Flames back in the playoffs
 

The 7-year itch has been scratched, baby! Woohoo!!!!

I've been waiting soooooooooooo long for this.

I'm the happiest guy ever. :D :D :D :D

Hopefully they can make it out of the first round

i want to see a canadian team in the cup final.... even if its someone like the Leafs... ugh

The Leafs will be in the final, once they knock-out those stinkin Sens.

GO Flames!!

All the way to the cup baby!!!

I predict an all Canadian final, Flames edging out the Sens to bring the cup back home. :D

edit to add that after tonight it looks like we may have to send Vancouver packing for the first round. GO FLames!!! :D

you're dreamin' right?

Him and silent_jay.

I'm just hoping that the Sens get over there rut at the right time before the playoffs begin. It would be great to see all Canadian teams in the first round.

Well, it's possible..
The Nucks haven't been the same since Big Baby Bert got suspended..
plus when you add Dan "Choke" Cloutier to the mix, it makes for an easier opponent.

Plus the Flames are riding high.. you can be sure they'll be hungry as hell for some wins.

anything is possible in the play-offs, it doesn't matter that a team is hot or in a slump before they start.
It would be great to see all Canadian teams in the play-offs as long as the sens weren't there.

Anything IS possible. And we'll see who's dreaming after Van falls victim to the flames in the first round. ;)

Flames are red hot!!

I was in Calgary back in '89 when they won the cup and its been tough to see them struggle these past few years. This feels real good right now, but its only the beginning. With Iginla and Kiprusoff playing well, I wouldn't bet against the Flames no matter who they're playing.

Senators will sweep everyone they play against guys, they are the powerhouse of the east, even stronger then tampa bay. Whether or not they will beat detroit for the cup, i don't reallly know.

The Sens are way too inconsistent to be called a superpower, they're a damn fine team, but sometimes it seems they all just shut off. This becomes even more apparent in the playoffs. Their chances are 50/50 at best, given how close the standings have been right to the end of the season, and that Ottawa will probably end up facing Toronto in the first round, that always spells trouble.

The canucks are getting used to life without Bertuzzi

they're playing some fantastic hockey right now, and Cloutier is playing some stellar hockey right now... he only let in one against the Ducks and that was off a huge fluke shot that was 15 feet wide of the net that bounced off a player and in

Sanderson is fantastic, Naslund is back in the mix

they will give good competition to anyone they face

Sens sweep everyone, how can this be? Won't happen like rockzilla said they are far too inconsistent, and so far unproven in the playoffs, especially against the Leafs, but in the playoffs as a whole. The Lightning aren't exactly proven playoff performers either.

I agree Ace_O_Spades the Canucks are playing great hockey right now, and I hope they keep it up, I want Clouthier to prove some of his doubters wrong.

Its gonna be the SHARKS!!!!

Besides when we're done with some of our other players the Flames can have them too! You've got our Ex-Coach (Sutter), our ex-goaltender (Kipprusoff) and at least 3 ex forwards. (Donavan, Lyons & Lowry)

All people the Sharks didn't need to win the Pacific and get 2nd in the conference.

I'm a huge Canucks fan and I completly agree with Ace O Spades. The nucks are pulling it together. Sanderson is on fire, and like you said Naslund is getting his groove back. We have pulled back up to first in the northwest, and I am confident going into playoffs. This might be the year?

Overall, this has been a great hockey season in terms of the majority of teams performance in the NHL, (we'll leave out all the stupid 'incidents' for another discussion). Here's hoping that Edmonton can get into the first round and have all Canadian teams moving on for the frist time in a long time.
This is going to be one hell of a great playoff race, no matter who makes it to the Final round.

Powerhouse of the east are they, sweep everyone will they, 6-0 isn't exactly the way a "powerhouse" plays right before the playoffs, at least the Sens are starting to choke early this year. See why hockey shouldn't be played in Florida, they make screwed up decesions like saying the Sens will sweep everyone, hehehehehe yeah right.

I had been pretty impressed by Martin Prusek all season, but after being pulled twice in the past 3 games, and Ray Emery not doing any better, it's clear that Lalime is Ottawa's #1 guy, and he hasn't had a very good season this year either.
From the looks of things (Boston's winning it's last game right now) we're going to see Ottawa-Toronto in round 1. Hopefully Jacques Martin does something to the Sens, I don't think I can bear seeing (and hearing about) another Toronto playoff win.
It's a shame about Edmonton missing out on the playoffs, part of me wanted them to win, but part of me wanted to see Vancouver take the division title from Colorado, who I hate with a passion.

wow this thread sure got jacked by ottawa fans haha


i wonder how calgary will finish the season off against Anaheim... im excited to see if the canucks will face them

Keep in mind my comment was made before they played toronto =P But still, they haven't played a playoff game yet..

Oh i just happen to live in florida, grew up in minnesota.

haha, no kidding. Only like 5 of the comments are about Calgary.
They're doing pretty good so far against Anaheim. Iginla picked up a shortie and Turek's looked good. He and Kiprusoff should make a good combo in the playoffs.

awesome! I hope i can get out to a playoff game this year... but DAMN the tickets are expensive

they might as well jack this thread, because their team isn't going to do anything, so they can keep talking.

Heh...no doubt.;)

Said it before and I'll say it again, Flames will take down the nucks in the first round. No way is Cloutier any match for Kipper.

Gonna be a great series, but the Flames will win and go onto Stanley Cup glory!!!:D

Give a guy a nickname like "kipper" and people think he is great they only made the playoffs to get out of the first round is another question, he is no match for Clouthier and all you doubters will soon see that.

Cloutier is playing some great hockey right now

and he had another solid year

so barring ANOTHER post season meltdown we should roll the Flames

I would like to have a moment of silence for the Edmonton Oilers. It won't be the same in the playoffs without them. I'm a Red Wings fan first and for most, but I love the way Edmonton plays the game, and I love the type of players that they continue to pick up. If only they could have kept Doug Weight there, the team could really use him.

You're seriously giving credit to the nickname for people thinking he's great?

I suppose Mikka Kiprosoff getting the modern day record for GAA, best save pct. has nothing to do with it. He has everything to prove and is as consistent as they come, only question if can he handle playoff pressure.

No match to Dan Cloutier? I think you're off there. Cloutier is inconsistent at best.

I guess we'll see soon enough how it all pans out but there's no question that the flames come to the table with the better tenders.

It's gonna be a great series, no doubt. There's no love lost between these teams. Go Flames!!

He only played 38 games I should hope he can win enough of those games to get a record, (although to me he is not deserving), Roloson only played 48 games and was second and Turco played 70 some games, to finish third, now as for Clouthier being inconsistent, when has Kiprussof proven himself? You say he is consistent yet where in the playoffs has he showed this?

I also said that the "only question was if he could handle playoff pressure?"

He's shown his consistancy with his 1.69 GAA and .933 SV%. Wins to losses are pretty good as well but the stats I speak of have nothing to do with winning games.

Perhaps my comment about Cloutier being inconsistent at best wasn't totally fair. It's just my humble opinion that Kiprusoff is the better goalie, proven in the playoffs or not. Plus Turek's been stepping up to the job lately as well.

he had a 1.69 GAA and .933 SV% in 38 games that is all, maybe if he can play more than half a season or more I'll change my mind, but this record for "modern day" GAA and SV% really means nothing to me, because as mentioned before he only played 38 games. If he was a workhorse goalie like Belfour, Brodeur, Roy, or Turco maybe I'd think otherwise, but 38 games not enough.

should and will..........

Fair enough, you don't think he's proved himself. Well in that case why don't we just compare our BACKUP goailie with Cloutier.

Turek has a 2.31 Average with 328 games played in his career regular season. For playoff experience he has a 2.27 with 21 games played.

Cloutier has a 2.64 Average with 305 games played in his career regular season and a 3.43 for his 22 games in the playoffs.

Games wise those are some pretty fair comparrisons and that's with our backup goailie. Maybe you'll want to blame that on Turek's nickname as well? Afterall he's got a pretty cool nickame, Large? ;)

I'm not blaming anything on nicknames maybe I should make things more clearly for you, I didn't realize you thought that was my reasoning. So your back up is better on paper than Clouthier big deal, on paper thr Rangers are one of the best teams in the league but on the ice the blow, and I like how you shift things to suit you, I never mentioned Turek, although I am impressed that you took the time to read stats, so your comparrison means nothing to me, we were discussing Kiprusof and how you thought he was great, and his modern day record big deal

lol, maybe you missed the little winky face next to the nickname jab, aferall you did say "Give a guy a nickname like "kipper" and people think he is great.."

Anyway, that's just a joke. You don't think that kippers stats prove he's a good goalie, fair enough. You can't argue that of the 38 games he has played he's made some amazing saves and kept the Flames alive. He is a great goalie. He does have to prove himself in the playoffs, but Cloutier has yet to prove himself in the postseason as well.

I'm not shifting anything to suit me, I'm mearly trying to make the point that Kippersoff is worthy of being called a great goalie by showing that Turek, as a backup has some impressive stats. To play a goalie with those kind of stats as a backup you gotta think that at the least Sutter is convinced that Kipper's a good goalie.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to watching the series. Calgary are the underdogs, I know that. You gotta realize that we haven't been here for 7 years and we're freakin pumped about being here and positive about our chances of going far.

ya I did miss the winky face, sorry about that. He did make some great saves to keep the Flames alive throughout the regular season, but I wouldn't consider him a great goalie, but I reserve the word great for goalies like Bower, Hall, Sawchuck, Worsley, I would consider him a good goalie though. I too am looking forward to the series, and a little part of me does want the Flames to win, I too usually cheer for the underdogs, but a series with 2 Canadian teams in it, always makes it hard to pick a favorite, unless it's the Sens and Leafs then Leafs all the way.

The thing about Cloutier is, he's a well-known playoff choker.. History has shown that.

While Kiprusoff has almost no playoff experience, I'd rather him walk in with no reputation at all than a reputation for sucking it up in the playoffs.

he better not fuck up my beer drinkin' while watchin' the games man.i've got a spot ready to party at.......and i plan on bein' there through a few series.

if he chokes AGAIN this year........i'll go pack his fucking bags for him.