Wild Need to Work On Beating Division Rivals.

Photo courtesy of the Facebook group "Calgary Flames SUCK"

We beat Phoenix on Sunday night to make it seven straight. I was mildly worried about the game since they were on a mild tear, but my worries were unfounded.

So last night we played the Flames, and that didn't go so well. Stupid Jarome Iginla, AKA Sakic's heir, got the Shootout winner. It was a night for the defencemen as Foster and Burns had the goals for the Wild. This is an important goal for Foster, since he still needs to prove that he can contribute so that Lemaire will put him in the lineup more frequently. I didn't actually watch the game, but TSN thoughtfully provided me with game highlights and a less than clever title. My boy Parrish was out with sore back apparently last night, and was therefore not getting any goals for me to gloat about. :(

Sherry, over at Scarlett Ice, has been nominated for this year's Canadian Blog Awards. You should go to her site and check it out, and then she has a link up so that you can vote for her. There are many quality entries this year, so I recommend voting for Sherry and then going and checking out all the other blogs.

Next up: The Ducks. Hopefully Mark Parrish will be back so he can break FCP again. That would definitely make my life if that were to occur twice. Now that S. Niedermayer is back, unfortunately they have gotten better. Earl Sleek, who writes for both Battle of California and AOL Fanhouse, will probably have some kind of detailed stats up about the matchup, because he is far better at that sort of thing than I am. Finny, of Girl With a Puck, will probably post something about the game if she is back from her vacation.

Teebz, the brilliance behind Hockey Blog in Canada, is having an essay contest with some fantastic prizes to celebrate the one year anniversary of having his blog. The questions haven't been posted yet, but you should check in often to see what they are. Or don't. That way my brilliant entry will have less competition. Congrats to you, Teebz, and good luck to all who take him up on his challenge.

**Edit** According to the man himself, the Hockey Blog in Canada essay questions will be up on Monday.

Trade Skoula!

If they don't trade him, he's in danger of being bodily harmed by one of his teammates...or a random fan. Tonight he is directly responsible for the loss. Mark Parrish tied the game up with five or so minutes to go, and before they even had time to make the goal announcement, the Sharks had scored. Why? Because Martin Skoula sucks at life. DR is very famous for that ten player trade that sent Gilmour to the Leafs back in the day, but now he made an even worse decision to get Martin Skoula for Willie Mitchell instead of nothing. The team would have been better off losing Willie to free agency. Night after night he gives away the puck, trips over paint lines, and has no offensive upside to make up for it, not to mention he looks like he got badly beaten with the ugly stick. People in the crowd were chanting "Let's Trade Skoula!", instead of the usual and ever creative "Let's Go Wild!" Oh and Demitra. He needs to learn how to pass/recieve passes and take faceoffs.

On a brighter note, Mark Parrish scored a goal, and looked like a very excited eight year old. Actually, so did I as Mark Parrish is my hero. Niklas Backstrom played very well, even if the defencemen seem to started their New Year's celebration early. Maybe that's where all those empty bottles of Captain Morgan came from (as I was walking down the stairs after the game, there was a cart full of empty Captain Morgan bottles). It's not good that he's being forced to make upwards of 40 saves each time we play.

It's almost January, so who will be the captain for the next month? I hope it's Parrish again, but rumblings around the Cities point to Belanger. Everyone is all of a sudden singing his praises again. I like Belanger and all, but he's not the second coming of Guy Lafleur. Wes Walz maybe, but not Guy Lafleur.

PS: Whoever can explain to me why Jacques Lemaire still likes Skoula and can make me believe their explaination (and preferably entertain me while doing so) will win some sort of prize.