Monday, April 20, 2009

 

Do it To it

Now I wish I hadn't, but I decided to look up the Flames' record since the lockout with Robyn Regehr out of the lineup; the horrifying results are at left. (Amazing but true: Games 2 thru 6 of that playoff annihilation by the Red Wings is the most successful stretch of games the Flames have had with the Brazilian in the basement.)

That noted though, I'm not any more down on their chances than circumstances dictate. On balance of play, this series could easily be tied. The Hawks have looked better than I hoped, but the Flames have a lot of good hockey players and (IMO) a pretty good coach, and now they get a chance to come back at home.

Calgary 4 Chicago 2. Iginla in the first, Langkow and Moss in the second, and Conroy blows the lid off with The Most Exciting Play in Hockey late in the third. Go Flames.

Comments:

Guess we know who the Flames real MVP is...
 


You mean Matt, and his predictions? Spooky.
 


Sarich settled down the defense somewhat tonight. He's no Regehr but it gives me hope for this series.

Were you serious about the good coach comment? A lot of us at M&G are all over Keenan for some of his lines, myself included.
 


Matt was likely serious. He's typically better at picking up on things that are going right than I am.
 


You mean Matt, and his predictions? SpookyI'll say! That Vancouver series is going just as he predicted . . .
 


Were you serious about the good coach comment? A lot of us at M&G are all over Keenan for some of his lines, myself included.Yeah, I was serious, bearing in mind that I said "pretty good", not "mind-blowingly awesome".

I'm sympathetic to lots of coach criticism (Keenan, and generally) regarding who they dress and even how much TOI he doles out to various players. But when it comes to line combinations and juggling, I just can't get too worked up.

Unless they're on a nice winning streak, 30 out of 30 fanbases bitch about their coach's puzzling lines and his blender. A free half-day with Google and Nexis would prove it. So, I think at the very least you need to keep some perspective, in the sense of, "What would a very good coach do in this situation, and am I sure that his line combos and patience for them would match my own?"
 


Matt, how about going the next step and finding the GF/GA and the SF/SA for the with/without Regehr comparison?

That would follow the theme around here anyway. After all the Flames could also just be slightly unlucky without Regehr as well.
 


I might if I find the time... which I probably won't. Though I'd say there's very little doubt that there's bad luck happening there to some non-trivial extent.

A playoff team doesn't turn into the worst team in the league with the loss of one player, no matter how quality.
 


From the Dep't of Challenging Hockeymetric Conventional Wisdom.
 


Best of luck to the Calgary Flames this golfing season?
 

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