Round One: Calgary @ Chicago

The Flames are a tough bunch of mofos...the Blackhawks will have to take it to the next level at the Saddledome.

Can't wait.

:D:

Regehr is injured and hurt and Sarach both look to be out for games 3

Hockeyhero22000 wrote:Regehr is injured and hurt and Sarach both look to be out for games 3

VERY bad news for the Flames...their D has been too slow to keep up with the Hawks over the course of a game...and Chicago's young bulls are hitting them hard.

that is going to make it even more difficult for the flames

Hockeyhero22000 wrote:that is going to make it even more difficult for the flames

Yes...but they are tough...the Blackhawks have to try to put this series away quickly--because the longer it goes the more dangerous the Flames are.

i guess but who do the flames have that will come in to take those places phaneuf already plays big minutes and he is going to have to play more

Hockeyhero22000 wrote:i guess but who do the flames have that will come in to take those places phaneuf already plays big minutes and he is going to have to play more

You're right...but the Flames have been swept this year so far by Chicago so they will play desperate, 'do whatever it takes' hockey...

It'll be incredibly intense tomorrow night.

The Flames will be very dangerous. Being down 2-0 with Regher and Sarich out they are pretty much done, but they can still cause some damage. And I still remember what the Sabres did that year when they had something like 7 regulars out of the lineup and kept on going.

wprager wrote:The Flames will be very dangerous. Being down 2-0 with Regher and Sarich out they are pretty much done, but they can still cause some damage. And I still remember what the Sabres did that year when they had something like 7 regulars out of the lineup and kept on going.

The Blackhawks don't underestimate Calgary...they know exactly what the Flames can do.

And playoff hockey is full of unexpected events...witness some of the goals so far in this series.

Outstanding hockey...some of the best games I have seen in recent memory. Khabby and Kipper have been amazing.

i guess you guys are right but i believe regher is a big minute D and i know nothing of their prospects so i was wondering do they have anyone that can come in and pick up a lot of those minutes?

Hockeyhero22000 wrote:i guess you guys are right but i believe regher is a big minute D and i know nothing of their prospects so i was wondering do they have anyone that can come in and pick up a lot of those minutes?

Not to my knowledge...

Check this pic of Iggy...



Is that not the perfect shot of a captain doing what he loves and loving what he does?

Awesome!!!

I love this game.

From the Canadian Press today:


CALGARY - The end of Game 3 lit the fuse for Wednesday's Game 4 of the NHL Western Conference quarter-final series between the Calgary Flames and Chicago Blackhawks.

Chicago's Adam Burish breaking his stick on Rene Bourque's shoulder and an irate Jarome Iginla wanting a piece of Burish in the ensuing melee in front of Chicago's bench are the last images of Calgary's 4-2 win Monday.

The Flames are attempting what has never been done in franchise history and that's win a playoff series after opening 0-2.

After ending a six-game losing streak against the 'Hawks this season, Calgary intends to hold serve at Pengrowth Saddledome on Wednesday (TSN, 10 p.m. ET) and head back to Chicago even up for Saturday's Game 5.

The Blackhawks seem to have made it their mission to harry and harass Flames captain Jarome Iginla.

TSN commentator Pierre McGuire, whose perch is between the players' benches, repeated his commentary Tuesday saying he'd never seen a star player like Iginla take as much verbal abuse as the Calgary captain has this series.

"This has been going on incessantly since Game 1 and it hasn't stopped," McGuire said. "That's why Jarome at the end of the game, went off."

But Iginla insists it was the cross-check to Bourque and not any of the Blackhawks crossing the line in their insults and taunts.

"There wasn't any one thing as far as verbal that got to me," the Flames captain insisted. "I can take that. Verbal abuse is nothing. Trash talking is fine."

Flames head coach Mike Keenan said Tuesday he addressed the trash talking with Iginla, whose father is Nigerian.

"I talked to Jarome about it today and he's fine with it as long as its not racial, he doesn't care," Keenan explained. "The league will certainly deal with it if it becomes more than what it is."

What also may have added to Iginla's frustration Monday was being held to just two shots on net. He has a goal and an assist in three post-season games.

It was Bourque and foot soldiers David Moss and Eric Nystrom providing the scoring Monday.

Tuesday's other subplots included Chicago sniper Patrick Kane practising after sitting out Game 3 with what the 'Hawks said was the flu. Chicago missed the offence of their No. 2 scorer Monday.

Kane is the top goal-scorer on the power play and the 'Hawks went 1-for-7 in Game 3.

"He's probably the scariest guy in this league from the red line down," Chicago forward David Bolland said.

There were questions over whether Kane had the flu or was suffering from the thunderous check Bourque dealt him in Game 2 in Chicago. The 20-year-old from Buffalo, N.Y., contributed some levity to the avoidance and outright deception practised by NHL teams in the playoffs when it comes to revealing the nature of injuries.

"I had a funeral to go back to in Chicago. The goldfish that I had since I was 10 years old died so I had go back and say my prayers and flush him down the toilet," Kane quipped. "I just bought a turtle."

The status of Bourque, whose name just kept popping up Tuesday, may be gamesmanship on the part of Keenan, who said the winger from Lac La Biche, Alta., was "day to day to day as a result of the incident last night."

The Flames head coach insisted Monday that Burish injured Bourque with a "blatant" cross-check to the face, although replays showed the stick broke over Bourque's chest and shoulder. Bourque was not made available to the media Tuesday to clarify his status.

"I don't think I crossed the line," Burish said. "I did what needed to be done. It's playoff hockey. It's the same reason they're hitting our guys and they come at me and the same reason I'm going at them.

"Mike Keenan called it a cross-check to the head. It wasn't too close to the head. I think he was wrong."

Burish and Bourque were Blackhawks teammates last year before Bourque's trade to Calgary. They also played together at Wisconsin.

"I'm still going to hopefully have a beer with him after the season is done, but he's not my friend on the ice," Burish said.

As for getting under Iginla's skin, it's long been a point of debate -- even with Iginla himself -- that he plays better when he's angry.

Teammate Craig Conroy believes that's true and says the Blackhawks may wake a sleeping giant if they keep up their campaign against Iginla.

"They're trying to come after Jarome and if they think that's going to work, that's what they're going to keep doing," Conroy said. "But on the other hand, Jarome gets fired up and we feel he plays better when he's on the edge like that."

So the stage is set for an acrimonious Game 4.

"It's going to be a blast, it's going to be mean, it's going to be nasty and that's what I love," Burish said.

When asked if he thought the physicality of the series would continue to escalate, Keenan replied: "In hockey, you can't run out of bounds. There's no where to go."


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This has been an excellent series so far.

In terms of the TSN coverage, McGuire has totally lost the plot. He's become a Flames cheerleader. His insinuation that the Hawks are using racial slurs ignores that Dustin Byfuglien is black.

While I concede his hockey knowledge and work ethic, I have never liked McGuire's self serving attitude--including his constant namedropping--and his grandstanding, but last night was disgusting.

I can deal with announcers and writers who openly declare they are fans of the home team, but that doesn't preclude doing your job as a professional.

In contrast, Chicago announcers like Pat Foley, Steve Konroyd and Troy Murray are not afraid to criticize the Hawks and compliment opponents for their good play.

TSN is supposed to be a NATIONAL sports network. IMHO they should can McGuire until he learns to put a lid on it.

Blackhawks Team Report

Yahoo! Sports April 22 2009
Inside Shots

The Blackhawks looked good on their home ice, but not in Calgary’s Pengrowth Saddledome.

After getting soundly whipped by the Flames in the third game of their best-of-seven series the Hawks must regroup for Game 4 on Wednesday, also at Calgary.

Nikolai Khabibulin has beaten the Flames more than any other team in his career, but they had his number in Game 3.

A key for the Hawks will also be the health of winger Patrick Kane. He sat out the third game with the flu.

Flames 4, Blackhawks 2: Patrick Sharp put the Hawks ahead 2:03 into the game, then the Flames scored four unanswered goals.

Notes, Quotes

• Colin Fraser got into his first Stanley Cup playoff game when Patrick Kane came down with the flu. Fraser, who played in 81 of the 82 regular season games, was a healthy scratch in the two postseason games at the United Center. His return to the lineup created only minimal line changes. Patrick Sharp moved into Kane’s spot on the top line and Fraser, who played four years of junior hockey in Red Deer, an hour’s drive away, centered for the fourth line with usual linemates Ben Eager and Adam Burish.

• Faceoffs were a problem for the Hawks most of the season, but not in the first two games of the series. They won 67 of 113 draws with Sammy Pahlsson winning 18 of his 26. That changed in Game 3 as the Flames won 36-of-66 and Pahlsson took only 2-of-9.

Correcting the faceoff problem was one reason general manager Dale Tallon acquired Pahlsson from Anaheim at the trade deadline.

• Sammy Pahlsson’s former team, the Anaheim Ducks, have been the talk of the playoffs so far by winning two road games against President’s Trophy-winning San Jose. “I’m not surprised. I knew they were good,” said Pahlsson, who came to the Hawks in the trade that sent James Wisniewski to the Ducks.

• In the history of the Stanley Cup playoffs teams that won the first two games went on to win a playoff series 87.3 percent of the time. Calgary has never come from an 0-2 deficit to win but the Flames did rally against Detroit in the first round of the 2007 playoffs. After going two games down they won the next two games before losing the series in six games.

• Roger Millions, a Calgary TV sports reporter covering the series, has been taken off the air for a few days after uttering an obscenity while filing a report from the United Center.

Quote To Note: “It’s real good for a team to win a lot of faceoffs. I had a real good game (vs. Calgary on Sunday when he won 10 of 12 draws), but it’s still a battle out there. It’s not like I won every one clean. You need wingers and defensemen to come in and take faceoffs, too.”—Hawks’ center Sammy Pahlsson, on the Hawks’ improvement in winning draws.

The war rages on tonight...

Jarome and the Flames will comme out gunning.

Pierre McGuire will be wearing his Flames tie.

HA HA! I missed his insinuation about the racial slurs... when was this?