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Sunday, December 19, 1999
Winning ugly
Action! Excitement! Thrills!
That's all that was missing. Action. Excitement. Thrills.
Historically, a Sens-Flames cage match has held all the nail-biting, cutting-edge, heart-racing grip on the imagination of watching candle wax drip.
Last night lived down to expectations.
"And they want our tax dollars for this?!" wailed one press-box prankster.
And he didn't even pay to get in.
In case you've lost count, that's five wins in a row at home, a feat they couldn't accomplish all of last season. In case you're interested, that's points in eight of nine games. In case you've already called for the undertaker, those are the division-leading Colorado Avalanche they're making up gobs of ground on.
Still, nothing seems to be enough from these downtrodden, already-dismissed Flames.
"I think that's the most icings I've seen in the world," grunted Senators' defenceman Jason York.
Whoa! Talk about the pot calling the kettle black ...
When they fall short, they get browbeaten for losing. When they win, as last night, they don't do it with enough panache.
Last night may not have been enthralling hockey but it was textbook hockey, from the Flames' own publishing house. They jumped out to a lead, and then, like a fighter ahead on points, bobbed and weaved, backpedalled and covered up, trying not to get tagged with the big shot.
"Well, you can't please all the people all the time," sighed defenceman Tommy Albelin, with a knowing smile. "Sorry, but that's the way we have to play. And we're getting more comfortable at it.
"In the first 20 games, we might've had a lead for maybe 30 minutes. Tonight, we held one for almost 57. That's absolutely critical for us.
"There's a different feeling on the bench. When we get a lead now, there's a calmness; a sense that everything will be all right. Before, there was panic."
This dump-it-out, chip-it-in, gum up the neutral zone method won't draw many 6s for artistic merit but, hey, neither team had sequins glittering on their sweaters anyway.
"Gritty," was how coach Brian Sutter described it.
"Going into the third period, I think we had five scoring chances and they had three or four.
"It's a nice start (to the homestand). We've only been home one day in over three weeks.
"But the strides we've made are really positive. I don't think there's very many teams that can look down the bench and say there's eight, nine or 10 forwards they can put out in the last five minutes. But we can.
"We've learned to play in those close games. We should have. We've been in enough of them."
Of Calgary's last 13 starts, nine have either ended tied or been decided by the slenderest of margins.
"That's the NHL," said Hnat Domenichelli, whose goal and assist were all the offence Fred Brathwaite would require. "In junior, midget, the minors, if you get up 2-0, it winds up 6-0. Not here. Every game is 3-2, 2-1, 1-0.
"The teams that are successful find a way to win those games."
And success, even modest, is something these Flames are beginning to enjoy; to understand.
And for those who carp about the way in which they accomplish it?
"Waddaya want?" said a smiling Albelin. "We won, didn't we?
"Some people may not have thought that was pretty but ... "
But beauty, it's often said, is in the eye of the beholder.
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