Losing hockey teams
are quite often plagued
by inconsistency.
The Calgary Flames,
however, have proven to
be consistent in two
areas over the past
several seasons.
They consistently
miss the playoffs.
They consistently
pull a Jekyll and Hyde
act when it comes to the
level of their opponent.
On most nights when
they line up against a
tough opponent, a
Stanley Cup contender
... heck even a Stanley
Cup winner, they bring
forward a strong and
balanced effort, and
quite often come home
with a win.
However, when a
fellow struggling opponent,
a roommate in the cellar
is on the slab, the
Flames always seem to
lay an egg, and leave
easy points behind in
not so difficult cities.
|
2003
Draft Watch |
|
If
the draft was held
today ... |
|
Pick
|
Team
|
Player*
|
| 1 |
Buffalo |
Nikolai
Zherdev |
| 2 |
Atlanta |
Marc
Andre Fleury |
| 3 |
Calgary |
Eric
Stall |
| 4 |
Carolina |
Nathan
Horton |
| 5 |
Columbus |
Milan
Michalek |
| *ranking:
McKeen's
2/13/03 |
|
Just
24 hours removed from a gut
check physical battle in Dallas
- a 1-1 draw with the current
best team in hockey - the Flames
struggled their way to a 4-1
loss to the "never been to
the playoffs" Nashville
Predators.
The
Flames got off to another strong
start; a new facet of their game
that they've put on display in
each of their last four games,
but came up empty in a scoreless
first period.
The
Flames held a territorial edge
through the frame, out shooting
the Predators by a 13-5 margin,
but they couldn't get a puck by
Tomas Voukon.
The
two clubs traded goals in the
first half of the second period
with Nashville opening the
scoring on a goal by Scott
Hartnell, which was answered by
a Calgary marker by Steve Begin.
From
there it was all Nashville.
A
pair of goals by Denis Arkhipov
sent to the Predators to their
dressing room with a 3-1 lead,
leaving Rem Murray to salt
things away with a third period
goal.
The
loss has the Flames winless in
their last seven games, and with
only one win in their last 12.
The
win gives the Predators a
sparkling 5-1-1 record in the
month of February, and moves the
club to within eight points of
Edmonton for the final playoff
spot.
The
Flames remain 28th overall, just
two points up on Atlanta and
four up on Buffalo in the race
for the #1 pick. Atlanta has
three games in hand, Buffalo has
four.
Get
Your
Calgarypuck
Gear!
Â
