hahahaha i’m pretty sure that we can’t afford to rest players, under the current cap situation (kiprusoff aside, of course). perhaps i don’t understand it exactly right but if we can’t currently afford boyd, we can’t afford the likes of other hole-fillers (dvdg, greentree, *ahem*chucko etc). so unless you’re suggesting we play with 10 forwards to rest iggy, and 5 defensemen to rest dion, then i’m not really so hot on the idea.

*IF you’re suggesting….

(also: speaking of cap space and playoffs, i will all-but GUARANTEE a return of warrener in game 1, if regehr or sarich are unavailable).

Well, by resting I didn’t necessarily mean scratching. Keenan could treat the last couple games against the Oilers like pre-season games and just spread the ice time to guys who don’t normally get much of it.

Also, when you say “Luongo and the goalposts”, which was more important last night? I thought it was 50/50. If one or the other doesn’t show up, the Flames win and in grand fashion. If I were Alain Vigneault I’d be worried that only 50% of my team’s success is under my/their control.

(having said that, I step back and read what I just wrote and it seems like a blind fan trying to downplay the opposition… is that so?)

i like R O. he reminds me of rob from the gsn except he’s around way more often…. ;)

http://guerrillasportsnetwork.blogspot.com/

Yeah. He’s a good addition to the humble cadre of regular Flames-blog commenters.

probably too late to organize one final pre-playoff meetup, hunh ?
well, it is for me, anyways… ;)

Luongo and the goalposts won that game for Vancouver last night,

And Rypien. And Ohlund. And Willie Mitchell’s uber-stick of glory. And stellar penalty killing. And better coaching.

Let’s be honest here.

I’ll give Temujin that part about coaching, I’m almost sure that Keenan was just sending out Bertuzzi in good situations such as the powerplay and on Iginla’s line to help him score on Bobby Lu. Keenan looked PRETTY bad trading Bertuzzi for Luongo, and if Todd picked up a goal on Luongo (especially after the spin o rama shootout attempt in February), I’m sure Keenan would have convinced himself that he came out on top of that trade as he softly weeps himself to sleep or whatever he does every night. Man, much like Glencross moonlights as a chuckwagon racer in the summer, I am sure Keenan also likes to get away from hockey in the offseason….. albiet his leisure activities probably involve the words ‘child predator’ and ‘online chatrooms’ to some extent. Dude just has that look about him.

I agree the Flames win that game nine times out of 10, but there are still lessons to be learned and reasons for the loss:

• Power play sucked. Two five-on-threes, six chances overall, no results. And pretty much every time, Jokinen-Iginla, which hasn’t worked to date on the PP, was dispatched to try to end the 0-for-30+ streak. That’s a coaching problem. TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

• And, again, Dion Phaneuf. Two of the goals, which was basically the margin of victory (forget about the fourth goal, it was a throwaway), were directly his fault: The atom-level ring-around-the-rosey-plus-deflection on Ohlund’s first goal, and screening Kipper on his second because he couldn’t hold position on Bernier in front of the net.

In a game of that magnitude, against an elite goalie, you have to be great at all times — not just most of the time. Otherwise, you lose, even if you do have 47 shots.

There’s an old bromide about a goalie needing to “get in the game” the first few minutes, and with Luongo I am convinced it is true. iIcannot tell you how many times he has let the first shot on goal in (lots), but if he can shut the door for the first 5-10 minutes, my confidence level goes sky-high, because it usually means he’s not going to let in any stinkers.

I’ve heard you folks bemoaning Dion Phaneuf’s play all season. After last nights game, I can finally and fully appreciate why. I don’t see it as a Wade Redden-esque collapse in skill level, but what is the problem? Tougher minutes? More minutes? Worse D partners?

Of the 47 shots by Calgary, how many would you say were “good scoring chances”? 15? 20? I was half-drunk for the most of the game so maybe my numbers are off.

I thought this comment was

Completely out of the loop out here with no internet and seemingly no newspapers! Just got on, thanks for the recap of the game…