Ten Thoughts

I really don't have much to say about this game. Honestly, what is there to say though? This team's supposed to competing for a playoff spot-or, at least, that's what management is trying to sell to fans-and they pull that shit against the 3rd worst team in the league? Jesus Herschel Walker Christ.

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The fountain in the front yard is rusted out.

Lines after the jump.

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The Edmonton Oilers come to town to kick off a 4-game 'Dome stand for the Flames, the longest remaining this season for the Flames. The Oilers' struggles against the Flames (and, well, the rest of the league) are extremely well-documented, so I won't go into them here.

One of Edmonton's most consistent point producers over the past decade has been Ales Hemsky. The reason I bring this up is because I find it fascinating just how different the media's relationship with the team in Edmonton compared with the team in Calgary is. The Edmonton media has a long-running tradition of running players out of town who are suspected to be "soft", or "grumpy" or any other number of words. Before Hemsky, it was Smyth and Souray...the list goes on and on. It truly does seem like the media dictates some actions of the team. In Calgary, we all know how the media and team interact.

The Oilers actually have quite the PP this year, riding Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' et al's hot start to 4th in the league, converting at a 20.8% clip. Calgary's PP has dropped off in the past couple weeks, going from 13th in the league to 16th, converting on 16.9% of their opportunities. Yann Danis looks as though he may get the start tonight based on practice.

The Flames need to continue their lucky streak in order to keep pace with the rest of the confrence and maintain a playoff spot. (Helping them with that is Darcy Hordichuk's inexplicable return to the Edmonton lineup.) Miikka Kiprusoff should have a little bit of a break tonight, but probably still needs to stay relatively sharp due to the players in front of him.

More video and some audio after the jump.

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Against all odds, rational computations and plain common sense the Flames continue to burn brighter.

A Flames team made up of AHLers, a red hot Miikka Kiprusoff, about 6 strong NHL players and the remaining workman like players have put up another big win.

The game was the usual Sutter vs Sutter battle of boring D first hockey.

Not a whole lot to write about in this one. When the Sutters played hockey back on the farm, the saying was not "next goal wins" it was "first goal wins" and tonight the Flames got the first goal from Mike Cammalleri and Kipper stood tall to take the shut-out and the ever so important regulation win.

At the end of the day the Flames are in a playoff spot for the first time this year. The Flames are singing away to their fans, "Against All Odds". All fans, not just the advanced stat crowd, know how weak this team is, but on the other hand, how can you not start to get drawn into this playoff race, not start to cheer for that empty space on the Red Mile to get filled up again.

Phil Collins -.Against All Odds Music Video (via nik0la007)

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There ain't much that's dumber than pinning your hopes on a change in another.

Lines after the jump.

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I really do wish there were manufactured story lines hanging around this game tonight like there was before the first contest of the season between these two teams. It's not that I like that kind of stuff, it's just got to the point with the Flames and the Kings that both teams are so bland it's hard to find things to talk about.

The hiring of Darryl Sutter in LA hasn't looked to have changed much within the scope of this season-the Kings are currently clear of the 9th place Flames by a mere two points and regulation loss tonight would drop them to 9th. Of course, there are still twenty-something games left, so there's lots of time for that narritve to be beaten to death.

Of all the players on the Kings this season, the one having the most disappointing year has to be Mike Richards. Los Angeles' big acquisition in the off-season has struggled to the tune of 28 points (14 goals and 14 assists) and a -18.1 Corsi Rel. His PDO is even a little inflated, at 1012. It is only fair to point out that RIchards plays the 4th toughest minutes among forwards, but the three guys ahead of him (Simon Gagne, Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown) hold respective Corsi Rels of 6.4, 12.3 and -0.2. Richards also happens to be killing my fantasy team. Dammit.

The Flames look to continue their run of "awful-play-yet-still-generating-points", as they've gone 4-0-3 in their last seven. The lines will look mostly the same, because there really isn't any way to change them right now. I've personally been very pleased with Mike Cammalleri's play at centre with two fourth liners flanking him. For the Flames to continue their push to the playoffs, all they have to do is continue to be lucky until some of the injuries start to heal. Should be easy, right?

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You spent your summers in the south, in the Central Rockies.

Lines after the jump.

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Big opportunity tonight for the Flames as they face off against the Dallas Stars. A little mini road trip has them headed to the Lone Star State with a quick stop in L.A. before starting a 4 game home stand.

The Flames have not been a strong road team this year with an 11-14-6 record. This game like the last several is pivotal. The Flames have crawled their way back up into the thick of the race and hold their best playoff odds all season at the current moment.(SportsClub)

Facing a direct competitor for the final spot makes this game loom large. This is the first of four meetings of the two teams this season. Not much has changed for the Flames since the game against Toronto. They are still a largely depleted squad going up against a fellow bubble playoff team.

Would a win tonight be huge? Yes - understatement - and a loss would mean a slip on the hard fought ground of inches in points.

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