A Long Drive To Long Island & A Long Game As Flames Fall to Islanders
By Cait Platt
Holy cow! Holy cow! Holy cow! Holy cow! Holy cow! Holy cow! Holy cow! What a surreal game that was! To see the Calgary Flames from glass seats in the New York Islander’s arena, Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum was mind blowing.
This is only the second time I’ve caught the Flames live, and last year when I did, I was so stressed out as they played my other team.
Okay so it was absolutely heartbreaking to see the Flames lose. I mean, there was a potential for tears at the end of the game. But then I realized they’d be wasted on a team undeserving of tears. Yeah, you heard it. The Flames played terribly today. I don’t care what you say, game 3 of a 7 game road trip, bad ice, tired legs. Bullshit bullshit bullshit! Flames, you lost to the Eastern Conference’s version of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Except unlike the Jackets, the Islanders have struggled since the end of their dynasty! They are the worst team in the Eastern Conference! They have 12 wins! Prior to this, the Islanders were on a three game losing streak.
The problem with sitting that close as your team falls apart, you can see their faces. Not a single one seemed to give a crap. There was no spark in anyone’s eyes. Chris Butler couldn’t find his place on the ice. Miikka Kiprusoff seemed genuinely surprised there was a hockey game going on in front of him. Jarome Iginla struggled to find the puck. And I found myself saying nice things about Olli Jokinen, the world must be ending if I can manage that. You just go down the line, there were faults every where. Two guys that seemed to give a crap all 60 minutes? Tim Jackman and Mikael Backlund. Two guys playing a full 60 is not going to win you games. And why start Kip? Why not give him the night off? He played in Columbus, barely held it together, as the went to a SO.
So much frustration went into this game. Nothing turned out the way it should have, weak capitalization on power plays, lazy puck handling, the inability to get the puck near the net. Flames went up 1-0, 1:11 in to the first. And then for the next 18:50 minutes, the Islanders totally dominated the ice. They had control of the puck for most of the first. Normally this is something I don’t notice all too much, but when I’m required to crane my neck at an odd angle to see the play, I tend to make a note. Such an explosive start, such a pitiful game over all. Not a game that makes me proud to be a Flames fan.
Flames cannot keep this up, in a few hours they face another joke of the Eastern Conference, the Ottawa Senators. They follow that up with a game against their defense heavy foe, the Nashville Predators. The Flames won’t see home ice until the 7th, that’s a long time to struggle to get into the game. There’s 4 more games in this road trip, let’s see if they can come out above .500.
Go Flames Go!
Oh and some more photos for your viewing pleasure: