Flames @ Oilers
by Kent Wilson on Apr 10, 2009 4:00 PM PDT
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PrintCalgary Flames at Edmonton Oilers, Apr 10, 2009 6:00 PM PDT
Enemy Perspective: Lowetide, Oilers Nation, numerous others...
Death. Taxes. And the Flames stumbling down the stretch. These are some of things one can count on in life.
At least it seems that way. Even since the lock-out, Calgary has made a habit of making their final quarter a relatively terrible one. This year's iteration of the annual trip up is unique, however: not only are the Flames actually in a better position than usual (rather than battling for a play-off spot), but the choke is remarkably...multi-faceted. There's the mediocre goaltending, the baffling impotency of the power-play and, last but certainly not least, the near comical injury/cap situation.
With the NW division on the line versus a castrated opponent, the Flames will likely be playing with the league minimum 16 skaters. News came out yeterday that Warren Peters has been sent down with John Negrin being recalled. Word is, Dion Phaneuf is hurt as well and is questionable for this evening, making the Flames injury list officially ridiculous (Sairch, Regehr, Phaneuf, Giordano, Bourque, Roy, Primeau...). Boyd, Peters, Eriksson (and more) are on the farm because the team can't afford to have them play under the cap. Tonight may be the only NHL game you ever see where one team doesn't have a 4th line dressed. And, yes...that faint noise you hear is circus music.
Ahhhh well. Bright side? The play-offs are a guarantee and at least things are never boring in this town. At least we're not cheering for EDM, right?
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Sportsnet said Flames are rolling 15 skaters. How does that work? (given you mentioned league min is 16)
Ok so WI said Conroy was out. So this isn’t nearly as bad as I thought. It’s still horrible, but I thought we basically had just Moss as a go-to heavy lifter.
i’m not even sure where i got that from…. i think someone told me he didn’t skate on thursday and i just presumed… cause that’s what usually happens with this team: you don’t skate = you’re injured.
by walkinvisible on Apr 11, 2009 9:24 AM PDT up reply actions
man they should just forfeit the games and rest for chicago. its gonna happen. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD REST KIPPER
u know the second the regular season is done warrener or eriksson are coming. I all but guarantee one will be in for negrin
which is why it will be warrener. duh.
by walkinvisible on Apr 11, 2009 9:25 AM PDT up reply actions
Eriksson for sure, but I hear Warrener is skating as well. Depending on how hurt everyone is, it could be both. What a hideous thought, especially if we play CHI.
so reading thaqt thing by TLP on flames nation where Wayne gretz talks about y the oilers suck I cant believe what a horrendous return they got for smyth. Omarra has 1 goal in the AHL?
hey on a plus side at least edmonton isnt a bunch of dirty pricks like vancouver and trying to run kipper … yet
Despite them being Edmonton I don’t actually hate the players, like I do with Vancouver. Pretty classy lineup.
-Colin
yeah they arent really dirty i guess. Is it because they genuinely are classy or just dont have any heart to give a fuck since game one of the season though? They have serious issues with that this season.
I think Moreau’s a pretty good guy. Not sure how much effect he has on the locker room (Lowetide community constantly rails upon him).
actually moreau and brodziak are the two high points on this team. Tehy can be very effective and really care. The rest should go the way of ol yeller. They are too small to play in the west. Skill isnt the answer to winning its having a nose for the net and willingness to play a rough and tunble game
i owuld rather have lombardi yes one thing im wondering about is how jokinen will look next season having gone through a training camp and started with the flames. I dont think we’re seeing exactly who he as a player yet
I dont think we’re seeing exactly who he as a player yet
I hope you are right. The player we are seeing right now is not the difference maker we are looking for. He’s not even on the same level as what we gave up to get him.
I dont know. The play dies on his stick a lot from what I can see. Also, he’s always been terrible at face-offs and he’s always been a minus player. I have sinking feeling what we see is what we get. There’s a reason two bottom-dwelling clubs aching for offense have traded him in the last two seasons.
i wouldnt be surprised if thats exactly what happens. I think theyll resign lundmark leopold, and the rest will be call ups from the farm
Maybe try and find another bourque somewhere
i hope they don’t re-sign leopold. i would prefer to see a younger blueline next year: regehr, sarich, phaneuf (hopefully dion v.06/07), pardy, gio & palin or pelech. cap-wise it will make a lot of sense to promote some guys. here, i’m not just talking defensemen, either —i’d like to see greentree/backlund/armstrong (!!!)/dvdg/peters make the jump on a more permanent basis… throwing away money on guys like bertuzzi doesn’t work when we’ve got all those expensive guys doing nothing (read: jokinen).
by walkinvisible on Apr 11, 2009 9:32 AM PDT up reply actions
Completely offtopic but what a story that Blues team would be if they made the playoffs (which is looking likely right now).
i hope blues do make it. ive developped kinda soft spot for them columbus and florida. Phoenix too actually
I like to pull for teams that have had a history of struggling. Except the Islanders for some reason. I’d also love to see Vancouver spend a decade or so at the bottom :P
-Colin
yeah its weird that u said that cause i feel the same way. I wanna watch the islanders fail too for some reason. Ive grown to hate ottawa (really dislike spezzza) and I hope montreal sucks for years to come but Im starting to enjoy Toronto. I dont get it
Toronto is a fine hockey team. I watch them whenever I can and it always seems to me that the ice tilts the right direction for them. The problem is that their goaltending sucks.
they destroy goalies for whatever reason. thats where goalies go to die. It always happens too which is kinda weird
it’s an intense market and a lot of losses are blamed squarely on the ’tender….
by walkinvisible on Apr 11, 2009 9:34 AM PDT up reply actions
yeah thst true too. nothing is more frustrating to me to watch teams be afraid to make the tough decisions. Pittsburgh absolutely needs to trade malkin or Crosby for scoring wingers. Tehyll never win the cup because they dont have finishers (and their goalie sucks). imagine the return on malkin…
I didn’t cheer for TOR under JFJ, because it was obvious as hell he was a terrible GM. Same with ATL now. I just can’t behind incompetence.
i actually LOVED the leafs at the end of the quinn era. this is, of course, not news to htp readers…. jfj totally screwed that team.
by walkinvisible on Apr 11, 2009 9:35 AM PDT up reply actions
wtf? why are they hexing kipper on calgarys PP? See the stupidity I live with in Edmonton? Im morally against pulling that shit anyways though too I guess
so weve decided what sutter should do. You the gm of edmonton what do u do? they dont have the core calgary does and are overpaying some players by a huge margin
Trade one or both of Souray and Visnovsky, for one. I don’t think they need two PP quarterbacking, defensively deficient defencemen costing more than $5M a year.
i dont get the idea they might want beaumester? how do they have the need to lock up like 21 mill on 3 defeseman? Beaumester isnt that good either
id go for komisarek first though… if hes available. Buow is leading his team in scoring too btw keep that in mind. Hes prolly kinda a all round guy (just not that great at it IMO)
So I have to say I was expecting calgary to play the same way they did against vancouver. Im not really seeing that thus far.
thats true but the team hasnt really changed that much from last game. Phaneuf and glencross are out.
Just joining the game but how is it possible that this game is scoreless? Flames have all big defensmen out and the Big Line is playing against the Oil! WTF?
i’m starting to wonder how much of it is confidence (or lack thereof). these guys have GOT to know they’re not performing, and certainly feeling the pressure… jarome especially but olli’s also got to be hugely aware that he was traded for a fan favorite and stinking up the joint….
by walkinvisible on Apr 11, 2009 9:39 AM PDT up reply actions
hmm i guess that answers your questions on y negrin isnt on the PP. I thought the big shot was his thing
Another minus for the Jokinen/Iggy duo. Not only are they not that good together, they’re bloody cursed.
I can’t believe we might lose the division to a team like Vancouver, by being scored on by a guy like McIntyre. Talk about a one-two punch.
In a way, this has to be the most ignoble late season swoon by this club. It’s not as impactful, perhaps, but it might just be the most humiliating. From the players up to the management.
Agreed. Our expectations are higher this year (and rightfully so).
Plus it’s Vancouver. If I have to listen to TSN fellating that organization again…
honestly ? this is squarely a sutter problem. any team that can only dress 15 skaters due to CAP should be making some upper management changes immediately.
by walkinvisible on Apr 11, 2009 9:42 AM PDT up reply actions
I think I would start Cumac for the 3rd. Why bother playing Kipper into the ground for this? I mean, he isn’t even a difference maker this evening anyways.
Jamie Lundmark has as many shots on net as Iginla+Bertuzzi+Cammalleri+Jokinen (although they have Jokinen with zero shots, even though he clearly got one that period – the big glove save by JDD).
The team looks completely lost mentally, Kent. It’s as if they have no idea what to do on offence. It isn’t just injuries anymore.
by Robert Cleave on Apr 10, 2009 7:41 PM PDT up reply actions
For sure. The only line left intact looks terrible out there (Iginla et al). They look extremely fragile. The fact that Jokinen looks utterly lost anywhere outside the offensive zone slot doesn’t help.
I think the PP being in the tank is mentally killing Jokinen in particular. His numbers are always going to be driven by the PP. If he isn’t scoring there, he’s cooked, and it looks like he knows it.
by Robert Cleave on Apr 10, 2009 7:48 PM PDT up reply actions
True. Although, coming from someone who has owned Jokinen in fantasy leagues in the past, he’s always been an extremely streaky scorer. Six goals in 6 games and then nothing for the next two weeks.
No one except you fantasy guys gave a shit, because his teams were going nowhere. Of course, so are the Flames if things don’t change tout de suite.
by Robert Cleave on Apr 10, 2009 7:52 PM PDT up reply actions
i’m so glad i didn’t watch. it’s too upsetting. a versatile 2-way player + a high-end plugger + a first round draft pick for a guy who can’t maintain possession of a puck in the neutral zone, can’t score, can’t hit and floats more than bertuzzi. at three times the cost.
by walkinvisible on Apr 11, 2009 9:45 AM PDT up reply actions
That is just completely the wrong play by Cumac.
I think this season, and the way he’s been handled, has pretty much ruined him.
Keenan and MacTavish have both made a complete mess of their goaltending this year.
by Robert Cleave on Apr 10, 2009 8:12 PM PDT up reply actions
True enough. The blogger “Contrarian Goaltender” did a psot on Keenan months ago. Basically showed that Keenan tends to destroy goaltenders.
Huh, funny enough, Kipper’s decline noticeably started when Keenan took hold of Calgary.
Hindsight is 20/20 and correlation isn’t causation, but still…
I think the phrase we’re looking for is, “not everything is a coincidence.”
by Robert Cleave on Apr 10, 2009 8:16 PM PDT up reply actions
I hope it’s, “Hmmm, I wonder how I can get Brent here for next year?”
by Robert Cleave on Apr 10, 2009 8:18 PM PDT up reply actions
How about...
… the two-headed monster of Ron and Rich Sutter?
Do you see what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?
Here's a guess...
I had a pretty good team at the deadline. And now we’re going to lose in the first round again. It’s all Keenan’s fault.
Do you see what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?
He’s a better man than me if he isn’t.
by Robert Cleave on Apr 10, 2009 8:20 PM PDT up reply actions
And that was with an awful GA total too. So not only have we been continuing that trend of GA, but our strength of GF has completely disappeared.
It isn’t just the cap/injury situation. Expectations, maybe?
by Robert Cleave on Apr 10, 2009 8:29 PM PDT up reply actions
again, i think this is what sutter has been thinking for over a week now. honestly. i think we’ll see a markedly different team in game 1, and i think the fans should be OUTRAGED by the fact that those in charge of overseeing the team absolutely mangled their own squad. injuries are only part of the problem; last i checked, SJ had a bunch of guys out and have still been able to ice a full lineup night in and night out…. sutter et al. threw in the towel on this season over two weeks ago.
by walkinvisible on Apr 11, 2009 9:51 AM PDT up reply actions
Add another to the list of small victories: if Vancouver wins the division (likely) then they will get dismantled by Columbus.
Vancouver...
… can’t beat the Avalanche, though. And it will be tough for Edmonton to win both ends of a home-and-home, even though the Flames will be skating like 5 guys tomorrow night.
Do you see what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?
If CBJ beats the Canucks in the first round
well, I dunno what I’ll do, but it will be spectacularly embarassing.
Not gonna happen. No way. Ever.
Vancouver’s best outshooting trio is its first line (Sedins at +9.3 and +8.4 corsi/60, Burrows at +6.7). After that the dropoff is steep.
Columbus in contrast, has 8 guys who have better than +5 corsi/60. They are a dangerous club. Calgary might be able to take them because they themselves are a good outshooting team. Vancouver? Not so much.
I forget,
how did outshooting do for CGY the other night? :-)
Without question they are a dangerous club, and I’d rather be facing LA or PHX in the first round. Nonetheless, they are a first time playoff team with a rookie goalie. I’m willing to wager that if it is Van vs CBJ in the first round, it will be the Canucks who advance. Probably in 5 games.
Just ask Dallas!
GM
Is this the first time in the history of the NHL that a GM is the reason a team looses it’s final three games of the season. Sutter’s cap management should get him fired. Keenan should be fired for riding Kipper into the ground. We’ll be luck to survive to game 5 against Chicago. Tonight sucks.
i’ve been saying this since minnesota. sutter should be looking for a new job.
by walkinvisible on Apr 11, 2009 9:52 AM PDT up reply actions
Sutter maybe but im pretty sure Keenan and playfair will be gone. Playfair needs to go even if they win the cup
I guess u could say my thoughts are obviously the cap issues will solve themselves Sutter gambled and lost but I dont think he will lose his job over it. It seems like he even had a contingency plan in place for any injuries but who woulda thought regher sarich gio phaneuf glencross among others would all go down. Thats bad luck, I dont think he should be fired for bad luck.
to add to it i like his mantra as a GM. Hes not like Lowe, for example, whos going to go out and consistantely try to overpay for FA’s like Hossa Straka etc. hes going to try and find diamonds in the rough for very cheap. by that i mean bourque glencross gio, etc.
sutter has overpaid many an FA; vandermeer, eriksson and primeau come to mind. i agree he’s found some diamonds in bourque & glenX, but i think he got lucky on gio. in 07, he signed eriksson for two years in his stead, forcing the kid out of the NHL for a season (calgary still held his rights but wouldn’t sign him for the pennies he wanted). a mis-step there.
GMs should not “gamble” with the cap. read today’s entry at hitthepost. i just wrote about how it’s sutter’s JOB to manage the cap properly, and if his “contingency plan” was to demote pooor poooooor boyder, then i don’t like it. bear in mind that anyone on LTIR comes off the cap, so he’s obviously refused to place guys on there, as well (i’m thinking sarich and regehr, here, mostly, likely due to wanting them back imminently).
by walkinvisible on Apr 11, 2009 11:04 AM PDT up reply actions
relax
It can only go higher from here (no matter what happens on Sat). It may not go high enough to win a series, but at least we have bottomed out – mostly because I cannot contemplate how it can get worse.
by older maimster on Apr 10, 2009 10:56 PM PDT reply actions
agreed ... RELAX
If you look at the line up tonight were any of you really expecting a win, really? We were playing a hugely disappointing team with something to prove to their fans on their last home game of the season. We were playing them without Regher, Sarich, Giordano, Phaneuf, glencross, boyd, peters, roy, bourque. Like this is getting rediculous. I agree Keenan and/or sutter will be fired over this but to be honest I think the Flames can hold their own better against chicago. This was a huge collapse but at least in the playoffs they will be able to put a full line up out. I was thinking going into this game is it better to be injured and play columbus or try and get healthy by giving key players the time they need and face chicago healthy. Im pretty sure the latter is better.
On a side note, there is no real evidence or anything as to how phaneuf got injured and he cost the team so many goals against in vancouver. Maybe he finally got benched?
ALSO FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLAY MCELHINNY TONIGHT. In discussing my hunches for the upcoming off season im pretty sure this will be his last game as a flame (last game in the nhl?) It kinda bothers me because I used to play hockey with him but Im thinking they need to go and get someone like anderson. You need a back up who can share some of the workload. Atleast 30 games and I dont think thats mcelhinny
Well...
… bring on the Blackhawks, I guess. Canucks won today.
Do you see what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?
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