*I'm assuming CFF is still unavailable to put these together, hopefully not stepping on anyone's toes...
Calgary Flames: 33-25-4, 3rd Pacific, 8th West, 16th NHL
Philadelphia Flyers: 27-25-11, 5th Metro, 10th East, 20th NHL
"Well, here we are, Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why."
Though today's game against the Flyers will not be the first that Mark Giordano has missed this year (that being the 2-1 loss to the Islanders), the sense of hope created by Gio taking the warmups on the Island is gone. Reality has surely set in for Gio, his teammates, and us the fans. Sitting in a playoff spot, only by virtue of the ROW tiebreaker, with just 20 games remaining, the Calgary Flames will be without their leader and best player for the duration of the season.
It may be a cruel fate for a team seemingly destined for something more, but this fate should not be viewed as the end of the Flames' playoff chances, but an opportunity to prove everyone wrong, and make the playoffs for Gio. That opportunity starts this evening in Philadelphia, where the Flyers have been rather dominant, at 18-8-5 this season.
This team has been a rather peculiar study this season. Dominant top-end scoring from Giroux and Voracek, who are both hovering around a point-per-game. Fantastic PP at 23.3% (3rd in the league). Hideous PK at 76.3% (3rd last). They have seemingly gotten great goaltending from Steve Mason (2.25, 0.926), but, at 12-13-7, he has a worse record than Ray Emery's 10-10-4, while Emery is sporting 3.15 and 0.893. Mason is back from his knee injury and will start tonight. Keys for the Flames will be to stay out of the box, and try to keep Giroux and Voracek in check.
Trade Deadline: The Flames shipped out Glencross and Baertschi for picks, and this will be the first game without #20 in the lineup. Depending on who you ask, this could be a positive or a negative for the Flames. Bouma has done a lot lately (in terms of taking lots of defensive assignments and still creating offense) for me to think the blow won't be too huge. Though whenever you remove a forward who has been trusted on both ends of the ice for so long like Glencross, there will be a void to fill. The Flyers traded Braydon Coburn for a rather nice return, but it has left their blue line looking pretty thin for the rest of the season.
Lineups: Schlemko is not expected to play, so we'll likely see the same D pairings as last game. Lines are from yesterday's practice, but with Shore recalled, and Granlund sent down, expect some changes. Grossman and Gudas are injured for the Flyers.
Ramo likely starting in goal
Mason confirmed starting in goal
Go Flames Go!
Flames @ Flyers, 5pm, SNW
It just has a poll attached to it, which is maybe why you missed it?
