Flames are 3 - 0 !!!

:)

yeah, i know it's exhibition and doesn't matter (that's what carey price says, anyways), here's what i'm excited about so far in the first three flames' games of the year:

- that gio is on a rampage that screams "contract year," the likes of which i'm not sure i've ever seen. two words for that ? bring it.

- that the flames beat the canucks twice in one night. this will probably never happen again and i'm really thankful it didn't go the other way. booyah.

- that henrik karlsson looks like a steal, thusfar. hopefully he can win a couple games. also ? he's swedish, so i'm excited about that in itself.

- the potential that kotalik is gonna prove us all wrong and be a menace. especially if he learns to play D and we can pair him with the aforementioned raging gio.

- that goals can, indeed, be scored.

i'm not getting ahead of myself ---i'm still not convinced this is a playoff team and if we go to battle with #27 in the lineup, i think we're hooped on the blueline.... but i'm slightly more optimistic than i was a week ago (unless we're talking about anything jokinen-related, of course).

i can't wait til games are effin' televised.
(how is it that the flames can stream the prospect tourney from penticton and not bother to give us any real preseason action online ??!?)

enjoy the last bits of summer. hockey (and winter) is around the corner....
:)

brent catches the disease

brent sutter, on iggy, olli, and tangs (from the calgary herald):

"We need to be patient with this now," Flames coach Brent Sutter noted after the annual Red and White game. "We have the opportunity to allow that to happen. So why not? Let them try to work things out. Hopefully, at the start of the season, it'll be where we want it to be. But time's going to tell that. To be quite honest, they're going to tell that by their performance."

why do i feel that this particular darrylism actually means "we're effed" ?

in other news, i let out a massive sigh yesterday upon hearing that gio was paired with staios in the red v. white game (though, in truth, it will minimize the damage). kent also sent me a text that read "karlsson looks good."

..."in a hockey way, or a swede way ?" i replied.

:)

thrash it up, pocketdawes !!!

word came down today that nigel dawes has signed a one year, two-way deal in atlanta for $600K (aka: the kind of money the flames reserve for tree-shaped guys with fists who can't play).

in the same way that nobody really noticed darryl sutter become the calgary flames' executive VP last month, the thrashers have quietly cobbled together a pretty decent team, if you ask me. i mean, their goaltending is somewhat suspect but could totally work out... and with a motley crew of skaters that have been underappreciated like johnny oduya, dustin byfuglien, nik antropov, freddy modin, and htp favorite rich peverley, i have to admit they have the potential to do some damage. oh, and don't forget evander kane. that guy was named after a boxer, for cryin' out loud !!

i mean, the 2010/11 atlanta thrashers are like an afterschool special. watch 'em rally to a cup...

i'd be a pretty happy girl.
congrats, pocketdawes. i hope georgia treats you well....
;)

learning to love #13, step 1

skip to 2:00.
don't watch any earlier than that cause he's annoying with his theory on how the flames were awesome last year in the first 40 games.
at EXACTLY 2:00 i might admit i thought jokinen was a little bit funny.

the "OFFICIAL THIRD" jersey (*yawn*)

the scoopiest dudes in the world over at icethetics have unveiled the flames' retro rbk edge OFFICIAL THIRD jersey for the 2010/2011 season. while it looks an awful lot like the sweaters that the boys wore for five games last year (you might remember my boy gio opening the team's scoring in this very shirt), it was absolutely NOT in any way to be considered the calgary flames' third jersey.

retro, yes.

throwback, yes.

vintage (looking), yes.

cup-era reminiscent, yes.

but THIRD JERSEY, nooooooooooooo..... (wrist-slap)

since i was schooled by the club's director of retail, brent gibbs, just over a year ago, i can now safely and confidently say that the jersey above IS, infact, the club's OFFICIAL THIRD JERSEY.

now, let's see if they decide to offer it in a ladies' cut.

[if yes, do i move forward with "MICKIS" ??? decisions, decisions....]

2010-2011 season: the sad truth

here's the thing:

i think i'm more excited about the upcoming second cycle of battle of the blades than the nhl season. why ? because the flames are gonna blow, and BotB is boasting theoren fleury ANNNND pj stock. hell, the only way the cbc could've gotten it more right would've been if they'd inked my boy forsberg to compete for the title... ah, well.... all i can hope is that theo and peej end up in the finals....

when mikeH and i went to the playing with fire signing last year, as the line moved forward and we approached the table, i realized i had to say something not-stupid to a dude who played on the 1989 cup winning team.... i had to say something "chatty" to theoren effin' fleury while he signed two books (one for me and one for awildermode), and i knew from experience i was no good at it [case in point: me blushing like an idiot the previous month when i met iggy]. so, i opted to query his opinion on battle of the blades.

from the linked hitthepost article, written 10/24/2009:

i told him that i look forward to his jersey hitting the rafters of the 'dome, and asked him who he thought would win the battle of the blades.... ;) he laughed and said he hadn't had time to watch --who did i think would win ? i looked at him and grinned, "claude lemieux."

"i love that guy," he mumbled with a smile as i shook his hand and walked away....

bring it, theo. i hope you don't come in second....
;)

the team might not win a game, but at least our captain's hip

i'm not sure if iggy actually follows or supports the los angeles dodgers but he's PWNING that pristine, flat-brimmed ballcap.

;)

i'm on a roll now, with these taster-sized posts !!!
watch out....

[editor's note: i only hyperlinked that word above so my mum doesn't point out a typo]
<3 !!!

3 reasons that the flames won't make the playoffs this year:

1.

new this year: the organization designed, printed, and included playoff tickets in with the season tickets. presumeably this cuts down on mailing costs in the spring, but a stupidstitious girl like myself looks at it like a waste of paper. way to go.

2. if you take the correlation seriously, the latest surge by the stamps is baaaaaaad news for our beloved flames.

3.
what can i say ? with training camp mere days away, now seems as good a time as any to start making fun of the guy that's been earmarked by corporate as the saviour of this squad. ie: he deserves to make this list.

let's hope i'm wrong.