sunday feedback: this is not a joke

the liveblog from earlier today helped pass an otherwise boring and humbling game by the flames against the atlanta badjerseys, so thanks to all who joined in (brentG, ST, kent, robertcleave, matt)... also thanks to everyone for voting for me over duncan in the "who had a tougher sunday morning" poll; your empathy has not gone unnoticed...

it's becoming clear that the newly formed "story" line (iggy, olli & squid) is shockingly bad in the defensive zone and won't always score multiple goals in-game. infact, if you acknowledge that antero nittymaki had one seriously bad period, then the flames' top line kinda sucks... sure, it's still a small sample size but the keenan line blender is already looking for more effective uses of his healthy players, and i'm scared to death about the possibility of a jokinen-bertuzzi combination when #7 gets healthy... oh, how an opponent could violate them !!!! this could get really ugly before it gets better.

everyone was quick to point out that the calgary squad IS decimated by injury, currently, and moss got a bye in this afternoon's affair due to the death of his grandfather (condolences, mossy). so, yeah. we had a top line, a third line playing second line minutes, and two fourth lines. it doesn't explain why kipper let in a bunch of softies, and why our captain and highest paid blueliner aren't doing much of anything.. also, i must note that dumping an extra five minutes/night (one third more than he's used to) on jordan leopold does not appear to be a good idea....

lombo got a couple assists this afternoon, just for the record.... bless'im.

there IS, however, a bright light in the current doom and gloom, and that's david van der gulik. the kid is the only guy in a flaming C with any visible sense of urgency, offensively and defensively, and he appears to have been noticed by the coaching staff. he's hustling like it's going out of style, making smart plays (especially in the flames' end) and looks to have a bit of an offensive game in there somewhere.... oh, and this is the way he's been playing for ages, so i don't imagine it's a fluke...

last week's sunday feedback poll showed that most people (76%) think the flames need to step up their defensive game; a result backed up by the 23 goals allowed in the past FIVE GAMES !!! 14% of people were concerned about the powerplay, and a handful of others point out that the team's intensity is lacking (ie: the boys believe their own hype), they're not moving their feet (ie: the calgary bertuzzis) and other cliches that kerr, simmer, millions, loubardias, and the regular on-air staff like to point out...

poll by twiigs.com