Saturday, October 11, 2008

 

Flames Game Day: Optimism, Unbridled

Finally, the beginning of the season is here -- I can't wait to find out how good this team is. Good to start with a home game, where Kipper has historically been more comfortable and alert, and the punchless Canucks figure to be the ideal opponent for the Flames to get their defensive legs under them.

Apparently Giordano will sit on the D, which is great because I want to see how this young, on-the-upswing Jim Vandermeer is developing. Also, Boyd will be a healthy scratch, making room for Prust, who has got to be itching to make a NHL difference after spending last entire season in the QC, and most of training camp home in bed with the flu.

Nothing quite beats the fear and anticipation before that first game! It goes at 8PM MT on Hockey Night In Canada; there's a buzz on the street, indeed.

Calgary 4 (Iginla x2, Phaneuf, Moss)
Vancouver 2 (Sedin, Salo)

Go Flames!!!

Comments:

Sarcasm ... detector ... on ... overload

Too funny
 


did somebody forget to tell mike keenan that the exhibition season is over and THESE GAMES EFFIN COUNT !?!??!
 


Best of luck to the Calgary Flames this hockey season.
 


He he
 


KIIIIII-PER!!!! KIIIIIIIIIII-PER!!!!
 


Good for the Beaumont dude for winning the anthem challenge, although I must confess the all sounded the same to me.
 


Ah, sweet delusional oblivion...

:)

Kipper vs. Luongo. Two solid goaltenders. It wouldn't surprise me to see a shutout.
 


Agreed. Jesus Luongo and Miikka Salo are quality.
 


Yes, but this anthem has a shout!
 


Beauty post, Matt!
 


My rage is growing exponentially.
 


Alex Tanguay's on a 600+ point pace for the season as of right now.

Any odds on how long it will take Bertuzzi to reach 4 points?
 


Hahaha. Scratch that. I mean 200 points.
 


Online CBC = Jian Ghomeshi commercials.

AACCK!!!
 


Sure, Tanguay might be scoring like mad tonight, but he's still soft. Points don't win hockey games, slow fat guys who occasionally break people's necks do.
 


Man, I was two picks away from having Tanguay in my pool.
 


Prediction: 3-2 Canucks

and that you'll hate Bertuzzi's guts even more after the game, if that's possible.
 


Oops!
 


Roy looked stunned he scored there.
 


So much for a shutout. For anyone.
 


Flames score again. Plan the parade!

According to Mark Lee it went "off of the shaft of Bertuzzi."
 


Luongo is in my pool and starting tonight, so Flames fans you can thank me.
 


Nice switch to the left hand by Iginla in that fight with Mitchell. He popped him something sweet.
 


Anytime two NW rivals pound the crap out of each other is a good night for an Oilers fan.

Man, I hate cheering for a regulation win above all else.
 


Luongo is in my pool

You, sir, deserve to come in last place for that pick.
 


Well, that was much nicer to see. I like the PP with both Langkow and Bertuzzi in front of the net that we saw at the end of the period. That's got potential, I think, especially against goalies like Luongo.

And I'm thrilled to see Giordano's shot on the Bertuzzi goal. That's exactly what I remember about him from two years ago. I'm glad to see he hasn't changed.
 


did prust just turtle?
 


That was a fun minute for Canucks fans. Flames fans...not so much.
 


Kipper. Looks. Awful. Constantly losing the puck, flailing around like a fish out of water. Uggh.

Oh!Cammalleri scores! I think our best hope is to try and win every game 8-7 this year.
 


I don't think Kipper is doing too badly. The first and third goals can be laid directly at the feet of Sarich. On both goals he can be seen standing and watching the goal scorer skate past him. Still, I'm not seeing the game-stealing play from him that I used to.

Incidentally, the second period of this game has done more than all three periods last game to convince me that Vancouver might have some offense this year. A strong offensive team, in my mind, is one that can keep the puck in the offensive zone for long stretches. Thursday was more bad defensive play by Calgary than strong offensive play by Vancouver.
 


I've decided to just call Kipper "Reböund" for the rest of the year.
 


Is Giordano Italian for "terrible defensive zone coverage?"
 


hee!

Why do opposing fans chant/cheer "Lou" in that jeering way after he makes a save? He made the save! There's really no sense in jeering.

"Bertuzzi with an elbow behind the net" - how many times have we/will we hear that one?
 


And HOW has no one commented on PJ Stock's hair?
 


Canada was officially eliminated from the World Cup today, so not even a Calgary loss would cheer me up.

But it would help.

COME ON VANCOUVER.
 


My favourite moment:

Mark Lee talking about how Bertuzzi isn't the same since the Moore incident...and the silence from Marc Crawford.
 


PJ Stock's hair= Epic Fail
And he was about 7 seconds out of sync with the clip he was narrating.
 


Just how long can Rick Rypien keep up this kind of play? Seriously, this guy shouldn't be playing this well, yet here he is.

I've watched about half of this game, and Cammalleri's speed is going to be a bonus for the Flames this year. He's got a good nose for the net. Bertuzzi on the other hand...well at least you have his shaft.

Oh yeah, and Best of luck to the Calgary Flames this hockey season.
 


Different NW team. Same Bertuzzi shit.
 


Todd Bertuzzi with a plus-sized cheap shot? No way!
 


That was a bit of a dive.
 


bit of a dive yes, but because of dumb shits like Bertuzzi the NHL will have to adopt those little STOP signs between the numbers that midget hockey uses to such effectiveness.

Damn 3-point night.
 


Was a bit of a dive, and Bertuzzi's reputation hurt him, but he shouldn't have hit him in the back, either.
 


That was a bit of a dive.

A bit?
 


Justice.

What's the deal with this Vancouver team? They weren't supposed to score 5 goals a game.
 


You had to know Vancouver was going to score after the ref totally blew that tripping call on Burrows.
 


Hey! Kipper only let in 2 weak goals tonight! Moving in the right direction...
 


So. Looking at potential destinations for Dwayne Roloson... I bet Calgary could use a goalie.
 


It wasn't quite Jagr on Avery ice capades style, but you wouldn't catch it if wasn't zoomed in.
 


The call on Bertuzzi was garbage. The guy saw Bertuzzi behind him and turned AWAY from the puck, towards the boards to take the hit.

I'm all for rules that help protect players, but when someone deliberately puts themselves in a position to be injure, I have no sympathy.

I'm pretty impressed with Giordano so far. A lot of people had him pegged as a third pairing guy, but he's playing enough minutes to keep up with Phaneuf. I'll have to see if he learns from his mistakes as time goes on, but so far he's a solid third behind Regehr and Phaneuf.
 


i dunno, i thought bertuzzi had a strong night overall (this from a canucks fan). played big, moved the puck once or twice, skated hard. it looks like iginla is a good captain for him.

this calgary team can seem to dominate at times, but not everyone is on the same page...what says Matt?
 


i dunno, i thought bertuzzi had a strong night overall (this from a canucks fan).

Because whoever heard of a Canucks fan with an irrational mancrush on Todd Bertuzzi?
 


What was the party line heading into the season? "We're going to reduce goals against by half a goal per game?"

Riiiighhht.
 


Best of luck to the Calgary Flames this regular season.
 


Dudes, I had to put up a video of that Hall of Fame dive on my blog it was so impressive.

The refs blew it twice, late in the game.
 


The bad reffing helped the Flames earlier in the game, though... that "holding" call on HSedin was one on the weakest calls I've seen, and that Ohlund penalty on the GlenX/Ohlund/Conroy get-together was crap too. Same with the Luongo dive, that probably should have been a both or none.

I have to get my thoughts together about the Flames still, but I'm pretty sure the Canucks are a good hockey team.
 


Either way, reffing in this league drives me nuts.
 


Officiating is cleary in mid-season form, anyway.

When I saw the penalty at full speedand not paying too much attention, I though it was a bit of a dive - on the replay, I actually snickered. It's like the Vancouver player glanced back, saw who hit him, and figured, "why not try it? With his reputation, the refs might buy it!"

And he was right.

Still, if the Flames hadn't given up four goals already it wouldn't have been an issue.
 


So I was at the game. First time I've seen the Flames live since the lockout, I think.

The crowd went ballistic when they saw the replay of Bertuzzi's boarding penalty, probably deservedly. But Bertuzzi needs to realize that he's gotta be like Jackie Robinson now: he cannot respond to any provocation, and certainly not in the last minutes of a game. And if you say that's not fair, I say that he's getting paid millions to play a child's game when he should be in jail, so cram the "fair" nonsense. He can always bounce at Cowboys at $8/hr instead.

What I don't get is the music. All rock, all the time. AC/DC etc, and not a whiff of hip-hop, dance, or country. Not even Stompin' Tom. The DJ should be fired, I think, unless he really knows that all his audience wants is unending hoser music. What say y'all?

Mrs. Macndub was offended by the ice girls, especially the one whose skirt didn't seem to cover all the important bits, but she didn't pay for her ticket. The one who paid for the ticket probably (um, likely?) didn't mind the ice babes at all.

Finally, not sure if this has been mentioned, but it seems as though Kipper is the only Euro on the team. When maybe only half of the best hockey players in the world are from Canada, this seems more than crazy to me. Are Sutter and Keanan really such hard-core racists?
 


Best of luck to the Calgary Flames this hockey season.
 


Why should Bertuzzi be in jail? Surely you dont mean that glovetap to the head of Moore? Come on, give it up. Messier did worse with his elbows and stick, and while being an admitted pussy, he never got in crap over it.
tlchq
 


Things that warm my heart, #1:

Miikka Kiprusoff CGY
GP:2 W:0 L:2 GAA:5.32 SVP:.807
 


All rock, all the time. AC/DC etc, and not a whiff of hip-hop, dance, or country.

Wait, this is a problem? Fine, he saves the good shit for between the whistles and the just-plain shit for intermissions when he can play the whole song, but as a general rule, I can't complain.

Finally, not sure if this has been mentioned, but it seems as though Kipper is the only Euro on the team. When maybe only half of the best hockey players in the world are from Canada, this seems more than crazy to me. Are Sutter and Keanan really such hard-core racists?

No, they simply prefer the more traditional, physical North American style. Unless you think Brian Burke is racist, too. (Wait, why am I sticking up for any of these motherfuckers? Did I just fall into a trap?)
 

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