The Flames were able to beat the three top seeds in the West, but they were unable to beat the Lightning and the NHL itself. How could they win when it appeared that the league didn’t want them to? The non-goal in Game 6 was reviewed at the end of the game and deemed inconclusive. At the end of the game?!?!? Less important goals in other games consumed much more review time. In Game 6’s case, the puck was dropped a mere 20 seconds following the whistle. Was this reviewed in under 20 seconds or not even reviewed at all? I’d bet on the latter. Three camera angles appear to show that Calgary had scored to take the lead. The imfamous “net cam” that’s prevalent in every televised game and could’ve been the deciding factor was mysteriously absent. It’s obvious from the way Calgary played in Game 7 that they were extremely dejected. What a let-down it must be. The NHL couldn’t possibly want to see Calgary win. This year an independant auditor determined that the NHL‘s combined net losses totalled $272.6 million thanks to waning interest in the lucrative market of the United States. Of course, hockey in Canada is as popular as ever and will always be a money-maker, but there are only 35 million potential viewers in this country. However, in the US, there are 300 million potential viewers. If Calgary were to win the Stanley Cup, how many people south of the border would care? The vast majority of Americans cannot even find the city of Calgary on a map! This is not the first time the NHL has attempted to court the people in traditionally non-hockey markets. Let’s not forget the Dallas Stars‘ overtime win in the Stanley Cup final against Buffalo in 1999, when Brett Hull scored with his foot blatently in the goal crease (Dena won’t like it that I said this but it’s true). The NHL denied it as long as they could but they eventually conceded that the wrong call was made. I believe that the NHL should adopt the coaches challenge rule that they have in the NFL. Time will tell what happens next year. Along the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the league needs to be fixed and I’ll likely rant about that later. For now, that’s water under the bridge…
All in all, I’m proud of what the Flames accomplished this season. They were not predicted to make the playoffs and they did. They were not predicted to beat the Northwest Division champs, the Vancouver Canucks, but they did. Then they were not predicted to beat the Central Division champs, the Detroit RedWings, but they did. Finally, they were not predicted to beat the Pacific Division champs, the San Jose Sharks, but they did. The Flames accomplished this with one of the smallest payrolls in the league, they never had home-ice advantage in any of their four series, and played the entire playoffs with up to seven regular players out with injuries. The city of Calgary showed a ton of pride in their team, more so than any team in professional sports. Period. What other team, in any sport for that matter, has ever packed their home stadium when the team is on the road? I can’t think of any. The Flames can look back on this season as a success. This Flames fan of seventeen years is mighty proud.
