Calgary is out matched at every possition outside of goaltending.
Disagree.
Calgary has harder hitting players.
Calgary's wingers in the top 6:
Iginla, Cammalleri, Glencross, Tanguay
Vancouver's:
D. Sedin, Burrows, Booth....Higgins/Raymond?
Outside of D. Sedin the top 6 wingers in the Canucks are pretty weak. Obviously Vancouver's top 2 centres are much better than Calgary's, and that may be enough in itself to make the difference. However, its not fair in any way to make a statment like Vancouver, beats Calgary in every position but goaltending.
I also prefer Calgary's bottom six of: Moss, Stepniak, Comeau, Backlund, Jackman, and Kostopoulos. Much better balance of speed and grit. Plus Moss and Stepniak can both score better than anyone on Vancouver's bottom six.
Basically I'd give the edge to Vancouver in top 4 defencemen and top 2 centre, but in every other category, Calgary exceeds or matches. Top 2 centres are, however, probably the most two important positions.
Hate both teams.. I don't know who I'd be cheering to lose more.
Luongo and another meltdown?
Iginla and his 5th first round exit as a Captain?
Hey look, it's you again! Same old story, I see.
I wouldn't say the Flames are a shoe-in for the playoffs. There's a lot more hockey to be played. I would love to get in just to play VAN in the first round though... That would be an intense series.
It's nice to see the Flames doing well right now though. A couple more 5 game winning streaks and we'll be in.
Canucks win that series if Bertuzzi was suspended.
Bertuzzi was suspended and they lost.
If Bertuzzi wasn't suspended I think Canucks win that series.. even with Bertuzzi always sucking in the playoffs.. remember Naslund outscored Iginla with Matt Cooke on his line... have to think he adds a couple more points with Bertuzzi.
Everything fell into place for the Flames that series.
Let me first say I think Calgary is definitely going to make the playoffs. I think they will settle in at No. 7 and face Vancouver. If that happens, we're in for a barn burner of a series IMO. I'll be watching every game if this one comes up. Both teams fairly balanced, obviously Vancouver excells in many areas but Calgary can also beat you in a number of ways. Plus, they have a real edge to them and I think that might give the Canucks some trouble, not to mention the rivalry.
You know what would be funny after reading this post... Calgary makes it at the expense of Chicago.
6. CHI 84 pts (71)
7. PHX 81 pts (72)
8. COL 81 pts (73)
9. SJ 80 pts (70)
10. CAL 80 pts (71)
11. LA 80 pts (70)
CHI is by no means gauranteed a spot in the post season yet.
I'd like to add that the gap between the two teams isn't as big as most people think. Once you exclude shootouts, the Canucks have 4 more wins than the Flames. Considering the Flames' awful start, things are probably very close through the second half.
Is it just me, or does Calgary give Vancouver an honest run virtually every time they play? I admittedly don't catch every game they play against eachother, but when I do it looks like Calgary gives them trouble.
No question the Canucks have a big edge talent wise, but from what I've seen, Calgary doesn't give a gee whiz. Say what you want about the Flames, but you can't say they're soft or lazy. And as long as Kipper's still running on fumes, Calgary has the advantage in between the pipes. I don't think I'd underestimate them, given the likelihood that they'll be healthy again come playoff time.
Hope this series happens. Everybody loves an underdog story, but this is 1 of those where the underdog really shouldn't be getting overlooked, imo.
Is it just me, or does Calgary give Vancouver an honest run virtually every time they play? I admittedly don't catch every game they play against eachother, but when I do it looks like Calgary gives them trouble.
It's pretty much just you, the Canucks unfortunately haven't had that much trouble beating Calgary in recent years. A fact which could actually work for the Flames' advantage should the two teams meet in the playoffs.
It's pretty much just you, the Canucks unfortunately haven't had that much trouble beating Calgary in recent years. A fact which could actually work for the Flames' advantage should the two teams meet in the playoffs.
Yeah, I would say that, in general, for the last few years, 3 of the 6 yearly games are close. The other 3 are blowouts where the Canucks **** the Flames.
To be fair though, the Flames and Canucks play eachother a lot at the very beginning of the season or the very end. For the last two years the Flames have been elminated from the playoffs at the very end of the season and have been packing it in. The Flames also seem to play horribly for the first 15-20 games of the season every year.
So far this year:
Van 5-1 Nov 1, 2011
Van 5-1 Dec 4, 2011
Cal 3-1 Dec 23, 2011
Cal 3-2 (shoot out) Feb 11, 2012
Last year:
Van 7-2 Dec 1, 2010
Van 3-1 Jan 5, 2011
Cal 4-3 (shootout) Jan 22, 2011
Van 4-2 Feb 12, 2011
Van 4-3 March 12, 2011
Van 3-2 Apr 9, 2011
So you can see the trend. About half the games are tight...the rest are humliating blow outs.
I also prefer Calgary's bottom six of: Moss, Stepniak, Comeau, Backlund, Jackman, and Kostopoulos. Much better balance of speed and grit. Plus Moss and Stepniak can both score better than anyone on Vancouver's bottom six.
I'd take Vancouvers bottom 6 over Calgarys very easily.
I'd rather avoid the Canucks, although if they and the Sedins keep playing how they are now for the rest of the season they would be an appealing opponent.
We always play well against Detroit, so I wouldn't mind going up against them.. but asking to play Lidstrom, Datsyuk, and Babcock in the 1st round of the playoffs is probably asking for it.
meh, have to face someone in the playoffs if we make it. and to go all the way you have to beat everyone in your path, so doesn't matter really.
No captain can out score the fact he is on a mediocre team vs a top team.
