The Flames know they can do nothing about the past but as they embark on this 2-game road trip they need to end a trend in one city and continue a trend in another.

   Thursday it’s Nashville where the Flames have won just once in their last 9 visits.  The Predators don’t appear to be as good on paper as they have been the past few seasons but they have won their 2 home games to start the season led by Shea Weber.

   When Weber was drafted their were comparisons to Dion Phaneuf.  The Flames blueliner scored 54 goals over his first three seasons and was runner-up Nicklas Liodstrom for top defensemen in the NHL.  Weber has been plagued by injuries that have slowed his development but he appears to be on his game now with 3 goals and 4 assists in 6 games.

   The Flames lone win in Music City over their past 9 visits was last year in October when they prevailed 7-4.  However, in January the Preds re-established their home domination of the Flames, winning 3-0.

    Look Miikka Kiprusoff to start tonight coming off his best performance of the season. Dan Ellis will be the Preds stopper.  The Preds will have captain Jason Arnott back on the ice after missing 3 games with a broken finger.

    On Saturday, Mike Keenan leads his team into Phoenix for a date with the improved Coyotes.  The Flames look to improve on their 3-straight wins in the dessert plus wins in 7 of their last 9.

   In the 2 wins last season, there appeared to be more Flame fans in attendance than those cheering for the home side.  Those games were in February and March. It won’t the same this weekend since the Snowbirds haven’t arrived yet.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 at 6:56 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.