The Big Monday Thing - Oh, You Just Had To Play Games
"You win 100% of the games you don't play" - Wayne Gretzky, mathemetician
Remember when all those scheduled contests were postponed? That idyllic time when the Flames didn’t travel through the swamp-ridden Florida wasteland and get juice farmed? Here is live footage of me remembering:
I don’t want to come across as on the same side of this whole Omicron thing, because I’m relatively certain I’m not, but I can’t be the only one who thinks not playing, and therefore not losing games for three weeks was better than rushing home still too late to see the first period, only to see the Flames get obliterated by three of the top five teams in the league. Your experience may vary, I guess.
The Week of: January 3rd-9th
Results From Past Week: Pain.
Flames Overall Record: 17-10-6, 40 pts
Standings: 3rd place in the Pacific Division, 6th in the Western Conference. Boy, it sure is a good thing that nothing really changes around here.
Soundtrack: Gimme Some More - Busta Rhymes
Nothing thematically going on here, just been listening to some old Busta lately. Flipmode is the greatest.
What We Liked:
When you drop 49 shots on your opposition and still lose, it doesn’t feel like you can say you’ve played bad. The Flames DID play badly, and ultimately they learned that they can’t really hang with the upper echelon of the NHL, but even in the worst of times, the team is generating offense, and at some point that does have to translate into goals. It didn’t work out this week, but over the long run, a team that can score enough to paper over their biggest problems - and gets a couple more saves than they got in their last three games - can go a long way.
At the very least, Johnny Gaudreau is still killing it. Brad Treliving should sign him. Has anyone considered that before now?
What We Would Prefer Not To See:
Not today. Not today.
Enemy of the Week:
I don’t know how much it’s going to affect your Calgary Flames in the next seven days, but I’m hearing a lot about the Riddler lately. That guy, I don’t know, he shows up every 10-15 years, and in that span, I’ve noticed he’s usually up to no good.
He seems to hang around in some other city, and they have their guy devoted to monitoring the situation, but you know, he’s still something to watch out for.
What Comes Next:
Calgary’s match against the Islanders on Tuesday is still postponed, and that probably sucks, because the Isles are not the Florida Panthers, and a tilt against an objectively weaker team seems like a great time to get their house cleaned up. Meanwhile, the game against the Senators on Thursday remains scheduled, and that’s cool, because they certainly aren’t the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Also, there is a game against Vegas on Saturday that feels like it might be regrettable.
Elias Lindholm Lifelong Feud Redemption Arc of the Week:
If you’ve been with Scorchstack from the beginning, you’re aware of the death pact Flames center Elias Lindholm is locked in with the only remaining relevant actor from Home Improvement, Richard Karn. Elias said some pretty damning things about his nemesis, and it seemed like Karn was gleefully leaning into his role as archvillain in this story with the unveiling of an upcoming NFT launch:
Reactions to the news were…tepid, and the backlash prompted Karn to circle back and clarify that his NFTs weren’t environmentally devastating JPEGs that don’t do anything, so much as they were functional experiences with the big man himself (kinda cool!). Then, in a face turn for the ages, he decided to abandon the venture altogether:
Tough break, Elias, your sympathy card in your quest is out the window. At least the floating head of the man who knows still laughs. Karn. Karn. Karn.
Unrelated Fact:
Bob and Norm are having conversations like this now in, uh, heaven.
See You Next Week:
Juuso Välimäki got injured. There’s your AHL update for the week. Everything is working great. See you next week.