Up in Ontario

They Deserved a Better Fate

Last night the Stanley Cup playoffs came to an end with the Tampa Bay Lightning beating the Calgary Flames 2-1 in the seventh game of their best-of-seven series. The Lightning paraded around the ice in victory with the Stanley Cup overhead. Hulk Hogan stood out on the ice to celebrate with them while the Flames disappeared to their dressing room out of sight of the TV cameras.

I watched the game at a friend's house and cheered for the Flames, not because they were a Canadian-based team, but because I couldn't help not cheering for them. The Lightning were the better team but the Flames deserved a better fate.

Why? Because the Flames represented everything that is wonderful in sports and in hockey in particular. The Flames were the underdog, overmatched in every series they played in but never outworked. They simply wanted to win more than the teams they played. Their courage, audacity, energy, perseverance, focus and just their goddam heart made anything seem possible when they played.

Mikka Kiprosoff stood on his head game after game. Every time he played less than outstanding he came back the next game with a dominant effort, often resulting in a shutout.

Jarome Iginla emerged as the new, dominant captain in hockey, heir to the leadership shoes of players like Mark Messier and Scott Stevens. His fearlessness and tenacity overwhelmed opponents. At times he seemed to will the Flames to victory with the force of his desire. He scored, he hit, he forechecked, he fought. He led by example and his fire drove the Flames.

Robin Regehr came into his own as a top tier NHL defenceman, playing huge minutes in all situations. Regehr provided the muscle and durability on the blueline. His selection as a member of the national team for the upcoming World Cup of Hockey bodes well for Canada's chances and the chances of the future.

Brad Ference may have been the smallest Flames defenceman but he never game up anything to anyone in the corners, in front of the net or on the rush. His skating and strength, from that deep, knee-bend position, steered the Flames out of trouble on many occasions.

The remaining Flames defencemen tooks turns shining, scoring goals when no one expected them to, providing steady puck clearance and effective neutral-zone passes to forwards in full flight. Leopold, Montador, Warrener, Commodore and Lydman all excelled in turn, as if they passed to each other a magic totem that let them elevate their game beyond their previous play.

Chris Simon seized an opportunity to again be a top-line forward, away from the marginalized tough-guy role he had been reduced to playing. His goals, passing and presence on the ice made him the best deadline acquisition in the NHL.

Martin Gelinas proved again - as he did with Edmonton, Vancouver and Carolina before - why he is such a valued playoff performer. His skating and timely goals proved the difference in many games. Was there anything he wasn't willing to do to win? Did anyone else see his intensity?

Craig Conroy shook off a mediocre regular season to spark the Flames offence. Chris Clark chased down more potential icings than I saw all regular season long. Stephane Yelle won faceoffs, forechecked, backchecked and hit harder pound-for-pound than anyone in the playoffs.

When Shean Donovan carried the puck it felt as if he could beat anyone 1-on-1 and his loss in game 5 of the finals was a huge blow to Calgary's chances to win. Donovan was one of their best puck carriers all playoffs. Respect for his speed forced opposing defencemen to back out of the offensive zone, preventing the downward pressure of pinching defencemen that bottled up the Flames in their own zone.

The rest of the Flames forwards - Oleg Saprykin, Chuck Kobasew, Dave Lowry, Ville Nieminen, Marcus Nilson, Krzysztof Oliwa - all played their hearts out too. Saprykin showed the speed, skill and talent that have made him a top prospect as well as some grit, determination and physical play that I never had seen before. Kobasew seemed constantly on the verge of scoring. Everyone knew when Oliwa was on the ice.

Over four series the Flames seemed able to transcend talent and odds with belief in themselves. Clichés so thoroughly dominate sport that it is hard to come up with honest statements, but the Flames proved over and over that the best team prevailed in every series they played, not the best players or system, the best team. So it's not clichéd to me to say that their effort was heroic. Sure they're playing hockey and not saving lives, but they inspired people in a way that very few individuals or groups in our society can. People who had never watched hockey in their lives except at gatherings where the game played behind their conversations found themselves buying Flames flags and jerseys and watching the games with rapt intensity. People who lamented the dulling down of the game were enamoured again. Flames hockey was fun to watch and it brought people together in a way that very little else can. Even Leafs fans I know caught Flames fever.

And so I feel that, as a fan of hockey and an enthusiastic spectator of the game, I owe the Flames a thank you for their contribution to the NHL playoffs and the spirit of hockey in Canada. And I'll leave the last word to the man who put together the Flames and groomed them for success, their greyed seagull of a coach, Darryl Sutter.

"When there is nothing left, there is nothing left," Sutter said. "The only thing left to do is cry...They literally emptied it out for their teammates."