ScorchStack Issue #70 - I am famously a Calgary Flames journalist, for now
The Calgary Flames are now unstoppable now that Hrudey is back on duty
Last night was the first instance this season of Sean Monahan scoring with Johnny Gaudreau assisting. And then it happened again.
No jokes here, it’s just nice to see. Hooray for friendship.
What’s inside?
Francis Ericsson has emerged from his New Year’s slumber to pick on someone and this time it’s not Johnny Gaudreau.
Mike had a number of thoughts on hockey and he has shared them. Do with them as you please.
Nathan wants everyone to calm down with all the hubbub over the new February schedule, it really isn’t that bad compared to the rest of this season.
Since last issue
Scorchstack Issue #69 was yet another big hit. People were asking “Wow then’s the next one?” and “How do they keep doing it?” and the answers are right here and for you, the fans.
Speaking of that issue, the Calgary Flames played two games since last Wednesday. The only tweeted the phrase “goal vibes” in one of those games. Guess which one they beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 in and which one they lost to the Ottawa Senators 4-1 in.
Actually further to this, they also tweeted out goal vibes for some reason to get Matthew Tkachuk voted into the All-Star Game. Doomed. Just doomed.
Meanwhile, we learned a valuable lesson this week, about how Monday can actually be Tuesday if it really wants to be. It can still achieve Big Things regardless.
"Pissy" Draisaitl is exactly what's wrong with the Oilers
Any resemblance to any other controversial Calgary media figure is a coincidence
By Francis Ericsson (@EricssonFrancis)
Everyone knows the Hockey Hall of Fame is in Toronto.
But to get there, you have to go through Edmonton.
Not only are the on-ice greats of the sport - the Gretzkys, the Messiers, the Lowes - enshrined in the Hallowed Hall, there also builders -your Hollands, your Sathers.
And most importantly, there are the journalists.
The Mathesons.
And Edmonton’s distance from its Hockey Hall of Fame days can’t be better summed up by the open contempt the current players have for the Greats.
Reprehensible. Classless. Draisaitl may be 6’2”, but he’s acting like a player who is 5’9” in front of the whole world.
Although I am famously a Calgary Flames journalist, for now, an insult to a rival scribe is still an insult to the profession. And unlike Draisaitl, I will play defence here.
As long as I have known fellow PHWA scribe and Hockey Hall of Famer Jim Matheson, he has been nothing but a class act. One of the most hard-working, dedicated writers in the field. Many don’t know this, but he’s also from humble upbringings. He graduated from the University of Manitoba with a degree in political science, and while in school, worked a part-time night shift with The Tribune. He got his first job upon completing school with the Regina Leader-Post but moved west to Edmonton, Alberta six months later. Upon moving to Edmonton, Matheson got a job with the Edmonton Journal in 1970. He initially covered local curling and university sports, but quickly switched to hockey, when, in 1973, Edmonton was granted a WHA franchise, the Edmonton Oilers.[1]
I know many journalists, and I don’t know how many have pounded the pavement and worked the night shifts as Jim has.
Most importantly though, Matty knows what he’s talking about. There’s not a journalist in the game that has his eye for hockey:
So when Matheson has a criticism of the Oilers, I listen.
And if Draisaitl was really the player he thinks he is, he should listen too.
Again, it’s clear that there are not enough Hockey Hall of Fame voices getting through to the room. I can’t see Wayne Gretzky in his prime dismissing a journalist like this. Even the great Dave Semenko would hold himself accountable just as he held opponents accountable.
Now? Athletes feel entitled to praise and softballs from the journalists, and the newest crop of scribes will eagerly serve up questions on a dinner platter. If the players turn butter-soft due to a question, what makes fearsome on the ice? That’s why the Boys On The Bus were great: never backed down from an opponent or a hard-hitting PHWA journalist.
The current Oilers and also Johnny Gaudreau could learn a lesson from that.
So I say, thank God for journalists like Jim Matheson: he’s in the Hall for a reason, not just because he covered the Oilers in the 1980s.
Mike Thoughts: 2. There are more than two thoughts here I promise.
Another week, another instance where I vomit everything that is in my brain onto the page. I’m a scribe now, like all legacy hockey media!
by Mike (@mikeFAIL)
I’m still alive despite the depth of this team’s roster eroding my life expectancy every single day they continue to play for the Flames. Anyway, here are some things I’ve been thinking about lately between playing video games and listening to Canadaland podcasts.
This issue of Scorchstack is sponsored by Freshbooks, who have abandoned Canadaland and are now sponsoring us. Use the code SCORCHSTACK while signing up to save $0.00 at checkout. Now, some thoughts:
I had prepared to write a scorching takedown piece of the Calgary Flames front office but then they beat the underwear off the Florida Panthers last night so as a fan I am completely satiated. The team is back baby, bring on the cup! Nothing bad will ever happen to this team again.
In all seriousness, the team was due for a normal start and win from Jacob Markström, despite the concerns of his health as of late. Normal in this case means above-average, if not elite. He finished the night with 2.5 GSAx per Evolving-Hockey.com. For non-mathies, this is an elite outcome.
Sean Monahan scored two goals which means two things: an influx of articles detailing how these two goals can be the catalyst to drive up Monahan’s trade value and a collection of trade options via the CapFriendly Armchair GM tool.
The honorable mention, which I would love to see more of: people being happy he scored twice in a game for the first time since March 13th 2021 vs. Montreal. Or, just happy in general he looked better than his usual self last night.
Anyway, saddle up Monahan on Gaudreau and Lindholm’s line again and pump up those boxcar stats because this is going to get Monahan traded! Bring on the cup, baby!
Sam Bennett scored last night and I won $6.54 because of it. I’m going to buy $6 worth of Tim Biebs from Tim Hortons and then hate myself for the rest of the day for doing so.
Anyway, good on Sam for continuing to ride the percentages with Florida. None of this will result in think pieces from incredibly ignorant perspectives framing Bennett’s tenure in Calgary and his fiery first 100 or so games with the Panthers in an accurate light.
One final hockey thought about the Flames: play the Blake Coleman - Mikael Backlund - Andrew Mangiapane line together from last night until the end of the post-season, barring a monumental upgrade at forward. They looked pretty great last night albeit not as strong from an xGF% perspective but I’m confident over a larger sample that isn’t a concern.
The state of hiring a new general manager in the NHL is approaching peak Hockey Twitter (circa 2015-16 when we critically examined everyone’s follow-list and likes) in that the bare minimum requirement for a hockey fan to throw their entire unyielding belief behind someone as capable of running a hockey team who will eventually betray your trust, is solely based on the fact that they follow analytical writers.
If they do, prepare for everyone to write threads and articles confirming general manager candidate x is an analytics GM/loves numbers solely based on following Micah Blake McCurdy (who we love personally).
No, this isn’t motivated by the fact that Mathieu Darche doesn’t follow me. Until five minutes ago I had no clue who he is and no the 20 tabs open involving various Mathieu Darche-related information are completely unrelated.
It also doesn’t matter because the Canadiens hired some guy named Kent Hughes who either owns the line of Hughes car washes or is the name of a guy who stormed the US Capitol last January. Betting on the former, but the latter has a good chance to surprise us here.
This piece from Shayna Goldman and Dom Luz689443bjdrbdfbhs943498szyn is just exceptional. Read it, bookmark it, tell them Mike sent you, and then email your favourite team’s general manager the link to it so they can actually understand one of the most obvious areas of improvement in the NHL. This summer I fully expect 20 or so tweets to appear on my timeline about signings that just occurred and how all of them are counter to what Shayna and Dom laid out in their piece.
I hope the last few weeks of Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers collectively showing their asses in the Evander Kane situation prove that if you love anything sports-related or promote hero worship, bordering on cult-like worship of McDavidesque athletes, they will eventually betray you. You know who wouldn’t? Jarome Iginla. That’s a guy you can worship and idolize.
If Evander Kane does sign with the Edmonton Oilers, give it a few weeks before even the most ardent critics of Kane who are Oiler fans suddenly being less critical if the team starts winning. Just win, baby.
The only guy who will remain steadfast in his disdain for the team he loves while assessing the entire Oilers franchise correctly (should this all come to pass) is Weebo. He’s the only Oilers fan I can tolerate.
McDavid’s misery after losing to the Senators is proof that spite and contempt for a team’s continued free fall are more important to me than the Flames ever winning a Cup again. Could I have both and enjoy life? Yes, but I’ll continue to enjoy the aforementioned pain.
Jim Matheson, who is 72, took on Leon Draisaitl yesterday in another incident of Edmonton Media trying to defeat the superstars that everyone in this city latches onto. Everyone hates Jim now, but I love him more than I did before because I find it remarkable that someone at his advanced age would take on someone nearly a third of his age in a public forum, for everyone to see, and everyone to inevitably tweet about. Jim whips ass.
It’s also a perfect opportunity for everyone to monetize the encounter so that they can make financial gains off something hilarious while also feigning a moral superiority in their opinion of the situation.
“This was incredibly unprofessional! Fuck you, Jim” says the guy in Edmonton I will likely see wearing an OilersNation branded Pissy shirt this summer while at a Farmer’s Market here in Edmonton. I guarantee I’ll see some guy in a bar post-Omicron wearing this one. This city and fanbase are predictable.
Can someone put me in contact with Jim Matheson already so I can interview my idol? Please leave him alone.
I mean, how could any of this not be predictable? Don’t worry, folks! Kenny is on the job. It’s not like he has a recent history and tenure down the stretch in Detroit that will inevitably doom this team and usher in a new dark age.
In other news: Theo Fleury is at it again and he’s making it harder to tell myself that his debut country music album is worth owning still. Anyway, I still dislike the guy for being a paid mercenary for the Horse Lake Thunder during their Allan Cup run.
I’d like to close on a more serious note for once. My friend Justin passed away suddenly last Friday. He was an incredibly unique coworker and friend, who because of Omicron and the collective pandemic as a whole, was someone I hadn’t seen or talked to much over the last few months. Justin was an incredibly kind man and someone who took the time to engage you in thoughtful conversation about hockey, or work-related matters or sci-fi, or really any of his interests. He made an earnest effort to help anyone or everyone who came his way too; his heart was exceptional in that regard. He loved the Oilers — LOVED them and I remember vividly being goaded by him about the arrival of McDavid, the emergence of Draisaitl, and more over the last few years. He was a guy who actively sought out discussing the analytical and more quantitative side of the game so he could assess and use it to his advantage in criticizing the Flames. A perfect foe for me in the workplace during our shared time as direct colleagues because every day would be a hockey-related discussion. I’m going to miss him a great deal and I would encourage you to reach out to folks you may have lost touch with during the pandemic just to check-in.
Rescheduled games really are not the grind we expected
Seven of their 10 games come in a February homestand, the rest are in March and April
by Nathan (@hanoten)
So it would seem that the Flames are gearing up for a massive homestand in the month of February, with seven games to be played against various opponents in 13 days from February 9 through 21. On top of that, there is another added home game on March 7 against Edmonton, and then a back-to-back on the road on April 18 and 19 against Chicago and Nashville, respectively.
Many are talking about how much of a grind it’s going to be, although this is a bit misleading since it’s no worse than the rest of this season has already been, which is increasingly feeling like another fake one just like the last two. No, you don’t get to ignore your children cause there’s just too much hockey to consume.
Despite the thought that the NHL would try and blitz these teams, the new schedule really isn’t all that bad. Certainly no worse than the start of the season, where they played they essentially played at the same pace, going through eight games in the first 15 days of the season. That was a fairly fortuitous time for them, going 6-1-1 and making a bigger statement than most thought was coming.
In fact, there are only two proposed back-to-backs in the new part of February schedule, and for the most part, there are two full days between games both before and after them, with a slate of games on February 9, 10, and 12 comprising the only stretch of three games in four nights. It never extends to four games in six nights. Darryl Sutter has the team in great shape through presumably an unfathomable number of bag skates, but there’s no need to fear a glaring overcorrection.
The full breakdown of games is as follows:
Wednesday, February 9 vs. Vegas
Thursday, February 10 vs. Toronto
Saturday, February 12 vs. New York Islanders
Tuesday, February 15 vs. Columbus
Wednesday, February 16 vs. Anaheim
Saturday, February 19 vs. Seattle
Monday, February 21 vs. Winnipeg
With the All-Star game happening on February 5, and needing the appropriate amount of time for bail for Johnny Gaudreau after finally committing arson this time, this schedule is actually kinder than the aforementioned October stretch, or even in November where they played eight games from November 9 through 21, where they went a still acceptable 4-2-2.
With this stretch concluding a month before the trade deadline, it should give Brad Treliving and co. all the evidence they need that the team’s biggest need isn’t more emotional or a somehow even fitter squad, it’s quite simply some more scoring talent and perhaps losing an anchor of the defence, but that’s s̶o̶m̶e̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶w̶e̶'̶v̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶s̶a̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶m̶o̶n̶t̶h̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶w̶ another story for another day.
Up Next Week
The Flames play the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, which should just be a real dandy based on how things have been going for one side lately. Well, both sides, to be fair. But especially one side.
Speaking of games the Flames will play next week, they face St. Louis twice in four days so get those Tkachuk narratives ready to roll.
Konnie’s recorded version of the OT2 theme song becomes a shocking Billboard Top 100 hit.