BiffFromCP

Oh suck it up princesses. The pp's were DEAD EVEN tonight....and how many 5-3 did you have in the first two games. Thought so. This was another tight game, another rockin' atmosphere at the Saddledome where I was in attendance and now it's back to your barn to see if you can re-assert your home dominance on the series. The officiating in the NHL is terrible. Get used to it. We didn't enjoy it in games 1 and 2 and felt it impacted the games....but we also recognized that we got outplayed and were beat by the better team on both nights. Now the shoe is on the other foot. We prefer it. You don't.

We boo Bertuzzi because he originally played in Vancouver (our second most intense rival behind Edmonton). We also boo him because, as was evidenced in the Moore incident, he is a big impulsive immature dork. Harsh....but there it is. We faced a good few years of Bertuzzi before the Moore incident and the hate was already on....the Moore thing is icing.

I haven't posted since before the series. After the complete garbage we played like in the first two, I wanted to wait until (and if) we could turn this into a series. I hear a lot of you talking about officiating. I was at the game, and didn't see it that way but, then, homer glasses were probably on. I can assure you, however, that many Flames fans felt EXACTLY the same way after being handed 10 minutes of penalties in the first 9 minutes of game 2. Isn't it sad the poor NHL officiating has to just be swallowed by NHL fans? At least the NBA suspends a ref who is obviously a clown and incompetent. It's frustrating that there is absolutely no accountability for NHL refs. I thought this game could have gone either way. I liked that the officials, for the most part, just let 'em play. I didn't see the hold on Hank some of you were mentioning, but I'd call it a missed call trade off for the elbow Cleary threw at Phaneuf. I know you have a thread dedicated to the hit and I haven't read it yet but I've watched piles of replay and Cleary sure looks like he led with the forearm / elbow. Anyways.....welcome to our 2007 playoff series. Sorry we were late.

tootoo stoned on the breakaway by Nabby. Intense.

Sharks just about end it with some early pressure.

OT about to start in Nashville. 4th goal maybe changed from Weber to Dumont with the deflection.

1-1 Stars / Cannots after 1.

Preds and Sharks going to extra time. Vancouver going back on the PP.

Scores. Nashville scores. Weber with under a minute to go.

Nashville pulls the goalie. 1 minute to go.

Nashville PP with 3 minutes to go.

Canucks going to a long 5-3. i hate the canucks. Have I mentioned this before?

5:45 to go.

Radulov with a beauty. 4-3 SJ.

Cool. My very first meaningless playoof bet this year. Yay. Let's say if Bertuzzi operates at a .5 pt / game level I give him a nice complimentary sentence. If it's a pt / game level he gets a whole gushing paragraph.

I would rather chew off my own leg than have the Canucks do well in the playoffs. Go stars. Hate the canucks. Hate the "We Surrender" towels. Hate the fat anthem singer. Hate the Sedins. Yes....I'm a hater.

More likely Bertuzzi gets Bertuzzied. If Bertuzzi is a major factor in this series (you pick a point / goal total) then I will make a full paragraph post honoring Bertuzzi. If Bertuzzi is knocked out of this series, you can do the same paragraph honoring our incredibly tough D. Is it a bet?

Never happenned. Cooke picked Phaneuf so Bert could get out front for one of his infrequent 05/06 goals. However, Bert did get absolutely cranked by Warrener that game, IIRC. Popped his helmet about 5 feet in the air. Bert looked like he was going to cry as he left the ice. Classic. I generally admire and respect the Wings. Bertuzzi is an idiot.

SJ up by one. Didn't catch who scored. 1-0 SJ. Oooopps....Ah, yes.....read first THEN post.

Wow....a second 5-3 for Ottawa. Hope our series (Flames / Wings) isn't a complete penalty-fest. I like old time hockey....call the real infractions but let 'em play. Anyways....big test for the pens...again.

Gotcha. It always struck me as funny how proud of this 'Nucks fans were. Since Detroit hasn't had the pleasure of meeting Canucks and their fans in a playoff context before, it's a bit like the worst parts of Edmonton, Toronto and Calgary all rolled into one. Nasty.

Robyn Regehr has a tweaked knee. Ritchie Regehr (younger brother...AKA Regehr 2.0) has the concussion....fairly serious and hasn't played in months.

It was Ruutu from the Canucks who, like Avery, talks a big game but when confronted ALWAYS turtles. He and Dion were mixing it up a bit. When Phaneuf went to drop the gloves, Ruutu hooked him behind the knee, gave a tug and Phaneuf went down like a sack of spuds. Canuck fans delighted in this clip and many used it as their Avatar. Phaneuf went on to a Calder nomination, generational rookie Defenceman stats, and a league-wide reputation as possibly the hardest and most consistent big hitter since Scott Stevens in his prime....but it probably does show that the Flames aren't really very physical.

That hit was how the Flames welcomed Bertuzzi back after his suspension. I expect one of Phaneuf, Hamrlik, Stuart, Warrener, or Hale will welcome Bert back from injury in much the same manner. Our D is monstrously tough. Much tougher than in ''04. Phaneuf>Gauthier. Stuart>Ference. Hamrlik>Leopold. Hale>Lydman. Enjoy.

Absolutely true....and there's a fine line of distinction between the two. A line which, sometimes, even coaches and players may cross. However, I am pretty confident that 29 other NHL teams, when looking at facing the Detroit Wings as things stand today, would absolutely be talking about playing especially phsyical against Lids, Hank and especially Bert. They would be talking about trying to distract / disturb Dom. To do less would be to under-prepare and forfeit important advantages. Someone started a very good thread on CalgaryPuck with the premise that since CP knows the Flames as well as anybody, how would we suggest the Flames can be beaten. Absolutely in the list was seeing if Regehr's knee can withstand the punishment.