Welcome To The Pre-Season!

Well folks, pre-season hockey has commenced slighly over 20 minutes ago for all of us Calgary Flames fans out there! As an "Away Jersey", I am outraged and frustrated! I've set up my spot in front of my laptop, equipped with my snacks and beverage of choice (Arizona Pomegranate Green Tea, in case you were wondering) and awaiting game time. Right at 6pm (Away Jersey game time start) I click on the "Streaming Video" button only to be told that "This game is not available in your area"! You know where you CAN watch? SK, MB, AB and NWT. Really?! The North West Territories are watching Calgary play hockey right now, but British Columbian fans, FAITHFUL fans at that, have been left to fend for themselves. Ahhh.

Thanks to The Fan 960, which never lets me down, I can, in the very least, listen to my home team play. However, I find this quite distressing since this season is beginning with so many changes on so many levels of Calgary Flames backbone. I want to SEE the new players contributing to plays on the ice, I want to WATCH Brent deliver his coaching skills to the bench, I want to BE there even though I am a province away. I'm no stranger to The Fan 960 and I am sure that there will be games where I will once again visit the site to listen to the boys play their game but I am also blessed with a new tool that was brought to my attention only at the beginning of last season. Centre Ice. Yes! All the hockey I want to watch including all of my Calgary Flames games...except exhibition.

After searching the web high and low for a site broadcasting my game, I sit listening while trying to imagine what the Saddledome looks like for this game. I imagine it's full of red jerseys, as it always is, I imagine Boyd flying back and forth across the blue line as the announcers tell me his every move, among others, but right now his name is being mentioned more than most. We're out-shooting Edmonton, and yet it's 0-2 and I can't SEE why, literally!

Enough crying! This just in, thanks to other "Away Jerseys" out there, I have been informed that I can watch if I use the stream through the Edmonton Oilers site. How Ironic. Why didn't I think of that before?

So I've watched half of a period now and we're not looking like there's an overwhelming amount of chemistry at this point. Like always, our third period is usually go time and when we put our best foot forward. Let's see what the boys can do, since I've got my eyes back! We're at the end of the 2nd period and the beautiful Zambonies are paving their way across the logo I wear on my chest with pride! What do we have in store for us in the 2009-2010 season? Are we better off this year with all of the changes that have been made both on and behind the bench? Will our veteran players remain at the top of the league? Will Jerome be able to mold his team with his incredible leadership qualities that enable him to be labeled and excel as our Team Captain? Will 2010 be the year that we reclaim The Stanley Cup? I for one, can't wait to find out!

With my faith in my team and my jersey on my back, I leave you to watch the last period of our first exhibition game, the "Battle of Alberta". We're down 0-2, but it wouldn't be the first time we came back to win the game. Last season we were 3-3 with Edmonton, let's shuffle the numbers over in our favor this year, in and out of the pre-season!

Welcome back, fellow hockey lovers! GO Flames GO!

T