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Is Miikka Kiprusoff and the Calgary Flames cursed?

admin — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 17:15:40 +0000

Here’s an article that I found on YardBarker titled “Is Miikka Kiprusoff and the Calgary Flames cursed?“. I am thinking that this is the only rational explanation for what is going on in Flames country.

Hockey season begins! Go Flames go!

admin — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 17:32:38 +0000

Ok, it’s no secret I love NHL hockey and now that its under way, I’m even more stoked. The Calgary Flames are my favorite team and I’m gonna break down what I think will be keys to their success this season.

Duh! Forward Jarome Iginla and goaltender Mikka Kiprusoff. The best forward is the captain Iginla. The best goaltender is Kipper. If those two don’t play well, it’ll be tough to win games.
Powerplay. The powerplay specialists need to dominate. In my mind, Alex Tanguay and Kristian Huselius are the keys to the Flames powerplay success. And did you see Daymond Lankow’s shot tipping skills? He’s the “Joe Nieuwendyk” for the Flames powerplay unit. Macinnis and Suter no longer man the powerplay unit, but for now Dion Phaneuf and Adrian Aucoin are gonna be key players.
Penalty Kill. Obviously staying out of the penalty box is key, but if you need to kill penalties, these are the key players for the Flames. Kiprusoff, Regehr, Sarich, and Yelle. If everyone else plays like them, it’ll be tough to score against the Flames.
Even strength. I agree with Mike Keenan’s strategy to make sure the passing game improves. If that improves, the overall team speed improves as well. If you took a look at Detroit Red Wings from last year’s playoffs, they totally dominated the Flames with crisp and accurate passing. The other team can’t score if you have most of the puck possession.
Intangibles. The Flames have plenty of leadership to go around. I can count at least 5 former captains in the lineup. The Flames no doubt are more skilled than in years past. The key ingredient missing the last two years was a “consistent” hard working effort every shift, every battle along the boards, and every time without the puck. You can’t simply have a poor 1st period and then dominate period two and three and expect to win games any more. Consistency is key.

Well, there you go. Thats my assessment and I’m sticking to it! Work hard, play hard. Go Flames go!

Canada Wins! NHL loses.

admin — Wed, 15 Sep 2004 02:47:10 +0000

Canada wins 3-2! Just finished watching the final. It wasn’t as entertaining as the last game that Canada played against the Czech Republic but it was a good one nonetheless. Four Calgary Flames players were in the roster for both Canada and Finland. Mikka Kiprusoff and Ville Nieminen for the Finns. Jarome Iginla and Robyn Regehr for the Canadians. Should be interesting Flames locker room chat if a NHL season ever gets underway. I just can’t believe that the players union and the NHL cannot reach an agreement. So much is at stake. Both sides will lose big time if there is no season. Oh well… greed only begets greed.

Proud of the Flames

admin — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 21:58:30 +0000

I’m finally back from my hiatus (vacation). Despite the game 7 loss in the Stanley Cup final, the Flames had an incredible run. They were quite unlucky to have lost the last two games in the series. I watched the series and it could’ve gone either way. Hopefully, if there is a next season, the Flames will be viable contenders for the championship. They obviously need to make some changes in their lineup to sign their star players and stay within a reasonable budget. I think Jarome Iginla and Mikka Kipprusoff are top priorities for GM Darryl Sutter. Locking up Jordan Leopold and the younger nucleus of players is vital to long term success. I would imagine that Roman Turek will not be around unless he is willing to take a significant pay cut. Well, here’s hoping for next year.

Stanley Cup playoff predictions

admin — Tue, 25 May 2004 18:15:00 +0000

The great swammy has decided to offer another bold prediction for the NHL Stanley Cup finals between Calgary Flames and Tampa Bay Lightning. Based on the lone regular season meeting between these two clubs, Tampa Bay obviously has a very good forward group, but I believe they can be stopped by great goaltending and the solid defense core of the Calgary Flames. Everyone seems to be picking the Tampa Bay Lightning in 5 or 6 games, but I think the Calgary Flames could stick it to them in 6 games. The key players to watch for on the Flames are Iginla, Nieminen, and Kiprusoff. I predict that they’ll come up big when the time comes. Tampa Bay will have the likes of St.Louis, and Khabibulin, who will have a great couple of games, but I predict that their luck will run out for the other 4 games. Here’s hoping I’m right. Cheers!

Flames: What they’re saying

admin — Sat, 22 May 2004 12:09:58 +0000

In case you didn’t get enough media coverage of the Calgary Flames, here’s what they’re saying. And some of the comments just make you want to stick it to them! I mean the nerve of one of these writers saying that the Flyers or Lightning are far superior than the Calgary Flames.

East Game 7 winner to also claim Cup – Experience gives Flyers edge over Lightning; winner Saturday will go on to douse Flames.

So far I’m not buying the “will over skill” mantra that has been beset the Flames hockey team. If they didn’t have the skill, they would’ve been out of the playoffs a long time ago.

Way to Go Calgary Flames!

admin — Wed, 05 May 2004 13:08:00 +0000

Looks like the Flames advanced to the final 4 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Also, I got 3 out of 4 right in my previous predictions. The only team I picked to advance that didn’t advance was Toronto. Calgary, San Jose, and Tampa Bay all advanced. I feel that perhaps I will not offer any more predictions for fear it may jinx my team. All I have to say is that whoever can win the first game of their series will most likely advance to the Stanley Cup finals.

NHL Playoff Predictions

admin — Wed, 21 Apr 2004 12:31:00 +0000

Here are the second round matchups for the drive to the Stanley Cup championship along with my predictions.

Western Conference

(1) Detroit Redwings vs. (6) Calgary Flames
Pick Calgary to win series 4-2
(2) San Jose Sharks vs. (4) Colorado Avalanche
Pick San Jose to win series 4-2

Eastern Conference

(1) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (7) Montreal Canadiens
Pick Tampa Bay to win series 4-3
(3) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (4) Toronto Maple Leafs
Pick Toronto to win series 4-2

We’ll see how many I get right at the end of it all. It’ll be interesting to see what you, the readers, predict. Feel free to agree or disagree.

Drive to the Stanley Cup

admin — Tue, 20 Apr 2004 12:50:04 +0000

I couldn’t believe it, but the Flames won the game 7 in O/T against the mighty Vancouver Canucks to advance to the next round. I got 6 right out of my 8 predictions for teams that would advance to the next round.

Good luck tonight Flames

admin — Mon, 19 Apr 2004 18:09:00 +0000

As I predicted a little while back, I kinda had a feeling this series would go to 7 games. The last game had Vancouver Canucks win a nail biter 5-4 in overtime. I really had no idea that the Flames would come back from a 4-0 deficit and push the Canucks into O/T. I guess you can’t under estimate these Calgary Flames. To: Vancouver Canucks, you may have the better team, but the Flames have the bigger heart. Despite the outcome of the Flames vs. Canucks game tonight, I’m still proud of the Flames. Go Flames go!

Flames take the lead!

admin — Fri, 16 Apr 2004 05:31:26 +0000

Flames win 2-1 against Canucks and take a 3-2 lead in the series. I just finished watching the game on TV and boy was it awesome! The energy in the game was great and Mikka Kiprusoff played solid. I can’t believe that they’re doing it with far less talent than the Vancouver Canucks. You gotta love the underdog. The Calgary Flames are now just one win away from reaching the second round of the playoffs. Now, they just need to focus in on the objective. Go Flames go!

Flames back on track

admin — Wed, 14 Apr 2004 12:59:00 +0000

The Flames continue to defy the odds. The Flames played an almost flawless game last night and evened the playoff series at 2-2, with a 4-0 win over the Vancouver Canuck-leheads. Let’s hope they can keep up the intensity for the next game. I think this series could go to 7 games with the way things have gone.

Flames powerplay woes

admin — Tue, 13 Apr 2004 18:07:00 +0000

As I’ve observed all year, the Flames are woeful with the man advantage. This may be the biggest reason they are losing the series to the Canucks 2-1. Some things that I’ve noticed are that the Flames style of dump and chase is not working. In the off chance that they do gain the puck in the offensive zone, they play a perimeter game with no movement. As an opposition coach, all I’d have to do is send all my players to aggresively forecheck the puck carriers to close out the passing lanes. The only way for the Flames to get more powerplay goals is to have quick puck movement and have the forwards work harder at getting into the open areas. The Flames weakness is puck handling and passing. Since hockey is a team sport, those weaknesses lose you games.

Flames Tie Series 1-1

admin — Sat, 10 Apr 2004 16:53:54 +0000

The Calgary Flames rebounded yesterday in a big way to defeat the Vancouver Canucks 2-1. They played their usual suffocating defensive style that has earned them most of their victories during the regular season. During the game, you can tell how dirty and disrespectful some of the Canucks players were. Ed Jovanoski is public enemy number one now. He bodychecked Flames goaltender Mikka Kiprusoff, clearly in his crease, and as a result, the Canucks scored on a wide open net. I can’t believe that the refs didn’t see that one. In the end, it didn’t matter. If the Flames lost because of that, you can bet that the NHL would have a huge nightmare dealing with that.

Flames lose first game to Canucks

admin — Thu, 08 Apr 2004 17:37:00 +0000

The first playoff game for the Flames yesterday really showed the Flames’ weaknesses and the Canucks’ strengths. They both got magnified big time which resulted in a Canucks win. Basically, the Canucks have a ton of offensive talent and their powerplay clicked all night long. The Flames played a poor first period and couldn’t match the intensity that the Canucks brought. They matched the Canucks in the second and third, but it was too late. For the Flames to get a victory in this series, they’ll need quite a few breaks and will need to improve their special teams play. From what I saw last night, the Canucks just might sweep the series, if the Flames don’t play perfect hockey.

NHL Playoff Matchups

admin — Mon, 05 Apr 2004 01:59:04 +0000

Here are the first round matchups for the drive to the Stanley Cup championship along with my predictions.

Western Conference

(1) Detroit Redwings vs. (8) Nashville Predators
Pick Detroit to win series 4-2
(2) San Jose Sharks vs. (7) St. Louis Blues
Pick San Jose to win series 4-3
(3) Vancouver Canucks vs. (6) Calgary Flames
Pick Calgary to win series 4-3
(4) Colorado Avalanche vs. (5) Dallas Stars
Pick Dallas to win series 4-2

Eastern Conference

(1) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (8) NY Islanders
Pick Tampa Bay to win series 4-1
(2) Boston Bruins vs. (7) Montreal Canadiens
Pick Montreal to win series 4-3
(3) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (6) New Jersey Devils
Pick New Jersey to win series 4-2
(4) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (5) Ottawa Senators
Pick Toronto to win series 4-3

We’ll see how many I get right at the end of it all. It’ll be interesting to see what you, the readers, predict. Feel free to agree or disagree.

Flames Clinch Playoffs!

admin — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 13:01:00 +0000

The Calgary Flames finally end their playoff drought yesterday with a 1-0 win over Phoenix Coyotes. This is no April Fools Day joke, either. The game wasn’t televised, but I was listening on the NHL game radio website. The fans in Calgary were so loud at the end, I thought the Flames had won the Stanley Cup or something. It feels good, but the focus now has to be on winning their next 16 games.

Flames Win Again!

admin — Fri, 19 Mar 2004 18:00:00 +0000

Wow.. is it me or are the Calgary Flames getting hot? There hasn’t been this much excitement in Cowtown for over seven years. As of today, the team is riding a seven game unbeaten streak. They are even within striking distance of 4th place Vancouver Canucks in the standings. If they keep it up, they will become a force in the playoffs.

Jim Kelly of ESPN, says “the Flames look like this year’s Ducks“.

“Kipper deserves the Hart Trophy”
Jarome Iginla’s return to dominance is a big reason the Flames are in position to battle for the fourth spot and home ice advantage in the first round. While Iginla is having an MVP type season with 37 goals, the Flames captain thinks the Hart Trophy should go to goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff. “…To come in and hold the other team to two goals or under so many games, that’s a chance to win every night,” Iginla told the Calgary Sun. Including a 2-0 blanking of Columbus March 18, Kiprusoff recorded his third shutout this season while improving to 21-7-4 and lowering his NHL-best goals-against average to 1.63, a modern NHL record if the season ended today. His .935 save percentage also leads the NHL and he’s held opponents to two goals or less in 28 of 32 games. “…No one has dominated like him,” Iginla continued. “When we were sliding a little bit, he came back from a knee injury and picks up right where he left off.”

Go Flames Go!

admin — Sat, 13 Mar 2004 18:50:59 +0000

In case you didn’t know, my favorite team is the Flames. Right now, they are embroiled in a playoff race with several teams. It may go right down to the wire. The Flames are situated in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Some links that I follow on a regular basis: