Regular Season hockey on TV tonight! - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

604flames · 09-20-2007, 07:21 PM

For those who are interested, the WHL season opener is on Shaw TV tonight starting at 7:30 MT.

Kootenay Ice @ Edmonton Oil Kings by the way..

604flames · 09-20-2007, 10:11 PM

ugh..

Edmonton scores a weeeeeak goal with 1.4 seconds left to win, 4-3.

Trivia fans, Alex Archibald becomes the first (I think) WHL goalie to win inaugural games for expansion teams two years in a row (last year with the Chilliwack Bruins).

Resolute 14 · 09-20-2007, 10:30 PM

That's a good result, imo. The Oil Kings are going to finish 6th in the division. Kootenay losing only helps the Hitmen's chances of winning the division. Game 1 can mean just as much as game 72.

I'm extremely surprised that the attendance was only 6782 though. The Hitmen have nearly that many season tickets overall! Still, a lot better than the Ice ever drew in Edmonton.

604flames · 09-20-2007, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snakeeye

I'm extremely surprised that the attendance was only 6782 though. The Hitmen have nearly that many season tickets overall! Still, a lot better than the Ice ever drew in Edmonton.

Me too actually (I chose not to quote the good result part 'cause the Ice are my team haha). The Giants' home opener, for comparison, drew 7,750 (even though the best part was when everyone in attendance booed then-mayor Philip Owen).

The Ice only ever played a handful of games at the Coliseum though, and their regular home rink, the Northlands Agricom had a much smaller capacity (which they averaged about 1,800 paid attendance per game). Add that to the fact that the Oilers were rumored to be leaving, and the Ice managing only 31 wins in two seasons, and the Chynoweth family didn't have much of a choice.

For the record, the largest crowd to see the Ice play in Edmonton was 5,748 on Mar. 7, 1998 (at the Coliseum) against Moose Jaw. The teams tied 4-4, with current Ice assistant coach Kris Knoblauch scoring a goal for Edmonton.

getbak · 09-21-2007, 12:01 AM

I saw a bit of the game and the lower bowl looked to be completely full, with the upper bowl completely empty. They mentioned it was a sell-out, so they must have decided to limit their attendance for some reason.

Julio · 09-21-2007, 01:43 AM

At least for now the Oil Kings are only selling the lower deck.

Resolute 14 · 09-21-2007, 10:34 AM

Well, that would explain the crowd, but that is a really poor decision by the Oilers then. The best seats in both Rexall and the Saddledome are the first rows of the upper bowl.

And for a game like last nights, the first ever in franchise history, one would think they could have done better. Though I suppose until they gauge what the interest really will be, they felt it better not to hire ushers, etc to patrol what might have been an empty upper bowl.

dionfan · 09-22-2007, 02:50 PM

Yeah, the Kings might not do too well, but who knows, they might end up pulling an Everett and get all the way to the league finals in their first year.

getbak · 09-22-2007, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dionfan

Yeah, the Kings might not do too well, but who knows, they might end up pulling an Everett and get all the way to the league finals in their first year.

Well, it would be nice for the people of Edmonton to be able to see some playoff hockey this year.

Resolute 14 · 09-22-2007, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dionfan

Yeah, the Kings might not do too well, but who knows, they might end up pulling an Everett and get all the way to the league finals in their first year.

Not with that roster, and certainly not with the WHL moving to a conference playoff format this year. Instead of being better than two teams, they would have to be better than four. Ain't happening.

Though judging by how they have beaten Kootenay again tonight, I might have given the Ice too much credit.

Hitmen go to 2-0 tonight as well, sweeping the opening series against Red Deer.

604flames · 09-22-2007, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snakeeye

Though judging by how they have beaten Kootenay again tonight, I might have given the Ice too much credit.

Ice need one more defenseman, they miss Bohunicky and Busto, not to mention Maxwell + Russell up front. Also, Lazaruk needs to get used to being the #1 and take the reins from Dakers. They've always had good goaltending in Kootenay, and Lazaruk is decent just had a rough start.

Gotta give Edmonton some credit though sounds like they took it to 'em.. But then again the 96-97 Edmonton Ice started 3-0 and they didn't end up doing so well...

Resolute 14 · 09-22-2007, 11:00 PM

Heh, point taken. The Oil Kings will be better than the expansion Ice were, but really, they best they can hope for is to finish ahead of Red Deer in the Central.

Though given how weak the Eastern Conference is as a whole, and the East division especially, who knows? 5th in the Central might actually make the playoffs.

604flames · 09-23-2007, 08:03 PM

I'm just glad I get a chance to see the Ice at the Coliseum this season.. Last year they managed to visit Seattle, Everett and Chilliwack but missed Vancouver altogether. Planning on hitting up about 20 Giants games this season (have access to rarely-used season tix at $10/seat), definitely going to see the Hitmen and Tigers too Calgary's roster looks really deep!

Resolute 14 · 09-24-2007, 10:02 AM

Deep enough that we were ranked #2 in the country behind only London.

Defense is hurting though with both Mercer and Seabrook injured.

Looking forward to beating down the Ice tonight.

Not sure why we picked it back up, but at Hitmen games, we chant "Kootenay Sucks" at every...single....game. It was loud on Friday.... I'm sure the Red Deer players thought we were crazy.

604flames · 09-24-2007, 10:47 AM

It's gotta have somethin' to do with the Edmonton connection, and the Ice and Hitmen had a couple doozy playoff series in '99 and 2000 (last year's was good too, kind of a let-down at the end though)..

The last Ice game I went to at the Saddledome was way back in '99 (a 6-3 Hitmen win) and they/y'all were doin' it then too haha..

Resolute 14 · 09-24-2007, 11:59 AM

Yeah, it was picked back up last year. Not sure why, but it is damn funny.

It was especially funny in Cranbrook for game 1 last year, where the organist out there played the song that leads to that chant, and all the Calgary fans yelled out "Kootenay Sucks!" at the end - loud enough that you could hear it on TV. To the best of my knowledge, they didn't play it again the rest of the series.

604flames · 09-25-2007, 12:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snakeeye

Looking forward to beating down the Ice tonight.

Guess so hey? First 0-3 start ever for the Ice, even during the Edmonton years.. But they started 1-3 last year and ended up having a decent regular season so no need for any panic button in the 250.

Nice to see Brett Sonne with a couple of goals, my mom used to work with his dad, apparently he used to head to CGY or Everett (where his other kid plays) every weekend to watch games.

How did Negrin look? He hasn't had the fanfare on the North Shore like either Brule or even Ben Maxwell did, but I was pretty impressed with what I saw of him last season..

Resolute 14 · 09-25-2007, 12:25 PM

Negrin looked alright, though he took a pretty useless interference penalty that, if memory serves, cost the Ice a goal.

I found it intersting they didnt go with Lazaruk in net. Did he start both games vs Edmonton? The kid who did play wasn't all that bad, especially having to face ten shots in the first four minutes. Sonne made him look like a fool on the first SHG though.

Kootenay's lack of discipline surprised me. They took a lot of bad holding and interference penalties. That, and they really couldn't keep up to the Hitmen. I am amazed at how fast this Calgary team is. Just insane.