CrashingTheGoalie

by desertdawg
The pundits were all in agreement. Edmonton with their young guns, would finish first in the North West. Calgary would once again finish middle of the pack and then struggle to make it out of the first round. The Canucks were picked to finish between 12^th to 15^th.

I wrote an early blog about the fact that predictions were for suckers. Why else does Vegas publish odds about who will win the Stanley Cup…back in August? Betting Hockey in August is a tax on the stupid. The summer is the only time the Oilers have had a decent team these last few years. Their fans, more passionate and knowledgeable than most others, deserve better. And picking Calgary to exit in the first round is like predicting Alberta will have snow on Halloween. Or as my friend Gord Kerster says about the pundits, “Well what can you expect from people who make minimum wage?”

But we saw the changes that Gillis made and still kept our powder dry. Let all those Alberta stubble jumpers pick us for dead last. We decided to wait until at least the pre-season to see how we looked. And how did we look?

Well, great, actually.

So then the boys from Alberta all said, well, it’s just the pre-season, let’s see how you do after twenty games. So, how do we look after twenty games?

Well, still great.

Does that mean we are a lock for tonight?

Not a man on the Canucks believes that. The Flames have some very good hockey players. And only fools will predict a win tonight.
Teams with no character get overconfident after two wins in a row (hell, sometimes two good shifts in a row) and the truth is, we’ve seen Canuck teams like that in the past. Teams that were mercurial, that got too high after a win and too low after a loss. Like the Canuck team that was coached by the Mike Keenan and mark messier tandem until Burkie rode into town and ended up having them both put to sleep.

Character is not simply something you have or you don’t have. It can be taught. The trouble is, you have to teach it in the first ten years of life (Freud said six years, but he was wrong). Once you get to your standard teen years, the character issues are settled. So we think of the Mike Gillis philosophy of making decisions based on character. Therefore Mike Brown is on the team and Mike Ouellete is not. The first period sees Mike Brown get an assist and then into a fight (just needs a goal for the Gordie Howe hat trick). Lots of fans cannot understand why Brown is on this team, but it’s pretty simple. It’s a character issue. And yeah, there are guys with more talent in Winnipeg.

But character is not mutually exclusive to talent. Lots of talented guys have character…think Gretz, Yzerman and Sakic. On the Flames, think Iginla. On the Canucks think the Sedins.

The Sedins?

Listen all you bullshit artists who have been calling them “the sisters” all these years, how many of you would have taken the puck to the net like Daniel did tonight?…and then put it up behind Kippers left eyebrow. And in case you think my sample is an “N of one:” How many of you tough armchair quarterbacks would have put up with the guff these two guys did from opposition defenseman over the years…guys that suddenly became tough-guy fighters when they realized it was #22 or #33 they were tying up…and yet the Sedins still worked the boards and went to the dirty area to score goals?

So yeah, the Sedins.

We have a two-one lead after one period, so nothing is solved yet.

The edge in the second period goes to the Canucks on the strength of the penalty calls. But man, I hate those five on three situations. When you don’t score it often comes back to bite you in the arse. But the scoring chances are in our favour with both Hansen and Raymond having glorious chances. A bit more experience for both these kids and those will start going to the back of the net.

Iginla answers late in the period with a perfect pass to Cammalleri. That kid is a goal scorer alright. Off his stick and into the net before anyone has time to react…his second tonight.

But I wonder where this team would be without Jerome? This guy has it all. People may talk about Dion Phaneuf and his talent, but it is Iginla and his talent and character who ignite these Flames. Dion? Well, talented certainly. But his inflated opinion of himself as some sort of modern day Bobby Orr, will prevent him from a Norris Trophy win. He strikes me as the whiny sort of kid on the playground who is fine when it’s all going his way. But he becomes the town fool when he faces adversity.

I write this at the end of the second, with the game tied.

The third period decides the game as the Flames out hustle us. Mason Raymond on a great feed from Wellwood briefly puts us back in it but an ill advised Edler clearing attempt allows Glencross in on a clear break. I wonder how Edmonton fans feel when they see this. Glencross was one of the guys that really showed up during that magical 20- game run last year that had everybody predicting the Oilers would finish first this year.

We lost tonight, but we competed. They had more energy than us in the third, although we had our chances. But Character doesn’t just show up in one game. It emerges over the course of 82 games and then the playoffs.

This Canuck team has character and they will be heard from.

The Dawg’s three stars.
Mike Cammalleri…three goals and an UFA after this season.
Jerome Iginla…wasn’t vintage, but two passes sealed the deal.
Mason Raymond…his skating was unmatched by anyone on either team.