doomsday post: aka: i'm scared

i've been pretty quiet lately cause i keep thinking that all the things i want to say are negative and i don't want to be a naysayer... but here's a few things i've had rolling around in the ol'noggin for a while...

- the flames have been losing a lot of games they should be winning. it seems like all the folks around the streets and on the web want to think that bertuzzi and bourque coming back will magically turn this team into a stanley cup winner. personally, i'm not convinced... bertuzzi might add a bit offensively, yes, but his defensive skills (or lack thereof) have the potential of making the second line as liable as the first... this is NOT good news. as for bourque, sure the kid is GOOD, but are we perhaps expecting a bit too much from a first-time twenty goal scorer who will be returning from a major injury ?? while i look forward to his re-insertion in the lineup, i'm skeptical that he will be the instant saviour of a tanking hockey club...

- dion phaneuf has quietly looked "not quite right" all season. speculation has gone from possible injury to being overplayed, right down the line through big-contract disinterest, "EA coverboy" curse, and his starlet girlfriend being a chi-vampiress. currently, as duncan mentions below, he's looking not only like he's lost his fundamentals, but also his confidence, and his on-ice minutes are reflecting it. one can only hope there's a magic salve but realistically dion version 08/09 is here to stay.... which hardly bodes well for a lengthy playoff run.

- further examination of the blueline is as disheartening. at least last year, anders eriksson was the only real liability (with andrei zyuzin being the goat the year before). this year we have to put up with regular "bad nights" from any/all of the defensive corps. i honestly do not understand, for the life of me, why jim playfair still has a job. i mean, when the heck does he get taken to task for the six or seven players underperforming on his watch ???

- further examination of the coaching staff in its entirety is, possibly, MORE disheartening. with all the talk of this team having "secondary scoring," i was disgusted that mike keenan left jokinen, iginla, and cammalleri on the ice for nearly THREE MINUTES at the end of the toronto game. additionally, keeping vandermeer in the place of pardy (and on the ice in the final minutes when down a goal) seems like an overestimation of his skills, to me. there is a significant under-use of moss and boyd, and i'm still shaking my head about the dvdg demotion...

- has anyone else noticed how godawful the PK has gotten since the departure of lombardi ?? it might have been on a decline prior to that but i'm just sayin'....

the bottom line is that we are now, essentially, one point ahead of vancouver for the division lead. i would not be surprised whatsoever to have that margin usurped in the next day or two, and i think the current slumping flambés will be hard-pressed to get it back.

remember december ?? that was way more fun...
:(