Game 23 Recap: Thar She Blows

I didn’t get to see the game but how much did Comeau’s 6 credited hits effect the rest of his play?

I agree. I have a couple thoughts to add since I’ve been too busy to post anything lately.

I’ve found that in the last several years, Miikka Kiprusoff has problems maintaining his focus for 60 minutes. Playing out of his mind for the majority of the game and then having a momentary lapse that costs the team a goal. Last night was the first time in years that I never saw that out of him. I thought he was excellent and the normal feeling of impending doom late in a 1-goal game never came to me at all. He had my complete confidence last night, it was great to see.

Got to watch Blake Comeau tonight for the first time. I like him a lot. To me, he’d fit perfectly on the line with Jokinen and Glencross, but of course, it seems we have to put the guys who’re struggling on that line for the time being. He has decent speed, he’s willing to sacrifice his body and he plays hard – all things that are very high on my list of things I look for.

I still haven’t seen Jarome take that extra stride to make a play. He lets up ALL the time. He looked more dangerous tonight, but I’d put his effort level at about a 70/100. Not good enough and things won’t change until he figures it out. He should have had at least one goal in this game but his lackluster effort cost him.

Chris Butler dumped the puck back into the offensive corner twice in the third with traffic in front of the net and a direct shooting lane. Even Robyn Regehr would’ve shot. To me, those are the kind of opportunities the Flames need to take advantage of, not squander. I understand they’re protecting the lead, but those are excellent opportunities to create scoring chances, something our defense doesn’t do enough of.

My wife said this to me last night, “this is the first time I’ve seen you actually cheer for the Flames this year.” It’s true. I’ve been watching with a large amount of pessimism this year, mostly because they’re playing exactly the way I figured they would. And, call me a bad fan if you’d like, but I don’t believe in cheering for a team that’s not giving a good effort. They may not have the talent to compete for the cup, but effort doesn’t require talent and I don’t see them giving 100%… ever. Last night I felt it was different. They looked like they WANTED to win. I love that. They used to have that look every single night in 05-06. They could turn this season around and get back in the playoff hunt if they can get back that passion on a nightly basis.

The loss of Gio will hurt, but it will give the Flames another possible opportunity to bring up some more youth on the back end. This will help to prove the ineffectiveness of Babchuk and Sarich… which I’m all for. It sucks when 3.6 and 2.5 mil on the back end can be easily made up for by replacement-level players.