a boatload of trouble

i will be the first to admit that when you attend a game, you see different things than you would by watching a broadcast but from my eye, the calgary flames are a thoroughly deflated club and might not actually win another game this year. they were consistantly stood up at the offensive blueline by a non-playoff team and, on the occasion they were able to penetrate the zone, lost the puck within seconds in board battles. what opportunities they had on net (and there were a handful) were whiffed or covered by a steady wild squad.... the bottom line is that we are in a boatload of trouble.

i know i'm gonna sound like a homer when i say this but the only guys who looked GOOD last night were backlund and gio (and i mean this in a hockey way, not a boy way). i thought backlund was, HANDS DOWN, the hardest worker in red last night and was rewarded with a couple of nice little opportunities. i gotta say i miss the third B in the killer Bs line (moss just doesn't cut it, i'm afraid) but there's some nice chemistry between backlund and bourque. and while brent insists on playing gio on the third pairing, he did a lot of things right; my dad even said, at one point, that gio was the best offensive AND defensive player for the flambés, and he's not far from wrong. he notched a couple of shots on goal on the scoresheet, and sent another couple of BEAUTIES towards the net (i'm pretty sure he's been practising a shot that sizzles inches wide of the net at about knee height that bounces straight off of the back wall and out into the slot.... now we just need someone standing out front with the wherewithall to tip that puckhome).... he also seemed to enter the zone at will, unchallenged, with the puck on his stick. oh, and did i also mention the two awesome hits on his nemesis, clutterbuck, and the highlight of the night that you'll NEVER see: a perfect dodge of a flying c'buck in the corner, reminiscent of the dustin brown elbow dodge of months back.

a couple of guys get hat-tips for effort last night, and here i'd say hagman, iggy, nystrom, higgins, and kipps. the rest of the team looked like a bunch of chumps who couldn't care less about winning. stajan was downright invisible. kotalik was only noticeable for being terrible. same goes for jaybouw, i'm afraid....

too many point shots. too many passes. too many fancy plays. not enough deep pucks. too many shinpads.... y'know ---the same old story.... and somehow, sutter's solution was to bring in the bigger, older dude on the blueline.... no joke, we are gonna get absolutely DESTROYED on friday against joisey. picture it: the kovalchuck unit or the ZZ POP line will surely make a regehr-staios pairing (c'mon.... we all know it's gonna happen) look downright silly, and there is no way in hell that the jaybouw/sarich duo could handle'em either......

note: i would like to see a hagman - iggy - higgins line just so we can call it the higgy line.... hey, with the separation of the johnson pardy, brent should do this just to make me happy.... seriously, i mean ---it's not like we're gonna win anymore games anyways... ;)

sutter(s) dismissal countdown: day 1
;)