Finally: Flames at Hawks preview

I know the Hawks needed it, but we sure didn't. Man it's been boring without them. We tried to get worried about Kirk Heinrich's injury. But then we remembered the Bulls are going to suck with or without him. We tried to get worked up about Rex replacing Kyle. But then we remembered that the Titans are a much better team anyway. So let's get back to hockey.

The Flames "played" last night, but you'd be hard-pressed to call it that. They were poor. 12 penalties, multitudes of turnovers in their own zone, little created at the other end. It's hard to imagine they could play that badly twice in two nights, but man would it be good to see. The Hawks will see Kiprusoff in net, as their backup, McElhinney, came out last night, saw his shadow, and now it'll be two more months of Kipper. The Flames are always a tough test for the Hawks. They're big, nasty, and not especially slow. But the Hawks, under Q, have found ways to deal with this against similar teams this year, like Vancouver and Columbus. As long as the Hawks limit their mistakes, the Flames can't create much on their own. Usually. Plus, with their samba line to the penalty box, the Hawks will get a few chances to trot out their gatling gun of a power play.