Flames/Rangers Post-Game: Blueshirt Blues
by Hayley on Nov 22, 2010 10:03 PM PST
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The Flames came into this game needing a win after blowing a two-goal lead last night against the Wings, and it was the stupid little mistakes that cost them the two points again tonight in a 2-1 loss to the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
After surviving a terrible first period in which the tired-looking Flames barely escaped their zone, the Rangers went up 1-0 on a 2-on-0 after a bad line change by the visitors forced Brendan Mikkelson to hustle back and attempt to break up the play, inadvertently tipping the puck into his own net. The Flames would bounce back and tie the game shortly after on Iginla's sixth goal in three games, but would find themselves down by one again through forty minutes when Curtis Glencross' idiotic high-sticking/cross-checking penalty led to a powerplay goal by Dan Girardi that dribbled past Kiprusoff.
The Flames out-shot the Rangers 15-8 and marginally out-chanced them at EV in the final frame, but failed to translate it into goals. The Rangers clogged up the front of the net and the slot infuriatingly well, clearing pucks with ease, and every Flames pass seemed to end up on a stick attached to a player wearing a blue jersey. The ones that got through were either absorbed by Martin Biron, bounced over a stick, or glanced off a skate or shin pad, going wide. It was that kind of game for the Flames.
They didn't outplay the Rangers by an outrageous margin or anything (shots ended up 32-24 in favour of the visitors), but after escaping an awful first period and putting together a decent effort in the next two, they should have left the Big Apple with at least a point. The Flames have little in the way of excuses for being 0-2 on this road trip; they should have locked it down when they had a two-goal lead midway through the the third last night, and they had every chance to beat the Rangers tonight. The last two games have been blown on the basis of routine occurrences like line changes and un-screened powerplay point shots that should be just that: routine. But somehow this, team keeps finding ways to flub them, and it is incredibly frustrating to watch. They didn't exactly do themselves any favours tonight by showing a collective lack of discipline either, the most obvious instance of which being Glencross' infraction which led to the GWG.
On a night when nearly every Flame was underwater in terms of scoring chances, Iginla's line was on the ice for the most chances for, the Captain lead the way with seven. Iggy somehow managed to be the only Calgary forward in the red in terms of Corsi while Cory Sarich owned the lone minus on the defensive side of things. I didn't think the Hagman-Backlund-Bourque line (matched up mostly against the Frolov line) looked as bad as the chance count suggests, but Bourque struggled noticeably in this game. He logged 20:42 tonight while Mikael Backlund clocked in at 18:06 after Matt Stajan went down with an apparent head injury following this hit by Marc Staal.
Staal's shoulder appears to make contact with Stajan's head, and the impact was enough to send his helmet flying. There was no penalty on the play, and although a case can be made for Stajan admiring his pass and/or failing to keep his head up, the hit seems to fit the league's description of a "blindside hit to the head." Others have raised the point that this hit is probably worse than others that have resulted in suspensions since the new rule was implemented to start the season, and the onus will without a doubt be on Colin Campbell to demonstrate some much-needed consistency in his discipline, especially in the face of recent developments. Regardless of whether the hit is ruled clean or not, you never like to see a player go down like that. Hopefully Stajan isn't hurt too badly.
All in all, this was yet another frustrating loss for the Flames. Kiprusoff held them in a game they had no business being in throughout much of the first period, and was partially at fault on what would be the game winning goal. The team still has three games in which they can potentially salvage a respectable record on this road trip, but two of them are against very tough opponents in the Flyers and Penguins, and the other is against a team that is probably not as bad as their record might indicate.
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Would we be happy with 5 out of 10 points on this roadie? I think I would. 3 difficult teams, some screwjobs…but the Flames need three things to happen 1.) the idiotic little things, like Hayley says, need to stop; 2.)“the shell” is still a disaster and has cost us at least 4 games this year; and 3.) and more then anyone else on the team, Kipper needs to improve his play, due to the fact Brent’s stellar defensive system basically requires him to have a .920 EVSV%.
None of this will happen, because we are talking about a team that is
-run by two of the most incompetent execs in the league
-boasts Olli Jokinen as its tough minutes/first line centre
-has a 20 million dollar defence in which all but 3 of the players on said defence cannot be relied on for anything other then 3rd and 4th line assignments
-a forward core that is so wildly inconsistent it’s actually surprising when we get some effort for 45 minutes in a game
-a coach who is seemingly undecided on what to do with his front 12, so he makes “adjustments” in the first period
-numerous amounts of injuries that hamper chemistry, among other things.
The Flames are a cap team. They need to play like it. There is no competition within the ranks-if you play shitty, you should play less. The environment at the Dome seems to be one of complacency & entitlement. Want to change that? Make sure there are consequences for actions. A bag skate isn’t enough.
Hey, owners: you shouldn’t give a shit if the guys making 2.7m, 3m, 3.6m and 600k are sitting in the press box every night. They actually make the team better when they are up there, and you’re paying them anyway.
This is completely disjointed and missing critical syntax and grammar, but I don’t give a fuck. I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!
The 4th Line Blog
Go Flames Go
by Justin Azevedo on Nov 22, 2010 11:05 PM PST reply actions
I’m usually the first to call out a dirty hit (Sauer’s hit on Meyer that drew a boarding call was dirty), but the hit on Stajan was clean. Staal came from in front of Stajan, and Staal’s left shoulder made contact with Stajan’s left shoulder. It was a thunderous hit, which is why Stajan’s head snapped back and his helmet flew off.
If that was a clean hit, then the NHL has absolutely no consistency in handing out discipline. I’ve seen more than one hit this year that was a lot less than the Staal hit but result in 2 or 3 games.
If the name on the back of the jersey had been Avery instead of Staal, I have absolutely no doubt that he’d be sitting at least three.
I’ll agree that if it were Avery, he would have been suspended. If Avery sneezes on someone he gets a penalty.
While the NHL suspension guideline is as inconsistent as the officiating, the hit was clean. Most of the reporters said so before the NHL came out with their ruling too. It was a vicious hit, but he led with his shoulder, hit Stajan’s shoulder, and came from in front of Stajan, not the side or the back.
by Dave Shapiro on Nov 23, 2010 10:24 AM PST up reply actions
I’m sorry, but you’re incorrect. I’ve rewatched 5 times now and it looks pretty clear to me that he hit his head…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfS4xpSjwm4&feature=player_embedded
look to about the 53 second mark. When he makes the hit you can clearly see the jersey numbers on Stajan’s side. If he had hit the shoulder those would be at least partially obscured. Hit to the head & suspension worthy. If it makes you feel any better I don’t think he intended to do it… but yeah, he should get 3-5 games.
The problem with the PP that the Rangers scored on to get the GWG is that they probably shouldn’t have had the PP in the first place. Glencross definitely deserved his penalty,without question, but what about the Rangers player that came in and retaliated after? Even the announcers questioned the refs’ decision not to give a penalty both ways.
The officiating has been terrible this year. There is no consistency at all. It’s a problem league wide.
by Dave Shapiro on Nov 23, 2010 10:21 AM PST up reply actions
Are the Rangers the dirtiest team in the NHL? With Boogaard & Avery they gotta at least be up there if not on top.
Really?
Dirtiest team in the NHL? Seriously?
We’re not even mentioning the Flyers or the Penguins? How about Curtis Glencross’ little blindside headshot to Drury last year?
I don’t think that one (clean) check by Marc Staal merits the Rangers as a “dirty team.”
Have I mentioned that Avery has never been suspended for an on ice action? Although (for full disclosure) I thought he deserved one earlier in the year for his after the whistle slash on Komaseric. but still.
Blueshirt Banter: Covering the New York Rangers the only NHL team with three home arenas.
"We can trade Lisin for a gun, then hold it to Drury’s head and make him waive the no-movement clause" - XLII
"Tortorelli sounds like a kind of pasta… an unforgiving, stubborn, chewy, flavorless pasta that demands ‘jam’ from other pastas." - Dig Deep
by Joe Fortunato on Nov 23, 2010 11:26 AM PST up reply actions
Stajan was not looking at the player-therfore, it was “blindside”.
The point of contact was the head-therefore, it was a “hit to the head”.
Everything Glencross’ hit was last year, Staal’s was last night.
The 4th Line Blog
Go Flames Go
by Justin Azevedo on Nov 23, 2010 11:34 AM PST up reply actions
How can a hit be from the blind side it the contact is square center mass?
In an Ideal world I would have all ten fingers on my left hand so my right hand could just be a fist for punching.
Because the player isn’t looking at him. It’s the checkee’s blindside, not the checker’s.
The 4th Line Blog
Go Flames Go
by Justin Azevedo on Nov 23, 2010 11:50 AM PST up reply actions
So then all I would have to do to skate down the center of the ice towards the goal looking to the side and I could skate right to the goalie untouched? The thing here that is different is Stajan had the ability to see Staal coming if Stajan was looking where all hockey players are taught to look since they were 7 years old.
In an Ideal world I would have all ten fingers on my left hand so my right hand could just be a fist for punching.
No, you’d get hit from the side you are looking at. That’s a trivial statement at best.
The 4th Line Blog
Go Flames Go
by Justin Azevedo on Nov 23, 2010 12:00 PM PST up reply actions
you would say to- after you make a pass you should turn your head back to look where you are going- is false? Look at where Marc came from, from the time that the puck left Stajan’s stick to the time of contact I can say with a lot of confidence that Staal was think by the time he got there Stajan would have seen him and been able to brace himself for contact.
In an Ideal world I would have all ten fingers on my left hand so my right hand could just be a fist for punching.
It was also David Booth’s fault he was looking at his pass. The onus is on the player doing the hitting to slow up if he thinks the player is going to be in a vulnerable position.
The 4th Line Blog
Go Flames Go
by Justin Azevedo on Nov 23, 2010 12:08 PM PST up reply actions
totally different, Richards (who has a history of these hits) came up the ice behind booth then went wide and made contact from an 45 degree angle on booth who had just completed the pass, and did not have a chance to look back from making the pass.
watch Staal play not a dirty bone in his body, hard yes but never dirty.
In an Ideal world I would have all ten fingers on my left hand so my right hand could just be a fist for punching.
I wasn’t talking about the actual hit, I was talking about how the checker is the one that needs to slow up if he thinks the player may be in a vulnerable position.
The 4th Line Blog
Go Flames Go
by Justin Azevedo on Nov 23, 2010 12:26 PM PST up reply actions
If you look, that Staal on Stajan hit was to the left shoulder and Stajan’s motion caused Staal’s shoulder to rise up- knocking the helmet off. As far as the blindside part- it wasn’t a blindside until the last possible second, before Staal could’ve realized.
Sorry fellow Flames fans, I’m getting tired of the persecution complex.
Thank you
Regardless I still hope Stajan is OK.
Blueshirt Banter: Covering the New York Rangers the only NHL team with three home arenas.
"We can trade Lisin for a gun, then hold it to Drury’s head and make him waive the no-movement clause" - XLII
"Tortorelli sounds like a kind of pasta… an unforgiving, stubborn, chewy, flavorless pasta that demands ‘jam’ from other pastas." - Dig Deep
by Joe Fortunato on Nov 23, 2010 11:47 AM PST up reply actions
Yeah, I’d hardly call the Rangers the dirtiest team in the NHL. I mean, any team with Cooke is automatically at the front, and the Flyers aren’t too far off with Carcillo and Pronger either. Avery is a pest, and he has his dirty moments, but largely he’s not a dirty player.
Also, as much as that hit sucks, it wasn’t a hit to the head.
Okey, smart guy…
1: The question mark wasn’t rhetorical, I was legitimately asking that question
2: I didn’t mention Staal (I did mention Avery and Boogaard)
3: I don’t expect someone with "Blueshirt Banter: Covering the New York Rangers " in their user setting to have an unbiased opinion on that question.
Thank you, come again.
I actually manage Blueshirt Banter
and you can ask any of the Ranger fans here that I’m pretty objective.
In fact, I called for an Avery suspension earlier in the year. But if you honestly think that simply because the Ranger have Avery and Boogaard in their lineup that they’re the dirtiest team in the NHL you’re mistaken.
Blueshirt Banter: Covering the New York Rangers the only NHL team with three home arenas.
"We can trade Lisin for a gun, then hold it to Drury’s head and make him waive the no-movement clause" - XLII
"Tortorelli sounds like a kind of pasta… an unforgiving, stubborn, chewy, flavorless pasta that demands ‘jam’ from other pastas." - Dig Deep
by Joe Fortunato on Nov 23, 2010 11:49 AM PST up reply actions
I don’t know if they are, hence the question. Boogaard IS one of the dirtiest players in the game though, if you don’t think so… well I don’t know what I could say. Avery has his moments… but he at least can play hockey at an NHL level.
Note: I DO NOT think that Marc Staal is a dirty player and if you were to ask me to take any two players from the Rangers I’d take Staal and Dubinski so nothing against Staal.
Boogaard's had his moments
he’s been clean as a whistle with the Rags though.
Personally, and this MIGHT be a little bias but I feel as though I might get some takers here, Matt Cooke is the dirtiest player in the NHL. Or if not THE then close to the top.
Blueshirt Banter: Covering the New York Rangers the only NHL team with three home arenas.
"We can trade Lisin for a gun, then hold it to Drury’s head and make him waive the no-movement clause" - XLII
"Tortorelli sounds like a kind of pasta… an unforgiving, stubborn, chewy, flavorless pasta that demands ‘jam’ from other pastas." - Dig Deep
by Joe Fortunato on Nov 23, 2010 12:00 PM PST up reply actions
Absolutely. I might be a Flames fan/writer, but I live on the EC and see a lot of Cooke. Guy’s a dirtbag. He’s dirtier than Pigpen from Peanuts.
case in point
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J-ftoiL7N0
I was at this game. From this point on I’ve wanted nothing more then for Boogaard to have a career ending injury.
Parallex, no need to be rude. Joe’s a great writer, and we’re fortunato (get it! wow I’m embarrased) to have him at SBN.
Furthermore, if it wasn’t rhetorical, why’d you answer it yourself?
If you couldn't tell
I’m blushing
Blueshirt Banter: Covering the New York Rangers the only NHL team with three home arenas.
"We can trade Lisin for a gun, then hold it to Drury’s head and make him waive the no-movement clause" - XLII
"Tortorelli sounds like a kind of pasta… an unforgiving, stubborn, chewy, flavorless pasta that demands ‘jam’ from other pastas." - Dig Deep
by Joe Fortunato on Nov 23, 2010 12:00 PM PST up reply actions
This is about 1/3rd of the way through the hit
The 4th Line Blog
Go Flames Go
by Justin Azevedo on Nov 23, 2010 11:54 AM PST reply actions
And this is about 1/2 of the way through the hit
Personally, there’s an awful lot of contact to the head from those two angles.
The 4th Line Blog
Go Flames Go
by Justin Azevedo on Nov 23, 2010 11:55 AM PST up reply actions
It doesn’t even look like it’s touching the head there- just that the camera puts the shoulder in front of it.
But this is the point of contact he’s very clearly hitting his head and not his shoulder. His head jerked as a result of contact not as a result of whiplash.
if you watch the video, stajan’s head jerks back in almost like a whiplash motion, if the head was the first point of contact we would not see this, almost like a car crash when a seatbelt stops your body and your arms fly forward
In an Ideal world I would have all ten fingers on my left hand so my right hand could just be a fist for punching.
I’ve watched it… over and over. Point of contact was the head. Really, he lost his equilibrium as a result… that’s the head and I didn’t see his noggin’ take a smack on the ice.
If you want to argue that it wasn’t blindside sure, I’m not entirely convinced of that myself, but he hit Stajans head.
I didn’t think the Hagman-Backlund-Bourque line (matched up mostly against the Frolov line) looked as bad as the chance count shows
I actually thought they were the best of a bad lot in the first half of the game. Problem was, they had a lot of issues converting chances into…well, actual chances as I regard them. I think more than once Backlund got the puck to Hagman in the scoring area only to have it bounce off his stick, slide away, etc.
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