Wow… how bad are the Flames this December? Just terrible, after coming out of November looking like one of the teams to beat, they have proven to me, and fellow Calgarians that this is probably another early playoff exit team. In December they have won 3 games and lost 6. They need a Christmas break like Gary Bettman needs a heart attack. They have looked very uninterested in winning since December began. In November their problem was that they would play hard for all but 5-10 mins of the game, and in that time they would give up a few goals, in December their problem is that they play hard for about 5-10 mins of the game and still expect to win. I don’t care that you guys are all making the big bucks, and at the end of the day going to the arena is like going to the office, you have a job to do, so do it. To be honest Kipper is the only guy I can say is playing with any sort of consistency.

I was at the Nashville game yesterday, 2p.m. afternoon start… that was weird, funny thing was the tickets were printed for 5 o’clock so there were a bunch of angry people showing up with about 10 mins left in the third period. How pissed off must they have been? Getting in their cars to go to the game, tuning into The Fan 960 for the pregame show, only to realize that they are listening to the third period…. call me an ass but its a little bit comical being on the otherside of the fence for once. To be honest they did not miss a whole lot. I was sitting with my friend and near the beginning of the second period I looked over to him and said “Dude have you even noticed Iginla out there?”. Before he can respond Iginla absolutely snipes one past Dan Ellis. After that point Iginla was one of the only players that was fighting for a win. I’ve always thought that was Iginla’s problem, if he is in a little dry spell for points, he is so invisible, until he scores a goal or an opposing player is laying the body on him. If he has no reason to get fired up he won’t.

Dear Santa:

I realize it is an 82 game season, and that there will be ups and downs. But all I want for Christmas is consistency for the Calgary Flames. Is that too much to ask? I know it might be a bit of a stretch but come on you can deliver Christmas miracles!

Sincerely,

Frustrated Flames Fans World Wide

p.s. can you give Craig Conroy a goal please? Even if it is an empty net goal. Thanks!!

Hockey Night in Canada is a Saturday tradition for Canadians across the country, unfortunately CBC is killing it for half of us. No one cares more about Eastern Canadian teams than the CBC, yeah that includes you Jim Balsillie. The average number of Saturday games for American teams is 21. The average number of Saturday games for Eastern Canadian teams is 24. Average number of Saturday games for Western Canadian teams is 17. So Western Canadian teams on average have 4 less Saturday games then the American teams. And 7 less games then the Eastern Canadian teams. Does that not seem a little bit fishy how the league just so happened to schedule more games for Eastern Canadian teams then Western Canadian teams, don’t tell me for a second there is no deal between the CBC and the league, it becomes very clear once you dig a little bit. What this all results in is a lot more coverage by the CBC for their beloved Eastern Canadian teams. The CBC magically broadcasts 23 more games in total for Ottawa, Toronto, and Montreal then it does for Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver. Does that seem fair? Does that seem like balanced Canadian broadcasting? Both questions a monkey could answer for you: NO! Not to mention the fact that CBC covers 100% of the worst Canadian team’s games: Toronto. Are you kidding me? I would rather watch a game in the AHL, OHL, WHL, QMJHL, fuck I would rather go watch a pickup game at the local outdoor rink then watch the terrible Toronto Maple Leafs. Yet the CBC insists on making them a staple to the “Canadian” diet. To cap it all off when the CBC does get around to covering  a Western Canadian team (heaven forbid it is against an Eastern Canadian team) , it is like watching Fox News report on Barack Obama, the bias is so obvious it is embarrassing, completely despicable “Canadian” broadcasting.

So, CBC, change your Hockey Night in Canada broadcasting, make it more CANADIAN! Or get the fuck off the air.

That is all.

What a great game. Right from the drop of the puck this game had the feel and speed of a playoff game! Both teams wanted this one bad. They are both in a fight for first place in the conference, San Jose still has a few games in hand so they will retain it for a little while longer.  By the end of the first period it was pretty obvious that this game was going to be decided by one goal, as neither of the goalies were giving anything up easy. I thought Douglas Murray was setting the tone for the game a little bit too much in the first, but the Flames didn’t seem to let it get to them too. By the way Douglas Murray must way half a ton, an absolute monstor, he definitely ate his wheaties as a kid…do they have wheaties in Sweden?

The Sharks came out in the second period very well scoring 4 minutes in. It is kind of funny, the one goal Kiprusoff let in this game, I think he could have had. Flames countered about 6 miuntes later on an absolute snipe by Jokinen, right over the shoulder of Nabokov. The game was now tied 1-1, and the moto for the game now was the same moto every kid has when they have been called in for dinner but they aren’t quite done playing street hockey: next goal wins! Then, with three minutes left in the period, Kiprusoff made a God-Like save. There is no other way to put it. Im not even going to try and describe how ridiculous it was, so click herebecause seeing is believing! That is the goalies equivalent of the Ovechkin goal, without the theatrical celebration afterwards.

Early in the third period the Flames caught the break they needed as Langkow was parked right in the slot, unmarked, Rene Borque found him and he made no mistake, a rare, but costly defensive error by the Sharks. After that the Sharks pressed very hard for an equalizer, Thornton was robbed by the lightning speed of Kippers left pad. And in the end the Flames narrowly but deservedly won 2-1.  A very big win for the Flames, on a very productive road trip.

I was extremely pleased with the way the Flames played in this one, everyone was finishing their checks and trying to make plays. There were some players that stood out more than others, Kiprusoff, Langkow, Jokinen but no one had a bad game. This is one of those games that gets you excited for playoffs, and they aren’t for months! The only thing that frustrates me is this team always seems to get up and play against the hard teams, but they like to make it hard for themselves against the easy teams. My prediction: Flames will have a very good end to the calendar year. And will lose to the laughable Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan.2nd, you heard it here, now watch it happen. Speaking of the Maple Leafs is anyone still going to the games? Players and coaches included?

Stop by tomorrow for my roast on the CBC.

The puck dropped to start the game and not 30 seconds later, Jarome Iginla had his 13th goal of the year. After that the Flames pretty well owned the first period, with Jokinen and Phaneuf ringing shots of the bar. It was good to see this team come out with a sense of urgency… coach probably told them if they don’t play like a bunch of dumb-asses, they can go enjoy the beach after the game.

After a well played first period come to an end… Flames fans every where were waiting for the collapse in the second period. And of course, it came. LA scored at the 3 minute mark of the game and less than a minute later the ice cold Frolov got himself on the score sheet.  Fuck, I’m still waiting for the day the Flames can prove me wrong and finally put together a solid 3 periods of play. Sutter quickly called a time out, thank god, and Iginla scored his 14th goal of the year on a 2 man advantage from a brilliant feed by Bouwmeester. So, second period ends, game is tied, which team is going to come out in the third? Boys? or Men?

I hated the fact that Iginla took 2 stupid minor penalties in a tight third period. Come on man! You were having an amazing game, you were a monster out there, don’t be taking stupid penalties that is going to shift the momentum to the Kings. Anyway, on one of Jarome’s penalties Langkow scored a short hander, which ended up being the game winner. Nice to see Langkow pull some weight. Although Iginla took a couple stupid penalties in the third he also scored his 9th career hattrick goal, so we will call it even Jarome. And finally to cap off a masterful third period David moss had his first goal in 10 games to break the slide. Overall I was quite impressed with how the Flames came out to play in this game, they could have easily put there tails under their legs and walked away quietly in the third period, but they stayed there and made sure they set an example of how this road trip will be… hopefully.

Tonight: Flames play the Ducks

Well it has been nothing short of a disappointing week for the Flames. The game against the Avalanche I thought they played decent… but come on guys decent doesn’t cut it in the NHL! Especially when you are battling for #1 in the Northwest division! A couple nice plays got the Flames back in front in the second period, only to quickly give it all up shortly thereafter. I mean give it to the Avalanche they played a very good defensive game, getting in the lanes and blocking a lot of shots, and capitalizing on their offensive opportunities. The flames need to WANT it more! So you, like I, were probably thinking “okay so we lost a close one against the Avs, but I bet the Flames are going to come out ready to play against the Hawks”. Fast Forward to Thursday… and the most demorilizing loss since the last time the Flames played the Blackhawks. I could only find one bright spot in the game and that was the fact that Jokinen finally scored! Way to be a difference maker Ollie. The Flames penalty kill was non existent. Letting in 4 power play goals is shameful. It seems to me lately that the Flames Defense has had trouble or lack of interest with clearing out the front of the net. Too many of the goals in the last two games have been the result of second chance point blank opportunities, the Flames as a team need to be more involved defensively, the goals will come(especially now that Jokinen is back! insert sarcasm) but they need to be more commited to keeping the puck out of their own net, and cutting back on nonsense penalties. I really don’t want to dwell on these 2 losses too much as I dont believe they are indicative of the Flames ability. They have a game this afternoon at 2pm MST against the Kings… lets see if they can save face.

Curits Glencross will be back for Tuesdays tilt against the Avalanche. Hopefully he has learned his lesson after that hit on Chris Drury that landed him with a 3 game suspension. He is better in the lineup then sitting in the press box.

But if he hasn’t learned his lesson I have compiled an Avalanche hit list for him:

Paul Stastny

Wojtek Wolski

Ryan O’Reilly

Milan Hejduk

Kyle Quincey

David Jones

Craig Anderson

Not necessarily in that order I will let you decide as the game progresses.

Well…we won, it was not pretty but we got the job done. But lets be completely honest if you aren’t beating the Maple Leafs this year, unless you are Carolina, you better be hanging your head in shame. I say the best team in the AHL right now, Rochester Americans, could give the Maple Leafs a run for their money. “The Monster”, Jonas Gustavsson, was a siv with a 0.400 save percentage, the only person chasing that number is Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins…wow. In all fairness though I would say the only period we outplayed the leafs was the third, and that was just so it wouldn’t be a long and quiet plane ride home with Mr. Sutter. At the end of the day the two guys you need to step it up when times are tough did… Jarome and Kiprusoff. Kipper played amazing and had the Flames been playing any other team the score could have been easily reversed. And Iginla seems to be finding his stride with 2 goals last night, and 5 in his last 5 games. Jokinen, on the other hand needs to wake his ass up. Come on man 2 goals all season?? What the hell did you do in the off season? Last night he had an assist, (second assist on the play), and a fight… how productive. Having played 5 of their last 6 games on the road and having 5 wins and 1 shootout loss in that time is definitely a sign that this team is finding their game. But I don’t think it is quite their yet. And I really liked the way the players responded to their win in Toronto last night, they new they did not play very well and that they relied on their goaltender to much. Where in past years they would have been happy about the win… this year even the players are holding some accountability for their efforts not just the coaches… good signs indeed.

Click here for Flames post game reaction