Jokinen

It’s now been almost a year since I started writing for the Flame for Thought blog, and this, regrettably, will be my final entry. Seems an appropriate time to discuss how little has changed with the Flames the past 12 months. Oh, sure, the GM was (mercifully) gassed, some new names have moved to town and some old ones have moved on. And, sure, the team is on a nice roll, turning a miserable season into an exciting playoff race. But really, are they any better than they were this time last year? When I, along with a few friends, [...]

Everything the Flames need to know about Olli Jokinen can be summed up in what has happened the past two weeks. The deadweight centre, having scored all of two goals in his first 17 games of the season (which sounds an awful lot like what he did for long stretches last season), delivers a mindless cross-check to the head in Phoenix and gets suspended for three games. In his absence, the Flames most important player – Jarome Iginla, for whom Olli was brought in as a skilled first-line centre in the first place -breaks out of his own season-long slump [...]

Hockey’s back, and so am I! The Flames hit the ice for the first time in anger (excluding the rookie tournament, which really should be excluded) last night, in an innovative two-city split-squad double-header against the Vancouver Canucks. In Calgary, the Flames’ top unit, plus other assorted bodies, took on what was mostly a team of Canucks minor-leaguers and wannabes, and eked out a 3-2 win. In Vancouver, the Flames’ second line, plus assorted others, faced the meat of the Canucks roster and won 3-1. Where that for a while, ‘Nucks. Sitting here in Toronto, I had no TV access [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]