Calgary’s Team!
Hmmmm…let’s see….the Flames crapped the bed big time in game 7…the Hitmen got owned by the same team that owned them all year long…that leaves the city’s playoff pride in the hands of…..THE ROUGHNECKS!!!!!!
Aaaaaaaannnnnnddd….they’re on the road for the final regular season game and game one of the playoffs…and to get a home playoff game in round two…..if a frog had wings it wouldn’t bump its….you know.
It’s the kind of thing that makes Brad Bannister want to beat his office staff with a length of drill pipe (Just kidding Brad! …Brad…put down that length of drill pipe….Brad…..remember the restraining order…) But in a word, Yargh. A chance to have the playoff spotlight to oneself, and one is forced to vacate one’s vacant home premises for the duration, barring a coming together of circumstances the order of the origin of life on earth to provide for a home playoff date.
To hell with playing the woulda coulda shoulda game about how first or second was there for the taking. Those of you who regularly visit this space (And a huge thank you to those who have!) are familiar with what happened when. The fact is, it’s a trip to Edmonton with a chance ot make it three wins in a row, then on to San Jose or Coldorado.
It’s a tough assignment this weekend. A mathcup of a team with little to play for, versus a team playing out the string. To their credit, both sides said the right things in this week’s NLL conference call. Kurt Silcott talked about the team building momentum and playing a third straight strong game. Bob Hamley talked about people playing for their jobs.
On second thought, there is plenty at stake here. The Roughnecks do need another strong performance to build on the confidence they’ve gained on a 4th quarter beatdown win followed by a 4th quarter comeback agianst a hated rival. For the rush, Hamley is dead serious when he talks about jobs for next year. This is a man who builds winners, and took the first steps by;
A-Trading for draft picks to create hope for the future, and
B-Getting the guys he had left to buy in for a winning streak that got them within a weekend swoon of making the playoffs.
I’m looking for the continued evolution of Josh Sanderson into the master playmaker Silcott traded for. I’m looking for Tracey Kelusky to take over a game, knowing he’s all the way back from his concussion. I’m looking for Kaleb Toth to, in his words, stay pissed off and make the ‘Kaleb needs to retire’ crowd continue to eat their words. I’m looking for Steve Dietrich to once again give this team the game saving goaltending it needs to believe in itself.
Flames jerseys away, Hitmen jerseys away, wash the Stamps jersey to get it ready for summer, but for now, the Roughnecks shirt is number one on the runway.