The Calgary Flames vs. Chicago Blackhawks series has been a fascinating event so far. It seems to me that the Flames have outplayed the Blackhawks for the most part. In every game except for game 3 they have blown a significant lead. Even if only a goal in game 1, it was toward the end when they relinquished the lead. So, what can we make of this as it applies to the rest of this series? And what can we make of it as it applies to the future, should some semblance of what has already happened take place and they lose in this round or the next?
Blowing the leads has been a terrible development in the series so far. They could easily have a commanding 3-1 lead in this series, but they are also only a bad break in game 4 (after giving up those leads) from being down 3-1. This seems somewhat like bad coaching. It seems that in a couple of the games they went into a defensive shell, allowing the Blackhawks to pepper Kiprusoff until he broke. In game four I thought it was the opposite. They had a 3-goal lead halfway through the game and they failed to tighten up and dumb things down. That was the time to make sure you chipped pucks in deep and won battles on the boards. Without a host of odd-man breaks, it was going to be a game they should be able to ride out to victory (essentially the same grinding method they employed in the third period).
That said, Joel Quenneville is getting a lot of credit for the timeout he took when they fell down 4-1, as he should. At the same time, it seemed to be a no-brainer. In either case, if you are going to give so much credit to Joel Quenneville, after his team then faded into oblivion, don’t you also have to give the same amount of credit for the no-brainer timeout when they gave up the 4th and tying goal? The Blackhawks would fail to score for the rest of the game and Calgary would go on to a 2-goal win (including the Iginla empty-netter).
It seems that things are going to be very difficult with the Flames as depleted as they are in terms of human resources. They are already in a tough spot without Regehr in the lineup, and now they are without a couple of key centermen. Conroy, in particular, plays a pivotal defensive role by taking key faceoffs and performing well on the penalty kill. Langkow seems to be a key kick-start for some of the more offensive players. Whoever plays with him seems to get their chances, even if they don’t always capitalize.
If they should get one or both of those guys back, I like the Flames chances. If they get Regehr back I think they are clear favorites. The Blackhawks have done nothing spectacular in this series — nothing that looks like what they did to the Flames in the regular season. With any additional talent in the favor of an already-superior Flames team, and I think this series is quite skewed in their favor. On top of that, the Blackhawks have given Iginla the fuel to burn, and Jokinen looks like he’s figured out the level of determination necessary for the playoffs. Cory Sarich looks like a stud defenseman only a few months removed from being the worst defenseman the Flames regularly put on the ice.
Much was made about the poor record at the end of the season for the Flames. The people who were watching the games and paying attention know that it wasn’t as bad as the standings showed. They outplayed several very good teams in tough losses, and they failed to get games into overtime (when just a few would have sealed the division). Calgary appears to be the superior team in this series and it appears to me that only if Chicago can make their home-ice advantage pay off in games 5 and 7 will they be able to topple Iron Mike’s Calgary Flames.
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