I have been wondering for a few weeks now about how the Calgary Flames were going to look this season. Although I was rooting for the Flames to break their season opening record I knew, much like the announcers continued to claim, that you can't go 82-0. While at first glance it appeared that every line was looking solid, Brent Sutter had a different idea for the game on home ice hosting the Vancouver Canucks. Craig Conroy, Curtis Glencross and Jarome Iginla started as our first line and upon reading a few forums I saw what I've always known. Conroy and Iginla have played together for years and they know each other as players and amigos on and off the ice. Why not give them a chance to play together and also combine Rene Bourque's highlighted talents with a few guys on a lower line to see what sort of outcome the team could achieve.
While in past season's I have made it clear that I was not a fan of changing line-mates around without any structural goals in mind, I see and we all saw the results were in our favor! Brent wasn't changing lines all throughout the game, like past coaches tended to do, he had a plan and the players had two days worth of time to work through the nuts and botls. Although, almost repeating our defeat against Chicago, we kept a two goal lead after what came to us as a 5-0 lead through the second period. Calgary was on fire against the Vancouver Canucks, granted there are a few injuries and all, but our team once again looked like the confident group of men they'd first come onto the ice as in our Game Opener against these same rivals. October 16th's game was a great one, and Vancouver didn't necessarily go out without a fight. Final scoring left the game's total at 5-3 with Kipprusoff and Luongo wishing for goals back that they both felt they should have been able to rob from their opponents.
I enjoy the pace of Vancouver after a game like this and I say so only because of the razzing I get when Calgary loses. I'll go to work today and it will be as if nothing happened, and I won't brag. I'll go out tonight with friends and it will be as if nothing happened...maybe I'll brag. But for the most part, it'll be a quiet day.
Perhaps I'm starting to love this gig, you know, being a "away" jersey!
Go Flames Go!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
"Looooking GOOOOOOD"
Although I know that three games in doesn't make or break a team, I have seen it break a record 15 years old! Tonight's 4-3 win over Montreal means the Calgary Flames have won their first three games in a row, opening the season on the right foot! We are looking sharp, and I not only say that because I am a biased Flames Fan, but because I haven't seen our defense looking so powerful in quite a long time. We're committed and it shows with almost every move and shift on and off the ice. Of course, there are mistakes, but less and less than we've been used to seeing the last few years. The gaps are filling up, and thus making it easier for us to maintain our chemistry that seems to have fallen from the sky, but giving credit where it is due, we've got a hard working team, folks! Speaking of defense, Dion Phaneuf, who didn't play his best season last year, leads the team with 3 goals in 3 games!
With a need to keep my excitement grounded, I will bite my tongue from criticizing any one other team in the NHL, however I will say that we're starting off in first place in the western conference only tied with Philadelphia on the Eastern side of this spectrum! Where I said earlier that I know it doesn't guarantee anything, it sure does give the Flames a lot of credibility and determination. Being our 30th anniversary season this year you want, as a fan, to expect big things from your team. Is it a coincidence that we're sporting our 1989 Jersey that we last wore when we won our Stanley Cup? Is it a coincidence that we finally have a coach that we respect and trust to guide our team with more certainty than we've witnessed over the last handful of seasons? Is it a coincidence that we've started out our season with a bang and already have broken curses with shattering confidence?
This is a team I'm excited to watch because they are a group of guys who so far seem to have the right ideas in mind. Watching them play already this early into the season has been very sweet, not only because we hold a record of 3-0, but because I'm seeing respect and proof of their practices on the ice. Something I've always said that is certainly important off and on the ice is chemistry between the men behind the jerseys. What more can the fans and coaches ask for?
I'm hoping that in the coming weeks and months that Calgary has what it takes to maintain a substantial lead against our opposing and rivalry teams. It seems far fetched at this point, but I don't feel like a Stanley Cup has really been that far out of our reach. It would be a wonderful anniversary present to add our team's name to that graciously beautiful trophy and end our 21 year drought. Where some teams fans have criticized this specific fact, we have made incredible progress and have always worked towards being a better team altogether. Where every franchise works ultimately for the grand prize, it proves more important to keep focused on one game at a time.
Let's do that then, starting with our next game coming up this Thursday in Oil Country hosted by the Edmonton Oilers. We've played them once already and have a feel for what kind of game they'll face us with. We're 2-0 at home and 1-0 away, let's match those statistics and show Edmonton that we weren't kidding around last week, we mean business. We still have room for improvement and hopefully we fill those blanks with a few more shots on goal and a few more hits. Calgary is 5/7 on the power play, with Jarome Iginla's addition tonight also putting him on the scoreboard for this season. We're looking good, so let's keep that confidence up and win a fourth consecutive game! Why stop now?
Way to go Calgary! Go Flames Go!
T
With a need to keep my excitement grounded, I will bite my tongue from criticizing any one other team in the NHL, however I will say that we're starting off in first place in the western conference only tied with Philadelphia on the Eastern side of this spectrum! Where I said earlier that I know it doesn't guarantee anything, it sure does give the Flames a lot of credibility and determination. Being our 30th anniversary season this year you want, as a fan, to expect big things from your team. Is it a coincidence that we're sporting our 1989 Jersey that we last wore when we won our Stanley Cup? Is it a coincidence that we finally have a coach that we respect and trust to guide our team with more certainty than we've witnessed over the last handful of seasons? Is it a coincidence that we've started out our season with a bang and already have broken curses with shattering confidence?
This is a team I'm excited to watch because they are a group of guys who so far seem to have the right ideas in mind. Watching them play already this early into the season has been very sweet, not only because we hold a record of 3-0, but because I'm seeing respect and proof of their practices on the ice. Something I've always said that is certainly important off and on the ice is chemistry between the men behind the jerseys. What more can the fans and coaches ask for?
I'm hoping that in the coming weeks and months that Calgary has what it takes to maintain a substantial lead against our opposing and rivalry teams. It seems far fetched at this point, but I don't feel like a Stanley Cup has really been that far out of our reach. It would be a wonderful anniversary present to add our team's name to that graciously beautiful trophy and end our 21 year drought. Where some teams fans have criticized this specific fact, we have made incredible progress and have always worked towards being a better team altogether. Where every franchise works ultimately for the grand prize, it proves more important to keep focused on one game at a time.
Let's do that then, starting with our next game coming up this Thursday in Oil Country hosted by the Edmonton Oilers. We've played them once already and have a feel for what kind of game they'll face us with. We're 2-0 at home and 1-0 away, let's match those statistics and show Edmonton that we weren't kidding around last week, we mean business. We still have room for improvement and hopefully we fill those blanks with a few more shots on goal and a few more hits. Calgary is 5/7 on the power play, with Jarome Iginla's addition tonight also putting him on the scoreboard for this season. We're looking good, so let's keep that confidence up and win a fourth consecutive game! Why stop now?
Way to go Calgary! Go Flames Go!
T
Friday, October 2, 2009
"Y'all Ready For This?"
And so begins my third season as an "Away Jersey" and what a fine way to start out indeed. Equipped with my head held high and a pair of lucky Flames socks, I geared up for what I knew was going to be a night of bratty Canucks fans with cheesy jokes, all stabs in my direction for being a Calgary (FAITHFUL) fan. Listen to this: We're barely into the first period and it's 2-0 Flames, a nameless "Canucks Fan" comes over to tell me a joke. He says, "What do the Calgary Flames and the Titanic have in common?". I roll my eyes of course because I already know where this is going, but I suppose living in Vancouver I do have to expect some sort of grief for not supporting THEIR team.
I humor him, "What", I murmur over my shoulder. Nameless blurts out, "They both look great until they hit the ice". Charming. I guess he hasn't noticed the score, and I give him no satisfaction whatsoever. I'm thrilled and it's far too draining to listen to all of the fairweather fans make complete morons out of themselves. Talk to me about hockey, don't bother me with childish banter that I could care less about. You cheer for your team, I'll cheer for mine. Don't tell me I can't cheer if I score because I'm being cocky, doesn't everyone cheer when their own team scores? Just a question to think about.
So, the game continues and for a short while I was worried that Vancouver would tie up the game halfway through the third period. We're tired after demolishing Vancouver in the first 40 minutes of play and I'm sending out as many vibes as I can. After watching the clock tick down and the buzzer sound I high five another fellow Calgary fan and say a silent "thank you" in my head. All of a sudden who comes back up from behind me but the same nameless joke-ster. "So, uhh, what do the Canucks and the Titanic have in common," he says to me on his way out. I'm sure at this point you can fill in the blanks, and that folks about sums up what I listen to around here. I've never turned around after a Flames loss and so much called them "losers" let alone crack jokes about what a "shit team" I have. It's a different kind of hockey world over here, not for all, but for most.
I forgot all about it as I watched the Fans from the 'Dome pile out behind the announcers, beaming at all of the red jerseys, knowing that 17th avenue was only a few steps away. There was a lot of cheer in Calgary last night, I know. So, fire up the Red Mile, We're back!!
Ahhhh, GO FLAMES GO!
T
I humor him, "What", I murmur over my shoulder. Nameless blurts out, "They both look great until they hit the ice". Charming. I guess he hasn't noticed the score, and I give him no satisfaction whatsoever. I'm thrilled and it's far too draining to listen to all of the fairweather fans make complete morons out of themselves. Talk to me about hockey, don't bother me with childish banter that I could care less about. You cheer for your team, I'll cheer for mine. Don't tell me I can't cheer if I score because I'm being cocky, doesn't everyone cheer when their own team scores? Just a question to think about.
So, the game continues and for a short while I was worried that Vancouver would tie up the game halfway through the third period. We're tired after demolishing Vancouver in the first 40 minutes of play and I'm sending out as many vibes as I can. After watching the clock tick down and the buzzer sound I high five another fellow Calgary fan and say a silent "thank you" in my head. All of a sudden who comes back up from behind me but the same nameless joke-ster. "So, uhh, what do the Canucks and the Titanic have in common," he says to me on his way out. I'm sure at this point you can fill in the blanks, and that folks about sums up what I listen to around here. I've never turned around after a Flames loss and so much called them "losers" let alone crack jokes about what a "shit team" I have. It's a different kind of hockey world over here, not for all, but for most.
I forgot all about it as I watched the Fans from the 'Dome pile out behind the announcers, beaming at all of the red jerseys, knowing that 17th avenue was only a few steps away. There was a lot of cheer in Calgary last night, I know. So, fire up the Red Mile, We're back!!
Ahhhh, GO FLAMES GO!
T
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