Simply an awesome game! Know what this series reminds me of? The '04 series against Detroit. Detroit was passing the puck like magicians (the Canucks - I hate to say it - have so many set passing plays that are pretty good) and the Flames countered it with speed and grit.
You can't help but get excited every time Ferland steps out onto the ice. I love having Bollig on the team right now. I love how Engelland is so tough, can play the game well, and is so controlled too. The Flames have been called with a few too many undisciplined penalties, but I think for the most part they have been controlled. Ferland learned quick in game one how he has to go about it.
We all want amazing puck-skilled players that dazzle us with their abilities. We want them to score amazing and memorable goals as often as possible. We sometimes forget how valuable guys are who can skate well, hit hard all the time, and dominate physically in a playoff series. These guys are just so invaluable to a team. The Canucks are falling apart not because of how the Flames are "out-skilling" them (though at times, they DEFINITELY are!), but they are falling apart because they are already sick and tired of getting physically dominated and looking over their shoulder constantly.
Oilers were built with a bunch of small, skilled but fairly physically weak forwards. They did a poor job compensating it with poor skaters in their bottom 6, or guys that weren't very disciplined. Flames are loaded up with guys that are big, are very disciplined, have some skill and can skate. I smile thinking that Bouma is hurt. I smile about Carrol, Smith, Hathaway, Kanzig, etc., - all kids who have great size, who are all cerebral, and with great character. Guys like these just stick out and help your team win. What Ferland, Engelland, Bollig and even Stajan are doing goes a heck of a long way in making the other team nervous, rattling them, getting them off their game, helping to win puck-battles, wearing the other team down, and also providing that emotional lift when the team needs it.
Engelland fighting 2 guys and doing well last game along with Stajan sticking up and having to fight Richardson has given this game this team the lift it needed. Stupid Canucks though... this only works if you have guys that can handle it. Thanks for providing another lift in just being dirty again. It is just giving more confidence to a guy like Ferland. There is no denying he has the entire team off its' game.
This team still has loads of skill, speed and size coming up the pipeline. This team will not care who they are playing - they have the types of personalities that will not allow this team to roll over and die at any point.
As a Flames fan, I am loving this series and watching the Canucks get plastered every game. I love how they are reacting and making themselves look like the ##### they are. I hope they call Baertschi up and give him firsthand experience at what it means to be a successful hockey player. The Flames are playing hard every shift. They are outworking the Canucks. They are making the Canucks look like the old, tired team on their last legs, and they are making the Canucks look like the much smaller team.
What a treat of a series to watch so far. I am glad Brian Burke, Treliving and Hartley are all believers in "Black and Blue" hockey. Flames don't look like the '04 Flames. They look like they are evolving into the '89 Flames with the amount of skill they have, and the guys they have that seem to relish the physical play. That is who they remind me of.
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