May 30, 2004

It is written.: This article makes about as much sense as OUR Flames being up 2-1 in the SCF. If you watched the game tonight, you will have seen Vincent Lecalvelier brandishing his broken stick like a sword. I believe. I just came back from the Joyous Mayhem of the Red Mile (17th Ave) .

posted by kremb to hockey at 01:58 AM - 12 comments

Hilarious link. But as an important point of correction, she didn't say a player would brandish a broken stick -- that would be a huge penalty guaranteed to cost the player some games. She said he'd hold a stick. It's a real shame that no one is watching this series. These teams are flying up and down the ice like it was the '80s all over again. As a Stars fan, I'm still bitter about Iginla.

posted by rcade at 11:18 AM on May 30, 2004

i read that article before the series started (or the day it was published, whenever that was) and found it odd and amusing but i didn't want to point it out to anyone in case somehow that broke the spell. i am too caught up in my own sports karma during the stanley cup playoffs. and the flames fans can be bitter about once having had and giving up Martin St Louis and Robert Lang. everyone has a transaction to lament. i watched the game last night (nothing like making my way home after the game and seeing the sun rising) and sheesh, all three games have had 3 goal margins of victory. first team to score wins. low on drama but as a flames supporter I won't complain if the first three games don't seem to measure up to that of a classic.

posted by gspm at 01:46 PM on May 30, 2004

I think it's awesome that Iginla and Lecavalier threw down in the 1st period, fists flying. I was shocked. I'd never seen anything like it, and the degree of intensity was just awesome.

posted by insomnyuk at 03:18 PM on May 30, 2004

He has his stick in the air and he's holding it like a sword. Maybe she was thinking of Slap Shot. It was on TV yesterday. What a prediction!

posted by mkn at 06:53 PM on May 30, 2004

i watched the game last night (nothing like making my way home after the game and seeing the sun rising) and sheesh, all three games have had 3 goal margins of victory. first team to score wins. This is true, but it doesn't make for an unexciting game. Games 2 was a one-goal game until things broke down into the third period. Game 3 wasn't broken open until late in the second, and Tampa still looked dangerous in the third. Sure, the first-period shots were 5-2, but each team also had 5 missed nets and 5 blocked shots. Calgary's last first-period power play felt dangerous and close to scoring; they just missed the net about four times. Cute link, by the way.

posted by DrJohnEvans at 08:03 AM on May 31, 2004

rcade, no one may be watching the series in the US, but in Canada it's getting the highest Stanley Cup ratings in years. This town is going crazy. I live just a few blocks from "The Red Mile" that kremb referenced above, and it sure is a sight to behold...

posted by sauril at 09:59 AM on May 31, 2004

The masses of people on the street is a welcome change from SUVs tooling down Yonge Street leaning on their horns. And I love The Score's post-game picture-in-picture feature: the player and coach interviews are in a tiny window in the corner, with the main screen dominated by live footage of the Red Mile.

posted by DrJohnEvans at 11:23 AM on May 31, 2004

all this talk about the mentalness of calgary and the coverage makes me sigh with a sense that I am missing something. sure, i haven't lived there for years but I can only imagine what the buzz of the place must be and even then I think my imagination would come up short.

posted by gspm at 01:24 PM on May 31, 2004

Although the shots have been kept to a minimum I really think this is good hockey. The first period of game three was one of the most intense and harest hitting I've ever seen. A fight occuring in the Stanley cup final is a pretty rare thing, and there have been 3 so far in this series. That really is a funny article, and I rember seeing Lecalvelier holding a broken stick like a sword right after he tried to hold up Iginla in the center ice and broke his stick doing it (before the 1st goal in the second period I believe). The buzz here really is unbelieveable. I have yet to talk to someone who isn't following the games. I've been told that traffic is nearly non-existant during games, and apparently crime is down as well. The fact that the Saddledome sold out for game 2 with nothing more to draw fans than the TV broadcost on a couple large screens and open concesssions sums it up pretty well. As for the Red Mile a local paper has a article mentioning that things might be starting to get out of hand. It should be mentioned that the fan who was hurt was actually involved in a fight at a bar in the Saddledome, not on 17th Ave.

posted by camcanuck at 01:35 PM on May 31, 2004

There definitely is an element that goes down there for the party and the flashing. It's too bad but it is to be expected. The cops are doing a great job, letting little things go but cracking down on fights and other not-so-good stuff. The road was soaked with poured out beer.

posted by sauril at 03:03 PM on May 31, 2004

going back to rcade's comment about the stars + iginla.... i see that last night richards scored his 7th GWG in the playoffs which set a new record. he broke the old record set by sakic (1996) and equalled by Nieuwendyk in 1999. So Stars fans can put their bitterness in perspective. Trading (the unproven but promising prospect) Iginla brought an important piece for their Cup victory. So that seems like a good trade to me considering all the Leafs, Blackhawks, Bruins and Flyers (never mind the Blues, Canucks, Kings, and Capitals) fans aching for a Cup.

posted by gspm at 03:14 AM on June 01, 2004

and blah blah blah Bolts overcome the absence of two key players to win game 4. Fedotenko and Kubina are out.... but on the Flames side: Matthew Lombardi C, Concussion, Questionable Steven Reinprecht C, Shoulder Surgery, Out for the season Dean McAmmond LW, Back, Out for the season Toni Lydman D, Concussion, Questionable Denis Gauthier D, Knee, Questionable The Lightning are favoured and went into this final injury free while the Flames were missing 5 front line players. The Flames overcame the absence of five key players just to get to the final. And The Flames overcame the absence of five key players to win games 1 and 3. Just sayin'.

posted by gspm at 04:16 AM on June 01, 2004

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