April 30, 2009 Flames didn't have enough
force TFP Columnist
Josh Mora touches on Calgary's early exit from post-season play.
CHICAGO, IL -- Calgary is a city
where hope, and thoughts of grandeur, are a part of the local
consciousness. Maybe more so than actual accomplishment.
It's not a big town, but the neighborhoods stretch from the flat high
plains towards the mountains and the the buildings point towards the
skies. There are construction cranes and half-built buildings on every
downtown block. To the naked eye, it looks like the city is trying to
transform itself from its cowtown past to become a business center of
some repute.
But on our recent visit there in the first round of the playoffs,
locals told us that much of the construction has stopped with the
economic crisis, and there are some fears that big chunks of the
building will never be finished, and the goals of the community will
never be reached.
Cue here the obvious metaphor, that the Flames resemble the city in
which they play.
The Flames ignited their fan base with their scintillating run to the
Cup Finals back in 2004. But after the Blackhawks extinguished them in
six games this year, the Flames have now exited the post-season in the
first round for four consecutive seasons.
Who is accountable?
Certainly the head coach. Mike Keenan spent his first round series
critiquing officials, decrying the Hawks physical play, bemoaning his
team's injuries and engaging in verbal tete-a-tetes with the media. He
did just about everything but coach. And so Joel Quenneville and the
Blackhawks dictated the matchups, which is why Duncan Keith and Brent
Seabrook wore Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen like a comfortable robe.
Then there's GM Darryl Sutter, who assembled what he believed to be
his most talented team to date. And on talent alone, he may have been
right. But he added two pieces who are known league-wide as dogs, and
for a reason.
Jordan Leopold was invisible for most
of the series, and only came into sight at the worst possible moment
and in the worst possible way -- when Dustin Byfuglien skated a
lap-and-a-half around the offensive zone to set up the 2-0 goal in
Game 6, with Leopold barely nipping at his heels. And then there's
Jokinen, who was dominant in games 3 and 4 with the momentum of the
home crowd, and then entirely neutralized in the crucial Game 5 on the
road.
And lastly, there's Iginla himself. If there's a better guy in sports,
I want to meet him. In the dark aftermath of Game 6, Iginla spent time
thanking some of the VISITING media for their work during the series,
and he did so with a broad smile. But he's probably never going to be
the pillar of a Cup-winning team. Not anymore. Though he's still a
very good player -- a true all-star -- his best days are behind him.
And he may be too nice a guy, ultimately, to lead a team to the Cup.
It simply may not be in him to stand up in the locker room and say the
nasty, uncomfortable things a captain sometimes needs to say. He might
just be too nice.
Can Iginla win a Cup? Of course... but it may be as a complimentary
player, or as a veteran with a younger captain on another team.
And how tough would that be for Calgary?
To see the very thing around which
they built their franchise move on to realize that goal somewhere
else, while they are left with the ghosts of their goals looming over
their city, reminding themselves of all the things they dreamed of,
yet never were able to achieve.
Josh
Mora,
a Columnist with TheFourthPeriod.com, is an Anchor and
Blackhawks Reporter with Comcast Sportsnet Chicago.
