NHL Fantasy League - Game On - Episode VI

[CrONoS]

No penalty for Ribeiro....
But one for calgary.....

....?????

Edited:Typo

[Asher]

Iginla gets another goal. 2nd goal, 3rd point tonight.

I knew he was back.

[joncha]

Luongo

[Asher]

So far the only people on my roster who have points are Flames players.

Other teams.

[CrONoS]

People of Calgary will throw rocks on refs....

[Asher]

The last home game (against Vancouver) was far, far worse for reffing...if you can believe it.

[CrONoS]

.....
Chuck Norris will roundhouse kick any Calgary refs.

[Asher]

I admit to not following most Habs games...

But is 12 shots on goal so far par for the course, or is the Calgary D just that good?

Especially given the 6 PPs they've had, and 1 5-3.

[Asher]

Kovalev! 3-2

[Asher]

3-2 final for Calgary.

And Montreal has one rough road trip ahead...

[Sava]

Originally posted by joncha
Luongo

and I have 2 goals and 3 assists on the bench tonight!

Blake, Selanne and Smolinski!!

[joncha]

Beats the goal and assist on my bench.

[Ninot]

to clarify some things....

Souray got intent to injure automatically cuz he faught with a wrist guard, huge nono, so he was thrown out. sucked

Was a terribly boring game. I don't know if thats how Calgary plays, or if the Habs were just playing dumb for half the game. The previous 2 Gainey coached games were nothing like that.

However, for the low shot total, I dont know, it seems par for the course lately. But we played Dallas the other night, and they routinely only allow less than 20 shots a game, so maybe it was Calgary shutting us down with a trap.

[Asher]

Why is it that most people who mention "the trap" have no idea what it is?

Calgary plays a hard forechecking game. That is not the trap. If you want the trap, look at the Devils from a couple years ago.

[Asher]

Here's a recent article from the Star Tribune (a Minnesota paper) about the Flames and how they play. Specifically, it talks about how Calgary is ranked a lot higher than Minnesota, even though Minnesota's stats were better virtually across the board.

http://www.startribune.com/1330/story/183142.html

Wild doesn't add up to Flames
Statistically, the Wild is identical to, if not better than, the Calgary Flames. Realistically, it's not, for many reasons.
Michael Russo, Star Tribune

Last update: January 14, 2006 – 12:14 AM

The question was posed to Jacques Lemaire, and for 15 seconds the speechless Wild coach reacted by putting his head down, rubbing his chin and squinting his eyes like he was trying to untangle the world's trickiest trigonometry application.

"That's a good question," Lemaire said, shaking his head.

The question was posed to several around the Wild locker room after Friday's hourlong practice, and the query triggered almost identical head-scratching reactions from players.

How the heck is it possible that the Northwest Division-leading Calgary Flames, winners of three in a row over the Wild heading into tonight's game at Xcel Energy Center, have 11 more points (55 compared with 44)?

After all, the Wild has scored six more goals (122 to 116) than the Flames. The Wild has given up six fewer (107 to 113).

The Wild has the 11th-best power play, seven spots higher. The Wild has the top-ranked penalty kill, 18 spots higher. Manny Fernandez and Dwayne Roloson have a 2.39 goals-against average, .07 better than Miikka Kiprusoff and seldom-used Philippe Sauve.

Leading scorers Brian Rolston of Minnesota and Jarome Iginla of Calgary have 18 goals apiece, but Rolston has nine more points.

On paper, the Wild is better.

In reality, the Wild is not.

"They're a hard-working team," Wild center Wes Walz said. "We know every time we play Calgary, if we don't come to work and play hard, the chances of us winning automatically decrease."

Still, there must be some reason the Flames execute so much better than the Wild when it counts. For instance, in one-goal games, the Flames are 16-5-5 (37 points) and the Wild is 6-10-4 (16 points).

"And it's not like they're ultra-talented," Rolston said. "I mean, they have guys that score over there, but I really don't think they have so much more talent than us. I can't put my finger on it, but the first thing I think of when I think of the Calgary Flames is work ethic."

Still, there are two huge differences: forechecking forwards and well-rounded blue line.

Forechecking: While the Wild, one of the league's top transition teams, sits back in its trap in search of turnovers, the defensively strong Flames get the puck and proceed to forecheck that puck.

The Wild spends much of the game scrambling around its own zone, while the Flames dictate play and spend most of the game bombarding the opponent's zone.

Sure, on many nights they get very little return for their effort, but after spending a minute on an aggressive forecheck, by the time Calgary loses the puck, the opponent's gassed and ready for a line change.

After all, the best defense occurs in the offensive zone.

"If they get the puck and cycle in the corners and hit the defensemen and keep it in and spend the whole time in your end, by the time you get the puck, you're dead and can't go on offense," Wild defenseman Nick Schultz said.

This, of course, is the result of the way both teams are built.

The Flames, built by ex-blue-collar forward Darryl Sutter, have Iginla, arguably the game's best power forward, and hard-working forwards like Daymond Langkow, Marcus Nilson, Stephane Yelle, Shean Donovan, Chris Simon, Darren McCarty, Jason Wiemer and Byron Ritchie.

The Wild, led by forwards like Rolston, Marian Gaborik, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Alexandre Daigle, Todd White, Randy Robitaille and Pascal Dupuis, has a lot of speed and is offensive-minded but lacks grit.

"[The Flames are] intense," Lemaire said. "They get their goals by sending the puck at the net and driving there and banging the puck."

Well-rounded blue line: Physicality -- Rhett Warrener, Dion Phaneuf, Robyn Regehr, Andrew Ference, Roman Hamrlik and Bryan Marchment. For the Wild, only Alex Henry offers a consistent physical effort. Offense -- Phaneuf, Hamrlik and Jordan Leopold. For the Wild, only Kurtis Foster offers a consistent offensive threat, although Filip Kuba and Andrei Zyuzin are capable.

Phaneuf might be the West's best rookie and a potential Norris Trophy contender. "Dion has been our best player. All year. Period. It isn't even close," Sutter said.

Phaneuf will track you like a shark, then attack with a bruising check. Plus, he's third on Calgary with 27 points. He has 11 goals, the first Flames rookie defenseman to crack double-digit goals since Gary Suter in 1985-86.

"They probably are the best defensive squad in the league," Lemaire said.

To compare, the Flames' blue line has 23 goals and 70 points, while the Wild's has 20 goals and 58 points.

But when it comes down to it, the one common denominator is work ethic. Calgary works harder than most. "The by-product of not working hard is going out there and being bad and losing," Warrener said.

This is probably a good educational read for people like Sava and likeminded people who think Sutter is a bad coach. Sutter-style is what makes this team tick.