Hope you got your deals you needed today as shoppers across the country got the turkey out of their systems by getting up early and paying less for many things their loved ones don't want.
Maybe the Flames will come out sluggish tonight. The entire team was hosted by St. Louis native Chris Butler'sfamily. Sure, you may be like me and not know anything about Butler, a defenseman for the Flames. He wasoriginally drafted in 2005 by Buffalo, played for the U.S. Junior team in 2006 and spent three seasons playing forUniversity of Denver.
On the Flames' website, they had an interview with him talking about how his parents werebuying 10 20-pound turkeys for the entire team and would probably run out of table space for all the food theywould be having. In his first season in Calgary after three in Buffalo, Butler has four assists. And hopefully a turkeyhangover.
Jarome Iginla can't afford to lose another step due to too much stuffing. The 34-year-old winger is shuffling a bit so far thisseason. A year ago, Iginla scored 43 goals, his third highest season total in his 14th in the league. That's impressive.His six goals in 20 games this year puts him on pace for about 25. Rather unimpressive for a two-time 50-goal-scorer.What's worse is that he's a minus-11. He's never finished with worse than a minus-10 in his career.
It's odd not seeing Iginla at the top of his own team's scoring. He only has four assists; he had 43 a year ago.I know that Iggy has a following in Canada and a respect for what he's done in Calgary and for his country inthe Olympics and the World Championships when the Flames don't make the playoffs (like last year...and probablythis year). But fans here in the United States, do we appreciate how good this guy is?
In 1,126 career games, hehas 1,016 points. He's 10 away from the 500 goal club. He can check. He can fight even though he wears a visor(dude takes it off). He's made one Stanley Cup Final, but never lifted the chalice. The surefire Hall of Famer probably struggles in his mind to balance success in a small hockey market near the Canadian Rockies where the biggestthing to do all year is a fucking rodeo compared to being on a championship team. You deserved better, Jarome. I sound like he's done already. Maybe he is and he doesn't even know it.
Who do you think the starting goaltender is for the Blues tonight? Brian Elliott's stats sure do look hard to ignore. Of course the same could be said for Jaroslav Halak's contract.
This is your game day thread. Comment like you've commented before.