[PGT] Bruins 2 - Flames 1

[Bertuzzied]

How would you react if Iginla signed with the Oilers or Canucks and came back?

[Mr.Coffee]

and it was his first game back?

Same way.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

I was at the game last night and it was fun to cheer Iggy at the beginning. Anybody who is fazed by people cheering for Iginla or Boston or anything other than Calgary are morons. The main reason people were at the game yesterday was for Iginla not the Flames.

Basically, I was as hard on Iggy as anyone on this website over the last 2-3 years because I believed the way forward was by moving on. But that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve all the love, accolades, ovations, a jersey retirement and borderline a ####ing statue of him built. He is the greatest Flame ever and potentially the greatest there ever will be. He did a ridiculous amount for the community and team and city and the video might have been slightly too short but the ovation and loudness of the crowd spoke volumes.

I look forward to giving him another standing ovation when the Flames do his jersey retirement but until then I am glad the team made the changes they did, and glad for Iggy that he gets all the respect and accolades he does. He was the best.

Agreed..... same here.......

For those that got hurt by seeing people cheering for Boston/Iginla.... can't believe you spend all that money on tickets only to have your experience spoiled by which side other people cheer for. Really kind of weird.

[djsFlames]

The standing ovation during the Iginla ceremony isn't weird at all. It allowed people to say goodbye and give thanks to a great EX Flame. Cheering for Boston/Iggy after the puck drops, in your own building, whilst in Flames gear. Yeah, that's weird.

Very ####ing weird.

[burn_this_city]

Honestly who cares? If the Flames were competitive your argument would have merit. Come playoff time, a sizable portion of the city will be pulling for Boston anyhow. This game only really mattered because Iginla returned to Calgary, otherwise it would be another loss in a season where the Flames are all but destined to finish in the basement.

[SuperMatt18]

Cheering him when he touched the puck was fine.

The only time that I didn't like it was when people were chanting "Iggy" on the PowerPlay late in the third.

One goal game, team had worked hard and played a good game, that was the time to get behind your own team...not to cheer for the other team to tie the game.

[OzSome]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

Um, no. He wasn't great, nor terrible. I watched him closely tonight and he didn't have as many obvious turnovers as anyone else. I think some fans look too closely at him now.............if he has a bad game, fine. But tonight he was pretty neutral, which is what you want to see. Bad night to nitpick his play.

Butler's minutes was cut down and he wasn't playing against top lines most of the time. I think that's how Hartley should use him and not put him against the top lines and play a lot of minutes. You are right he had an okay game..not too good and not too bad. I am glad Hartley decided to put Smid and Giordano together.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Originally Posted by OzSome

Butler's minutes was cut down and he wasn't playing against top lines most of the time. I think that's how Hartley should use him and not put him against the top lines and play a lot of minutes. You are right he had an okay game..not too good and not too bad. I am glad Hartley decided to put Smid and Giordano together.

Yeah, Butler is definitely better playing in that 5/6 role. Still would like to see the 5/6 pairing upgraded down the road, especially SOB........yikes, he scares me.

And I agree, that Gio/Smid pairing is solid, blocking shots all over the place. Be interesting to see how the pairings shake out whenever Wideman returns. I liked the top 4, not sure if Hartley will stick with certain pairings or just move them around. Depending on what Feaster does between now and next summer the blueline could look pretty solid next year.

[btimbit]

^Hopefully those two alternate scratches while trying out different pieces from abbotsford

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

How would you react if Iginla signed with the Oilers or Canucks and came back?

He would be dead to me.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

How would you react if Iginla signed with the Oilers or Canucks and came back?

most hated player in the league for me...lucky thing is he wants to win a cup so wont go near either of them.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Interesting opinions. The Bruins are winners and Iggy hitched his cart to a good horse. I admire their game and cheer for them out of the east. I want the flames to do well in the long term but last night's game in meaningless for a realist.

If Iggy gets an empty netter, you have an epic event. People anticipating something as special as Iggy ending up on the scoresheet in a meaningless game for the Flames (outside of Iggy returning) can cheer as they wish.

Deriding people for looking to savour such an achievement is almost based in as much emotion and not reality as cheering hard for the Flames to win a meaningless game.

In reality the end game is playoffs or draft position, balancing pride and player development. But after an outplayed but superior Boston team takes the lead, realistically knowing where this team is, a goal for him is greater value to the crowd than a win

[Lanny_McDonald]

I waited a couple of days to post in this thread because it was such an emotional night, for many reasons. I actually was going to let it pass and not bother, until I saw this post.

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

I was at the game last night and it was fun to cheer Iggy at the beginning. Anybody who is fazed by people cheering for Iginla or Boston or anything other than Calgary are morons.

Someone got Sin Binned, to the glee of many, for a sharing a similar comment, but from the other perspective.

The main reason people were at the game yesterday was for Iginla not the Flames.

I must say, that is pretty sad.

The one thing that I can honestly say that has maintained my pride of being born and raised in Calgary was its sense of community and pride in putting that community above all. Calgarians rarely put any individual success above that of the group. When it came to celebrate the incredible success of the Calgary Winter Olympics, the spot light was not on the incredible work of Frank King, but was instead shone on the unprecedented work of the volunteers and citizens of the city itself. Rarely has Calgary elevated any of its individual players above the team they play for, for many of the same reasons. It's crass and it is so Edmonton. Our team's greatest success was not a result of an individual or a couple of great players, like the Oilers, but instead a collective of really good players with a lot of character. That team was representative of the values that made Calgary a special place to call home. I was not aware that those values had shifted so much.

I guess Iginla's career is representative of that shift. His greatest achievement, getting to the Stanley Cup, was a result of that same collective team effort. He was the star, but that success was because a bunch of faceless players all pulled together in the same direction, played through incredible adversity, and won game-after-game for each other and the fans of the city of Calgary. It wasn't long after that run that Iginla's game changed and he became more focused on one side of his game than the other. The fans also began to focus more on the one player, and keeping him happy, than the health of the overall team. Even when it came to the trade of Iginla, the team played second fiddle to the player. When a deal was struck with Boston, a team on Iginla's list, the deal was vetoed by the player and resulted in a lesser return for the player. If another player had done that they would be public enemy number one, especially if they ended up signing with the team they rebuked a few months earlier. The player was put before the team, and that was okay.

It is with great irony that Iginla returns to Calgary in a year when every team that visits replays the video of a flooded Saddledome and speaks with much admiration of the work and spirit the citizens of Calgary put in to recover from the devastation that faced the region. That community spirit and work of a collective is again alive and represented by our hockey team. There is no star player and the players work for each other. Success is only achieved when everyone plays together and performs as a unit. Yet when the Bruins, the best team in the eastern conference, come to town, that one individual is again elevated above all, even the hometown team.

I get the cheer-the-returning-hero thing. The ovation at the beginning of the game was incredible. It was what Iginla deserved for his service to the team and to the community. But once that game started that fans should have focused on the guys that represent their team and still choose to be here, playing for the flaming C. The fact that many in attendance elected to instead cheer for the Bruins down the stretch, and even boo their own players for making a hockey play in a one goal game, well that is just embarrassing and so not Calgary. I have to wonder what was going through the minds of those players, especially the young guys just finding their way into the league and the city, when they heard the fans turned on them? What affect will that have on them? I can tell you what affect it had during the game. The Bruins fed off of that emotion and it certainly didn't help the hometown team.

For years we have been looking for a team that plays hard and gives it their all. That team is here and it doesn't include the guy that so many cheered so lustily for on Tuesday night. For years we were told that there is no "I" in team, and anyone who didn't believe that could gtfo. Tuesday night we found out how important "team" is, and how many cared more for the "I" that was so ever present the last few seasons for the Flames. The were many fans that put one player, a visiting player, above their own team. That was so not the Calgary I know. I learned a lot Tuesday night about how the values of some fans from my hometown have changed. I also confirmed that there is no "I" in team, but there is two in Iginla, and for many in attendance that definitely comes before team. Good on you for the ovation at the beginning of the game. Shame on you for putting an enemy player above your own during the game.

[Dion]

Colborne takes blame for loss

“That’s frustrating. We came out, and I don’t know if you could say we totally outplayed them, but we definitely thought we were carrying the play quite a bit,” said Flames forward Joe Colborne, who took full blame for his delay-of-game penalty that led to the Bruins powerplay goal that tied the game. “That’s a tough loss for us, and we’re going to have to figure out why. We know that they have some pretty big superstars over there, but we didn’t really care for the first 40 minutes.

“Then, I think we just sat back and let them kind of take it to us in the third period.”

Lack of maturity says Hartley

“It’s a lack of maturity,” Flames head coach Bob Hartley said. “We warned them after the second period. That’s why they’re a great team. They never stop. They have one way to play, and they play the right way.

“It started early in the third — one turnover — and it seemed like we got stuck in there for five or six minutes. There’s another loose puck, and we throw it in the stands instead of throwing it away. No one does those mistakes on purpose. It’s a sign that some players are not quite ready for the mandate that we are giving them, but it’s part of a rebuild.”

We defended too much in the 3rd period

I thought we were skating well and generated offence. It’s one of those things where we just defended way too much in the third period.

“They just came at us and cranked the intensity, and we didn’t match it.”

http://www.calgarysun.com/2013/12/10...ce-former-team

[howard_the_duck]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Cheering him when he touched the puck was fine.

The only time that I didn't like it was when people were chanting "Iggy" on the PowerPlay late in the third.

One goal game, team had worked hard and played a good game, that was the time to get behind your own team...not to cheer for the other team to tie the game.

Sorry, and not to single you out, but it's time for some fans to get off their high horse.

Fans don't owe this Flames team anything - support has been very strong in the midst of one of the more challenging era's of Flames hockey to date. In an otherwise grim looking season, this Boston game was one that everyone had circled on their calendars. To that point in the game Iggy had done very little, so when there was an opportunity for him to score it's not hard to understand why they were supporting him.

No need to condemn the fans who paid a good chunk of change to cheer on the most popular Flame of all time IMO.