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Loud Crowd Gives Flames Hope

Written by: admin on 23rd February 2010

Loud Crowd Gives Flames Hope | read this item

As Miikka Kiprusoff left his net with one minute to go, the faithful Flames fan began to chant “Go Flames Go”. It started with the die-hards in the nosebleeds before making its way throughout the building. Whether it was the senior citizen to my right or the annoying four year old to my left, everyone joined in unison as the Flames desperately tried to score the tying goal versus the Dallas Stars.

Then with just over 30 seconds left, the heart and soul (and captain) of the Flames, Jarome Iginla took a shot from the side of the crease and raised his arms in celebration as the referee signaled goal. The players, coaches and fans of the home team erupted. The players hugged, the normally stern faced coaches were cheering and each fan tried their best to high five every other fan within reach. It was like the Flames fed off the crowd’s excitement and used it to tie the game. Unfortunately upon review the goal was called back and the Flames flickered. On this night it was not meant to be, but the Flames faithful will be back.

It didn’t take long for me, a life long Leafs fan, to realize that this game would be different than any game I had attended at the ACC or the late Maple Leaf Gardens. They call the area around the Pengrowth Saddledome the “Sea of Red” and for good reason: almost everyone is wearing a red Flames jersey. I didn’t think the Sea would be too impressive for an insignificant regular season game but this Sea of Red was so strong that not even Moses could part it.

The Sea of Red was reiterated during the Star Spangled Banner when all the fans shouted out “Sea” as the singer said “Oh say can you SEE”. This was followed by a shout of “Red” when “the rockets RED glare”. There was no bulletin or message on the screen for fans to do this, it is just common knowledge (little did I know). When it came time for the Canadian National anthem the Flames faithful joined the anthem singer in a rendition of Oh Canada that would have given Stephen Colbert goose bumps. It was no wonder that Calgary got off to a fast start that game. The excitement from the crowd was contagious and only amplified by the pregame ceremony honoring Iginla and Daymond Langkow’s 1000th games in the NHL.

Aside from the Sea of Red, what really differentiated the Flames faithful from the Leafs was the type of people in the crowd. Instead of being surrounded by people in suits who drink lattes and talk business, it seemed as though the majority of the fans would have sold their soul just to be at the game. They were perceptive enough to distinguish a good shift from a bad one and their prolonged applause let the Flames know when their strong effort was appreciated. I expected to see lots of Flames jerseys but what surprised me was that many of the fans around me had jerseys without their star players on it.

Sure there were plenty of Iginla and Kiprusoff jerseys, but what impressed me was the amount of role players who were on the back of sweaters. Mark Giordano, Curtis Glencross, Robyn Regher and Dustin Boyd were among some of the lesser known players who had earned their way onto the back of a jersey. This was in addition to the throng of great Flames from the past like Roberts, Niewendyk and even little Theo Fleury.

With the Flames being down one and only minutes to play I was fully expecting people to begin to leave to beat the traffic. Once again, I am a Leafs fan and I am used to seeing this scene play out at NHL games. Hardly a soul left the building as the Flames still had work to do and the fans were with them until the bitter end. Regrettably for the Flames, crowd support cannot win you hockey games. After an empty net goal they ended up losing 3-1 and only then did the crowd disperse.

The support that I witnessed certainly helped them gain momentum which in turn increased their chances of winning. A lack of scoring and two “too many men” penalties proved too costly. For crying out loud, even the Montreal Alouettes only got called for too many men once.

Nonetheless, the Flames got doused by Dallas and continued their mediocre season. But you can bet that come playoff time that no opposing team will feel comfortable coming to the Saddledome. The Sea of Red has been known to overflow in April and May and has claimed the playoff dreams of many hockey teams in the process.

For now only one question remains; can the Flames feed off the crowd to even qualify for the playoffs?

For OpenIceHockey, I’m Mike Zelek.

Topics: Calgary Flames, Dallas Stars, Flames, Jarome Iginla, Miikka Kiprusoff, NHL, Saddledome, Sea of Red

Patrick Channing says:

February 23, 2010 at 6:14 pm

Great piece of writting Mr. Zelek, however the blue and white better stay with you.
Andy says:

March 10, 2010 at 8:07 pm

Good read, my son.