Follow Colin on Twitter! Follow @ColinDJD So how about those Flames!?
For those of you who read my blogs regularly, you’re used to my enthusiasm when it comes to this group. The Calgary Flames have once again surprised the masses with their hard work, solid effort, and ability to play as a cohesive unit.
Taking on the Montreal Canadiens, at home, who have been playing well was certainly expected to be a feat for the visiting team. I heard many reasons for which the Flames won last night such as, “The Habs were flat flooted… or “Montreal didn’t show up…, and even “You can’t win them all!….
It struck me as interesting that most people who commented on the game seemed rather reluctant to give any credit to Calgary who won 6-2, and in fashion. Sure I could see how the Canadiens didn’t exactly play “great…, but on the same note I felt that the Flames keep finding ways to pull excuses out of their opponents.
Am I alone here?
Perhaps I am, but I swear that every time I watch these guys play, and well, they opposing team either “didn’t show up… or the Flames’ luck will “run out…. While I too am sure that Calgary will not likely keep up with their current pace, I won’t be surprised if they do much better this year than the pundits seem to predict them for.
Honestly, this group is better than most seem to feel…and I often wonder if it’s partly due to the fact that the team openly commented about their rebuild that the masses chose to ignore them moving forward.
Either way, and whatever the reason, I certainly hope that the way that this team has been playing so far this year opens a few extra eyes when it comes to this group and perhaps welcomes the conversation that the Flames won’t be as bad, for too long.
With respect to last night’s endeavor, Calgary came out of the gates flying with 110% effort on most plays. They turned over the puck on many chances, won puck battles in the corners, finished their checks, but what really helped them out was their ability to keep up to the speed of les Habitants.
Both the veterans and the youngsters of the team came up big last night and the cohesion allowed for a big win with a 4 goal deficit. Scoring in bunches and even winning on the road in Montreal is challenging on its own, but Montreal has also been playing well which makes it that much harder. The Flames ended Montreal’s home game winning streak and did something that many teams struggle to do; silence the Bell Centre.
The three players for me who stood out the most were Josh Jooris, Johnny Gaudreau, and Jonas Hiller. All three players had great games, Jooris looked like a regular out there, Gaudreau created many chances and would seemingly quarterback many plays down low. Hiller, once again stood tall and gave his team a chance to win…despite the fact that he didn’t see too many shots against in the first.
The Flames will take to the ice against the Washington Capitals tomorrow night which I expect to be a decent game from both sides!
That’s all for this morning folks as I can’t type anymore with this busted up finger of mine.
Thanks for reading!