AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jeff McIntosh
The Calgary Flames really sucked tonight. If the 5-1 final score doesn’t tell the story well enough, here are a couple words that may help:
Stink: v. (Slang) To be of an extremely low or bad quality.
Crappy: adj. Inferior; worthless.
Weak: adj. Lacking physical strength, energy, or vigor; feeble.
I can’t really put into words my disappointment with tonight’s effort. The score was 3-0 after one period and 5-0 after two periods and the only thing keeping Roberto Luongo from getting a shutout was Alex Tanguay’s last-minute goal in the third period.
The Canucks had goals from Chris Higgins, Alex Burrows, Daniel Sedin (yay gingers!), Cody Hodgson and Alex Edler. They ended up chasing Kipper out of the net after 2 periods.
I was actually surprised by the fans tonight. I’ve long had a beef with Saddledome fans for not being loud enough when their team is down. By that I mean, unless the Flames are scoring boatloads of goals, the ‘Dome tends to be quieter than a library. Though the Saskatchewan Roughriders may have a new meaning for the “13th man”, the crowd plays in important part in any professional sports event. The energy the fans provide by cheering for their team can make a difference on the ice. Over the past few seasons, it appears as though the people occupying seats in the Saddledome don’t understand this.
After tweeting with @Mr_TomJ about how bad Flames fans have been, I was surprised that the Fans actually booed Kipper in the 2nd period and booed their team off the ice. Sure, Kipper let in 5 goals on 18 shots, but he certainly didn’t have any help from his team. The Flames deserved to be booed tonight, but I wouldn’t put the blame on their goalie. It was an all-around poor effort from the club and there will surely be some bag skating at practice tomorrow.
Anyone have any other thoughts on the game? That’s all I’ve got tonight.
Greg is the founder of Red Mile Blog has been following the Flames through good times and bad since they arrived in Calgary in the early 80s. He has written hundreds of articles on the Flames since 2005 and considers himself an expert on hockey inconsistency and frustration. He shoots right and usually plays defence, but has been known to jump up in the rush. He is a 2-time CAHL men's league champion and knows the sweet taste of beer from a Cup.
