The Weekly Roundup

It was a good news bad news type of week for the Calgary Flames.

Good news: They recorded their first win

Bad news: They recorded their first loss

Good: They scored a power play goal

Bad: The goal was scored into an empty net and was one of twelve chances in two games

Good: Calgary beat a very good team in the LA Kings

Bad: Calgary was clobbered by the Oilers—a team they did not lose to all of last year.

Good: Matt Stajan took the ice Monday wearing a ‘non-contact’ jersey and looks to be on the mend

Bad: Both Rene Bourque and Adam Pardy left the game Sunday and did not return. Compile that with Raitis Ivanans concussion on Thursday night and the sick bay total climbs to a staggering eight players (Langkow, Moss, Stone, Kotalik, Stajan, Bourque, Pardy and Ivanans).

Good: The Flames have out-shot their opponents 69-55 in the first two games of the season.

Bad: Of those 69 shots, only a small percentage were actual legitimate scoring chances (mostly referring to Thursday’s game where Calgary maybe had two tangible chances at scoring a goal).

Good: The Saddledome has a new sponsor: Scotiabank

Bad: All the dumb nick names people are trying to come up with: Worst of all was “The Bank.” How about “The Dome”? Seems to have worked for the last 20 some-odd years.

Fans Jumping Already

I think the hospitals and walk-in clinics in Calgary were most likely filled to the brim Friday morning complaining of “brokenankleduetojumpingoffbandwagonitis” as the mood in town heading into the weekend was sour at best. The amount of people proclaiming this to be the beginning of the end and the worst Flames team on record was quite substantial. In saying this, I was not exactly ecstatic at the outcome of Thursday night’s affair as was evident in my blog post Friday morning. But, in saying this, it was just one game and there is time to turn it around...hopefully.

Issues

The issue with the Flames is that they are trying to play a style of hockey that no one cares to try anymore. The ‘dump and chase’ combined with non-stop grinding, and throw in a slower than average team and you a recipe for success...in 2004. I’m not saying it can’t be done, but it might be very difficult to make the playoffs.

And one last question: Has Olli Jokinen been traded/waived/benched yet?

Eberle goal

Despite what little Flames highlights the season opener provided on Thursday, it did allow Flames fans to witness first hand an early candidate for goal of the year. Flames fans, and people in general everywhere, were clearly in awe of Eberle’s goal but Oilers players didn’t have the same response...

Newman
twitter.com/TSRNewman

To read the rest of my weekly roundup with takes on Doc Halladay, Brett Favre and more click the link here: http://bit.ly/cp8Clo