That was an unbelievably fun one to experience in person. Bruins fans were more respectful than I was anticipating and also hilarious to listen to throughout the game. Great performance by the boys and was very impressed with everyone.
As the second arena experience outside of the Saddledome for myself, I think the Bruins arena itself was awesome. The concourse is phenomenal and very logically laid out without the same degree of massive crowding we see during the intermissions at the Saddledome. The jumbotron is huge and easy to see from everywhere in the arena. The seats, however, felt a lot more squished together compared to the Saddledome but thankfully we had a couple empty seats beside us which made it not as squishy as it could have been. I also thought the in-game experience itself was also pretty lacking with the only replay we saw being that of the Bruins goal. I would have expected replays of penalties or at the very least, the shot the Bruins rung off the post but was surprised to see nothing.
The in-game announcements were also brutal with the Bruins goal being announced four and a half minutes after they scored and after the Flames had already scored again. They also seemed to randomly choose which penalties they would announce and the one minute remaining announcement was made when there were like 52 seconds left in the third which was odd. I wasn’t sure if it was perhaps partially due to it not being the regular crew working the game and doing the PA announcements as I think they had mentioned something about it being a special game to honour women in hockey with an all-women crew tonight but something felt off. We were at the Celtics game earlier in the week and had a much better fan experience than we did at the game this evening.
Overall, was a super fun time though. I am looking forward to seeing what the Flames will do with their new arena.
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Pretty sure Tre talked about Neal and how he sold him on what he could bring. I don't feel like going back to look for it though. Treliving was a hard worker who always tried to bring in some big names. I am just happy Conroy is here and is doing a good job.
He didn't look at Neal's background hard enough then.
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People are talking about the Lindholm trade, but there's actually been a remarkable amount of turnover in a very short time. In less than two weeks:
• Ruzicka out on waivers. Skilled, but terribly inconsistent, and not much good for anything when not scoring. Not good enough for the top six, not responsible enough for the bottom six.
• DeSimone out on waivers. I liked him, but he was a minor-league player and a bit in over his head.
• Dube out, suspended. The team tried him all over the place this season, but he just didn't perform anywhere.
• Lindholm out, traded. A good player having an awful season. Didn't want to re-sign here, didn't have chemistry with any of the remaining roster players, seemed mentally checked out.
In short, four square pegs on a team with nothing but round holes.
• Kuzmenko in, via trade. Clicked instantly with Huberdeau, and gave the team a desperately needed scoring threat.
• Pachal in, from waivers. A tough, no-nonsense defenceman who couldn't stick as a regular on last year's champions, but looks pretty good here so far.
• Pelletier and Rooney in, from IR/AHL. A good prospect and a journeyman, both recovering from identical serious injuries and both eager to get their careers back on track.
For the situation the Flames are in, I'd say all four changes are positive. Kuzmenko > Lindholm, Pachal > DeSimone, Pelletier > Ruzicka, Rooney > Dube. All of the new guys are highly motivated, and all the guys who seemed to be moping are gone.
The next few weeks will be very interesting.
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People are talking about the Lindholm trade, but there's actually been a remarkable amount of turnover in a very short time. In less than two weeks:
• Ruzicka out on waivers. Skilled, but terribly inconsistent, and not much good for anything when not scoring. Not good enough for the top six, not responsible enough for the bottom six.
• DeSimone out on waivers. I liked him, but he was a minor-league player and a bit in over his head.
• Dube out, suspended. The team tried him all over the place this season, but he just didn't perform anywhere.
• Lindholm out, traded. A good player having an awful season. Didn't want to re-sign here, didn't have chemistry with any of the remaining roster players, seemed mentally checked out.
In short, four square pegs on a team with nothing but round holes.
• Kuzmenko in, via trade. Clicked instantly with Huberdeau, and gave the team a desperately needed scoring threat.
• Pachal in, from waivers. A tough, no-nonsense defenceman who couldn't stick as a regular on last year's champions, but looks pretty good here so far.
• Pelletier and Rooney in, from IR/AHL. A good prospect and a journeyman, both recovering from identical serious injuries and both eager to get their careers back on track.
For the situation the Flames are in, I'd say all four changes are positive. Kuzmenko > Lindholm, Pachal > DeSimone, Pelletier > Ruzicka, Rooney > Dube. All of the new guys are highly motivated, and all the guys who seemed to be moping are gone.
The next few weeks will be very interesting.
The past few years the Flames have struggled with "passengers", even some of our top players have played like passengers when things were not going right with them. Johnny, Matt even had seasons like that. I think that this has been a long-time Flames issue. Inconsistency can hold the team back from winning games, costly penalties, broken plays, and poor efforts. There have been times when it just seemed like the players dictated the efforts during the season and playoffs. Hopefully, we start to see better team efforts and individual play.
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I arrived in Austin, TX today to expand my company operations in the US. First game I haven't watched in over 4 years. If this is the result then I'm never leaving Austin or watching a game again I guess.
Right from the first shift I loved the skill level on display from Huby and Kuzmenko. Creative plays and passes. That line will definitely be fun to watch win or lose.
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