This video comes a day too late as Kiprusoff makes sure that he is on the top 10 fluke goals against for awhile with his good ol' buddy from San Jose.
Of course I'm not comparing Toskala to Kipper, just sayin', them's the breaks sometimes. Even without the fluke goal at the end of the first period the Flames just came out flat last night, something that has been a constant issue for a while now (like, years). With all these superstar players that we have, it seems like there should be, if not more wins, then at least a consistent effort every night. But is this part of the double-edged sword that comes with a group of talented NHLers? Recall if you would the pre-lockout New York Rangers: With a team salary of $69 million dollars and talent like Brian Leetch, Mark Messier, Eric Lindross (old but locker room guys), Alex Kovalev, Bobby Holik, and Jaromir Jagr, this is a team that finished 4th in their division with 27 wins and 69 points.
Now, compare that to a team like the 2003-2004 Flames, who had one bonifide superstar in Jarome Iginla (who only scored 73pts that season), and got the deal of the century by acquiring that Mikka Kiprusoff guy who didn't play too bad either. The supporting cast included players such as Craig Conroy, Shean Donovan, Martin Gelinas, and Dean McCammond. Those were guys who were not superstars and they recognized it. They had to come to work every day and work their asses off to make sure they would still have a job in the league. This was a team that finished 6th in the conference and I don't need to remind anyone how the playoffs went.
Fast-forward to the Flames of current. With talent on the team such as Iginla, Jokinen, Bouwmeester, Phaneuf, Kiprusoff, Regehr, and Langkow, I feel like there is way too much talent in the locker room at once, which means a couple of things. These are guys, who at whatever level they have played at, have always been the best. This means that they can go on the ice and dominate whoever they played regardless of who their teammates were. When you get so many guys like this together, who at one point or another have all thought they were the shit, what happens is what you are seeing now. This is a team that doesn't really give a rats ass about what goes down on the ice. None of these guys have to work their asses off to make sure they will have a job in the NHL because they have the feeling of entitlement; in the sense that they know that they can go get a contract on any club. This is unlike guys such as David Moss, or Dustin Boyd, or Nigel Dawes who was just waived from Phoenix this summer. These are the players who have to put in a full effort every single night, because if they don't they are expendable and they know it. And if you watch Flames games, these are the guys who put in the effort when it comes down to it. If the Flames don't get their egos crippled somehow before the half-way point in the season, don't expect any division titles/playoff berths to come Calgary's way until there is a major overhaul.
Furthermore, something that is starting to bother me is Brent Sutter's lack of comments after games. If the Flames were winning and lost two in a row and Brent Sutter refused to say anything after the game, I wouldn't care, because overall there would be success. But when your team has one win in their last 7 games and has scored 20 goals in the last 11, the fans deserve to hear something. Anything. Because if not for the fans, then for who? This game and league does not exist without rabid fan support. So until you win a couple, you can say something about the game, anything at all.
Also, Flames play in Oil Country tonight at 7:00pm.
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