Flames @ Wild - Good News, Bad News
by Kent Wilson on Apr 3, 2009 3:15 PM PDT
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PrintCalgary Flames at Minnesota Wild, Apr 3, 2009 5:00 PM PDT
Enemy Perspective: Hockey Wilderness
No need to dwell on the Wild, who by this time are well known by Flames fans and haven't changed much since the last clash (besides getting Koivu back into the line-up).
Instead, let's go good news/bad news for the pre-game this evening:
Bad news: Aucoin, Regehr and Sarich are all out, meaning the Flames new top defensive unit is Phaneuf/Leopold, making Vandermeer Pardy #2. Yikes.
Good news: Aucoin won't be playing.
Bad news: Flames have one win and eleventy-billion losses on the second night of back-to-backs this year. It's not just a hard luck sample thing either: the team has played demonstrably terrible hockey on these sorts of occasions all season.
Good news: Flames are 5-0 in their last five visits to Minnesota.
Bad news: Calgary won't have a 4th line tonight (just Nystrom) thanks to the shuffling that needed to occur to call-up Negrin and Pelech. The 4th line actually held it's own last night possession wise (unlike the top 2 lines).
Good news: More ice time for Moss et al (probably).
Bad News: Flames offense continues to stumble, especially the PP. And the Wild have one of the best PK's in the league.
Good News: The Flames technically scored - twice - on the PP the last time these teams faced. Sure, both goals were called back, but...
Let's face it - Calgary will be extremely lucky to salvage any points this evening. Not only do they stink at B2B's, but half of their top 6 defensemen are on the sidelines. Negrin and Pelech aren't NHL-level defensemen at this point of their careers and will be targeted by Lemaire with great fervor tonight. Chances are, they'll cost the club at least one goal against.
That said, it'll be interesting to see how the kids perform. Actually, observing their first NHL games may be the only reason for Flames fans to tune in...
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What are your ideal D-pairings?
I wonder if it’d be wiser to split up Negrin and Pelech up, pair one up with Phaneuf and the other with Leopold. Although part of me feels that would just make our entire D awful, I still don’t want such a steep drop off from 2nd to 3rd pairing.
If Keenan double shifts Bertuzzi tonight I am going to throw things. Which naturaly means that it will happen.
I think Eriksson makes about as much as Negrin and Pelech combined, so if you need two guys and the cap is a concern, he stays in Quad Cities. That, and what Kent said.
by Robert Cleave on Apr 3, 2009 5:10 PM PDT up reply actions
Hey, if anyone runs into a stream of the game would you mind posting it? Thanks!
BTW, are we seriously not playing a 4th line? haha this game will be very entertaining, hopefully some chemistry develops between some of the ‘first’ liners and ‘third’ liners when improvised line combos are made up, and convince keenan that life might ACTUALLY go on without iggy, bert and olli playing together!
by Dustin Timberlake on Apr 3, 2009 4:19 PM PDT reply actions
I haven’t heard yet which goalie is starting. And honestly, I don’t know which is worse. Maybe this one time the boys could play well in front of Mackle, but I wouldn’t want to bet on it. If Keenan is smart, Mackle gets the start in LA, so Kipper is rested for Vancouver. Again, I wouldn’t want to bet on that.
er, Kent, ugli-er. It’s a must kill already.
by Robert Cleave on Apr 3, 2009 5:26 PM PDT up reply actions
The worst part of it is, the Flames are actually carrying the play this period. Take away 2 AWFUL goals by Kipper and this is still a game. Actually, call me crazy, but I still think the Flames are going to win this game. Especially if CuMac comes in to start the 2nd.
You know what the worst part of this awful goaltending display is?
The fact that the PBP announcers have not dropped A SINGLE MENTION of the fact that those were two terrible goals that Kipper should have had. I don’t understand that at all.
The more I watch Jokinen, the less he impresses me. He’s got some tools, but he’s not very bright in terms of puck distribution or management. Maybe it’s just me though.
Preach it brother.
Bertuzzi’s decision-making is beyond bad and Keenan loves him anyway – that will cost us at least a game in every series we get to play this season.
On the upside, Iginla, to my eye, isn’t getting beat nearly as often in puck battles as he normally does.
by R O on Apr 3, 2009 6:46 PM PDT up reply actions
I thought Jarome the best of a bad lot on the first line. Still, he’s caryying around a couple of ES anchors and he isn’t the difference maker he was the last couple of seasons.
That’s not obviously not the only problem, but it’s not helping.
The Bertuzzi/Jokinen thing is one of the main reasons I was worried about the Olli acquisition: I knew Keenan would pursue his man-crush to the Nth degree, even though Jokinen is demonstrably not as good as he believes him to be. The little outburst he had when he got here obviously hasn’t helped.
despite the successes this season has this team been firing on all cylinders at any point this season? they should be way better than this – even tonight.
Yup.
A good stretch starting immediately after the Sharks game, extending all the way to the second time we defeated the Sharks for the second time in January.
Anyways. I don’t think Keenan is the optimal coach for this team, but to “fire him now” is not the solution. In the offseason, I’ll support you completely. And I agree that the Flames should be way better, but the fact is, this year they are closer to where they “should” be than they have in the past two seasons.
Kent posted something on FHF about Brent Sutter, wondering why he isn’t the coach of the Flames. I wonder myself.
by R O on Apr 3, 2009 7:31 PM PDT up reply actions
I want to comment on Pelech and Negrin’s performance, but…. I didn’t really notice them? I think this was a combination of them getting very little ice time (kudos to Keenan) and our regular D-men playing like AHL guys.
What’s the general consensus?
i thought negrin started pretty well but then let (whoever the wild player was) walk right around him and get a good shot on net. after that he didn’t see much ice. pelech played alright, he was definitely on-ice for at least two goals, but neither seemed his fault from my eye (i believe he was paired with dion for those goals).
I think it was James Sheppard that pantsed Negrin. Pelech was OK. He was on for the Nolan and Gaborik goals, but Kiprusoff was so poor on both that blaming anyone else seems unfair.
by Robert Cleave on Apr 4, 2009 9:30 AM PDT up reply actions
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