If procrastination were a Country, I'd be its First Lady

If procrastination were a Country, I'd be its First Lady. I really should not have a blog.

The Flames kicked off their mini-three game road trip with what was probably their best all-around effort so far this season, resulting in a 1-0 win over Montreal--Kiprusoff's 200th as a Flame, and his 31st career shutout. The Canadiens had some marvelous opportunities, including breakaway chances by both Cammalleri and Gomez, but the Flames held the edge in almost every other department in this physical affair, which saw the Habs out-hit their visitors 26-21.

The effort in Buffalo was not lacking by any means, but the Flames were clearly overwhelmed by the up-tempo, physical Sabres and allowed them to dictate the play after taking the lead early in the first period. The Flames were outshot 18-5 in the opening frame, but escaped the Buffalo blitzkrieg tied at one thanks to some timely stick-work from Cory Sarich and heroics from a certain netminder. The visitors found their legs in the second, dominating the shot clock 12-3, and played an evenly matched third period before eventually succumbing to the Sabres in a shootout.

The stat that stood out most in this game--16 missed shots by the Flames. They finished the game with 26 shots on goal, not enough against a goaltender of Ryan Miller's quality. For a team that has struggled to score goals recently, they have to get more shots on net. Another number that was hard to swallow? The Flames' 11% faceoff performance on the powerplay. They went 0-5 against the Sabres, and that horrendous faceoff percentage was likely a contributing factor. The Sabres operated at 89% shorthanded, while the Flames, boasting an extremely efficient penalty-killing unit as of late, won only 2 of 7 short-handed draws while managing to nullify all but one of Buffalo's powerplays, including one in overtime. Overall, these were my only real qualms with this game, can't complain too much about a 2-1 shootout loss in a city where this team hasn't won in thirteen years.

Yesterday's game in Toronto was an entirely different story. It all started off well; the Flames jumped out to an early two-goal lead shortly after the "80s Night" festivities had wrapped up at the ACC. Both teams were playing on the second night of back-to-back games, so some sloppiness was to be expected, but it appeared the Leafs had gotten theirs out of the way early. Toronto's relentless forecheck and consistent pressure on the Flames puck-carriers frustrated them, and resulted in some undisciplined play by the visitors. The Leafs and their 3rd best powerplay (?%$#@) capitalized, drawing within one. Dustin Boyd restored the two goal lead on a brilliant individual effort after blocking a shot in his own zone, chasing Gustavsson from the game in the process.

The second period was so atrocious I almost wanted to file it under "this shall never be mentioned again" and allow it to sit there, collecting dust forevermore. The entire twenty minute frame resembled a game of keep-away. The really twisted kind where one of the worst teams in the NHL fires twenty shots on goal compared to a supposed Stanley Cup contender's four. As you can imagine, the majority of the period was spent in the Flames' zone. When they did manage to venture past their own blueline, ill-advised passes and turnovers ensured they ended up back behind it in no time. Somehow, the Flames managed to escape the period with a one goal lead. Kiprusoff is a fucking one-man team right now. "Lights out," "Mr. Clutch," whatever you want to call him, he's been unreal. Either he is determined to prove his detractors wrong (i.e. just about all of us at some point or another) or he really, really wants to make Team Finland.

Toronto's second period outburst seemed to tire them out, and the Flames took advantage in the third. I like to think that this was their strategy all along. Iginla scored his second of the game on another of his trademark shots from the wing and Bouwmeester sealed the deal with a slapper, temporarily alleviating the Flames' nagging powerplay drought. Thank god Toronto's defence still sucks. The Flames managed to escape TO with a 5-2 win, their first at the ACC since 2000, despite getting outshot 40-22.

Notables:

The moment that made you want to laugh and cry simultaneously--Jokinen's "fight" with Francois Beauchemin. It made you want to laugh because he was instantly taken down Beauchemin--who is one tough customer--and emerged with nothing but a cut to show for his efforts, and cry out of frustration on his behalf. The big lug led the team with three hits and had three shots on goal against Buffalo and has been surprisingly decent defensively as of late, but just can't seem to catch a break. Sure the effort could be better, more consistent, but it's there. The hardest thing for a player to do when he's in a slump is to "simplify" his game, but that is exactly what Olli needs to do. Shoot the puck, use his size, and do the things that made him successful in the past. I really feel for the poor sucker.

- Derek Roy was, to borrow a phrase from the infamous Pierre McGuire, a "Monster" against the Flames on Friday night. He had 7 shots on goal (that's three more than any Flames player had in the game), scored a beauty of a goal in regulation and added another in the shootout. If you weren't considering him for Team Canada, you are now. He's fast, talented, and I think he can provide some serious energy in a third or fourth line role for Canada in 2010. I bet Iggy would love to have this little 5"9 SOB as his centreman.

- The Flames' powerplay has fallen from second in the league to twelfth. We all knew that the success they were enjoying at the beginning of the season would level off at some point, but nobody could have predicted the drop-off would be this severe. It's their powerplay faceoff percentage that worries me most--11% against the Sabres and 33% against the Leafs--since it is impossible to maintain zone presence without possession of the puck.

- Speaking of special teams, Brent Sutter said something that was of great interest to me a few days ago when describing his team's recent success on the penalty kill. He said in an article in the Calgary Herald that he had employed some of the same strategies the team had been using before he was hired as Head Coach, when they finished 5th in the league on the PK last season under the tutelage of Mike Keenan and Co. Does this mean that the previous coaching staff wasn't completely inept in the special teams department, or that the Flames just have a lot of good penalty killers on their roster?

-David Moss and Phil Kessel are cousins. Who Knew?

- Moss has been playing very well on a line with Boyd and Nystrom. The trio were some of the only forwards who were skating well and were able to establish a forecheck and good puck support in the offensive zone against both the Leafs and the Sabres.

- Robyn Regehr was +4 last night against Toronto and Dion Phaneuf was +3. If only Brent Sutter's stubbornness when it comes to pairings/line combinations would yield the same results with Jokinen and Iginla.

-Sheldon Souray finally returned to the Oilers lineup this afternoon when they faced the Thrashers in Atlanta after missing sixteen games with a concussion, blamed on an inadvertent trip by Jarome Iginla, during which Oilers fans whined incessantly about how they were missing on of their best players and practically called for a lifetime ban from the NHL for Iginla. They still lost.

Up Next: The Flames return to the 'Dome on Tuesday night to face the Avalanche, coming off an embarrassing 8-2 pounding last night at the hands of the Canucks, after which a handful of Avs players were forced to sit through HNIC's "After Hours" with Kevin Weekes and Scott Oake. The Avs won a 3-2 decision at the 'Dome back in October.

I promise to be a better fan and contribute more frequently to the hockey blogosphere this week. Pinky-swear.

Sunday's hockey happenings

Between work and studying for mid-terms, I've barely left the house this weekend and I thought a Sunday night without a single NHL game on the schedule would give me ample opportunity to get all caught up on past few days' happenings.

The Flames improved their record over Northwest division opponents to 4-0 Friday night with a 5-3 victory over the Canucks. They went about it in a convincing way for the first forty minutes, carrying a 5-0 lead into the third period. The Canucks got on the board at 6:55 of the final frame, and the hosts did a pretty good job at maintaining their composure until the final three minutes of the game. With Bouwmeester in the box for hooking and Boyd serving a too many men penalty, the Canucks capitalized and scored two quick goals. The Flames managed to hold off the surge and hold on for the victory as Alex Burrows quelled his team's momentum with a late goaltender interference penalty which ate up the remainder of the period.

I really liked what I saw from this team until the third period. They came out with a lot of energy, played physical, and showed flashes of good defensive positioning. The Boyd-Prust-McGrattan line put on quite a show, making me feel sufficiently foolish for questioning Brent Sutter's methods. McGrattan completed the Gordie Howe hat-trick while Boyd scored a goal and an assist and Prust chipped in with two helpers. Boyd is really starting to heat up after a slow start resulting from a concussion he sustained during pre-season. I didn't even know that until yesterday, poor Boyder. He had multiple chances during the game against Vancouver and had a great game all around, finishing the evening +1 in eight minutes of ice time.

The Iginla-Conroy-Glencross line didn't exactly pan out the way the Coach was hoping, and if I'm not mistaken it wasn't long before Jokinen was moved back onto the top unit in a desperate bid to ignite the captain. Iginla had five shots on goal and wasn't TERRIBLE, but wasn't especially noticeable either as he cracked the 20 minute mark in ice time. Glencross was great, scoring a beauty of a shorthanded goal and finishing the evening +2, while Jokinen...well, he finished with two shots on goal and not much else. The lack of production from our top forwards is disconcerting, and while the performances of Bourque, Boyd, Glencross, and the likes is encouraging, the levels of offence they are providing are probably not sustainable. Jokinen and Iginla have to be better.

On the defensive side of things, Robyn Regehr was much improved Friday night, and finished +3 while Phaneuf finished +2; perhaps this pairing is finally beginning to work? Bouwmeester and Sarich were steady, while Giordano and Pardy stuggled slightly. The shots ended up 29-24 for Vancouver, which still isn't great, especially considering the Flames led for the majority of the game, but is an improvement. The Flames' faceoff performance was sort of a mixed bag; at even strength they were 39%, while they finished 67% on the powerplay and 56% shorthanded for a total of 47%.

The Flames devoted their entire practice to special teams Sunday morning, after their 16th ranked penalty kill allowed two goals on five Vancouver powerplays. I am not yet sure whether or not to be concerned about this. What concerns me more is this team's tendency to allow multiple goals in short periods of time with such alarming frequency. I don't ever recall this happening so often as it has so far this season, and I don't understand it whatsoever. What are we paying our high-priced defence and goaltender for if not to shut down the opposing team's forwards and limit scoring chances? This habit absolutely has to stop.

In other news...

Here's something funny:

There's your game winner. Take that, Chicago.

Chuck Kobasew was traded to the Minnesota Wild today for Craig Weller, a second round pick in 2011, and the rights to prospect Alexander Fallstrom. That seems like a lot to give up in exchange for a twenty-goal guy like Kobasew, as much as I love him. Minnesota must have been desperate for a top-six forward. Looks like we'll be seeing a lot more of each other this season, Chuckie.

In Oilers news/salacious gossip, Sheldon Souray's ex-wife Angelica Bridges, who appeared on the popular 90s show "Baywatch", has apparently accused him of "tricking" her into a divorce and withholding the details of the fat $27 million deal he signed with the Oilers in the summer of 2007 from her. She has also accused him of abuse in the past and is fighting for custody of their two young daughters, currently residing with Souray, who has yet to speak on the matter. To top it all off, TMZ has got hold of the story. Yikes. What is it with Edmonton Oilers' defencemen and their gossip-worthy tendencies? Oilers management really knows how to pick 'em.

Up Next: The Flames host the Blue Jackets on Tuesday, looking to avenge a loss in Columbus last week. The Flames have a light schedule during this five game home-stand, as they don't play again till Saturday after Tuesday's match, and are then off until the following Wednesday. Symptoms of Flames Withdrawal are beginning to set in already.

Post-game party: Quick notes from last night's game, Stars@Flames

The Flames improved upon their unbeaten record with a 4-3 shootout win over the Oilers last night in Edmonton, also improving to 2-0 in this season's edition of the Battle of Alberta. The Flames played a pretty solid first period until the last few minutes, when Ethan Moreau scored on a breakaway out of the penalty box. The Oilers would strike again with under a minute remaining, when Craig Conroy lost his man Lubomir Vishnovsky, who fired a slapper past Kiprusoff, who looked shaky in the opening frame, allowing two goals on nine shots.

The visitors played a much smarter game in the second despite being forced to kill off a penalty resulting from a hit by Jarome Iginla on Sheldon Souray where the Flames captain inadvertently tripped Souray while attempting to finish his check, causing both to collide into the end boards with Souray getting the worst of it. He was cut and later diagnosed with a minor concussion. This is the only video I could find of the hit, although I don't agree with the title:

The Flames would score a late goal to pull within one on a backhand by Daymond Langkow, and outshot the Oilers 9-4 in the middle frame with most of those shots coming on their three powerplays of the period, including a two-man advantage.

Nigel Dawes squared the affair at two early in the third, and it would stay that way until the Oilers again took the lead with just over six minutes remaining. In a late effort to preserve their record of zero regulation losses with Kiprusoff on the bench, Rene Bourque tied the game with only 1.5 seconds remaining, perfectly tipping a Bouwmeester slapshot between Khabibulin's pads.

The Oilers stole the show in the overtime period with Mark Giordano off for tripping, firing seven shots on Kiprusoff, but to no avail. The Flames 'tender snagged every shot he saw, making a series of spectacular glove saves and allowing no rebounds to give his team a shot at the 'W' in a shootout.

Nigel Dawes was the first shooter for the Flames, in their first shootout of the new season, and he scored after Sam Gagner's attempt was saved by Kipper. Patrick O'Sullivan tied things up for the Oilers, but Olli Jokinen, the Flames' next shooter, had a trick up his sleeve. He deked out Khabibulin several times before tucking a shot just inside the post, which trickled across the line with a little help from the Oiler goalie's pad. Ales Hemsky was the Oilers' last shooter, and fired a shot off the corner between the post and crossbar. Voila...Flames win!

The shots in this game ended up even at twenty-eight a piece, which ties the best effort in terms of shots the Flames have mustered this season. Their powerplay, which was operating at 75%, good for #1 in the league, was a futile 0-4 on the night. While a powerplay operating a such a high efficiency is clearly not sustainable, I think fans hoped for a better result against the Oilers' 29th ranked penalty kill unit.

This effort was probably the most consistent for the Flames as of yet, and maybe their best defensively. Robyn Regehr was the only player registering a minus on the team, as he continues to struggle. He was largely at fault on the Oilers' first goal and seems a lot easier to push off the puck than we are accustomed to. His passes seem ill-advised and his hits lack their usual "oomph"; I don't think we've seen a single instance of him knocking the wind out of Ales Hemsky as of yet.

The second line was the Flames' best line last night, with Dawes, Langkow, and Bourque scoring all of the team's goals in regulation. I think I already mentioned how much I love Rene Bourque. He collected a goal and two assists last night, and continues to be one of the Flames' best forwards. I just love everything about the way he plays... he's fast, strong, he wins battles, and he never gives up on a play.

The first line seems to be improving every game, although they didn't score, the trio of Iginla, Jokinen, and Moss were sharp last night, demonstrating their speed, strength, and crisp passing. All three were +1, and Jokinen was surprisingly good defensively after an abysmal effort in his own zone Tuesday against the Canadiens. The fourth line is just so good, and again created multiple chances, against the Oilers, although failing to score.

The Flames showcased the excellent transition game that they are capable of with Bouwmeester and Giordano providing speed and mobility on the blueline, and were able to control the neutral zone. The areas that remain a concern for the this team are faceoffs, which were again largely dominated by the opposition, and lazy play in their own end, which afforded the Oilers a number of quality scoring chances and resulted in trips to the penalty box.

Finally, news broke today that Oilers coach Pat Quinn has been fined $10,000 for his comments about Jarome Iginla made after the game. If that's not enough to teach him to keep his mouth shut, I don't know what is. Iginla told the Flames Insider that the trip was unintentional, and that he understands why the Oilers are upset and feels bad that Souray was injured on the play. Really, when have we ever seen Iginla intentionally injure someone, with the exception of fighting? I may come off as a homer, but I believe this was a genuine accident which took a freakish turn and looked a lot worse than it actually was.

Up Next: The Flames will aim for their first ever 5-0 start tonight when they host the Dallas Stars (0-0-2) at 7 PM (MT). The Stars and Flames split the series at two wins apiece last season. No word on whether or not Kiprusoff will start.