The Big Monday Thing - Friends don't let friends hate Johnny Gaudreau this week
Floob is on the IR, he's week-to-week with carpal tunnel or something else you get from posting a bunch. Thoughts and prayers please
Floob is out this week with the case of the “Didn’t watch the games” so I get to step in and try my best at being both Big and Monday.
If you missed some games this week because the timing was all wonky, consider this your friendly heads up that the times for like the next month are almost all different. Games will start as early as 10:30 Mountain Time. Between now and the February 16 game against Detroit, they start twice at 7:30 and every other time is different.
None of it matters, but if you are someone who likes a nice little routine, RIP.
The Week of: January 9th-15th
Results From Past Week:
On it’s face, the Flames going 2-0-1 seems pretty good. That’s five out of six points, and that’s better than one out of six points.
Flames Overall Record: 21-14-9, 51 pts
Standings: 4th place in the Pacific Division, 7th in the Western Conference. Really does seem like Vegas and Seattle are guarantees in the Pacific this year, so that delicious Battle of Alberta is going to be whichever Alberta team sneaks into the playoffs. Take that, rivals! Two (maybe three) games of playoff home revenue!
Soundtrack: “Fake Nice”- Samantha Savage Smith
Sums up the last few weeks rather well I feel. Flames are in a playoff spot! They got a lot of points! Not a mirage!
What We Liked:
Perhaps the best moment for me personally all week was seeing Rasmus Andersson and Chris Tanev rip the same shot back-to-back against Dallas and score. Rasmus Andersson is someone we all know can do that on the regular, but to see Tanev follow it up a la Elle Woods saying “What, like it’s hard?” was a nice little moment for a guy who without hesitation would perform seppuku if it meant the team got a gritty 2-1 win.
Also, Flames are now 1-0 in games where Tanev scores, so because for that offensive dynamo because the stats don’t lie. Got the game-winner too.
Still laughing about the probably offside goal that Nazem Kadri got. Only a brilliant tactician like Michael Stone knows to make plays like that exactly where there is no camera coverage. That’s what one year on the league minimum gets you.
What We Would Prefer Not To See:
First, Congrats I guess to Walker Duehr for becoming the first South Dakotan to score in the NHL. Love to see that both for him and for the incredible content it provides.
So why is this in stuff we don’t want to see? Because it was immediately followed with the usual “Remember this little nugget of trivia” and good lord why would anyone care besides the Duehrs and maybe the Governor of South Dakota.
I run a trivia night and if I asked that, I would get booed. I remember back then the first player ever signed with the Vegas Golden Knights, people were like “Ooooooooo that’s a great little trivia fact” and no it’s not! I hate the fact that some shmuck named Reid Duke was the first Golden Knight. It lives in my brain instead of something useful. I looked it up and he now plays in Slovakia. Stop turning nothings into somethings. South Dakota can shove it.
As far as things we don’t actually want to see, turning a 6-1 game into a 6-5 game is uhhhhhhh not great. Probably only stole the game because Dallas started Scott Wedgewood instead of the guy who nearly singlehandedly stole the series last spring. Lot of folks making the case that the Flames have .700 points percentage last 10 games, but they should to be honest! Only real challenges in there were Seattle (ish), Connor Hellebuyck, and the Oettinger-less Stars. This team is not going to do this well against real threats, so let’s pump the brakes just a smidge.
Figuring out how to play in the third period would go a long way.
Enemy of the Week:
Johnny Gaudreau returns to the ‘Dome next Monday, which means the narrative all week long is going to be hating him. Don’t do that. The enemy of the week is going to be anyone that is insufferable about Gaudreau this week. If you think it’s going to be you, a good way to ensure it isn’t is to quite simply log off.
What Comes Next:
Flames play Nashville tonight and if they get goalied, at least it’s Juuse Saros so that’s nice. Then they return home to play good teams in Colorado and Tampa Bay and we’ll all then learn a valuable lesson about just how good having Lucic with Kadri and Huberdeau truly is.
Unrelated Fact:
Do you know how Evel Knievel got his name? Born Robert Knievel, he spent a night in jail in 1965 for reckless driving (classic Robert as we all know). In jail the same night was a guy named William Knofel. Apparently, Knofel was a real piece of shit, to the point where everyone just called him Awful Knofel. And ol’ Robert is sitting there in the clink thinking “Well, if he’s Awful Knofel, then I’m Evel Knievel” and the rest is history.
I appreciate this sounds entirely made up, but them’s the facts. Wouldn’t lie to you here, that would besmirch all the goodwill Floob has built up over the years.
See You Next Week:
Well, I won’t. But Floob will, and that’s the good stuff.