Game 63 Recap: A Once-Promising Homestand Comes to an End

It wasn't pretty.

But, I doubt many games against the suffocating St. Louis Blues are.

The Calgary Flames entered this battle having lost their previous 3 games at the 'dome after battling their way back to the coveted 8th spot in the West. Hoping for a better effort tonight and having been given a stamp of approval by General Manager Jay Feaster hours earlier after standing pat at the deadline, the Flames got on the board first and it looked like the message may have been received.

Unfortunately, the Curtis Glencross opening goal would be the lone bright spot for the team as Miikka Kiprusoff would have somewhat of an off night and the Blues solved their road PP problems in time to take over the game and squeeze the life out of the struggling home club.

Three points out of 8th place suddenly seems light years away.

On a bright note. The Calgary Flames honoured the franchises best defenseman in Al MacInnis. An excellent ceremony that saw the team bring in greats from the '89 cup-winning team to help celebrate Chopper's big night.

I do believe the team should have retired his #2 as he IS the best defenseman to ever wear the Flaming 'C' and it will likely stay that way for a very long time. However, Calgary Flames brass has chosen to do otherwise and because of that, it opens the door for many more of these ceremonies. It's a smart business move by the club as, regardless of retiring or honouring, fans love to get out and show their support for the greats who gave the team so much during their time with the team.

-The Flames will go on a mini road trip to Phoenix and Anaheim before returning home to try and get their home record back on track.

-Michael Cammalleri could’ve improved the Flames chances had he capitalized on a 10-bell chance in the first period but he was unable to get the puck up and over Jaroslav Halak.

– It's no coincidence that the Flames have lost their last four games when Kiprusoff hasn't stood on his head. He had been carrying this team in the run prior and in order for the team to get back on track, they're going to need their attack to generate more shots/chances and more puck control to limit the shots/chances on the other end. The effort over the last four games is not indicative of a team with playoff aspirations.

by Scott