i guess this is as good a time as any to talk about the ridiculousness that is the NHL schedule.
a lot of people bitch about the fact that there are teams we don't get to see for three years (the "crosby/ovechkin factor"). a lot of people bitch about meeting intra-divisional rivals 8 times each per year. here are my beefs, specifically:
1. season ticket holders end up with passes to attend 41 games in a season. almost HALF of those games are against the same four teams. this, quite simply, sucks.
2. is it any wonder that nashville will win the president's trophy when they get to play columbus, chicago & st. louis each EIGHT FREAKIN' TIMES !!?? sure, they won't win 'em all, but in any given division on any given year, if there are more than two "mediocre" teams, the stronger teams will win the trophies. whereas in a "tight" division (like the NW), arguably better teams won't make the playoffs... this makes me angry...
BUT i guess it's expensive to travel your team, and i guess extra-divisional (if you will) tilts draw lesser crowds... but c'moooon NHL brass... let's get this thing changed... [someone, but i forget who, said re: the crosby ovechkin factor, "the nhl finally has a truly marketable product, but refuses to sell it to half the league." geniuuuussss]
which brings us to this: the flames get to play the avalanche THREE TIMES this week. and while it would seem like a gift for our newly-revitalized team to play the basement-dwellers in a home-and-home-and-home series, the avalanche have been coming up huge against tougher opponents. budaj shut out the ducks a few nights ago, with the help of a frighteningly solid back 6. these games will be hard fought, low-scoring, and won in the corners. both teams will come away with points and injuries... i'll give round 1 to the flames: 2-1 (friesen, tanguay/brunette).
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Hey you gave a goal to Friesen! Nice!
I've actually had such low expectations for him lately, which he seems to have been surpassing, that I'm now actually starting to like the guy...
Even though I know that he is just brutal...
Does that make sense? Somebody help me... ; )
i've quietly liked friesen all year. he busts his butt on the PK (he is easily the most aggressive flame) and his speed really gets the opposing defense on their heels. the fact that he's been scoring comes from time on the upper lines (let's face it: nobody's gonna score goals on a line with lundmark and mccarty)... if the 'lanche are matching lines, friesen might get some extra space and pot one... that's my theory, anyways...
I'm with WI here... he's not as offensively-minded he was back in his days with the Sharks, but he has a role on the Flames, he knows what it is, and he's not too much of a dumbass about playing it. And really, that's all we got him for, right?
Colorado's back-end doesn't strike any fear in me. Sure, it's vastly superior to Edmonton's, but whos isn't?
I've been picking on Friesen all year, because I think it's a lot of fun. However, he has quietly worked himself into a relatively effective player since Christmas.
I know why Friesen was brought in and he's been doing that job, I just expected more from him, point-wise, than what he was doing at the beginning of the season. He is about where I thought he would be at this point, but it all came lately, so I'm thinking he could really turn it on...
Besides, I'm starting to realize he plays pretty much the same as me- fast skater, doesn't put many points on the board, excellent forechecker and is at his best killing penalties by keeping the puck in the other team's zone...
Crap, I think I just said that if I were an NHLer, I'd be Jeff Friesen...
And I didn't even get to the beer part of the equation (and the fact that he was born exactly two weeks before me)...
HA !! see that ? all the vitriol was to cover up that you guys all have wicked soft spots for the boy i call "freezy." awwww.... so cuuute....
What is this Friesen complimenting blasphemy?!!
Eww, Toronto had one of those 3 in a weeks with Boston back in December. You're completely right, they gotta go.
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