If it is in fact true that the best players in sport seize the moment and run with it, I wonder just where some of the Calgary Flames are running to?
In the first half of the month, the Flames boosted their chances of making the post-season by going on a five-game winning streak.
Now, the Flames have digressed to the brink of elimination with their most high-profile players having a very difficult time.
Thursday night in St. Paul, a frustrated Brent Sutter let his emotions go. Wanting more desire to win from his key men and not getting it, the head coach was angry. Not at his GM or a garbage can as was reported, but at the team’s failure to get the job done.
Watching this team so close, I simply can’t blame him.
If Brent could somehow take his emotion and will to win and inject it in his some of his players, there is no doubt in my mind they would be playoff bound.
However, it is apparently easier said than done.
Don’t confuse the message in Thursday’s shootout. Matt Stajan, Lee Stempniak, Blair Jones and Blake Comeau failed to score, but tried their guts out the whole game. They deserved a chance, because the big names didn’t get it done all night. Criticize Sutter if you want, but at the same time, try stepping in his shoes.
The Flames still have a shot to make the playoffs, but in the last seven games, the team’s best players must be just that. Miikka Kiprusoff has answered the call time and time again. He just needs his high-profile running mates to do the same.