[GDT] Flames @ Greasers

[jlh2640]

Enough talk Calgary Flames. Put up or shut up tonight.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

I am perplexed how a team that has a clear 12 point lead over the other plays so timid. So much so the local board has (justified) anxiety all over it. I would understand if this was the Ducks, as they ice good teams each year.

Yes this team causing so much anxiety is in danger of sliding into 28th place by the weekend.

Just totally perplexes me.

These games have almost nothing to do with the quality of the teams themselves and more about the Flames playing timid and feeling sorry for themselves as soon as the Oilers go up by 1.

It's in their heads.

[EVERLAST]

Well we're doomed now that the coil now has Paul friggin Coffey willing them to win.

I hope we don't see McDavid put on a clinic tonight making everyone look like a pylon.

Excited to see Rittich tonight and hope to see a line with Mangiapane Lomberg and Hathaway....id like to see what these guys can do.

Let's win .....no more loser points, overtime or shootouts. Settle this in regulation please

[Flash Walken]

I love the idea of Puppet Guy's wife coming down to the laundry room, shaking her head, and walking back up stairs.

what a life it must be to be THE puppet guy.

[-TC-]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I'm excited as the Battle of Alberta is always one of the more anticipated games of the regular season but it's also accompanied by dread. I know that some fans point to the coach's record against the Oilers but I feel it's more than that. I feel the BOA simply means more to the Oilers right now as it's showed in how they have outplayed the Flames over the past few seasons. If just means more to them. Spector a few days ago was still romanticizing over how good the Oilers looked in game one of the season. It's their Stanley Cup and the Flames have oddly treated these games like just another game.

I actually believe the Oilers were a no-show against the Sabres because they were looking ahead to this game as it means so much to them. I expect to see their best effort in a long time. I think the Flames are going to have to score the first goal in this game as if the Oilers score first things seem to just unravel like last game. One thin I am sure of is that one goal is not going to secure a loser point tonight.

This is the Stanley Cup for the oilers and their filthy mouth-breathing fans

[Beninho]

This is one of the most important games of the season imo, will the Flames show that they are a team that can learn from their mistakes in past meetings with the Oil and capitalize on a team with the worst Home PK in the history of the NHL. Will the Flames show their fans that they are able to perform in high pressure rivalry games that have similar atmospheres to playoff games? If they lose this game in bad fashion I will really be questioning the leadership and coaching on this team. I will also question whether this team has what it takes to go far in the post-season.

[the2bears]

I've got a good feeling about this game. Flames show up and chase Talbot.

[bigrangy]

Lomberg and Rittich in, I like it!

Should be a good game, hopefully the good Flames show up

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Well, that is just silly.

Maybe for you but a playoff caliber team would find a way to throttle the Oiler's tonight. Especially considering they've let three games slip away due to an anemic offense and PP.

I'm not going to continue to be fooled by this team that is simply starting to rest on its laurels again after a hot stretch. If they can't get up and dominate this greasy turd, doormat of a team that has been, quite frankly, embarrassing them beyond belief for the last 2 seasons, how are they going to do so when it actually matters? This game will speak volumes of this groups character against a team that is getting absolutely blown out of the water this month.

[CNeufeld]

Originally Posted by the2bears

I've got a good feeling about this game. Flames show up and chase Talbot.

This.

I'm going over to the in-law's place tonight to watch the game with a bunch of Oiler fans. Gone home depressed more times recently than I'd like, and it would be spectacular to go home smiling!

C

[Cecil Terwilliger]

5-0 Flames. Complete with jersey toss and jersey urinal cake. Or maybe a urine soaked jersey toss.

[-TC-]

a quick Edmonton story...

I was flying back from California a few weeks ago and our last connection was in Vancouver to Edmonton.

We walk up to the gate when boarding starts and it's wall to wall baseball caps (most backwards), fatties and bad tattoos.

I turn to my daughter and say 'this must be our gate', she looks around and says 'oh yah, for sure'.

because, Edmonton.

[the2bears]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

5-0 Flames. Complete with jersey toss and jersey urinal cake. Or maybe a urine soaked jersey toss.

A record setting loss for the Oilers

[Puppet Guy]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

I love the idea of Puppet Guy's wife coming down to the laundry room, shaking her head, and walking back up stairs.

what a life it must be to be THE puppet guy.

You've pretty much summed it up - the confused/resigned head shake is a daily staple. Never a dull moment, but a lot of strange ones.


...and incidentally, Mrs Puppet has ordered me to clarify that that is indeed NOT her laundry room.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

https://twitter.com/user/status/956611034466304000

close enough...

[NewFan]

Originally Posted by Otto-matic

I just hope GG has a plan for McDavid finally.

I think this is the biggest weakness of GG. He doesn't prepare a special plan for a different teams or players. Bad at control/feel game flow. Doesn't do line matching or double shifting or benching.
Try to play same game against all teams.
He is OK during the regular season, but in the playoff, I think, he will be outcoached.
I expect same game as last games and if we get lucky bounces we will win.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

Maybe for you but a playoff caliber team would find a way to throttle the Oiler's tonight. Especially considering they've let three games slip away due to an anemic offense and PP.

Mmm. No. The Flames of last year—a "playoff calibre team"—managed to lose all four of their games against the Edmonton Oilers. If the Flames lose tonight, there is no good reason to believe that they will not be in the playoffs in April. Chances remain high that they will get there regardless of tonight's result.

I'm not going to continue to be fooled by this team that is simply starting to rest on its laurels again after a hot stretch. If they can't get up and dominate this greasy turd, doormat of a team that has been, quite frankly, embarrassing them beyond belief for the last 2 seasons, how are they going to do so when it actually matters? This game will speak volumes of this groups character.

I get it. It is emotional because of who the Oilers are and the long history between these two teams. But like it or not, most players in today's NHL are not nearly as invested in these rivalries as fans—it's not like it was in the 1980s and 'nineties, and it never will be again. That is not to say that players don't care—it is to say that they don't care a lot more about winning this game than they did about winning against the Kings last night.

In the end, if the Flames are good enough on the balance of the schedule to make the playoffs they will—regardless of how well or poorly they play in games against the Oilers. In a seven game playoff series with a team other than the Oilers—who will not be there, the Flames' performance against Edmonton will have virtually no bearing AT ALL on the outcome.

Connecting the collective fate of the team and coaches to their fortunes within this single series of games is becoming tiresome, because one really does not have anything to do with the other. This is not an acceptance of "mediocrity" as I will undoubtedly be accused of for this post. It is a sober recognition that there is a much, MUCH bigger picture here.

[direwolf]

Don't think I've ever been this nervous before a regular season game before. I just have no idea what's gonna happen tonight, which is incredibly sad considering we're playing one of the worst teams in the league with one of the worst home records and the worst PK.

Please Flames, just show up and get the damn 2 points. I don't care how.

And for the love of all that is holy, please score more than 1 goal.

[Otto-matic]

Originally Posted by NewFan

I think this is the biggest weakness of GG. He doesn't prepare a special plan for a different teams or players. Bad at control/feel game flow. Doesn't do line matching or double shifting or benching.
Try to play same game against all teams.
He is OK during the regular season, but in the playoff, I think, he will be outcoached.
I expect same game as last games and if we get lucky bounces we will win.

Agreed hundop.

It always seems to spiral out of control once McMuffin does something and its panic matching for GG.

[442scotty]

They need to win tonight. No excuses will be accepted. If they want to prove they are good enough to be in the playoffs they need to beat the clown show up north.