Playoff time!!

Well November has struck, that means two things, the CFL playoffs are starting and the Iginla is hitting his stride.

Ok so here are the playoff matchups
Riders won the west division, they get the bye week and host the west final, for the first time since 1976. they play the winner of the west semifinal, which is hosted by the Stampeders with the Eskimoes visiting.
In the East, Montreal clinched and will host the east final, for the 2nd consecutive year. they will host the winner of the east semifinal, which Hamilton will host. I think this is the first time they have hosted a playoff game since 2001. The BC Lions will crossover and play Hamilton

So it appears I was right about Hamilton, which makes me happy, I wanted them to do well this year. I was off on the Riders, who i picked to cross over. Their QB Durant showed why they had confidence in him. Reynolds had a phenomenal year for Calgary, with over 1700 all purpose yards, a favourite to win Most Outstanding Player.
Calgary hosts the Grey Cup, but will have to win at home then in Saskatchewan to get there. every team in the playoffs has a chance at the Cup, with Hamilton being the hottest team. After a close game with Montreal, Hamilton has rattled off 3 straight wins, Glenn showing the form he had leading the Bombers to the 2007 Grey Cup.

my picks, well the west I obviously pick Calgary as a Calgary fan, but either of the 3 teams could be there. I think the run game will play large importance with both playoff games being outdoors in November, and Calgary and Edmonton have shown the most strength in this area lately. Calgary won the season series 3-1 with Edmonton, with both games in Calgary being dominated by the Stampeders.
as for the final, Edmonton won the season series with Sask 2-1 and Calgary lost the season series to sask 0-2-1, with Sask winning the season finale.


In the East I pick Hamilton. Hamilton is on a hot streak and Glenn has something to prove. The Crossover team rarely wins, and BC lost both games to Hamilton this year, early in the season though. BC's qb situation is up in the air, with Printers not sure, and Jackson and Pierce still out. Travis Lulay might be ready, and Zac Champion is the last resort. BC got shelled by Edmonton in the season finale, while Hamilton shutout the Bombers in the second half to finish the season.
as for the final, Hamilton lost the season series to Montreal, going 0-4. But both games in Montreal were close into the 4th Quarter. BC tied Montreal in the season series 1-1, after a last minute controversial win in the Labour day weekend game.

I hope Calgary can make it as they are my team and I have tickets to the game. (section J row 70). Go Stamps go

The Flames have been on fire (hehe) in November, winning 4 straight. They shutout Montreal last night 1-0, in one of their best games of the season. They are rolling, and Iginla has made up for a slow October (as usual) with 4 goals in 4 games. the Bourque-Langkow-Dawes line has been stellar and Jokinen seems to be getting better, while Bouwmeester, Phaneuf and Regher are quietly having a great season. its only November, but the Flames are on pace to finish with 118 points, tied with Colorado for the division, just behind San Jose. The way Kipper is playing, and with Sutter behind the bench, they should win the division. Its November though.

Go Flames

Battle of Alberta sweep. Stamps, Flames and Hitmen beat up on Edmonton

woohoo.
ok so it was a good weekend to be a Calgary sports fan, and another good one as a football fan, as the CFL season winds towards the playoffs. the Stampeders defeated the Eskimoes 30-7 on friday, clinching a playoff spot. the Stamps also won the season series 3-1, with the only loss coming late in a game in August. 2 more wins and first place is Calgary's. two teams stand in the way, the BC Lions (who can only finish first if they win out and calgary and Sask go 0-1-1) and the Sask Roughriders. the Stamps play the Lions (3 points back) then the Roughriders(tied) in the final game.
The Roughriders defeated the Lions in overtime 33-30, meaning the final game will decide who gets first, winner gets the division final.
the Eskimoes can no longer catch Calgary or Sask. they can still catch BC if they beat Toronto and BC loses to Calgary, then they beat BC in their final game. 4th place in the west may still crossover to the east. Edmonton is in 4th and tied with Winnipeg and Hamilton, but the crossover team needs to finish AHEAD of the 3rd place east team. Winnipeg plays Montreal and Hamilton plays Sask this week, before the two teams battle to decide 2nd place in the east.
Winnipeg has surprised me with their play the last few weeks, beating up Montreal on the weekend to keep pace with Hamilton. this team was showing nothing at midseason and has turned it around, being the first east division team to defeat the Montreal Allouettes. it will be interesting to see how it plays out. it is garaunteed to come down to the last game of the season to finalize playoff positions and home team advantage.
Go Stamps go

the Flames (7-2-1) have had great success within the division so far, going 5-0. A 5-2 win over Edmonton on saturday gave the Flames a 3-0 record so far, half way through the season series against the Oilers. the Flames played thier best game of the season and actually deserved this win. they have won 3 in a row and play Colorado on wednesday, who are at the top of the northwest division.
its early in the season however, so i wouldn't read too much into it, but it sure is nice to see a great start for the Flames, as they get depth scoring and adjust to Sutter's system. now if only Iggy and Jokinen would pick it up as well!

the Hitmen sit atop the central division in the WHL with another great start to the season, at 12-3. the Hitmen twice defeated the Edmonton Oil Kings in the past week, continuing a trend of Calgary dominance in October.

A good month for Calgary sports teams, the Calgary Dinos football team also won again on the weekend, defeating the Regina Rams, moving to 6-1 and clinching a home playoff game.

GO FLAMES, STAMPS, HITMEN AND DINOS

PS CFL tiebreaker rules for those interested
Tie break rules:
When two or more member Clubs are tied in the final Division standings at the
conclusion of the regular season schedule, preferential ranking for playoff purposes
shall be determined on the basis of the following priorities and shall be awarded to
the club that:
a) has won the greater number of games played against all member Clubs of the
League or,
b) has won the greater number of games played against the other tied Club(s)
or,
c) has scored the higher net aggregate of points (i.e. points scored for less points
scored against) in games played against the other tied Club(s) or,
d) has scored the higher net quotient of points (i.e. points scored for divided by
points scored against) in games played against the other tied Clubs(s) or,
e) has won the greater number of games (or percentage of games) played against
all member Clubs of the Division or,
f) has scored the higher net aggregate of points in games played against all
member Clubs of the Division or,
g) has scored the higher net quotient of points in games played against all member
Clubs of the Division or,
h) has scored the higher net aggregate of points in games played against all
member Clubs of the League or,
i) has scored the higher net quotient of points in games played against all member
Clubs of the League or,
j) has won a coin toss against the other tied club.


a,b,c are all tied. Net Quotient (wierd Tie break) also a tie if the Stamps win the final game by 1 point
e) would go to Calgary with the better record against the West because they lost to Winnipeg and Hamilton as opposed to Quality Western opponents.

the Stampeders need only win by 1 point to take the tie breaker, which is points vs the division. the Riders need a tie or a win. this is assuming both teams are tied after next weeks games. if the Stamps are ahead the Riders need to win the final game, a tie won't do it. if the Riders are ahead, the Stamps still need a win.
this game is for first place, the winner gets first. the loser gets second or third, depending on the results of next weeks games. if BC loses to Calgary, they can't catch sask or calgary. so a Calgary win locks up home playoff games for sask and calgary. Sask can lock up a home playoff game for themselves with a win over Hamilton.

adams NHL 2009/2010 season prediction

last year i was off by an average of 3 spots per team. its too hard to pick, but here are my picks for this season

NHL predictions 2009-09-29

West:

1. San Jose (addition of Heatley is great, they will be fired up after losing last year, they haven’t lost a step, get to beat up on phoenix and Dallas again)

2. Calgary (addition of Bouwmeester on D, Jokinen getting full training camp will help Flames take next step. With extra depth the flames can make a midseason trade to pick up a winger, or hope Dawes and Sjostrom will keep getting better, along with the plethora of young guys around. With Sutter as coach, and one of the best defensive cores, the team will get back to playing defence and allow Kipper a little more rest)

3. Detroit (as with every year, they are getting older. Losing Hudler and a few others doesn’t help them as well as a few teams closing the gap a little in the division)

4. Vancouver (these guys are good, but Schnieder isn’t an adequate replacement for Salo, need guys like Kessler to step up with some goals again. Not much of a change, just that Calgary got better in the offseason, Vancouver didn’t)

5. Columbus (young kids getting better, need another strong year in the net)

6. St. Louis (same thing as Columbus, many young guys getter better)

7. Chicago (loss of Khabibulin may hurt them, as well a few injuries to start. Hossa contract may become a distraction)

8. Edmonton (with new coaches and some more experience for young players, they might make the push into the playoffs this year, Khabibulin will be an experiment, as he statistically plays better in contract years)

9. LA (so close again for LA, they usually run into injury problems, but lots of good young players and good goaltending will allow them to make push, it will come down to last week of season as usual)

10 Anaheim (losing both Pronger and Beachemin are big losses in my opinion. They finished 8^th last year, and even though they did well in the playoffs, you have to do well in the regular season too)

11. Minnesota (Havlat replaces Gaborik, same goaltending, new coach, new philosophy. Its hard to say where this team will go, but the old defensive system may have hid some of the weak areas, that or it slowed growth)

12. Nashville (not much new here, too many better teams in the division, but they will be close as usual

13. Dallas (changing the coach wasn’t the best idea, will be interesting to see how this team does)

14. Pheonix (signing Robert Lang is a good move, a few other trades in the offseason, unfortunately the bankruptcy issue will continue to be a distraction, as well as lack of fan support. If NHL takes control, team will continue to be near cap floor)

15. Colorado (this team still has some issues to work through, namely goaltending, still in rebuilding mode)

East

1. Washington (young players continue to get better and Varlamov has great season while the offence continues to wreak havoc in the east and the division)

2. Boston (losing Kessel hurts Boston, thats the only thing they really lost though, a few guys coming off of career years, Tim Thomas continues to shine)

3. Pittsburg (this team is good. Last year they almost fell out but went on to win the cup, and didn’t lose much. Fleury continues to solidify himself as a top-5 goaltender)

4. Philidelphia (addition of Pronger would take this team into a division title, along with players like Richards and Carter, but inconsistent goaltending will again hold them back)

5. Carolina (this team is great, and has great fan support. Cam Ward needs to continue to be a great goalie, it will be tight to get 5^th)

6. Montreal (a few good moves in the offseason picking up Gionta, Gomez and Cammallari. Goaltending needs to be better and I think will have a rebound)

7. New Jersey (the Devils somehow play well every year, lost a few guys and the coach, but have the master of trap hockey and Broduer trying to maintain his level going into the playoffs)

8. New York Rangers ( a good goalie and pick up of Kaberle will help the D, same as last year)

9. Ottawa (so close for the Sens, after seasons of missing the playoffs the media will be all over them about change, despite the fact this would be a better finish then last year. LeClaire will play well in net)

10. Toronto (not much to say here, they will be close but there isn’t enough there yet)

11. Tampa bay (Stamkos getting better, goaltending still a question here)

12. Florida (losing Bouwmeester hurts, young guys getting better, but not enough)

13. Buffalo (the Sabres haven’t done much, I see them taking another step back)

14. New York Islanders (picking up Tavares is good, and young players like Campoli are getting better, goaltending an issue still and maybe distractions because of the ownership situation

15. Atlanta (Antropov, Afiniganov, Kovalchuk, not enough. This team continues to disappoint, get passed by the Islanders. Still unresolved ownership situation, anyone want a hockey team?)

playoffs:

as usual I pick Calgary, and i think they will play Washington in the cup final

Fall CFL update

well how about a review of what i predicted at the begginning of the season
it seems things change week to week in football, but here is a look as we head into another week of CFL action, each team having played 11 games to this point
1. Calgary (13-5)- defending champs didn't lose much, now know what it takes. they need to play as a team and continue to get consistent performance from guys like Lewis in the tough west division.
well releasing LB Armour early in the season hurt more then i thought it would. they picked up Johnson and have been better against the run in the past few weeks. Stamps had a tough start, and losing Rambo hurt. after losing Thelwell, the Stamps were hurting for recievers and made a good trade with Winnipeg to get a few recievers (Franklin and Bryant).
to finish 13-5, the Stamps would have to win out the rest of the way, which actually isn't asking much. do i expect it? no, they need more consistency but Copeland and Lewis have been very good. 12-6
2. Edmonton (12-6)- Ricky Ray is always dangerous, now he has a good mix of run game and recievers, we'll see how the defence does. and how long it takes for Lumsden to get hurt... Edmonton is always in it, and BC will be right there with them all season long.
it sure didn't take long for Lumsden to get hurt, less then a game. Edmonton took a step back with back-back labour day losses, but now can take 2 from Saskatchewan.
will they get 12-6? no, i would take one win off that total. 11-7
3. BC (9-9)- this is tough, they lost Cam Wake, so shouldn't be as good, but still have solid depth at quarterback and Wally seems to find guys to step in.
loss of Cam Wake along with a few other players did hurt them, the qb situation certainly has changed. Jackson is out for a few weeks, and Pierce is one hit away from the end of his career from concussions. they signed former Lion Casey Printers to the practice roster, this may be important later in the season.
i can still see 9-9 for BC, but i think 8-10 is more likely
4. Saskatchewan (8-10) - this is a quarterbacks league, and Saskatchewan's QB needs some proving. Durant will need to find some chemistry with Fantusz, who is a great reciever. Im not sold on this team, but they do some some parts, tough battle with BC and Edmonton, but they will crossover and visit Hamilton
well Durant has shown that he is the Riders starter, and has the skillset to play many years, along with some good recievers (Dressler, Fantusz) and Cates great running. if they can find a way to beat Edmonton, then they have a good chance at winning the division, it will come down to a few meetings with Calgary. hot and cold
will they hit 8-10? they will get a better record then that, im thinking 10-8

East Division -Montreal has been no suprise, starting hot and actually winning in the west this year. will be interesting to see if they get upset in the playoffs

1. Montreal (12-6)- many players back and the coach will still have the memory of losing the cup at home fresh in their minds. The question mark here is does Calvillo keep going? he showed last year he is back, in a remarkable comeback. They get to beat up Toronto and Winnipeg again too
Montreal definitly remembers last seasons dissapointing finish. they have rolled along, but are beatable. they will finish better then 12-6, at 13-5
2. Hamilton (8-10)- of the bottom three in the East, Hamilton has the best chance of getting that home playoff game. Quinton Porter is the answer, ok well he looks like he could be. they need to keep developing him, Glenn is there to take some pressure off as well, but this team has some good continuity from last year and last season appeared to be getting better. they will keep up the trend and win some games by a few instead of losing them. Its been too long since Hamilton had a good season or hosted a playoff game.
well, i am happy to be right about hamilton right now, they have been doing enough to win close games. Porter and Glenn have shared the load, and Porter needs to continue and get better, he has the pieces with his running ability and good arm. picking up Bruce from Toronto and Stala in the offseason has helped, along with RB Cobb taking over a few games
8-10? they will do better, at 6-5 right now, i can see a 11-7 finish
3. Toronto (5-13)- close with Winnipeg, they still have a solid defence, it will be interesting to see how the new coach adapts to the Canadian game. Kerry Joseph needs to get back to his old form
well Bart Andrus has somewhat adapted to the Canadian game, but this team is inconsistent. hard to tell if this is a team on the way up. Pickett at QB may be a good qb in the future, but we will need some time. if they had beaten BC last week, i would've said they would make the playoffs, but they will will have a tough time catching up with either hamilton or bc
5-13? they will finish with a better record, 6-12 (not much better!)
4. Winnipeg (5-13)- with so many new players and a new coach, who is playing for this team now? it will take some time to fit the parts together and get some wins. head to head matchups with Toronto may decide who gets the first draft pick in 2010....
nothing to see here, kind of a trainwreck. Kelly has not done well coaching this team and may be fired soon, at least that seems to be what bomber fans want. good trade with Calgary and a qb trade with Montreal, this team is rebuilding. at least Fred Reid is a brightspot for the offence
5-13? sounds about right to me, well at least they get the first draft pick i guess, key game for the bombers this weekend, playing the Argos.


I picked the stamps and allouettes, i think hamilton might win the east in the upset.
there will be a crossover, and i think it will be bc, not saskatchewan

in hockey, theo Fleury has been released by the flames, my nhl predictions coming soon

mid August update

A little mid-August update
First off, CFL
The Stamps have moved into a 3 way first place tie for first with Saskatchewan and Edmonton at 3-3, after beating Winnipeg. The Stamps certainly aren’t on fire and are having some troubles. Edmonton is coming off a loss to Hamilton (who are 4-2, yes!) and is the Stamps next opponent, this Thursday night. The Stamps play the Eskimoes 3 times in their next 4 games, so it is a huge part of the schedule.
Let week 7 begin.
Hamilton has been playing great lately, and it is great to see, they are the second best team in the league right now! The Tiger-Cats play the Roughriders play on Sunday.
Not much new for Flames news, the Oilers might be trying to trade a top D-man (ie. Souray). Oh Edmonton.
Oh and Theo Fleury wants to make a comeback after being out of the NHL for 6 years. Sounds like his concrete company isn’t doing great. He is 41 and still has to serve a 60-game suspension, it would be tough for any team to sign this distraction. I still can’t believe he is serious about coming back. Really?
The NFL begins soon, Team Canada is having their training camp for the Olympics and the Blue Jays still suck. That’s about it.

Until next time

Aug long update

woohoo. what a month for the Flames. ok, it was July, but still, a good month for the Flames. they signed Bouwmeester to a deal worth 6.7mil a year. good signing. this makes the Flames defence ultra deep, also they traded away Vandermeer, which clears up room for more contracts, and traded Primeau to Toronto, for Stralman, who is a defensive prospect. the Flames also picked up Dawes (potential top 6 winger) and Seabrook (bubble player) and resigned key guys like Boyd.
so the Flames dumped some expensive players and picked up several guys in the key 23-27 age range, guys that may or may not hit their peak with the Flames. Sutter you are awesome. with Brent Sutter behind the bench and a stellar Dcore (Regher, Phaneuf, Sarich, Bouwmeester, Pardy, Giordano, with guys like Pelech challenging) and an actual system that requires players like Iginla to get back defensively, and hopefully more use of backup McElhinney, and more young guys challenging for spots on the forward ranks, this training camp and following season will be fun to watch!
Go Flames

as for the Stamps, they have had an off and on start. the first two games were rough, a loss to Montreal was hard to take but not as hard as a loss to bottom feeder Winnipeg. i guess there is alot more parity this season. the Stamps got back on track and beat Toronto and BC by sound margins, but couldn't complete a win over sasky last night, losing by one point on a touchdown with a minute left for the Riders. I should add that Burris was given the ball twice in the last minute with chances to drive the field, and he blew it, bad decision making. it really came down to a missed 49 yard field goal by DeAngelis just before Saskatchewan scored the go ahead touchdown. a field goal would have made it a 9 point lead instead of 6.
so the Stamps fall to 2-3, one win back of Sask and Edmonton (who upset Montreal this week), and one win ahead of the struggling Lions, who have lost twice to the resurgent Ticats (as per my preseason predictions, Tabbies are doing well!).
its a long season, but the Stamps need to turn it around by labour day, as the head to head matchup with the Eskimoes may be the difference between hosting the west final or west semifinal.
Go Stamps Go
(injury note, the Stampeders have lost star reciever, KenYon Rambo, for the season)

CFL picks for 2009 season

ok first off,
Congratulations to the Pittsburg Penguins, who won the Stanley Cup in game 7 over the Detroit Red Wings. I am happy Detroit lost!
hopefully my Flames will be the champions in 12 months

so the CFL season kicks off tomorrow, Canada day, with Hamilton playing Toronto, followed by Calgary playing Montreal, at McMahon
so here are my preseason picks for the standings

West Division - the west division again appears to be the stronger division. any of these teams could come out of the west, but Calgary is still the favourite. injuries may change things, but it seems every year lately that all these teams are in it. Saskatchewan should finish better than Winnipeg and Toronto and get a crossover spot.

1. Calgary (13-5)- defending champs didn't lose much, now know what it takes. they need to play as a team and continue to get consistent performance from guys like Lewis in the tough west division.
2. Edmonton (12-6)- Ricky Ray is always dangerous, now he has a good mix of run game and recievers, we'll see how the defence does. and how long it takes for Lumsden to get hurt... Edmonton is always in it, and BC will be right there with them all season long.
3. BC (9-9)- this is tough, they lost Cam Wake, so shouldn't be as good, but still have solid depth at quarterback and Wally seems to find guys to step in.
4. Saskatchewan (8-10) - this is a quarterbacks league, and Saskatchewan's QB needs some proving. Durant will need to find some chemistry with Fantusz, who is a great reciever. Im not sold on this team, but they do some some parts, tough battle with BC and Edmonton, but they will crossover and visit Hamilton

East Division - Montreal will be fired up to play hard and the other 3 continue to rebuild with new coaches and players. this division isn't quite as strong as the west, but Hamilton is starting to close the gap on the 4 west teams and Montreal. East will still be seperated and Winnipeg and Toronto are the toughest to figure out, I don't see alot of promise from either team

1. Montreal (12-6)- many players back and the coach will still have the memory of losing the cup at home fresh in their minds. The question mark here is does Calvillo keep going? he showed last year he is back, in a remarkable comeback. They get to beat up Toronto and Winnipeg again too
2. Hamilton (8-10)- of the bottom three in the East, Hamilton has the best chance of getting that home playoff game. Quinton Porter is the answer, ok well he looks like he could be. they need to keep developing him, Glenn is there to take some pressure off as well, but this team has some good continuity from last year and last season appeared to be getting better. they will keep up the trend and win some games by a few instead of losing them. Its been too long since Hamilton had a good season or hosted a playoff game.
3. Toronto (5-13)- close with Winnipeg, they still have a solid defence, it will be interesting to see how the new coach adapts to the Canadian game. Kerry Joseph needs to get back to his old form
4. Winnipeg (5-13)- with so many new players and a new coach, who is playing for this team now? it will take some time to fit the parts together and get some wins. head to head matchups with Toronto may decide who gets the first draft pick in 2010....


im going to pick my Stampeders to play the Allouettes in the Grey Cup, with the Stampeders winning again. back to back.

cup final prediction

west champs Detroit vs
east champs Pittsburg
the rematch, for first time in 25 years, a repeat of the previous cup final. Pittsburg has talent, Detroit has talent, Detroit has cup experience, Pittsburg has players who haven't won the cup. Detroit has Hossa. Hossa will be a non factor in the early games, that is when Pittsburg needs to win some games. Detroit is banged up and has to play the first 2 games in two nights, against a remarkably healthy Pittsburg team.
really, i want both teams to lose, but someone has to win. and Detroit won last year. so....
Pittsburg in 6


Its almost Stamps season, fanday is tomorrow. Grey cup tickets go on sale tomorrow.
Go Stamps go, its too warm out to watch two teams i don't want to win, go for the cup.

NHL 3rd round pics, and Roughnecks are NLL champions

NHL playoffs
2- Detroit vs
4. Chicago
this is really tough to pick. Im going to go with Detroit, as I feel like they will win, but i really want them to lose (ala i win my bet and because they won last year). Detroit plays a solid team game. Chicago can beat them though, they play well together and seem to be the young guys. youth vs experience. it will be interesting, I hope chicago can continue to score goals and Khabibulin plays well. Osgood seems to be a playoff goaltender, so they will have to get through detroit and beat him. this isn' the canucks.
Detroit in 7.

east final:
4. Pittsburg - vs
6. Carolina
should be a close series, Carolina seems to find a way to win this year and Pittsburg may let them hang around too long in this series. Cam Ward will have to continue to be solid in the net, I could see him playing for Team Canada very soon. Carolina seems to get it done with grit and effort. and thier crowd is electric. the atmosphere in Carolina vs the atmosphere in Pittsburg hasn't been close (on tv at least). they really make it an event down in Carolina, also Carolina has a place in my heart after they beat the Oilers in the final in '06.
Carolina in 7

I went to the NLL final last night with two of my friends (Nick and Justin) and watched the Calgary Roughnecks defeat the New York Titans to win the Champions cup. It was an awesome game, the Roughnecks won 12-10, getting two empty netters in the last minute before New York got a late goal. the crowd was great (not sold out though) and it was more fun then the final in 04. the Roughnecks won thier 2nd Champions cup, after posting a 14-4 record this season, the best in the league.

The Stampeders also signed Nik Lewis to contract extension, Lewis broke several records last year with the Stamps, in his 5th season, and wants to retire a Stampeder someday.

early May update

Well the second round of the NHL playoffs is well underway, and things are getting close to the end in junior hockey and in the NLL.
nhl:
I picked Carolina, Chicago, Anaheim and Washington to win thier series. Carolina is up 2-1 on Boston, Chicago and Vancouver are tied at 2, anahiem and Detroit are also tied at 2, and Washington is up 2-1.
in the WHL final, the Hitmen are playing the Rockets. the Rockets (Kelowna) won the first 3 games, but the Hitmen have stormed back and dominated games 4 and 5. I feel like they can win still and go to the memorial cup, history is against them though. only one time in WHL history has a team come back from down 3-0 in a series. but if any team is built to do it, the Hitmen are. game 6 goes tomorrow in Kelowna.
in the NLL, the Roughnecks dominated the Colorado Mammoth in the West Semifinal last week, 15-8, and play the San Jose stealth at the saddledome on saturday in the West division final. if the Roughnecks win, they will host the NLL final.

Team Canada is having success as usual in the world championships. today they beat Sweden 3-1 in the semifinal, they will play Russia (who beat the US) in the Gold medal game on sunday. I have trouble getting into this tournament.

Flames end of season thoughts

Its officially the end of the Flames 08/09 year. A season that started badly, but picked up momentum and had people saying things like elite, and talking about catching Detroit for second. For a few months, the Flames played consistent hockey, sticking to a system, with a good powerplay, great penalty kill and solid goaltending.
Then the wheels fell off, in late February, the team had a solid lead on the Canucks. In a horrible week, the Flames lost Giordano for the season, Bourque for 2 months and ultimately their focus. The Flames were facing a 7 game roadtrip to start march, after an ugly 8-6 loss to Tampa Bay at home. Many thought this team could handle it and keep control of the division. After the Olli Jokinen and Leopold deals, they looked like the team to come out of the west, for one game anyways. It fell apart, the system was gone, there was no consistency, something was off most nights. Iginla, Cammalleri and Jokinen all saw their plus/minus plummet.
They got home from the roadtrip still in control of the division, but it was shakey. More injuries hit, the team couldn’t win two in a row and Vancouver played lights out hockey. Regher, Sarich, Phaneuf and Langkow were out, the Flames were up against the cap and had to dress John Negrin and Matt Pelech for their first NHL games. The Flames got lucky as Vancouver blew weekend games against Edmonton and Colorado, but the Flames couldn’t beat Luongo and game 80 cost the Flames the division.
The Nucks swept the Blues. The Flames gave up leads in games 1 & 2 vs the hawks. Then won 2 at home. Things looked good again. Then game 5, the Flames were, brutal. 5-1 loss. In game 6 the beatup Flames tried hard, got 40+ shots on net, but for once a goalie stole a game in the series. The Blackhawks, surprisingly, were the ones in this series that had the killer instinct. Khabibulin played amazing, the Flames had defensive lapses and lost 3-1. at home.

That’s it. A season of players playing to their peaks, then either slumping or getting hurt at the worst of times. For a team with so much talent, it sucks to lose in the first round. Always next year as they say.Interesting to hear maher talk about the injuries the flames sustained last night on the postgame. Here are some he mentioned, as per calgary puck
Giordano - Season ending shoulder surgery. (We knew that one)

Regher - Season ending knee injury - possible surgery (We kinda knew that one too)

Aucoin - So far Undisclosed but Peter Maher stated it was groin

Sarich - Broken foot (Also knew that one - but wow)

Phaneuf - Knee injury could require knee surgery - happened before Christmas - Broken Ribs from game 1 - Hip injury that will most likely require surgery - was an injury from last year that was re-injured early in the year - all these injuries on the left side of his body

Todd Bertuzzi - Knee injury and a undisclosed wrist injury

Rene Bourque - Re aggrivated his high ankle sprain - should not have been playing

Dustin Boyd - Undisclosed leg injury

Craig Conroy - Separated shoulder

Curtis Glencross - Shoulder injury

Jarome Iginla - Suspected Knee injury - though he will not admit it

Daymond Langkow - Broken Hand If true, wow, that is a lot of hurt. Still, the flames blew leads in this series they shouldn't have, they looked disorganized at times, inconsistent, and we all know the powerplay had no power. The guys got out worked everytime out late in the season. Keenan juggled lines but wouldn't let Iggy and Jokinen apart. The Flames tried hard, but game 5 killed them. They weren't prepared. Iginla didn't lead the team to victory, but no one else showed up to play either.
Chicago is a talented team, 3 top 3 draft picks in that lineup. They wouldn't lie down and after game 3 and 4, avoided scrums and skated hard. The Flames just weren't good enough with the guys out of the lineup and injured ones in the lineup to beat a remarkably healthy chicago team. I'm sure some of the chicago guys are also playing through injury, like Barker's finger, but no players missed games, aside from Kane in game 3 with a flu.
Kipper also got outgoaltended by Khabby. Niether goalie was amazing for the first 5 games, both were average, niether got shutouts, but in game 6, when it mattered most. Khabibulin lived up to his billing as a wall the Flames just couldn't bring down. The Flames had over 40 shots in game 6 (though most from the outside) and could only squeak one by.
Bertuzzi was dissapointing the entire series. Badly timed penalties, floating around the outside, getting beat on the boards. Jokinen showed up for a few playoff games, I think you need to stick it out and give him next season. After how long Sutter wanted him, you can’t give up on him already, and no one would want him if the Flames are giving up on him too. Not many of the Flames played amazing in the playoffs, but injuries did play a part.

Its only one day after, but the Flames will need to do lots of evaluation this offseason to decide what they want to do. My feeling is to go with the young guys coming up, considering how close the Flames are to the cap. Maybe then they can afford to resign cammalleri, maybe not. Flush the coaching staff, Keenan and the assistant coaches need to GO. Part of the blame is on the core, part is on the coaches. The coaches are easy to change. The core may benefit if the Flames stop following the Oilers lead and inbreeding the coaching staff. Find a new coach. I don't know who, but it’s a long offseason. The Flames have plenty of young guys who can step up and replace the loss of Cammalleri and Bertuzzi. I’d rather the Flames spend their money to get an elite defenceman, like Jay Bouwmeester. Its him or resign Aucoin. Pardy and Giordano will be back next season, and Pelech will hopefully be what Pardy was this year. The Flames have some great players coming up, but maybe need an agitator type guy like Chris Niel or Steve Ott. Steve Ott would be great, but hard to get. Moss-Conroy and Glencross should stick together. Backlund may be ready for primetime next season and guys like Sutter, Greentree and Van der Gulik should be on the edge. Resign McElhinney or another backup goalie and have them play 20 games. None of this stupid Kipper starting 70+ games stuff. He may want to play that much, but it might not be a good idea. Brodeur and Luongo have shown how important it is to be fresh going into the playoffs. In 04 Kipper played 34 games and was ready for the playoffs. I think McElhinney is not a bad goalie, I would like to see him do well and he has developed in our system.

And get back to defensive hockey. That’s what wins in the playoffs. Play a defensive system that requires the whole team to be responsible defensively. (something Iggy was far from at times this season). If they can play solid defensively, maybe you can limit how good the goaltender is having an effect on the team. When Kipper has an off night, the Flames need to be able to play well defensively, then you can throw in the backup and the system shouldn't change. Clear example here is New Jersey, they make their goalies look good. Brodeur is all-world no doubt, but Clemmonson was great for them while he was out.

The Flames need to take a page out of the books of the other teams in this city. The Stampeders lost in the west semifinal for 3 years before Henry Burris took them to a Grey Cup victory.
The Roughnecks, well this year isn’t finished, but they took care of business in the regular season. Clinching first overall in the NLL.
The Hitmen were one of the best teams in the country. 12-0 in the playoffs so far, and they play Backlund’s Rockets in the WHL final. That’s taking care of business.

I guess the one difference between the Flames and these teams, is the regular season success. The Flames haven’t been able to step up to the elite level of the other 3 big teams in Calgary in the regular season. Maybe we expected to much, maybe not. We all would love another cup run. Even a division win and a first round win would do.
As for next season, I will find it hard to get overly excited over this team unless they can maintain a 1 or 2 position in the conference. They need to step it up, only one team finishing lower than 1 or 2 in their conference has won the cup in the last 15 years. At least that’s what I’ve heard.
Anyways, im done ranting for now, just some thoughts. It should be an interesting offseason!
until next time, Go Hitmen and Go Roughnecks this spring!

Adam

more indepth first round picks

1. San Jose vs 8. Anahiem
San Jose may be known for falling short, but they always make the second round. this will be a tough series, as anahiem and san jose have been playing well. anahiem is dangerous as they were playing well and have solid dmen in pronger, neidermayer and whitney. San Jose still has the goaltending and scoring in this battle. as thier season series was, this will be close.
(San Jose in 7)

Detroit vs Columbus
Detroit has been struggling lately, lucky vancouver cooled off the past few weeks or they may have caught them (ok probably not). anyways Columbus has reminded me for a few months of calgary in '04. the Blue Jackets have a hot young goalie, havent made the playoffs in 8 years and have an exprienced but young captain. Columbus plays thier system well, and will have to get huge goaltending from Mason. Detroit may have a talented team, but goaltending is a question mark.
(Columbus in 6)

Vancouver vs St Louis
as much as I would love to see vancouver get swept by St. Louis, I think St. Louis may burn out. 8-1-1 pace is impressive, they will need to play hard, vancouver has shown they can win when they play like they can. Luongo will at least show up and could win this series on his own.
(Vancouver in 6)

Chicago vs Calgary
the Flames have a better, more playoff experienced team, and should be able to beat the Blackhawks. they can't let Khabibulin get in thier heads. if they outwork and outhit the smallish hawks, they can win. they have to defend against the speed of the hawks. the Flames have been playing ok lately, getting better, but need to get healthy. with no salary cap in the playoffs, the Flames can finally call up the reinforcements theyve needed. guys like eriksson, palin, boyd, maybe warrener comes back. regher may come back and bourque should be back. the Flames will be getting healthy. aucoin and phaneuf will appreciate the days off before the playoffs. this is going to be close, but the Flames dont want to exit first round again.
(Calgary in 7)

East
Boston vs Montreal
It would be funny to see Boston lose to Montreal in the playoffs again. I have a tough time going against Boston, but they not playing amazing lately, so they are beatable. not by montreal though! that team has some serious issues
(Boston in 6)

Washington vs New York
Ovechkin, Semin, Green. this team has so much firepower, New York will be in tough, the Rangers may not like Avery so much in the playoffs... the Rangers haven't given me reason they will beat the Caps.
(Washington in 5)

New Jersey vs Carolina
...ahh I don't like the devils. ok i like brodeur. he is the only reason the devils win this if they do. Carolina has been playing inspired hockey since the trade deadline. picking up Eric Cole may have had a better impact than anyone thought it would. Cam Ward has been great. I smell an upset
(Carolina in 5)

Pittsburg vs Philidelphia
the Flyers had a chance at hosting this one but lost today. the Penguins are defending east champs that have been playing great since the coach was canned. Crosby and Malkin have been tearing it up this year, and Philidelphia's goaltending is nothing to be scared of. Fleury needs to be good though, as the flyers have some firepower on thier side as well.
(Pittsburg in 6)

nhl season ends, Roughnecks clinch first in NLL, Hitmen to play Brandon in east conference final...stamps still champs

well last night the Flames finished the season with a solid 4-1 win over the Oilers. McElhinney got his first NHL win and Cammalleri got 2 goals. the Flames lost the division to the Canucks by 2 points, after losing to Edmonton on friday. the Flames were hit hard by injuries, and couldn't get fully back on track since losing Giordano and Bourque in late February. they seem to have been playing better but snakebitten in the past 2 weeks, they will get some much needed rest/repair time before the playoffs start.
finish (predicted team for that position, where they finished) - thoughts (deviation)


1. San Jose (Detroit,2) well I was close, goaltending let them down (1)
2. Detroit (Dallas, 12) no catching san jose, i was way off. goaltending and injuries (10)
3. vancouver (Calgary,5) really, 2 points off. Calgary should have won the division. stupid nucks (2)
4. Chicago (Edmonton, 11) haha, guess i listened to hard to the oil fans/media that said they would win the division, gladly wrong! (7)
5. Calgary (San Jose, 1) underestimated them clearly (4)
6. St. Louis (Anaheim, 8) almost got 6th, 2 points short (2)
7. Columbus (Chicago, 4) young guys impressed, khabibulin back in form unfortunatly (3)
8. Anaheim (Vancouver, 3) stupid division winners, got hot february/march (5)
---------------
9. Minnesota (Columbus, 7) yay columbus, Mason came out of nowhere, first playoff appearance (2)
10. Nashville (...Nashville!, 10) i got this one right! (0)
11. Edmonton(Pheonix, 13) next year should be better for 'yotes (2)
12. Dallas (Minnesota, 9) i underestimated minnesota, meh. (3)
13. Pheonix (Colorado, 15) drive for Tavares, sakic injury put this team out midway (2)
14. Los Angeles (Los Angeles, 14!) i got this one right too (0)
15. Colorado (St. Louis,6) seriously impressed and suprised by st louis, 8-1-1 run to get 6th (9)
in the west, i was 52 off, an average of just about 3 and a half spots off.
EAST:
1. Boston (Montreal, 8) dissapointing season for centennial Canadiens (7)
2. Washington (Pittsburg, 4) coaching troubles had them out of it, got back in (2)
3. New Jersey (Washington, 2) ovy, green, semin and co played well (1)
4. Pittsburg (Philidelphia, 5) wrong because of a tiebreaker...young guys getting better (1)
5. Philidelphia (New York, 7) close, were in danger of missing (2)
6. Carolina (Ottawa, 11) fell apart, out by midseason (5)
7. New York (Tampa Bay, 14) didnt think loss of richards would impact them so much, stamkos needs more time (7)
8. Montreal (New Jersey, 3) even with injuries, NJ keeps getting it done (5)
----------------
9. Florida (Buffalo, 10) i was close. (1)
10. Buffalo (Carolina, 6) getting eric Cole back was huge. and Cam Ward in the net(4)
11. Ottawa (Boston, 1) savard and tim thomas, did not expect this. scary team. (10)
12. Toronto (Florida, 9) good to see florida getting closer, lost bouwmeester though
13. Atlanta (Atlanta, 13) I was right. Kovalchuck is happy just scoring goals. (0)
14. Tampa Bay (Toronto, 12) did better than i thought, but not by much (2)
15. NYI (NYI, 15) no suprise here, still rebuilding (0)
in the west, i was 47 off, an average of just about 3 spots off.

well i didnt too too bad, on my predictions, got 4 right.
all that matters for flames fans is we are in the playoffs again.
the Flames will face off against Chicago on thursday to start round 1 of the 2009 stanley cup playoffs.
matchups:
San Jose vs Anahiem (San Jose in 7)
Detroit vs Columbus (Columbus in 6)
Vancouver vs St Louis (Vancouver in 6)
Chicago vs Calgary (Calgary in 7)

Boston vs Montreal (Boston in 6)
Washington vs New York (Washington in 5)
New Jersey vs Carolina (Carolina in 5)
Pittsburg vs Philidelphia (Pittsburg in 6)

Go Flames go

the Hitmen now await the Brandon Wheat Kings in the WHL east final, but will wait until the west conference series are done. Calgary and Brandon are both 8-0 in the postseason.

the Roughnecks lost to Portland on Friday night in a tight game, but rebouned to beat Edmonton last night ( the same night flames beat oilers) and clinch both the division and first in the league.
they have one game left vs Portland then the playoffs begin in early May.

quick update

Flames beat the Kings last night 4-1 and play the Canucks tonight and can clinch the northwest division with a win. both teams have 2 games left after tonight. the Flames have the tiebreaker and a 2 point lead.
the Hitmen have won the first 2 games of the east semifinal series vs lethbridge.
a video for football fans missing football season (well stamps fans at least)
http://www.stampeders.com/multimedia/audio_video/?id=428
thats all for now

April fools!

FLAMES PULL OFF GREATEST APRIL FOOLS JOKE IN NHL HISTORY
04/01/2009 COMMENTS(12) FLAMES INSIDER

So it appears the Calgary Flames have pulled off one of the most epic April fools jokes ever.

Over the course of the last month the Flames players and coaching staff have fooled the fans and media into thinking they were no longing a good hockey team, and that a first round playoff exit was imminent. 

However at practice today it was revealed that the month long display of incompetence was nothing more then an elaborate April Fools joke.

"About a month ago we decided that the typical April Fools jokes that occur just weren’t cutting it, so we sat down as a team to decide what the best way to not only fool the city of Calgary, but the entire NHL would be.” Craig Conroy revealed to our reporters this morning. “We decided, what better joke then to make the entire NHL think we have transformed into the Toronto Maple Leafs over night!!!”

Over the month of March the Flames went 6-9, and managed to loose the division lead to the Vancouver Canucks.

“The hardest part was getting everyone on board. This wasn’t a one or two player effort. It required the collective incompetence of all our top players, goaltender, and coaching staff.” 

Despite the almost flawless execution of this joke, there were a few hiccups along the way. “Yeah, that game is Detroit, we had been perfect for two and a half periods, managing to take all those penalties and be trailing by two with a few minutes left. Then, out of no where, Lundmark starts scoring! All of a sudden we were winning! We even let then get a late goal to tie it, but all three of the Wings missed the net in the shootout!”

In fact, Jamie Lundmark only found out this morning about this ploy. “I’ve been busting my ass off every night, trying to help the team win, and today I find out it was all a giant joke.” Others who apparently hadn’t gotten the memo include wingers Eric Nystrom, Warren Peters, and Curtis Glencross.

“I guess since I came from Edmonton they wanted to see me squirm! The amazing part is how they even got the ref to play along in the Minnesota game!” Glencross remarked while sporting a sheepish grin this morning at practice.

Reached for comments this morning, Roberto Loungo had this to say “We always knew we weren’t as good as the Flames, and I suspected something was up. However, I’m glad the Flames let our fans know what it feels like to be in first place, even if it is only going to be for one day!”

haha, well that was certainly entertaining. seriously though, the Canucks have passed the Flames in the standings. by one point. thats ok, the division will be decided on tuesday when the Canucks play the Flames. if the Flames win the division, they are likely to play Columbus. Columbus is a tough matchup, as they have gotten better as a team, play well on defence, have a hot rookie goaltender...actually they remind me of the Flames of '04. a little scary, but the flames can beat any team if they play thier game. IF. the Flames should win it this year, but the playoffs are so hard to predict. i still think they will, but its up to the players to play like they need to, and Kipper to play solid in the net. solid team defence will be important, like in the San Jose game the other day. even though the Flames lost, they played like they need to play going into the playoffs.

if the Flames lose the division, they will likely play Chicago. This appears to be a tough matchup as the Flames lost to Chicago all 4 times they played this season. but Chicago is mostly made up of young, smaller players. the Flames can crush them and thier inexperience. reg season means squat when teams play head to head in the playoffs. the only thing that worries me about Chicago is Khabibulin. He always plays rediculously well against the Flames. 

no matter what happens, the Flames will play a tough but not elite team in the playoffs. its up to the Flames to win that first series no matter what. then hopefully its a date with Vancouver in the second round.

Go Flames!!

btw, the Hitmen are through to the second round of the playoffs after sweeping Edmonton. 

the Roughnecks have clinched a playoff spot again, with a win over minnesota. they move to 9-3.

forgot to add, the Flames clinched a playoff spot tonight!!(its the division we want though)

Flames, hitmen and Roughnecks

well the Flames have had a rough ride since the trade deadline. the Flames played out a tough roadtrip, and have played better since coming home, but are only 2-2 in the past 4 games. they ahve been playing better though, thats for sure. The Vancouver Canucks have crept to within 3 points of the division lead playing .800 hockey the past 2 months. it will be a close finish with less than 10 games left. the Flames lost tonight to Pittsburg, who are red hot lately, 2-0. Vancouver plays St. Louis tomorrow and the Flames play Columbus.
interesting comment i heard on the post game show, everyone is upset over these simple losses because they are tired of the stupid divison race and want the playoffs to start. the sooner we clinch, the sooner these reg season games are so worrisome. it doesn't really matter if the Flames win the division (it would def help thier chances of getting Stanley's mug tho), it matters if they win in the playoffs.
enough of the regular season, i want playoffs!!!!
speaking of the Playoffs, the Hitmen won again tonight and swept the Edmonton Oil Kings in the first round of WHL playoffs. Go Hitmen. the second round opponent has yet to be decided

the Roughnecks have been playing well lately as well, playing to a 8-2 record, they play the Toronto Rock on friday at the dome

post trade deadline thoughts on the Flames

first up, the Flames defeated the Flyers last night 5-1, with goals from Cammallari, Conroy and new comers Leopold and Jokinen(2 goals). the Flames improved to 39-19-6, for 84 points.
well the NHL trade deadline has come and gone, and this year it...was...awesome. an entertaining day of talking about trades and seeing what teams did. actually I mostly found it entertaining because the Flames made some BIG moves to push for the Stanely cup and the moves created some discussion among friends.
here are the Flames deals

- Flames traded D Brett Wilson, D Lawrence Nycholat and Montreal's second round pick to Colorado for D Jordan Leopold.
Adam's take
This is a great deal, Wilson may still play in the NHL, who knows, and Nycholat? well we picked him up off waivers a few days earlier. so we gave up a draft pick and a non-blue chip prospect for an arguably top 4 dman.
Three things I want to point out here...
- with Giordano out for the season with shoulder surgery, the Flames needed a replacement. this allows the Flames to have Pardy as the 7th dman, and a little insurance in case of the inevitable playoff injuries. The Flames also have Anders Eriksson and Matt Pelech on the farm, as well Rhett Warrener may be back.
-Adrian Aucoins contract expires after this season. as much as the Flames would love to keep him, he may require too much salary under the cap. Leopold may be his replacement for next year, depending on how he plays the rest of the way.
- Jordan Leopold has played here before, he helped us get to game 7 of the cup final in '04. he is comfortable here, and that is key to not disrupting team chemistry. it took guys like aucoin and sarich a while to get used to the flames system, the learning curve for Leopold will be much shorter. he scored a goal in his first game back with the flames last night!
the second deal the Flames made was this

the Flames traded C Matt Lombardi, LW Brandon Prust and a first round draft pick (in the 25-30 range) to Pheonix for C Olli Jokinen and Pheonix's 3rd round pick (65-70 range)

I also really like this deal. Sure it sucks to lose Matt Lombardi, but you have to give something up to get something, and Jokinen is a big, big upgrade. Matt Lombardi hasn't lived up to potential, the last 3 seasons were supposed to be break-out 20+ goal seasons, but it hasn't happened. he has 9 goals this year...he is fast, and i have always cheered him on, but if you watch him play, he doesn't have the great hands to go with the speed, when he shows up he plays great. he plays 10 or 15 great games a year, where he is stellar on the penalty kill. that is where the flames will miss him most. Lombardi will have successful career, but nowhere near Jokinen in the end.
Jokinen is a great player who is a scorer and a playmaker, much like iginla, he consistently puts up 30+ goals and 40-50 assists. one knock on him is he has played on non playoff teams...same was said about Luongo when he went to vancouver. Jokinen doesn't have to be the star here, Iggy is THE leader of the team, so Jokinen can just go out and play, and play with Cammalleri and Iginla! and he seems to like the idea of playing in a hockey market for once, this can only be good. just look at last night, Jokinen got two goals in his first game with the Flames, playing on the top line. that top line is scary.
someone i know called it the Rocky Mountain Express, or maybe Flashfire. good names, the national media will probably give them a name anyways though. whatever you call them, they should be a force in the playoffs!

the Flames also traded goalie prospect matt Lalande for a 3rd round draft pick. they would have had to lose one of the guys next season anyways. The Flames made the biggest splash, on trade deadline day there were a total of 22 deals done. for more on the rest of the deals, check tsn.ca or nhl.com.

the Oilers were involved in a 4 team deal to get Osullivan and Kalinin, giving up Cole. the Canucks tried to get Bouwmeester but couldn't, Pronger also wasn't moved. Toronto picked up two goalies and traded a few guys, notably antropov to the Rangers. Morris also went to the Rangers, Recchi and Guerin were also moved.after a busy day, the Flames are in good position going into the playoffs.
Sutter accomplished what he wanted, getting a #1 center and a top 4 dman. Detroit and San Jose didn't do much, but they are the top of the league, so maybe they didn't have to, but the Flames may have moved into being at the same level as these two powerhouses. the Flames are 8 points back and with the injuries (lost the whole second line) needed some reinforcements, now for the playoff stretch.

I feel really confident about the Flames this season. they have gotten better as the season has gone on. after being hit by injuries, they continue to win. Giordano is out for the season, bourque is out til mid april, Bertuzzi is out a month, langkow is still day to day, primeau may be back late in the playoffs, warrener is likely done for the season.
The division is essentially locked up, with a 10 point lead on vancouver with 18 games left. if the Flames go .500(easy, .500 would be dissapointing the rest of the way) the rest of the way they will have 102 ponits, the canucks (10 points back with 1 game in hand) would have to go 14-5. I dont see the Flames playing any worse than .600 the resto of the way. the Flames have the pleasure of watching the mess that is the race for the 7 and 8 spots in the west. the Flames are on a 7 game roadtrip, with 5 left, having won 6 in a row on the road at this point.

will the Flames win the Stanley cup this year? well who knows, there are so many intangibles that go into a long run, but the Flames appear to be in good stead to beat any team in the playoffs in a 7 game series. I would say any team would not want to play this team in the playoffs. so much depth, strength, desire (only 2 cup rings..), leadership and outstanding goaltending. the Flames will likely beat Columbus in the first round, then they may play a tougher opponent in the second round.
I can see a Flames vs wings third round match.possibly San Jose or Vancouver, but San Jose may have goalie injury issues and have a history of choking (reminds me of a similary history of another team tho) and Vancouver is relying solely on luongo, dangerous territory. likely the west winner will play New Jersey, washington or boston. im still holding out hope of a Flames-Canadiens Cup final.

who knows maybe the Flames will get to beat the Oilers, Canucks and Cansdiens in the playoffs this year. bottom line, a first round loss this season will be a huge dissapointment. considering the depth of this team and the moves Sutter made for short term, this team is expected to win. a second round loss would also likely be dissapointing. I think we could live with a west final loss, but I don't see this team losing. they are building a winning culture, where players want to play, they need to take advantage of having guys on career years (breakout years or peaks - cammalleri, boyd, moss, glencross, aucoin) and Iggy is the guy to lead them to Stanley Cup glory.

so maybe that sounds like a Flames fan that is overconfident, but its hard not to be confident with this team. they have learned some lessons over the years (much like the Stampeders had up to last season...) and this team no longer has any glaring weaknesses when healthy. that will be key - health. if the Flames can hold off more major injuries, the Flames will improve when the players get healthy.
for once the Flames have it all, top down scoring depth, solid defencemen, with depth, and the Goaltender the has proven he can win in the playoffs. this is where we sit back as fans and watch our favourite teams. the joy that is the playoffs.

I'm looking forward to watching some playoff hockey. this team is fun to watch, and isn't that all we ask for as sports fans? a hope that the team can win and a good hockey team with skill that works hard. even if they don't win the Stanley cup, itll be a fun run to watch.
Enjoy Flames fans,
and fans of other teams that will also have some success this year.

GO Flames!

oh and as for my trade deadline Stanley Cup prediction - Flames over Devils, 4-2

in other news,
the Hitman have struggled as of late, and need a win over Vancouver to get top spot in the WHL, either way, heading into the playoffs, we may see a Vancouver vs Calgary league final.

in the CFL,
the league is eyeing some rule changes

•Moving back the kick-off following a safety touch, to reduce the number of times a team chooses to take a knee in its own end zone;

•Giving coaches the green light to use so called "wildcat" formations that would move the quarterback around, instead of requiring him to stand behind or under centre;

•Requiring a team that kicks a successful field goal to then kick off to its' opponents, increasing the number of kick returns;

•Awarding a team a third challenge of an official's ruling using instant replay if its' first two challenges are successfull.

All four ideas were approved today by the league's rules committee, and were among those suggested by CFL fans.
the BC Lions have signed Buck Pierce to a deal worth up to(with bonuses) $930,000 for 2 years

end of february, flames/hitmen rolling

So we are hitting the end of February, time for the playoff race to heat up in hockey. both Calgary teams are pretty secure where they are. the Hitmen will finish first or second in the WHL and the Flames have opened up a 10 point lead on the Canucks for the division lead, and are 8 points back of Detroit!
the Flames have lost a few key players lately, with Bourque out 2 months with a high ankle sprain and Giordano likely out for the season with shoulder surgery. the good news is Iginla has got his game back, he had a 4 point night vs Columbus on tuesday and has played hard in the past 4 games. the Flames are riding a a streak of 6-0-2 in thier past 8, with 22 games left. the flames play home to Minnesota and Tampa bay this weekend before heading out on a crucial 7 game road trip in the east.
the trade deadline is coming up next wednesday and it should be interesting to see what moves are made in the nhl. Flames GM Darryl Sutter said this week he won't be trading any players off the team, so if he does make a trade, it will be a depth trade, which is good. this team had the parts to go all the way in my opinion. we'll see how it shakes out.
in other sports news, the Edmonton Eskimoes will host the 2010 Grey cup.
Go Flames, Roughnecks and Hitmen

February sports update

Sooo how about an update.
last night the Flames lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Canucks, after the nucks tied it with less than a minute left. The Flames are 3-0-2 in thier last 5 games and still have an 8 point lead on the Canucks for the division lead, good for 3rd in the west. the Flames(33-18-6) have 72 points and the Canucks have 64, with each team having 25 games left in the season. the Canucks are currently in 5th, one point ahead of Dallas. It will be a close race as vancouver is hot right now (6-1 in thier last 7 games) and the Flames have a tough road schedule coming up. the Oilers are in 7th with 62 points, tied with Columbus. in the east Boston is still running away with 1st, while Montreal and NYR have been slumping lately. the Leafs and Senators are still well out of a playoff spot. the Senators have been on fire recently, but they need to play .800 hockey the rest of the way if they hope to make the playoffs.
Calgary will likely play Dallas or Vancouver in the playoffs, both tough matchups. Vancouver would be fun, and whenever Vancouver meets Calgary in the playoffs, the winner goes on to the Stanley cup final...and this years Flames squad certainly has the tools/depth/speed/grit/energy/goaltending/intangibles to claim thier first Stanley cup in 20 years.

The Hitmen are also favourites to become league champions in the WHL. the Hitmen may break a win record, if they can get to 59 wins. the Hitmen are first in the eastern conference and the season ends next week.

The Roughnecks are off to a great start, at 5-1, sitting atop the west division.

The Stampeders have resigned a few guys, most notably Marcus Howell. they also signed QB Matt D'orazio, last years Arena football league most outstanding player and a Canadian punter (Renaud) to replace Dales, who signed with Winnipeg. Sandro Deangelis and Brandon Browner didn't catch on in the NFL and will remain with the team this season! Edmonton has been busy in the free agency period, signing several players, including Jesse Lumsden.
The Stampeders are hosting the Grey cup this season, and have a good chance of repeating at home, with not alot of change on the roster.

A few notes on Championships...
For the Flames, its been 20 years since they won the Stanley cup, and 5 years since they were cup finalists
for the Hitmen, its been 10 years since they won the WHL title and lost in the final game of the memorial cup
for the Roughnecks, its been 5 years since they won the Champions cup
for the Stampeders, last year they won the Grey cup 10 years after beating the ticats in the 98 cup and 10 years ago this year they were cup finalists
lets hope success continues to come in multiples of 5 this year for Calgary teams

GO Flames, Stamps, Hitmen and Roughnecks, and that 5th team that will also be champions this year, possibly our baseball team, the Vipers


oh and on another note, the Pittsburg Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals in an exciting superbowl finish(Shocking, I know!) to win thier 6th superbowl title.

a song, about how the Oilers are losers haha

what would a rivalry be without rubbing it in everyonce in a while.
a little song made by the fan 960, after the Oilers lost ...wait....got smoked...better yet embarrased by the buffalo Sabres 10-2 on tuesday.
http://fan960.com/ondemand/media.jsp?content=20090128_184247_53784
the flames by the way, defeated the same Buffalo team the next night 5-2...
Go Flames

Flames midpoint

alright, seeing as its the halfway point of the Flames 2008-2009 season, its time for an update.
The Flames are still on a killer roll, after a weekend off, the Flames record sits at 25-12-4, good for a 5 point lead on Vancouver for the division lead, with 3 games in hand. the Flames have a somewhat easy schedule until march, plenty of home games and games against teams back of them in the standings.
It has been said many times that the true measure of a team in the regular season comes from the second quarter of games, games 21 through 41. the Flames record in the time?
here are some projections at the halfway point.
- flames pace - on track for 108 points, and to finish ahead of Vancouver by 15 points, 3rd in the conference. will they catch detroit, no, san jose? possibly. hopefully the Flames will lock up the division and have a week or two to rest key guys (aka, kipper).
- Kipper is on pace for 50 wins, a league record for wins in a season, what makes this more amazing, none of the wins so far have come in the shootout. also on pace for 6 shutouts. Broduer currently has the record for wins at 48. I personally hope Kipper plays less down the stretch, let McElhinney get some time, otherwise Kipper going down means a rusty goalie, unless we pull up Keetley from Quad City.
- the Flames have 4 players on pace for over 30 goals! iggy (18), Cammaleri (15) Bourque (15) and Langkow(15).
- six players are on pace for 20 goals
-despite a 'subpar' season for Iggy so far, he is still on pace for 94 points! not so subpar after all
im trying to think of who the standout players are this season, but many of them have stoodout so far this season, such team play, different players stepping it up. biggest suprise for me has to be Adam Pardy on defence, did not expect him to have a role on this team, but when you look at it, he is older than Phaneuf.
highlights from the Flames skills competition here http://flames.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp
notables - Aucoin wins hardest shot - 102.2
Nystrom wins Puck relay
Glencross wins fastest skater - 13.542
Cammalleri won the accuracy comp - hit all 4 targets
The Flames play St. Louis tomorrow and face at tough road test in San Jose on thursday. The more I watch this Flames team, the farther into the season they get, I feel more and more confidence that this is the team that will get the 2009 Stanley Cup. 20 years after thier last one. This team is for real. they can compete with Detroit, San Jose, Boston etc and have the heart, teamwork, leadership and goaltender to do it.

A quick look at the other teams representing Calgary and you see a trend...
summer 2008, Calgary baseball team in Golden league comes up one win short of a league championship in semi-pro baseball.
November 2008 - the Calgary Stampeders cap an strong and dominant season with a well-deserved Grey cup win!
January 2009 - Calgary Buffaloes win the Macs midget hockey tournament, only Calgary based team to win it this decade.
as of right now?
the Calgary Hitmen continue to dominate Junior hockey. not only are they in first in the Western Hockey league, but they are first in the Canadian Hockey league, pounding opponents into submission every time they step on the ice.
the Calgary Roughnecks have started thier season, 2-0. after a 12-10 win over San Jose and a 10-9 overtime win over Edmonton.
Yep, the sports scene is looking real good in Calgary at the moment. enjoy it.
here is a link to some cool CFL plays of the year from 2008
http://www.cfl.ca/media/videoCFL/id/5963

thats all for now!