Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Flames show some spark

It's taken a bit longer than the Calgary faithful might like, but finally it seems that the Calgary Flames are shaking the cobwebs from their heads.

Tuesday night saw the Flames shut out the Minnesota Wild 3-0, as Mikka Kiprusoff faced 23 shots on his way to his second shut out of the season. More important for the Flames was the continued improvement in the play of Jarome Iginla, who picked up two goals in the Flames victory.

Iginla has been off to a slow start this year, and as goes Iggy so went the Flames it seemed. for the first few three weeks of this season they've had a terrible time getting untracked with a record of 5-7-2.

The troubles in scoring and keeping the opposition out of their end has been the talk of Calgary in the early days of this new NHL. A team which came up a little short in the last Stanley Cup contest has had its problems getting things in gear in a this new season.

With Iginla starting to find his range again though, the Flames are finding more confidence on the ice which should soon translate into more wins and a steady climb up the standings. The Flames hosted their fifth consecutive sell out on Tuesday, a crowd that liked what they saw from the home side. There are big expectations in Calgary this year, the taste of playoff success left a pretty good feeling around Southern Alberta, a feeling that kept hockey alive during the lengthy lockout.

If the Flames can get things back on track, the disappointing start will soon be all but forgotten in the rush to get back on the Flame bandwagon. There's a sense of unfinished work to be done in Calgary, the players know it, as do the fans. It's only one win, after a string of losses, but some positive signs were there for the fans. A top scorer finding his scoring touch, the amazing goaltender recording another shut out and some strong youngsters making their mark.

All in all, hockey just may be on the right track again in Southern Alberta.

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