AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > February > 13
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Gameday blog: Calgary Flames
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just returned from the morning skate, where I was highly entertained by the Calgary newspapers - there’s some good hockey writers up here. The Flames are coming off a 7-4 loss to the Red Wings and the papers were great — calling it the “Motown massacre” and “Mauling in Michigan.” While the Thrashers last loss to Edmonton was probably just as bad, I guess we let them off the hook compared to these papers. Craig Conroy called the loss to the Red Wings, the ‘final slap in the face’ in George Johnson’s story in the Calgary Herald.
So needless to say, the Flames are looking to rebound against the Thrashers. But the game is just as big for the Thrash, especially with Tampa Bay playing so well lately. Even though they’ve struggled (one win in six games), the Thrashers can go 2-2 on this west coast trip with a win tonight - which wouldn’t be bad at all.
Ilya Kovalchuk said this morning that it’s huge for the team to get off to a fast start tonight against Calgary and I agree.
Coach Bob Hartley mixed up the lines this morning — the Hossa line is the same, Hemel will skate with Larsen and Holik. Slater skated with Kovalchuk and Metro. The last line had Sim centering Boulton and Mellanby. Now, I don’t think that Sim will be centering that line any time soon, so Hartley’s working on something. He said he prefers Metro’s speed on the wing, rather than at center. So we’ll see how it all shakes out tonight.
Kari Lehtonen is back in net, and will need to be sharp. The Flames are tough at home (22-5-1) and are calling this game a playoff game, since they need the win to keep pace Vancouver and Minnesota. It should be a pretty intense game, as both teams need a bounce back win after bad losses.
