's answer was a bunch of past-their prime plugs.
To me, when you sign anyone to a contract over $6 million, you're playing for 'right now'.
james gunner
He didn't have a great season on the powerplay.
Actually he had a horrendous season on the powerplay.
At even Tanguay was fucking awesome.
Tanguay has proven during his time here that he isn't a PP player, for whatever baffling reason. He seems to out-think himself ends up giving the puck away more than anything else.
Im one of those guys annoyed with Tanguay for throwing away several good scoring chances this series, so hopefully that bodes well as you portend, Matt.
Unrelated to anything, but here's a pretty funny video mashup:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWeCKqM_P1M
Appologies if this has been posted before or old news.
Should Sutter be fired?
I say he gets one more season, regardless of what happens the rest of the playoffs. Beyond that, it depends on what he does this offseason. If Langkow is back, 1 or 2 over-priced contracts are miraculously shed to make room for the right free agent signing(s), and the prospect pool is somehow fixed up a bit, then we stay the course. Seems like a tall order, but no one thought we could keep Iggy, Kipper, Regher and Phaneuf long term and he pulled that off.
An offseason where we remain handcuffed by the salary dead-weights, leak talent, and replace it with more past-due "Sutter-types" will certainly raise the question. If it's followed by another barely-made-it season and first round exit, I think it would be time to kick him back down behind the bench and bring some new mentality in upstairs.
Of-course after the Flames win 2 straight and go on to win the cup, we'll all be singing his praises again and talking about how everything he touches turns to gold for another 2 years.
That Canucks vid is a ripoff of a Cowboys one that was floating around a while ago. Still entertaining, although the Richter joke is in spectacularly poor taste.
I read something about YouTube comments on Slate this week and the comments were entertaining: "Hitler is a such a fag" was a spectacular bit of insight.
i think, if you break it down, sutter's good moves have equalled his terrible ones. getting kipper out of SJ for a draft pick ? steal. signing eriksson/smith at ALL and warrener/primeau to extended contracts ? debilitating.
letting top prospects like giordano and taratukhin walk for nothing ? scary as hell....
and i'd say our problem is as much on the back end as the front end...
Seems like a tall order, but no one thought we could keep Iggy, Kipper, Regher and Phaneuf long term and he pulled that off.
It would probably be more accurate to say "no one thought you could keep Iggy, Kipper, Regehr, and Phaneuf long-term without turning most of the rest of the team into a combination of an NHL alumni team and the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights."
Now, locking up your guys long-term is a nice achievement, but the lack of depth on that roster is almost criminal. This season it's bad enough; even with Thornton and Campbell playing mediocre hockey the Sharks are up 3-2 because their second-best guys are better than Calgary's second-best guys. Next season, they're going to have to see if Iginla can play sixty minutes a night.
My problem with Tanguay is that if he isn't scoring he hasn't been very useful in any other way. He just simply hasn't been making good decisions, end of story.
It's times like these when you can understand why Torteralla played the fuck out of his big three in TB.
Iginla might not have anything left as a result of my G6, and potentially G7 antics, but if I'm Keenan then I'm playing him 30 min for G6 and hoping I've got something left to play for on Tues night.
Flames are super dangerous when he's on the ice and they're not worth worrying about when he isn't. That's not telling anyone anything they don't know -- and it's damning the lesser-lights after a playoff sample size of just five games -- but Iginla's the only real weapon they have right now and they should use him as much as possible.
Gotta imagine one of the keys for the Sharks tonight was surviving to the TV timeout.
Got that under control :)
It would probably be more accurate to say "no one thought you could keep Iggy, Kipper, Regehr, and Phaneuf long-term without turning most of the rest of the team into a combination of an NHL alumni team and the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights."
Good call, Lord Bob. The bottom half of the Flames roster is among the least imposing in the league. Same problem as Tampa, for similar reasons ... too much money tied up at the top of the roster.
Nabokov has a SV % of less than .900 in this series, but apparently, "he's stopped almost everything he's seen." As a Winnipegger, my deepest apologies to CBC viewers for not stuffing Mark Lee in a burlap bag and tossing him into the Red River when he worked here.
That aside, that was a BIG goal by Langkow.
Great stuff from this club in the first two.
Hopefully they can close it out in the 3rd.
How about that Matthew Lombardi?
Are they trying to get Wilson fired?
Or is he actually the problem?
That aside, that was a BIG goal by Langkow.
I giggled my ass off when Simpson said it was the biggest goal of the series so far.
Anyone watching Hitch on TSN? Duthie just asked him if he watches games and cheers for certain teams to be eliminated, so that certain players are available to him for the WHC. His answer: "um, yes."
Love the Hitch.
LT, are they lazy, or tight because they're favourites again?
They shouldn't be tight. It's six bloody games in.
I don't know what it is about San Jose. If the Sharks were a baseball team I'd say they were tipping their pitches. Something about them says they can be beaten if the other side plays a little greasy and makes them pay.
It's ridiculous, but we're watching it. I know Wilson will have the last change and get his matchups for G7 but this crew is pretty fucking heartless if you ask me.
God knows I'm not a Flames fan but at least they look like it means something.
Can't blame them for the Langkow goal, that was a softie but we can sure blame them for the fizzle they've shown since then.
Poor match-up by Keenan there. Moss and Nystrom against Thornton, Cheechoo and Marleau. Flames were lucky to ice it, then after winning the subsequent faceoff Nystrom totally fucked up five feet inside the blueline for more anxious moments. (For Falmes fans, that is ... :)
I don't think we'll be seeing much more of Mr. Nystrom tonight.
San Jose's last three Games Six:
Edmonton 2, San Jose 0
Detroit 2, San Jose 0
Calgary 2, San Jose 0
The only difference was, this wasn't an elimination game. But the next one sure as hell is.
Flames will destroy the heart-less Sharks 4-1 in Game 7
book it.
I likely saw the Flames 25 or so times this year, and I don't remember them having so little to do in a third period to hold a lead against an allegedly competent team. Maybe one of the woohooing types can amplify, but my sense is they normally exhibit the late game defensive zone composure of Kevin Bacon at the end of Animal House.
Milan Michalek has been completely useless this series. How the fuck do you have a 3-on-1 and not have a shot on goal.
And Brian Campbell is going to be classified as "overpaid" starting next season. Whatever he gets from San Jose (or someone else) this summer is going to be Souray-esque in terms of likelihood of the player covering the bet.
On one side you have a team with no killer instict. On the other you have a team with precisely one consistently dangerous forward. One team is going to win this series by default. I wouldn't bet a nickel on the Flames against Detroit or the Sharks against either the Stars or Ducks at this point, however.....
And with the (pending) elimination of Dallas, I have officially become a Flames fan for Game 7. Go Flames!
Watching Pronger sit in the box for the last two minutes of this Ducks/Stars game is just so wonderful. I'm almost crying.
Ducks out in the first round, and the Flames taking it to San Jose...all in all a good night.
I believe with a 1st round exit and their overall point total for the regular season, Edmonton would pick 22nd overall. If one of San Jose or Montreal lost their game 7s then the pick is 21st, and if both lose then the Oil get a 20th overall pick.
A 20th to 22nd pick is the best everyone could have hoped for, but Anaheim picking 12th overall still stings. Followed by that those 2nd and 3rd round picks. Here's hoping they lose the draft lottery big time and get the 14th overall, small consolation though.
Anyhoo, it's in the best interest of the Oilers to be Flames and Bruins fans right now, although I don't dislike Montreal.
LT: I got so giddy with the Ducks getting eliminated, I had a brain fart. Thanks for pointing out my pure happiness.
As for the first rounder, uh fuck. Is it based on points, or playoff seedings? Minni lost, so if it's points we pick after them, but before if it's seedings. I'm cheering for the Flames for this reasoning. And Boston. Maybe Philly.
We need a Cap-ologist.
Oh I forgot Division Winners get last dibs and Anaheim was a "wildcard" since San Jose won their Division, and Minny was a Division Winner themselves.
As it stand the Oilers have at the very least the 21st overall pick.
So if the Flyers finish off the Caps then the Oilers pick 1 higher again. So the possibility of a 18th overall pick. Let's go Flyers! Always liked that Biron =).
Uni:
Don't forget about the Montreal-Boston series. That Lucic looks like a young Cam Neely.
Go Bruins.
Impressive stuff from the Flames tonight. Iginla really wasn't all that noticeable beyond the first period and even though the Langkow goal was garbage, Cgy still worked hard enough and created enough chances that they deserved this one no question about it.
Only time I thought SJ had a chance was from about the 5 min mark of the 2nd right up until the Langkow goal. SJ really started to grind it out a little more and Marleau had a super chance on the PP and had Kipper out of position but he shot it wide.
Overall, though, the Joe.T/Marleau combo was nowhere to be found in the first period, Campbell has been turned into nothing more than a defender and Michalek is like Lombardi; except the former can't even generate chances;)
Speaking of Lombardi, there's something comforting about seeing him having a scoring chance:D
Flames were ready for this one, though, no doubt about it. Fuck, even Primeau was creating chances.
On the Sharks side, Clowe looked work down and I thought young Carle had a really good game defending wise. He actually won a handful of battles down low.
dorito: No worries, I was pretty happy myself and honestly can't remember the last time I cheered for Dallas.
The new uniforms helped. :-)
LT: The new uniforms help for sure, but the new faces help more. No Hatcher, no Belfour, no Ludwig, no Langenbrunner, no Verbeek, no Grumpy Old Men, no Benoit Fucking Hogue.
Maybe it's just me but I really like Turco and respect Modano and Lehtinen and think that Brenden Morrow is one hell of a hockey player full stop. So I don't mind seeing those guys win their first series since the last time they took out the Oilers. I even missed Zubov, who's a favourite from way back. Bottom line: I no longer hate the Stars.
Especially bnow that they've wiped the floor with the not-so-mighty Ducks. Pronger, Bertuzzi, Perry and Burke are reasons enough to really hate this team. The improvement in Oilers draft position (if that's true -- I thought it was just the final four who moved seedings down to 27-30) is a nice bonus, and combined with the Oil's strong finish to drop the Penner picks down to 12, 42 and 72, is as happy an ending to this saga as we could possibly have hoped for two or three months ago.
Say good night, Dicks.
Ducks are not really out. Just like Niedermeyer and Selanne, the Ducks will return half way through the playoffs and play the rest of the way. That is how it works, right??? I am sure Brian Burke is working on a that right now and present to the NHL board on monday. Bettman and Co. will allow it, somehow.
Bruce: Is there anything this early Ducks loss will do to help with the Souray contract;)
I dunno, I would have cheered against Burke even IF there weren't picks involved but it still felt wrong to root for Dallas.
I thought Ana would oust them - so that means I don't have any Stars in my playoff draft pool - and one guy has four of them so I'll have lots of reasons to cheer against them whomever they face in the next round.
Flames will destroy the heart-less Sharks 4-1 in Game 7
book it.
I love anonymous comments. What a gutsy call, really putting your rep on the line here.
As for the game- good God there's not much I can say. The Flames out-everything'd the Sharks. I'm still looking to see if this team has a pulse- so far, no can find.
Game seven. God help us all.
Go Sharks.
Bruce: Is there anything this early Ducks loss will do to help with the Souray contract;)
Yeah, it can help us to foget about if for 5 minutes. Except for you, Dennis. :)
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Should Sutter be fired? Nonis is gone for not addressing the offense problem. Sutter's answer was a bunch of past-their prime plugs.
To me, when you sign anyone to a contract over $6 million, you're playing for 'right now'.
james gunner
# posted by 
: April 20, 2008 9:31 am
: April 20, 2008 9:31 am He didn't have a great season on the powerplay.
Actually he had a horrendous season on the powerplay.
At even Tanguay was fucking awesome.
Tanguay has proven during his time here that he isn't a PP player, for whatever baffling reason. He seems to out-think himself ends up giving the puck away more than anything else.
Im one of those guys annoyed with Tanguay for throwing away several good scoring chances this series, so hopefully that bodes well as you portend, Matt.
Unrelated to anything, but here's a pretty funny video mashup:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWeCKqM_P1M
Appologies if this has been posted before or old news.
# posted by : April 20, 2008 10:42 am
: April 20, 2008 10:42 am Should Sutter be fired?
I say he gets one more season, regardless of what happens the rest of the playoffs. Beyond that, it depends on what he does this offseason. If Langkow is back, 1 or 2 over-priced contracts are miraculously shed to make room for the right free agent signing(s), and the prospect pool is somehow fixed up a bit, then we stay the course. Seems like a tall order, but no one thought we could keep Iggy, Kipper, Regher and Phaneuf long term and he pulled that off.
An offseason where we remain handcuffed by the salary dead-weights, leak talent, and replace it with more past-due "Sutter-types" will certainly raise the question. If it's followed by another barely-made-it season and first round exit, I think it would be time to kick him back down behind the bench and bring some new mentality in upstairs.
Of-course after the Flames win 2 straight and go on to win the cup, we'll all be singing his praises again and talking about how everything he touches turns to gold for another 2 years.
# posted by : April 20, 2008 10:49 am
: April 20, 2008 10:49 am That Canucks vid is a ripoff of a Cowboys one that was floating around a while ago. Still entertaining, although the Richter joke is in spectacularly poor taste.
I read something about YouTube comments on Slate this week and the comments were entertaining: "Hitler is a such a fag" was a spectacular bit of insight.
# posted by : April 20, 2008 10:57 am
: April 20, 2008 10:57 am i think, if you break it down, sutter's good moves have equalled his terrible ones. getting kipper out of SJ for a draft pick ? steal. signing eriksson/smith at ALL and warrener/primeau to extended contracts ? debilitating.
letting top prospects like giordano and taratukhin walk for nothing ? scary as hell....
and i'd say our problem is as much on the back end as the front end...
Seems like a tall order, but no one thought we could keep Iggy, Kipper, Regher and Phaneuf long term and he pulled that off.
It would probably be more accurate to say "no one thought you could keep Iggy, Kipper, Regehr, and Phaneuf long-term without turning most of the rest of the team into a combination of an NHL alumni team and the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights."
Now, locking up your guys long-term is a nice achievement, but the lack of depth on that roster is almost criminal. This season it's bad enough; even with Thornton and Campbell playing mediocre hockey the Sharks are up 3-2 because their second-best guys are better than Calgary's second-best guys. Next season, they're going to have to see if Iginla can play sixty minutes a night.
My problem with Tanguay is that if he isn't scoring he hasn't been very useful in any other way. He just simply hasn't been making good decisions, end of story.
It's times like these when you can understand why Torteralla played the fuck out of his big three in TB.
Iginla might not have anything left as a result of my G6, and potentially G7 antics, but if I'm Keenan then I'm playing him 30 min for G6 and hoping I've got something left to play for on Tues night.
Flames are super dangerous when he's on the ice and they're not worth worrying about when he isn't. That's not telling anyone anything they don't know -- and it's damning the lesser-lights after a playoff sample size of just five games -- but Iginla's the only real weapon they have right now and they should use him as much as possible.
Gotta imagine one of the keys for the Sharks tonight was surviving to the TV timeout.
Got that under control :)
It would probably be more accurate to say "no one thought you could keep Iggy, Kipper, Regehr, and Phaneuf long-term without turning most of the rest of the team into a combination of an NHL alumni team and the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights."
Good call, Lord Bob. The bottom half of the Flames roster is among the least imposing in the league. Same problem as Tampa, for similar reasons ... too much money tied up at the top of the roster.
Nabokov has a SV % of less than .900 in this series, but apparently, "he's stopped almost everything he's seen." As a Winnipegger, my deepest apologies to CBC viewers for not stuffing Mark Lee in a burlap bag and tossing him into the Red River when he worked here.
That aside, that was a BIG goal by Langkow.
Great stuff from this club in the first two.
Hopefully they can close it out in the 3rd.
How about that Matthew Lombardi?
Are they trying to get Wilson fired?
Or is he actually the problem?
That aside, that was a BIG goal by Langkow.
I giggled my ass off when Simpson said it was the biggest goal of the series so far.
Anyone watching Hitch on TSN? Duthie just asked him if he watches games and cheers for certain teams to be eliminated, so that certain players are available to him for the WHC. His answer: "um, yes."
Love the Hitch.
LT, are they lazy, or tight because they're favourites again?
They shouldn't be tight. It's six bloody games in.
I don't know what it is about San Jose. If the Sharks were a baseball team I'd say they were tipping their pitches. Something about them says they can be beaten if the other side plays a little greasy and makes them pay.
It's ridiculous, but we're watching it. I know Wilson will have the last change and get his matchups for G7 but this crew is pretty fucking heartless if you ask me.
God knows I'm not a Flames fan but at least they look like it means something.
Can't blame them for the Langkow goal, that was a softie but we can sure blame them for the fizzle they've shown since then.
Poor match-up by Keenan there. Moss and Nystrom against Thornton, Cheechoo and Marleau. Flames were lucky to ice it, then after winning the subsequent faceoff Nystrom totally fucked up five feet inside the blueline for more anxious moments. (For Falmes fans, that is ... :)
I don't think we'll be seeing much more of Mr. Nystrom tonight.
San Jose's last three Games Six:
Edmonton 2, San Jose 0
Detroit 2, San Jose 0
Calgary 2, San Jose 0
The only difference was, this wasn't an elimination game. But the next one sure as hell is.
Flames will destroy the heart-less Sharks 4-1 in Game 7
book it.
# posted by : April 20, 2008 8:55 pm
: April 20, 2008 8:55 pm I likely saw the Flames 25 or so times this year, and I don't remember them having so little to do in a third period to hold a lead against an allegedly competent team. Maybe one of the woohooing types can amplify, but my sense is they normally exhibit the late game defensive zone composure of Kevin Bacon at the end of Animal House.
Milan Michalek has been completely useless this series. How the fuck do you have a 3-on-1 and not have a shot on goal.
And Brian Campbell is going to be classified as "overpaid" starting next season. Whatever he gets from San Jose (or someone else) this summer is going to be Souray-esque in terms of likelihood of the player covering the bet.
On one side you have a team with no killer instict. On the other you have a team with precisely one consistently dangerous forward. One team is going to win this series by default. I wouldn't bet a nickel on the Flames against Detroit or the Sharks against either the Stars or Ducks at this point, however.....
And with the (pending) elimination of Dallas, I have officially become a Flames fan for Game 7. Go Flames!
Watching Pronger sit in the box for the last two minutes of this Ducks/Stars game is just so wonderful. I'm almost crying.
Ducks out in the first round, and the Flames taking it to San Jose...all in all a good night.
I believe with a 1st round exit and their overall point total for the regular season, Edmonton would pick 22nd overall. If one of San Jose or Montreal lost their game 7s then the pick is 21st, and if both lose then the Oil get a 20th overall pick.
A 20th to 22nd pick is the best everyone could have hoped for, but Anaheim picking 12th overall still stings. Followed by that those 2nd and 3rd round picks. Here's hoping they lose the draft lottery big time and get the 14th overall, small consolation though.
Anyhoo, it's in the best interest of the Oilers to be Flames and Bruins fans right now, although I don't dislike Montreal.
LT: I got so giddy with the Ducks getting eliminated, I had a brain fart. Thanks for pointing out my pure happiness.
As for the first rounder, uh fuck. Is it based on points, or playoff seedings? Minni lost, so if it's points we pick after them, but before if it's seedings. I'm cheering for the Flames for this reasoning. And Boston. Maybe Philly.
We need a Cap-ologist.
Oh I forgot Division Winners get last dibs and Anaheim was a "wildcard" since San Jose won their Division, and Minny was a Division Winner themselves.
As it stand the Oilers have at the very least the 21st overall pick.
So if the Flyers finish off the Caps then the Oilers pick 1 higher again. So the possibility of a 18th overall pick. Let's go Flyers! Always liked that Biron =).
Uni:
Don't forget about the Montreal-Boston series. That Lucic looks like a young Cam Neely.
Go Bruins.
Impressive stuff from the Flames tonight. Iginla really wasn't all that noticeable beyond the first period and even though the Langkow goal was garbage, Cgy still worked hard enough and created enough chances that they deserved this one no question about it.
Only time I thought SJ had a chance was from about the 5 min mark of the 2nd right up until the Langkow goal. SJ really started to grind it out a little more and Marleau had a super chance on the PP and had Kipper out of position but he shot it wide.
Overall, though, the Joe.T/Marleau combo was nowhere to be found in the first period, Campbell has been turned into nothing more than a defender and Michalek is like Lombardi; except the former can't even generate chances;)
Speaking of Lombardi, there's something comforting about seeing him having a scoring chance:D
Flames were ready for this one, though, no doubt about it. Fuck, even Primeau was creating chances.
On the Sharks side, Clowe looked work down and I thought young Carle had a really good game defending wise. He actually won a handful of battles down low.
dorito: No worries, I was pretty happy myself and honestly can't remember the last time I cheered for Dallas.
The new uniforms helped. :-)
LT: The new uniforms help for sure, but the new faces help more. No Hatcher, no Belfour, no Ludwig, no Langenbrunner, no Verbeek, no Grumpy Old Men, no Benoit Fucking Hogue.
Maybe it's just me but I really like Turco and respect Modano and Lehtinen and think that Brenden Morrow is one hell of a hockey player full stop. So I don't mind seeing those guys win their first series since the last time they took out the Oilers. I even missed Zubov, who's a favourite from way back. Bottom line: I no longer hate the Stars.
Especially bnow that they've wiped the floor with the not-so-mighty Ducks. Pronger, Bertuzzi, Perry and Burke are reasons enough to really hate this team. The improvement in Oilers draft position (if that's true -- I thought it was just the final four who moved seedings down to 27-30) is a nice bonus, and combined with the Oil's strong finish to drop the Penner picks down to 12, 42 and 72, is as happy an ending to this saga as we could possibly have hoped for two or three months ago.
Say good night, Dicks.
Ducks are not really out. Just like Niedermeyer and Selanne, the Ducks will return half way through the playoffs and play the rest of the way. That is how it works, right??? I am sure Brian Burke is working on a that right now and present to the NHL board on monday. Bettman and Co. will allow it, somehow.
Bruce: Is there anything this early Ducks loss will do to help with the Souray contract;)
I dunno, I would have cheered against Burke even IF there weren't picks involved but it still felt wrong to root for Dallas.
I thought Ana would oust them - so that means I don't have any Stars in my playoff draft pool - and one guy has four of them so I'll have lots of reasons to cheer against them whomever they face in the next round.
Flames will destroy the heart-less Sharks 4-1 in Game 7
book it.
I love anonymous comments. What a gutsy call, really putting your rep on the line here.
As for the game- good God there's not much I can say. The Flames out-everything'd the Sharks. I'm still looking to see if this team has a pulse- so far, no can find.
Game seven. God help us all.
Go Sharks.
Bruce: Is there anything this early Ducks loss will do to help with the Souray contract;)
Yeah, it can help us to foget about if for 5 minutes. Except for you, Dennis. :)
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