I am not on the fire Q bandwagon, but agree that many of his moves so far this season have been perplexing. And he has always been hell on goalies (a chicken and egg thing here, is he hell on goalies because he’s never had a good one, or do his goalies suck largely because of how he handles them?). Theo sucks. The sad thing is that once in a while he gives you a glimpse of how good he once was and could be, but then he pukes all over himself for the next two or three starts. And if you have a goalie puking all over himself, the confidence of the rest of the team tends to erode.

The effort against the Flames was the worst of a string of piss poor efforts over the last few weeks. Absolutely inexcusable. And almost the entire team is playing Downy soft …. like a bunch of Skoulas. Good teams finish checks. This team barely even attempts any. Sad thing is, this is not how I remember Q’s St. Louis teams playing. They were generally tough as nails to play against.

If this crap continues, some type of shakeup will become necessary. I’m wondering if they may want to trade one or two of their young, talented forwards for more grit both up front and on the blueline? And for the love of Roy, bench Smith in favor of McCormick. At least he will go out there and hit someone.

http://www.milehighhockey.com/storyonly/2007/11/25/14915/216

Come on DD and Dario, jump on the Fire Q bandwagon!

Parker was 100% justified in crosschecking Phaneuf in the face. What people aren’t telling you is that Phaneuf ran Hlinka from behind and drove his face into the lip of the boards. It was identical to the Claude Lemieux hit on Kris Draper. Parker deserves no suspension, but if he does get one, they damn well better suspend Phaneuf for his hit on Hlinka as well.

As for the game itself, the entire coaching staff has to be fired. Simple as that. At this point, there is no viable argument to the contrary.

You probably added a few minutes to your lifespan by not getting to see the game though!

Seven shots through 2 periods, general pathetic, non-physical play with only Finger and Parker showing any balls. And another delightful Scott Hannan performance. Not sure which moment was my favorite, there were 3 to choose from:

-horsescrap pass out of his own zone that handcuffed Ryan Smyth, leading directly to a turnover and the 2nd goal (Smyth was to blame, too)
-tripping up that offensive dynamo Eric Godard on a Calgary 2-on-2 rush, giving them a power play
-ridiculously inept pinch that directly led to a 2-on-1 and Calgary’s 5th goal

Quenneville put the team in a hole right off the bat by scratching Guite and McCormick and starting Theodore. Sure, go ahead and remove two of your most physical players against a physical team, and while you’re at it, sit the only goalie who’s won for you in the last two-and-a-half weeks.

Parker will probably get ripped (and suspended) for the cross-check to Phaneuf, but his gutless teammates and their gutless performance forced his hand, already down 4-0 late in the 2nd, who the hell was going to do anything to try to shake things up except Parker?

I feel sorry for the poor bastards who paid good money to see this farce live. Giving up on the road (Dallas, Minnesota) is one thing. Tonight was twice as bad.

(Sorry again about DirecTV hosing you on Center Ice, DD. I know this post doesn’t help or address anything, but I had to unload. For what it’s worth, the game was also listed on Comcast’s version of Center Ice as being televised, not sure which channel.)