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EDMONTON - The Calgary Flames havent had much go right this season, but everything certainly came together for one night on Saturday. cheap nfl jerseys . Curtis Glencross had a hat trick and Matt Stajan had a goal and three assists as the Flames scored four goals in a 3:05 span of the second period to come away with a massive 8-1 victory over the rival Edmonton Oilers. "What a great game," said Flames head coach Bob Hartley. "We wanted to redeem ourselves from (Friday) nights game. I could see that the boys were not very impressed with the performance from last night. We just worked very simple, we were very effective and we scored some great goals." Mike Cammalleri, Mark Giordano, Paul Byron and Kevin Westgarth also scored for the Flames (29-35-7) who have won four of their last six and sit 26th overall in the NHL. Nobody was expecting that kind of offensive explosion, however. "Its been a challenge for us to produce offence this year," Cammalleri said. "Its nice to see pucks go in like they did. You dont expect to score eight goals every night, but its nice to get that feeling where you feel like the puck is going to go in the net for us." It was an emotional game for Stajan, who pointed up to the sky after scoring on a penalty shot in honour of his newborn son, who died earlier this month. "That one means a lot," he said. "Its been obviously not easy and that one was for the little guy. It felt good and it gave us some puck-luck after too. Well move on now and Ill remember that one forever." Jeff Petry replied for the Oilers (25-38-9), who have lost two in a row and remain in second last place in the league. "Its pretty obvious how bad we played tonight. We are obviously very frustrated with how we played this game," said Oilers winger David Perron. "It is pretty embarrassing. We all know how bad it was and that the fans werent happy. If I was sitting in the stands, I would have been doing the same thing they were doing." Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins agreed that the fans were within their rights to voice their disproval to the team. "That was probably the longest last 15 minutes of a game that I have ever been involved with," he said. "I apologize to the fans who were here tonight and had to watch it. It was painful on the bench and Im sure it was painful in the stands. We hope it is just a blip on the radar because we have been playing pretty well lately. "I understand the frustration tonight. Especially losing to Calgary. No disrespect to Calgary, they are working hard and have had a tough year as well. But that is our rival, so it stings even worse." The Oilers started the scoring with a power-play goal four-and-a-half minutes in as Petry sent a long slapshot from the point through a sea of legs and past a screened Karri Ramo in his return to the Calgary net for the first time in seven weeks. Calgary tied the game four minutes later as Giordano got all of a shot from the top of the face-off circle, sending a bullet off the crossbar and into the Oiler net behind Edmonton starter Viktor Fasth. The Flames went up 2-1 four minutes into the second period as Mikael Backlund sent a cross-ice pass to Cammalleri, who was able to pick the corner with a quick shot before Fasth could get across the net. It was Cammalleris 23rd of the season. The floodgates opened from there. A minute later, Calgary had a two-goal advantage. Stajan was awarded a penalty shot after a rather suspect slashing call on a breakaway from Edmonton defender Mark Fraser. Stajan made the most of the one-on-one opportunity, beating Fasth glove-side with a backhand shot. The Flames scored their third goal in a 1:47 span as Cammalleri stopped short on a quick breakout and allowed two Edmonton defenders to go sliding past before feeding the puck to Byron at the side of the net for his sixth of the season. Just 1:18 later the Flames made it four goals in just over three minutes as Glencross tucked a shot over Fasths shoulder. Ben Scrivens replaced Fasth, who allowed five goals on 16 shots. Late in the second period, Oiler Taylor Hall threw a water bottle in frustration while sitting on the Oiler bench that ended up spraying the coaching staff, earning a terse scolding from head coach Dallas Eakins. "That stuff happens," Hall said. "Dallas and I have a great relationship. At times we all get a little frustrated with how things are going and sometimes you need to take a step back and realize that frustration isnt going to accomplish anything. "I dont expect anything more. We are all good." Calgary made it 6-1 five minutes into the third period as a Glencross shot hit the stick of Edmontons Justin Schultz and went through Scrivens legs. The Flames then struck again 37 seconds later as a Tyler Wotherspoon shot that was going wide was batted out of the air and in by Westgarth at the side of the net. The frustration continued for Edmonton as a jersey was thrown on the ice soon afterwards, prompting Scrivens to hook it up with his stick and fling it back into the crowd. "I always feel like as a fan, you pay your money and you get to do whatever you want," Scrivens explained. "If you want to boo me, jeer me, call me every name, you are entitled to that. You could spit on me for all I care, if I deserve it. But when I see a jersey thrown on the ice… Im from here. You are not just disrespecting the guys in this room, you are disrespecting guys who wore this jersey before us. All of the great guys who have pulled this sweater over their heads, Gretzky, Messier, they all took great pride wearing that jersey. "That logo is a sacred thing for us. It is disheartening for me to see our fans treat it that way." Calgary made it 8-1 with just under seven minutes to play as Glencross recorded his hat trick goal on a long shot through traffic for his 10th goal of the season. The Flames return home for a three-game set, starting with the San Jose Sharks on Monday. The Oilers play the fourth game of a six-game homestand on Tuesday, also against the Sharks. wholesale jerseys . 1 and No. 2 in womens golf at the World Ladies Championship. Park closed with a 6-under 67 for a five-shot victory over Suzann Pettersen in a Ladies European Tour event. jersyes nfl wholesale . Tanaka has certainly lived up to the hype this season, going 10-1 with an American League-best 2.02 ERA. The Japanese right-hander went the distance to win his fourth straight start on Wednesday in Seattle, as he held the Mariners to a pair of runs and six hits.Rob Blake remembers what it was like to get the call from Hockey Canada to play in the world championship the day after his season with the Los Angeles Kings ended. Blake donned the red-and-white Maple Leaf five times at the tournament over his career, winning gold twice. This spring hell be making those calls as Canadas general manager for the world championship that takes place in May in Minsk, Belarus. Because its an Olympic year, Blake and his staff -- Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers, Brad Treliving of the Phoenix Coyotes and Brad Pascall of Hockey Canada -- might have some different challenges convincing players to commit. But the 44-year-old Kings assistant GM knows what to sell. "I cant stress how important the opportunity to win is," Blake said in a phone interview Wednesday. "I convey to them what the world championships is all about. ... You look at your career and it goes by pretty fast. Theres not a lot of opportunities you have to win something." Blake represented Canada at the world championship in 1998, months after playing in the Nagano Olympics. "Being in that position and having won a couple of those tournaments, you can relate those stories to (potential players)," Blake said. Canada, like many other teams at the world championship, is expected to have a young roster in Minsk because its an Olympic year. Not only does that likely rule out the players who won gold in Sochi (Corey Perry was the only 2010 Olympian to play at the worlds), but Treliving said there are other complications. "Its a little bit unique in the sense not only from an Olympic year and the guys that went over and played, but even from the NHL schedule and the compactness of the NHL schedule, for everybody, including those who didnt go over and play," he said in a phone interview. Four years ago, Canadas group at the world championships included 18-year-old Evander Kane, 19-year-olds Matt Duchene and John Tavares and 20-year-old Steven Stamkos. Expect similar youth this time around. "I think its going to be very similar to the teams in the past," Blake said. "The young guys are the ones that make an easy commitment. They dont have the family commitment, the kids commitment and different things that as you get older you might have involved in this type of decision. I think, typically, younger guys are the ones and then you surround them with the right veterans and you can have some success." One thing Blake, Hextall and Treliving have in common is theyre all general managers of their organizations AHL affiliate, giving them some experience with younger players. Blake is in his first season as Kings assistant GM, replacing Hextall, who took the same job in Philadelphia. Treliving is in his seventh season as the Coyotes assistant GM. "Blakeys been around the game a long time," Hextall said. "Hes a very patient guy, hes methodical and hes very sharp. I know he had a hand in a world championship team in the past, so Im sure that little bit of experience helps him." Along with Pascall, Hockey Canadas vice president of hockey operations and national teams, those men will have conference calls over the next few weeks to discuss putting together a coaching staaff and then a projected roster. cheap jerseys from china. That process has already begun. "I think youve got to look at teams that are not likely to make the playoffs and see whats available and at least get your mind going and start thinking about line combinations and checkers and energy guys and scorers," Hextall said in a phone interview. "Its never too early to start thinking." The immediate next step for the management team is to zero in on coaches. Ralph Krueger, who served as a coaching consultant in Sochi, and Kevin Dineen, who coached the womens team to gold and will be behind the bench for the mens under-18 world championships next month, have been speculated as possible options. Either would fit with what Blake said in general terms hes looking for. "I think part of that staff should have some experience overseas, whether it be coaching over there, coaching an international tournament at some time or being involved on a staff," he said. "Its a different tournament, its not the same as over here. I think some of that experience in scheduling wise, knowing some of the teams and tendencies of those countries and obviously with the setup and that all being different than North America, its nice to have somebody with some experience on that." Part of this tournament is getting experience, for the players, coaches and members of the management staff. Blake, Hextall and Treliving are all legitimate candidates for head GM jobs in the not-too-distant future. Experience already gained in NHL front offices is key now. "I think you learn, its one thing to build a team over a long haul and what you have to do is use everything youve learned over the long haul to try and put a team together for the short term," said Hextall, who played in the 1987 Canada Cup and the 1992 world championship. "I think its more lessons Ive learned from NHL experience that Ill be able to lend a hand in trying to help Blake and Brad build this team." Getting this job also raises the possibility that Blake could be GM of Team Canada at the 2018 Olympics, if NHL players participate. Steve Yzerman has already said its time for someone else to fill that role after winning back-to-back gold medals. "Thats a long ways down the line," Blake said. This tournament is not a long ways down the line, as Canada opens play May 9 against France. Blake already has some preliminary lists of potential players and will go through the process in the next few weeks of scouting and evaluating for those spots. Hell get some help in that regard not only from Hextall, Treliving and Pascall, but former NHL defenceman Steve Staios, who is the teams director of player development. Staios is then expected to assist the coaching staff on and off the ice in Minsk, perhaps similar to what Kruegers job was in the Olympics. Everything worked for Canada there, and even though the worlds in an Olympic year tend to be something of an afterthought, theyre far from that for those in charge of trying to win gold. "Any time you go and compete as Team Canada, the expectation is to win," Treliving said. "Obviously thats the expectation, thats the challenge for us and the goal for us putting this team together." cheap jerseys from china cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
