Was at the game last night. Wow, what an atmosphere!! The crowd had a huge buzz from beginning to end. Chants all night. Everyone having good clean fun. And the Flames did not disappoint.
Speaking of chants, how cool was it to here the Smitty chants all game. Hopefully it sounded as good on TV as it did live. Haven't had a good goalie chant since Kipper was around, and you couldn't help but feel good for Smith. He was feeding off it and was completely in the zone. I'll admit I was a worried when I heard he was the starter. But shame on me for ever doubting Bill Peters' decisions.
And Big Bad Bill Peters is a bad ass bastard. Engaged on the bench all night and completely out coached his counterpart.
Lindholm I thought was pretty good. Very physical and had the hit of the night. Even Gaudreau was grinding along. Monahan was flopping everywhere and it wasn't a good game for him. Barely noticed him other then a few shots here and there.
Gio was an animal. But I thought the best D was Hamonic. Damn, that guy really brought it from start to end, mixed it up in scrums, and was an all around reliable guy.
3M was great, especially Frolik. And of course, the 4th line continues to dominate whomever they play.
The lack of depth from the Avs really showed. The talk in my section was 'who the heck are these players' and splitting up the big 3 did nothing.
Pretty much the perfect way to start off the Flames' playoff season.