31 posts tagged “hockey”

... (as of June 5th). The goal that got away.

This non-goal has been argued about to this day. Was it in? Video reviews were 'inconclusive' and the goal was waved off. Had it stood, it likely would have made the Flames Stanley Cup Champions for the second time- and unleashed a civil celebration unlike anything this city has ever seen.

Yes, it still sucks.

According to this story on faceoff.com, the CBC- home of 'Hockey Night in Canada', will no longer be using the signature anthem used at the beginning of the telecast.

The reason? Goddamn fucking COPYRIGHT issues!
Are you kidding me??

This is a song that is iconic of hockey culture in Canada. A song that millions of Canadians grew up with and recognize- many of which can identify within the first 5 notes.

As a hockey fan, and as a Canadian, this is a very sad day. But perhaps it's just a sign of the times- of how greed and corporate culture can kill that which regular everyday people consider special. Now pathetic- I thought we were better than that in Canada.

Hopefully CBC and the song's composer, Dolores Claman, can resolve something over the summer. Because if not- considering the biases that became obvious throughout the playoffs this season (such as Kelly Hrudy's man-crush on the San Jose Sharks' Brian Campbell), among plenty of other head-scratching moments- the CBC might be fighting an uphill battle to retain their audience come the start of the 2008/09 season in October.

So the Calgary Flames' 2007-08 season ended tonight at the hands of the San Jose Sharks in Game 7 of the Western Conference Quarterfinal. As a Flames fan- it's disappointing. What what's more frustrating is that- once again- this team has failed to progress past the 1st round despite roster and coaching changes.
But with so much going through my head tonight, I thought I'd put it all down in pseudo-point-form, just to get it out.

Is Kipprusoff Overrated?
Egads! How dare I make such an accusation!! If I even mentioned that jokingly in any public area of this city I would be taking my life into my own hands! But let's call a spade a spade here too. Kipper simply has not been the breakout goaltender he was when he joined the Flames and helped take the team to the Stanley Cup finals in 2004. It happens to the best of goalies. There was a time when a team like Calgary would require nothing less of divine intervention to have a player like Curtis Joseph on the team when he was in his prime- yet now he plays backup for Kipper. My point? I've been watching NHL hockey long enough to see that all the greatest goaltenders tend to have 1-2 amazing seasons, then fizzle out- usually never returning to their former glory. Cujo himself is a stark reminder of that very reality in this league.
In 2004, Kipper was of a calibur where he could (and did) singlehandedly win a game after coming off a loss. Typically, as the case was, the worse the loss was in the previous game- the hungrier and more furocious he was the next game. That isn't the case any longer.
Kipper was pulled from two games in this series. That alone was something that most Flames die-hards would have had problems conceptualizing back in 2004.
"Pull Kipper?? What does that mean!?!?"
It seems to me that Kipper was brilliant at a time when he had something to prove. But now that he's secured his position as a 'superstar' goaltender- with the big fat paycheque to go along with it, what's there to prove anymore?

Boo CBC
This entire series was nothing less than pro-San Jose. This is the CANADIAN Broadcasting Corporation. It is funded with public tax dollars! By default the broadcasters on 'Hockey Night in Canada' should be backing the home team. In this series, it was nearly impossible to go a single game without CBC singing the endless praises of the San Jose Sharks. Kelly Hrudy and his obvious man-crush of Sharks player Brian Campbell was evident before the puck was even dropped in Game 1- and it only gained steam as the series progressed. The play-by-play commentators were equally pathetic. A Flames goal typically resulted in a mild "and he scores" from commentator Mark Lee- who usually only went on shortly thereafter, along with sidekick Craig Simpson, to then dissect what the San Jose Sharks did wrong to allow the goal and analyze what they needed to do to prevent it from happening again. Little talk about what the Flames did right to score or the positive changes the team made in order to solve the (admittedly strong) San Jose defense. San Jose goals by comparison were greeted by the same commentators as if they had just been given the most incredible orgasm they had ever received- and continued to praise the Sharks team for everything they did right in 'shutting down' Calgary. Pathetic. I've been a huge fan of CBC, and specifically, Hockey Night in Canada for as long as I've been watching hockey. But after this series, I've never felt so shunned and disappointed by the network. I've lost a lot of respect for Hockey Night in Canada in the past few weeks.
But to clinch it all and confirm CBC's love for the Sharks- after Game 7 tonight, not a single Calgary Flame was interviewed by bonehead Steve Armitage (who had the gall to ask two different Sharks players the exact same question- but also to ask Sharks 'veteran', Jeremy Roenick, whether this will be his "last kick at the cat" for his career. Uhm- Steve, you realize this is the end of the first round, right? That question might be better suited had the Sharks been eliminated, or if, say, that big shiny 115-year-old silver cup was being paraded around the ice at the same time. Just a thought!), and the post-game analysis of Ron Maclean and Kelly Hrudy barely even included the word 'Calgary' at all- unless it was in a negative connotation. But that's really just par for the course for them in this series really. So no shock there.

Huselius Cost Us The Series
Huse hasn't been playing well lately. Towards the end of the regular season, the guy couldn't buy a goal. In fact, I tend to remember him missing a wide-open net at a time when he had gone weeks without getting on the score sheet. I felty sorry for him. I like Huse, but something has clearly distracted him in the past several months. Maybe we'll find out what in the coming weeks- but that doesn't change the fact that he hasn't been able to put the puck in the net, and even worse- has been involved in bad plays.
One such bad play was in Game 4 of this series. In the dying seconds of the game, the score is tied, the Sharks have pulled their goalie, and there is tremendous pressure in the Flames zone. The Flames are working hard to keep the puck out of the Sharks' possession- when it comes to Huselius. Every Flames fan with eyes on the puck knew this was a prime opportunity to raise the puck high and get it out of the zone. Relieve the pressure, let the clock tick out. Voila- tie game, going to overtime after a nice 20 minute rest to allow the team to recoup and find their legs again. Instead, Huselius holds onto the puck and tried to play it. The Sharks intercept the puck and score with 7 seconds left in the game to win Game 4 and tie the series. A golden opportunity for the Flames to take a stranglehold 3-1 lead of the series and keep the momentum squarely in their favor going back to San Jose for Game 5... wasted.
And now tonight, our season is over and the Sharks are advancing. Of course there's no guarantee we would have won Game 4 in overtime either- but it does make one wonder about the possibilities of what 'could have been' had one person made a single different decision. That decision is dictated based on their skill and where their mind is at. Huse has skill- but his mind clearly hasn't been fixated on playing the best hockey he can play for several months now. It's food for thought for him, and for the rest of the Flames team. And now they'll have all summer to ponder over those decisions.

In Sutter We Trust??
Here's another one I don't dare say out-loud in public around town. In 2004, Darryl Sutter- the Flames General Manager (and at the time, Head Coach) was being praised endlessly for taking a team that had missed the playoffs entirely for the previous 7 seasons, into a team that went to the Stanley Cup final (Game 7 no less). The phrase "In Sutter We Trust" was quickly coined and it seemed whatever Darryl Sutter did, was unanimously praised as being the best decision possible.
It's true that Darryl Sutter has been the best thing for this club since the late 80's. No question there. We are at least consistently making the playoffs and playing competitively (well, it's probably 60/40 to be realistic- there are still some serious consistency issues that need to be dealt with). But is Sutter the savior of the Flames the way he was 4 years ago? I hardly think so.
I draw a comparison to the most revered team in the NHL: The Detroit Red Wings. The Wings dominate the league every year. They have the top floor of the Western Conference standings on permanent reserve, and have for years. And while they do make roster changes from year-to-year, they generally seem to subscribe to the notion of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
The Calgary team that went to the Stanley Cup finals in 2004 clearly worked. There was genuine chemistry and comradery amongst the players and the coaching staff. It featured a lot of young talent who played with heart, with leadership that led by example. And as a result- they were successful.
But instead of working to maintain that core what obviouslyed gelled and worked well together- Sutter seemed to take it upon himself to begin making changes when, really, changes probably weren't needed. Within weeks of the end of the Stanley Cup final, it was announced the Flames had acquired Daymond Langkow from the Phoenix Coyotes. Still in the 'in Sutter we trust' mentality, people bought it- assuming this was the best thing for the team. And really, Lanks has worked out pretty well. Maybe not as well as we had hoped- but he's certainly made his mark in Calgary.
But then things snowballed. The following season was cancelled due to the NHL Lockout, and it almost seems as though in order to keep himself busy, Sutter began moving players to and from Calgary. In the process, the team lost a lot of the young, raw, passionate talent that helped the team achieve the success they had in 2004. Replaced instead by 'experienced' players. The result was losing players like Jordan Leopold, Shean Donovan, Ville Niemenen, Mike Commodore, and Oleg Saprykin. Even Craig Conroy was shipped off to Los Angeles! In the meantime, some of those players have had success since being shipped out. Mike Commodore has only been playing in the NHL since 2000- and has really only been a mainstay player in the league since his stint with Calgary in 2004- and yet he already has his name on the Stanley Cup! Whereas a superstar player like Jarome Iginla, who has been playing professionally for over a decade, has yet to have his name etched in the silver plating. How doesn't that seem a little unbalanced?
Maybe there were other reasons unbeknownst to us 'regular joe' fans that prevented Sutter from holding onto those players and retaining the chemistry within the team- but from the outside looking in, it just looks like a 'make-work' project that has gone horribly wrong, and being unable to have the same the same level of success, or shit, even just consistency with this team is the strongest evidence of that.
I expect Sutter to be facing a lot of questions in the coming weeks and months.

At the end of the day- at least we in Calgary can relish in the fact that our season lasted longer, and was overall more successful (statistically) than those of the Vancouver Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers. Plus we don't have the burden of facing a future with a radically different-looking team next season due to unrestricted free agents and sweeping changed in upper-management, both something that the Canucks are already dealing with, and the Oilers should be dealing with over the summer.

In the meantime, I'll keep a passive eye on the only remaining Canadian club in the post-season, the Montreal Canadiens, but certainly won't be rearranging my quickly-filling schedule to accomodate the games. In a way it's almost a blessing the Flames are out early. I have a lot of big projects coming up, and it'd be hard to find the time to dedicate to a hockey game every few days. So maybe in the end, the end of the Flames' 2007-08 season works out for everyone in order to do some hard work now in order to relish in the fruits of our labor this time next year.

Show us something that hurts.

I witnessed this one in person on Sunday during Game 3. In many ways, the video doesn't do the actual hit justice. It truly turned the tide of that game.

I saw this posed on a local hockey board tonight. It's an 'article' scratched together by a writer for the Denver Post. I can only believe that either the writer was intoxicated at the time of writing (and subsequently his editor must have indulged as well in order to allow it to be published), or the writer is indeed a 12 year old boy upset because his 'beloved' Colorado Avalanche team lost game 3 of their series to the Minnesota Wild.

Link: http://www.denverpost.com/avalanche/ci_8927475

And here I thought only Canuck bandwagon fans were the only ones who couldn't maturely and objectively discuss their team or the sport itself without resorting to schoolyard name-calling tactics. I stand corrected.

Best part of the whole article:
"Anywhere the Wild goes, flowers wilt, the sky turns gray and beauty dies."

Wow- someone give that man a hug!

Still sick, Ange and I spent our Saturday night watching the Flames' last game of the regular season- a 7-1 whomping of the Vancouver Canucks. Naturally I couldn't be happier with the score, which included Jarome Iginla's 50th goal of the season. Admittedly, the game lacked intensity. As color-commentator Jim Hughson referred to it- the game had the "intensity of a bubblebath".

But it was a good indication of where the Flames' heads are at going into the post-season. In the flurry of goals- it seemed like almost every line was contributing, and that's a very big positive for the team right now

Calgary will begin battle with the San Jose Sharks in Round 1, which starts on Wednesday April 9th- in San Jose. It's bound to be a bloodbath- but I've definitely got an appetite for Flame-broiled Shark.

I predict- Flames in 7.

GO FLAMES GO!

My GOD sometimes it's so hard to be a fan in Calgary. Looks like another pathetic effort by the Flames in their "quest for the cup" in 2008. To me this screams volumes that this team is once again prepping to shut-down mentally in the final week of the regular season. Here is a golden opportunity to move one step forward in securing your playoff spot- and dash Wankcouver's hopes of getting into the post-season at all... but that classic Calgary choke rears it's ugly head again.

NHL fans know spring is right around the corner when Trade Deadline Day comes around. I actually completely forgot about it today (I've had a lot on my mind lately) until I looked at my calendar to see whether the Flames play tonight.

Doesn't look like there were any 'huge' moves made today- definitely some big names- but nothing that I'd consider "jaw-dropping" (like the Theoren Fleury trade of '99). I honestly expected Toronto to make a big move- like sending Mr. Sundin elsewhere in exchange for some young blood to build from, but it wasn't to be. I'm a little surprized Calgary didn't make a move to bolster it's Stanley Cup chances- but really, they've been playing very well throughout February, so if it ain't broke- why fix it??

Some of the 'bigger' moves today, however, were:

• ex-Flame, Chris Simon (most famous for a slash on NY Ranger Ryan Hollweg almost a year ago) goes to the Minnesota Wild.


• Brad Stuart leaves L.A. to play in 'HockeyTown'


• The defending Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks add to their roster of players with French hyphenated names by signing both Marc-Andre Bergeron and Jean-Sebastien Aubin.


• Adam Foote returns to his old stomping grounds (no pun intended... or was it??) in Denver.


• Sergei Fedorov goes to D.C. to play with up-and-coming superstar Alexander Ovechkin.


• Brad Richards, who was instrumental in the Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup win in '04 (we're not bitter- really), goes to Dallas.

• Marian Hossa leaves Atlanta to become the newest cast member in "The Crosby Show"- now playing in the Steel City

And the one that didn't happen today, that I only found out about today (again, I've had a lot on my mind lately), is Cory Stillman and Mike Commodore- both of which played in the '04 Stanley Cup finals (Stillman, a former Flame, played for Tampa Bay in '04, and Commodore played for Calgary) both went to the Ottawa Senators! Oh grief- they want that cup BAD don't they??

I expected the Oilers to make some changes today too- though I personally feel the changes that need to be made in Edmonton are more of the upper-management type. Sometimes it's amazing what a drastic change in leadership can do for a club.
*Looks at Calgary*
*Looks at Vancouver*
I rest my case.

A few years ago, before the Calgary Flames began clawing their way back into the upper echelon of the NHL and the future still seemed dismal, then-superstar goaltender, Curtis Joseph was officially a Calgary Flame for all of a few hours before being signed with another club. Joseph, or 'Cujo', was never actually going to be a Flame. The move was part of a trade that saw Joseph end up elsewhere (my memory doesn't help me remember where- and I'm still on Maui time, so Googling for an answer won't happen).
At the time, however, I remember thinking as a Flames fan that we could only ever dream to have a superstar like Cujo play in Calgary.

But the dream is over- and Cujo is now a Calgary Flame! More amazing- he's the backup goaltender to Miikka Kipprusoff! Admittedly, Cujo has lost some of the shine from his star over the years. The last few seasons he's been doing his thing in Phoenix with the at-the-bottom-of-the-league Coyotes. Certainly nowhere near the success he had in Detroit, Toronto and Edmonton- but he's obviously hungry for success again- even if it's as #2 to Kipper.

This move to secure a solid #2 goaltender in Calgary has been faaaaar too long in coming. The past few seasons the #2 goalie has largely been some rookie or hothead (who gets himself ejected from the game just minutes after being put on the ice). Bottom line- we haven't had someone that can be a solid, confident backup to Kipper. And while Kipper is good- he's not invincible. He's human- and he works hard, and he's gonna get tired. Seems that Mr. Sutter has finally come to realize that, and has done something about it.

I get the impression that the Flames are gearing up for another serious run to the Stanley Cup this season. Should be a very interesting spring.

It's hard to believe that Christmas is mere days away. Today was my last day at work for the next three weeks!!! w00t! That alone is difficult enough for me to comprehend. I can't remember the last time I had 3 consecutive weeks off!

Originally, the plan for this weekend was a weekend gaming binge with my friend, Marc, who is home from Poland for Christmas. But those plans got sidetracked a little on Tuesday night when Ange won the door prize at a staff function which included dinner and drinks, 'executive transportation' service to the Saddledome where we took in the Calgary Flames Vs. Dallas Stars hockey game in the best seats we've had yet (row 3 of the second tier- usually we're near the back of the nosebleeds) this season, while each wearing one of the brand new Flames jerseys (bringing our  combined collection to 5). Ange and I never win anything- especially something this sweet. We both said that this must be karma coming back after all the recent struggles we've had to endure over the last month or so. Seemed like a perfect way to kick off our Christmas vacation.

The game was great. Seats were amazing. It was nice to sit and feel like part of the crowd again instead of looking over it (although, life in the 'nosebleeds' is very different and fun in their own unique way). Both Calgary and Dallas played extremely well- definitely a few nailbiter moments, and certainly more than a handful of urges to kill a referee for a bad call.

Naturally I touted the camera along.