Marcus Nilson News

NBC is finally ready for the Calgary Flames and the Detroit Red Wings and Game 2 of their first-round National Hockey League series, which is nice because patience on both sides is as thin as the Columbus Blue Jackets' playoff guide and record book.

The Calgary Flames' beleaguered penalty-killing crew says the 11 shorthanded goals they've compiled this season doesn't truly compensate for the club's feeble 79.1 per cent kill rate, a figure that places them a lowly 27th out of 30 National Hockey League members.

One-quarter of the season is in the books. What have the Calgary Flames learned so far? Well, for starters, they've been reminded that petitioning the National Hockey League head office for a November start to the campaign might not be a horrible idea.

Jody Shelley could've been created out of the imagination of Mary Shelley. He is a monster of a man.

Starting like Grandma's Pinto on most winter nights, the Calgary Flames were desperate to solve their early-game woes.

Maybe it was the sight of Vince Gill's face in the stands. Yee-haw. Maybe it was the thrill of the promotional bonanza -- Free Popcorn Night at the Gaylord Entertainment Center.

The answer is Stephane Yelle, German Titov, Eric Godard, Kristian Huselius and Mike Leclerc.

Despite the new coach and the new players, the Calgary Flames marched manfully through October.

It's amazing Tony Amonte didn't keel over in disbelief. Not even a minute into the third period, the game square at deuces, and Detroit Red Wings veteran Mathieu Schneider abandons the puck at the point.

In TV-land, spring is rerun season, a chance to catch the shows you might have missed over the winter.

Beset by boo-boos a week before Christmas, the Calgary Flames needed to ice a pair of greenhorn wingers.