I had all the respect in the world for the Calgary Flames...

...Until the last 10 minutes of game 5 with the Red Wings.

Talk about gooning a game up. Cheap shots abounded. It was stickwork at it's worst. I have no problem with physical hockey, in fact I enjoy, as they say, old time hockey. But I'm not talking about the mid-70's Broad Street Bullies, whom the Flames were channeling in the 3rd period.

It was a disgusting display of goonmanship. I have a feeling that the Flames may have knocked the Red Wings out of their stupor with their idiotic attempts to injure. I bet they come out flying Sunday night.

I don't have time tonight to go into my full thoughts about today's Red Wings win. It's probably a good thing, as I might say some very nasty things about Iginla, McLennan, Langkow and the rest of the Charlestown Chiefs Calgary Flames.

"Power play? What power play?" Thoughts on Red Wings - Flames game 4

1. It's gotten to the point that watching a Red Wings playoff road game is sheer torture. Over the past 4 seasons, I've learned to expect the Red Wings to struggle in mightily in these games. It's not much fun to watch hockey while hoping for the best, but expecting, and then getting, the worst.

2. The "Power play." It's a simple term, and it should be simple to execute. There was once a time when the Wings made the power play look effortless. It was once an outright pleasure watching the Red Wings find the open man. It was pure hockey artistry. But now? For lack of a better term, their power play is ugly. Now it's painful to watch a talented team struggle to even get off a shot with the man advantage. It sure as Hell isn't an advantage.

If the Red Wings can't improve on the power play, they won't win the Cup. They may not get out of this series.

3. Did Hasek even touch Iginla with his stick? I'm still trying to figure out that call which gave the Flames their first 5 on 3. Hell, there were strange calls all night long, against both teams. Good call or bad call, doesn't matter. Thanks to the continuing struggles of the Red Wings special teams, whenever the officials get involved, it's going to be to the advantage of the Flames.

4. That was the Bertuzzi we were expecting to see. A force on offense, and physically intimidating. He's only going to get better as the playoffs go on. I only hope the playoffs last longer than the next 3 games.

5. Robert Lang was a little better, but he's still not playing near expectations. It's obvious that Mike Babcock is not going to sit him. I hope to Hell he finds even a semblance of his game soon.

6. Dominik Hasek is being outplayed by Miikka Kiprusoff. There's no question about it.

7. If I'm going to listen to homers, I'm going to listen to Mickey Redmond and Ken Daniels. I still find it hard to believe that the announcers of a national broadcast, such as HNIC's, would be outright homers. Yes, I know it's a Canadian broadcast, but it just seems unprofessional. The Red Wings announcers are paid by the Wings, so you expect a certain level of bias. But you'd think the HNIC crew was paid by the Flames.

8. I'm convinced this series is going 7 games. There's nothing in the Red Wings recent playoff history that would allow me to think otherwise. They don't deserve the benefit of the doubt. Hell, if I go by their recent history, they'll lose the series in 6 games.

9. The majority of what I said in my post about game 3 works for game 4. The Red Wings outshot Calgary, outplayed them for long stretches, Kiprusoff made some huge saves, the refs made some very questionable calls, and the Wings played well enough to win, but still lost. So feel free to use any of the following clichés when talking about the Red Wings. "It's the same old same old," "It's déjà vu," "The more things change the more they stay the same," "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss." They all fit...

Robert Lang is missing, and other thoughts on Red Wings - Flames game 3

1. Last night's game was a typical Red Wings road playoff loss. Let's go through the Wings fan checklist, shall we?

• Did the opposition's goalie stand on his head? Check.
• Did role players score all the goals for the Wings? Check.
• Did the refs look intimidated by a raucous home crowd, making some questionable calls? Check.
• Were the HNIC announcers totally biased towards the Canadian team? Check.
  
• Did the Red Wings play just well enough that they could of won, yet didn't, totally frustrating Red Wings fans in the process? Check.
• No one in Detroit got any sleep? Check.

Yep, it was a typical Red Wings road playoff loss.

2. Going with the theme, Dominik Hasek played just well enough to lose. He has to make the stop Jarome Iginla's game winning goal. Miikka Kiprusoff has been making those sort of saves all series.

3. Where's Robert Lang? There's someone on the ice wearing his sweater, but it can't be Lang. The guy on the ice sucks. We can start with the Lang's picture on a milk carton jokes. I'm joining the chorus who's saying he needs to sit in game 4.

4. As soon as Dan Cleary made the awesomely big hit on Dion Phaneuf, and set up Kris Draper's goal, you know what was my first thought? It wasn't sheer glee over watching Phaneuf stumble around as if punch drunk after Cleary rung his bell. I didn't celebrate a change in momentum. My first that was. "How soon before we see a Calgary power play?" And what do you know...

5. Chris Chelios shattering the glass at the end of the 2nd period was a damn cool sight.

6. What else is missing, other than Robert Lang? Where in the living Hell is the Red Wing power play? The Wings look better when they are 5 on 5 than when they have a man advantage, for chrissakes! I'm deathly afraid that the Wings impotent power play is going to cost them a playoff series.

7. Still, it was only one game. It was a sure thing that if Calgary was going to win a game, it was going to be game 3. The Flames were embarrassed in Detroit, so you knew they were going to come out guns ablaze. I'm not saying that Game 4 is a must win, but this Wings fan would feel much better about their chances if they could come out of Calgary with a split. The Wings lose tomorrow night, and you know that the Chicken Littles will be out in force Friday, fearing the worst.

8. I know he's not nearly the player he once was, but I miss Darren McCarty. To be honest, it's sad to see him sit out this series as a healthy scratch for Calgary.

9. I hate hate hate these western playoff road games. I absolutely dread them. Bad things happen, man...Bad things...

10. Still no sign of Robert Lang.