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It seems as though the Calgary Flames are somehow linked to nearly every news-worthy article of late concerning the NHL, as most recently, a few members of the team commented on Twitter attacks to James Reimer’s wife, April.
For those who haven’t seen or read any of said tweets, I’d rather not provide any more attention to them than has already been done through the vast number of media outlets in Toronto. That said, those who were involved in such despicable comments towards the wife of James Reimer after a Toronto loss should really be ashamed of themselves.
While we are all emotionally involved and invested in our teams, these players we so often cherish and or despise are everyday people outside of the rink, no different than you and I – Okay, maybe the millions of dollars they earn make them a little different, but you get the point.
When the Calgary Flames heard of the comments made to another player in the NHL, like any other member of a large organization, they stood up for James and April Reimer.
“That crosses the line. We are people, too, and our wives are people, with friends and family and businesses. Anything outside of the hockey side should stay away from peoples' wives and families and kids.…“There's a slippery slope with social media. We (as a society) still haven't figured out a moral and social balance of how we're going to deal with social media. Sometimes things are said there that wouldn't be said to somebody's face,… Cammalleri said.
“I don't think we've found our moral compass on this whole social media thing."
“It used to be a good thing. You could reach out to your fans, and that was the exciting part, giving fans a sneak peek into feelings and thoughts on a more intimate level. But then you get to that slippery slope. It's too bad. I'm sorry they're dealing with something like that.…
As mentioned above, the ability to reach out to members of your favorite or rival team base(s) has been made quite effortless, but most importantly faceless, through social media. With the current “cyber bullying pandemic… being an issue in our society, many fans are using these social devices to vent their frustrations toward players and most recently, their wives.
As with anything else in life, society often needs to regulate activities where individuals are left to do as they please. In this instance, all that is available to those over Twitter is the ability to “block… or "report" other Twitter handles – not much in terms of penance, if you ask me.
Should Twitter maybe look into a better, or more strict policing of their feeds? Do they have the ability to do anything else but block or delete accounts based off inappropriate behavior? I suppose it only takes another email account to create a new handle and get back to work for those who look forward to this form of cyber bullying…but I digress.
I suppose of late there has been a lot of police activity involved in direct response to said bullying, although I’m not sure that the same applies here. What then are we left with to deal with folks like this? I suppose there isn’t much else to do other than to point out there stupidity?
Wrong.
Just ignore the kids and they’ll eventually find their way back outdoors…eventually. **
With respect to the game last night, the Flames once again surprised the hockey world with a big shootout win over the San Jose Sharks who are fighting for a top seed in the upcoming playoffs. Currently sitting two points ahead of the Anaheim Ducks who have two games in hand on the Sharks, San Jose was hoping for a big game against the low ranked Flames.
That said, and unlike many of their games this year, the Flames were not prepared to admit defeat against a much stronger opposition. With their ability to play a steady defensive game, limit the quality of shots by trying to keep the play to the outside, Calgary has been able to make it increasingly difficult on opposing teams to find the back of the net.
“We played the total team game. I know that Karri Ramo played well, brought us some big saves at the right time, but to pick one player of the game tonight, we could have a long list. I felt that it was a real solid team effort,… said Bob Hartley.
And that’s the team’s biggest achievement this year, in my opinion – team play. As mentioned yesterday with respect to Matt Stajan’s penalty shot goal, this team is very much a unanimous group and their on ice play certainly demonstrates that. There isn’t a whole lot more that you want your young players to develop while going through a rebuild than strong team effort like this.
“It’s a tough test whenever San Jose comes in and the fact that we were able to match them and pull one out in the shootout is pretty special,… said Colborne. “We hope to be battling them for a divisional or a conference lead sooner rather than later so it’s a huge experience for us.…
Initially struggling to find his own, Colborne’s play has really been improving as the forward as notched 4pts in his last 6 games played. Additionally, 21 year old defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon has been looking more and more comfortable playing with the group.
Within his first couple of games with the Flames, Tyler’s confidence and level of experience were clearly on display. However, with just 10 games under his belt, the young defenseman is certainly starting to put his raw talents on display after a perfectly executed pass to teammate Colborne.
“That’s an all-star play right there,… said Colborne, who has five goals in the past 11 games. “Not too many guys can fake a shot, head up, and find me back door — flat pass through the seam. That was an all-world play.…
Another win last night maintains Calgary’s current 6-4-0 record and the team feels pretty good about it. They have battled through much adversity this year and have found a lot of success from young and inexperienced players which was not expected by many fans and pundits alike.
The Flames will be tested with the Anaheim Ducks tomorrow night at home, and will look to put up another big fight in front of a home crowd. As things stand, Calgary holds a 17-17-3 record at home, compared to a 13-18-4 record on the road.
Thanks for reading!