Game 25 Recap: Tom Renney Snubbed For First Star of Calgary Flames Win

Jarome Iginla might've had 3 assists, including one on the game tying goal and one on the game winning goal, but it was Flames star player Oilers Head Coach Tom Renney who won the game through brilliant play hilarious ineptitude.

With the Oilers up by a goal and struggling to maintain possession, Renney had the revolutionary strategy of playing Darcy Hordichuk and his hilariously awful line as well as a hilariously awful defensive pairing (Hordichuk, Peckham, Petrell, O'Marra, and Sutton) against the rolling pair of Jarome Iginla, Olli Jokinen (Glencross hadn't gotten on the ice yet) and Hannan and Smith on the backend. In that situation, it was only a matter of time before someone scored.

With Calgary having tied the game up and looking dominant, Renney refused to give the Oilers a break and decided that such esteemed penalty killers as Petrell, O'Marra, Petry, and Whitney would play against Calgary's top powerplay unit for Ryan Smyth's slashing penalty.

Jokes about Tom Renney's ineptitude aside, this was a terrific game by Calgary, ignoring the first three or so minutes. It was far from perfect, but it was a very strong showing nonetheless, and gave a glimmer of hope for Life After Gio. The Calgary Flames finished +7 overall in scoring chances and +5 in EV scoring chances, which is hardly something to sneeze at.

Assorted Thoughts

by Arik Knapp