TOO SOON TO BE OVER
April 28th, 2009 by Mike Rogers
It’s over for the Flames and all too soon. What started out with high expectations, ended with a thud. The Flames lost their opening round series four games to two against the young Chicago Blackhawks and now the Hawks will face the Canucks in the second round. So what went wrong? Let’s start in goal. […]
FLAMES LOSE PHANEUF
April 27th, 2009 by Mike Rogers
With their backs against the wall, the Flames will be without Dion Phaneuf in their crucial match with the Chicago Blackhawks tonight. Mike Keenan disclosed this morning that Phaneuf is unable to go, so Anders Eriksson will be inserted in the lineup to take his place. Going into these playoffs, Phaneuf was far from 100% […]
JOKINEN HAS BIG NIGHT
April 23rd, 2009 by Mike Rogers
Olli Jokinen snapped out of his sixteen game scoring drought with a couple of goals to lead the flames to a wild 6-4 win in game four of their series against the Hawks. He also added an assist on Adrian Aucoin goal but it was his overall play that gained him his first star status. […]
TRASH TALKING NOTHING NEW
April 22nd, 2009 by Mike Rogers
It seems that the focus the last couple days from the media and even the players was the amount of trash talking that has taken place in this series. Welcome to the playoffs. This has been going on for decades but it seems since Pierre McGuire of TSN was at ice level for the last […]
SERIES TURNS NASTY
April 21st, 2009 by Mike Rogers
For what started to be the most physical game of the series turned into a nasty one late in the third period as Hawk’s forward Adam Burish cross checked Rene Bourque in the face breaking his stick on the Flames cheekbone which resulted in a melee in front of the benches. Coach Mike Keenan was very […]
WHERE IS THE PUSH BACK
April 20th, 2009 by Mike Rogers
In each of the first two games in Chicago, the Flames dominated the play in the first period and led after the first twenty minutes. Unfortunately the leads didn’t last and the Hawks came back to win those games. The comment form the coaches and players were that the Hawks pushed back when they were […]
SHOULD IT HAVE COUNTED?
April 16th, 2009 by Mike Rogers
The Flames lost to the Hawks 12 seconds into overtime on a goal by Martin Havlat to give the Hawks a 3-2 win. Many believe, I for one, that the goal should have been waved off because of goaltender interference by Andrew Ladd on Mikka Kiorusoff. There is no doubt that Ladd bumped into Kipper […]
DOES EXPERIENCE MATTER?
April 16th, 2009 by Mike Rogers
The question above was asked to both head coaches this morning and to know one’s surprise, the answers were different. Hawks coach Joel Quenville felt that playoff experience is not a factor and he felt his team was playing at a playoff level all year and will carry that mindset into the playoffs. Mike Keenan […]
LET THE PLAYOFFS BEGIN
April 12th, 2009 by Mike Rogers
In a meaningless game last night, the Flames defeated the Oilers 4-1 to end their season. Now it is time to focus on the playoffs and the Chicago Blackhawks. First off, the Flames did not fare well against the Hawks going 0-3-1 and were outscored 19-7 in the 4 game series. The Hawks skated the […]
THE LIST GOES ON
April 11th, 2009 by Mike Rogers
For the first time since 1986 an NHL team dressed 15 skaters and two goaltenders. In 86 it was the St. Louis Blues, last night it was your Calgary Flames. The difference was the Blues won their game over the L.A. Kings 4-3 and the Flames lost 5-1 to the Oilers. Dion Phaneuf and Curtis […]
