Iceberg, Right Ahead!

HMCS Calgary Flames?

If the Calgary Flames were a ship, they'd be taking on a lot of water right now; and there might not be enough buckets to keep this one from going down. After last night's overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks, the Flames find themselves in 10th place in the Western Conference, one point back of both 9th place Dallas and 8th place Anaheim.

There are some positives for the Flames as they make their final push however. First and foremost, it is still possible to make the playoffs. If they are able to win six of their remaining eight games, they'll finish with 96 points. That should be enough to make the spring dance. Helping them out, is the "easiest" schedule of any contending team in the West, meaning they play a few games against the basement teams (Edmonton, Colorado, etc.). Also helping them out is the doubt that is most likely rampant amongst fans, pundits and opponents. I say this is a positive, as the Flames have seemed to thrive this season when the chips were down. In December, nobody thought they'd have even a remote chance of making the playoffs and they went on a pretty decent run. Perhaps their most recent set back can be another springboard to take the team to the next level and finish the season on a good run.

Now for the downside to this little push and unfortunately it's much larger than the upside. To begin with, last night's game was a heart breaker. Having clawed their way back from a 3-0 deficit was something to see. But allowing the tying goal with less than two minutes to play and then losing in overtime could be a crushing blow to the team (thank you Rene Bourque for you stupid penalty 200ft away from the Flames net). This loss wasn't like last Saturday's loss to Vancouver; best team in the league, played well but didn't get the result.

Tonight's game is obviously a must win (they all are now), but I'll be very interested to see how the Flames rebound from a game where they should have secured two points. They'll need a solid bounce back performance to prove to the fans and themselves that they can win six or seven of their last eight games. Squeaking by with an overtime win tonight won't be enough to instill the kind of confidence they need right now.

While the schedule may favor the Flames in terms of their opponents' winning percentage it doesn't in terms of the number of games. With only eight games left, the Flames have two less games to play than Dallas, Anaheim, and LA, and one less than Nashville. Sure, games-in-hand are only good if you win 'em, but it's tough on the Flames, who even if they do win six or seven more games, will still have to sit with fingers crossed and just see what happens.

And this is the next problem, much of this last playoff push will be out of the Flames' control. As witnessed this weekend, the Flames can lose so much ground without even playing. While only playing on game over three days, the Flames watched as LA and Anaheim went to overtime Saturday night, Nashville rattled off two victories, Dallas a shootout loss and Chicago a couple of points. Every team the Flames are chasing secured at least a point in every game they played. It truly was a worst-case scenario for the hometown heroes. Having to watch the out of town scores so closely, and watch it all unfold against them can't be too good for the mood in the locker room. It'll be yet another obstacle for the Flames to overcome.

Lastly, there's the NHL's new tie-breaker formula which doesn't count shootout wins. The Flames have at least three fewer regulation or overtime wins than the teams they are chasing. If they do manage to tie the 8th place team, they'll likely lose the tie breaker. This makes no sense to me. Why have a shootout, only to cheapen the wins they provide when it really counts. The Rocket Richard trophy isn't awarded to the player with the most goals, and in the case of a tie, the player with the most non-empty net goals. A goal is a goal and a win is a win; there shouldn't be different types of wins. The league still counts wins against the Edmonton Oilers, and let's face it, those shouldn't count as much as wins against a real team.

I think of the 2007 Colorado Rockies, who won 15 of their last 16 games to make the playoffs and then went all the way to the World Series. This year's Calgary Flames are going to need something similarly special to make the playoffs as well.

-TheRev

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