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.

as promised: puckdaddy link

thanks, wysh, for taking me along for this ride.

:)

monday randoms: puckdaddy, mostly....

- i'm once again flattered to have been asked by greg wyshynski, over at puckdaddy, to contribute a female perspective on NHL issues. i'll link to it tomorrow (or whenever it's up).

- another thing happening, currently, over at puckdaddy: the mount puckmore exercise. in a nutshell, they've got team representatives from all 30 NHL squads picking which four people best describe the history of their teams (aka: which faces would be carved into your team's mount rushmore). i've been thinking about this alot, actually, and i decided to share my decisions with you in advance of the actual unveiling of our monument [ps: which of you is writing it, hunh ???]

1. the obvious two
there's no way anyone can try to convince me that the first two faces on the flames' mountain would not be lanny mcdonald and jarome iginla. without a doubt, these two franchise players define the class and leadership displayed in their respective eras and any conversation about the history of my club would be incomplete without their names.

2. the third
after lanny and iggy, it's a little more difficult. i have been hugely vocal about wanting theoren fleury's #14 retired to the rafters at the dome, and i think he should be the third face on puckmore for all of the same reasons. he's a former flame recordholder in scoring titles (until iggy came along), and he's overcome so much adversity in his non-hockey life. also ? the fans effin' love the little dude. personally, i'd be hard pressed to imagine this shrine as complete without theo's scarred mug up there...

3. and finally....
the last guy's tough. REAAALLLY tough. if you think about incredible team players, you've got a few left to choose from (kippy, and gilmour come immediately to mind) but most of the other big names would appear on other teams' foursomes (mcinnis & niewendyk are good examples here). håkan loob is somewhat entitled, being the only swede to have ever scored 50 goals in one NHL season (a record that still stands), but the majority of his hockey contributions have come overseas as GM of eliteserien oft-champions, färjestads BK. oh, and just because mikey V lucked out and has a banner in the rafters doesn't mean it deserves to be there....

no, the fourth guy should be a non-player. some good options, here, are doc seaman, bob johnson, and cliff fletcher.... but to ME the last face on mt.puckmore should be this one:

not only does he boast one of the best nicknames in pro sports, but he was an active part of two cup runs, had a thirty-some-odd year career, and was the first professional hockey athletic trainer to be inducted into the hall of fame. additionally (as if we need more reasons), he remains a community ambassador to the Flames, and his on-bench celebratory dance is one of the most memorable in the 89 cup win. i heart bearcat murray.

**UPDATE: hayley wrote up the puck daddy mt.puckmore yesterday, and you can find it here. i have no idea why sarahM (who alerted me to the aforementioned article in the comments) deleted her note. meh.

i guess that's it for today.
:)

thoughts on the heritage classic presser

i listened to most of the press conference today that was broadcast live from mcmahon stadium and here are my thoughts, in order of importance:

1. if steve staios is the new voice/face of the calgary flames, i'm starting to doubt that he'll get sent off to abbotsford after training camp. this is nerve-wracking due to the fact that his salary cap number is enormous, that he's gonna get top-line minutes (and drag down jaybouw yet again), and he's gonna suck all over the place. and while i'm totally gutted by this revelation, i'm sure matt pelech can now be considered a jumper.

2. what. the eff. is this ??

i was listening to the unveiling in radio form (ie: picture-less), so it was described as "burgundy and yellow... unlike anything the flames have ever seen before." know why ? cause it's mafackin' UGLY. all of a sudden i'm craving a happy meal....on a positive note, kudos to those in charge for realizing that the C of red means that any jersey created by the org MUST be in the crimson/burgundy/red family. also a bonus is that the guy with zero taste or style, who presumeably designed the 25th and 30th anniversary crests, is continuing his run of mediocrity. and the worst part is that if they offer it in a women's cut, i can't even say with any certainty that i'd avoid purchasing one.... sweeeeeet !!!

from steinberg's twitter :

from the calgary sun:

(i admit, it looks better in person... it's starting to grow on me already but still appears to have been designed by a child... also ? it looks as though glenX might have been hittin' the cheeseburgers, and i ain't talkin' about the jersey....)

(further investigation, aka: reading puckdaddy, shows where the design originated. too bad all the things that are awesome about this uniform are absent in the latest version... and here i'm talkin' about the haircut, the gloves, the skates, and the fact that the photo is in black & white.)

3. unless there was some change of ownership in the past few years that i'm unaware of, mcmahon stadium is still owned by the university of calgary. thus, when gary bettman was going on and on about its storied history, it probably would've been nice to at least MENTION the calgary dinos, and when he was doling out thankyous to the stampeders etc. (jon haverstock comes to mind here), it would've been courteous to also hat-tip the U. all class.