Pengrowth Sadledome - Calgary Flames

Trip Notes: T, Cyn, and I took our second trip to Canada. This time to Banff, Edmonton, and Calgary. After flying into Calgary, we hopped into our rental car and headed up to Banff where we’d be spending the next couple days. Went snowboarding one day. Unfortunately the snow wasn’t very good yet. Went up to the Fairmont hotel to get pictures, did a little shopping, and went to the hot springs. On our way to Edmonton we stopped by Lake Louise. Some people were playing hockey on the lake. I was jealous. Not much to do once we got to Edmonton. Checked out the West Mall. That’s all we had heard of that we should visit. Nice. Tons of stuff to do there. Rides, pools, games, and much more. Went to the game that night. Headed back to Calgary the next morning. Saw many commercials for mini kegs with hockey jerseys on them. Was determined to find one. Finally on the way to Calgary, I found one. That made me happy. Ice skated in Olympic park, then headed out to the game. Left town the next morning.


Arena Notes: The arena is close to downtown Calgary. Close to restaurants and bars, it's located in a good part of town. It was easy to find and park. The fan base was good even with their team not being that good. The Pengrowth Saddledome was opened in 1983. It houses 17,104 hockey fans. Their mascot is Harvey the Hound. Retired numbers are 9 - Lanny McDonald, 99 - Wayne Gretzky.

Game Notes: With Colorado Avalanche stars Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg out with injuries, two former Calgary Flames stepped up to beat their old team.
Morris
Second-period goals by former Flames players Dean McAmmond and Derek Morris helped the Avalanche to a 3-1 victory over Calgary on Saturday night. Morris, who played five seasons in Calgary, was jeered each time he touched the puck.
"It was funny to hear the boos because I liked playing in Calgary, but that's a part of the game and a fun part of the game,'' Morris said. "I don't know if the fans do it out of spite or what, but we were just out there having fun.''
After a scoreless opening period, McAmmond put Colorado ahead at 8:40 when Adam Foote's shot was stopped by Roman Turek but McAmmond was there to slip the puck just inside the goal post.
About five minutes later, with Colorado on a power play, Morris scored his third of the season on a high slap shot from the blue line.
"It's always great to score to when you come home,'' Morris said with a smile.
Morris, McAmmond, and Jeff Shantz were acquired by Colorado before the start of the season in a trade that sent Chris Drury and Stephane Yelle to the Flames.
Vaclav Nedorost scored the other goal for Colorado, which beat a division opponent for just the second time in 12 tries.
Impressively, they did so with Sakic and Forsberg both missing after being injured Friday night in Colorado's 4-3 overtime loss in Edmonton.
Sakic sprained his right ankle in a collision with McAmmond, and Forsberg was elbowed in the head by Mike Comrie and was left with a sore neck.
Yelle scored his first goal in 18 games for Calgary.
After earning two wins and a tie in his first three games, Flames interim coach Al MacNeil has lost two in a row.
"There haven't been many games here where we've been outplayed, it just seems that either we can't get a goal, or the other team gets a bounce,'' Flames defenseman Bob Boughner said. "The effort is there on most nights.''
Since firing coach Greg Gilbert on Dec. 3, the Flames and general manager Craig Button have been seeking a replacement. A portion of the crowd broke into chants of "We want Nolan!'' late in the game.
Ted Nolan, former Buffalo Sabres coach and one-time NHL coach of the year, is considered one of the leading candidates for the opening. He was in Calgary interviewing for the position on Friday.
Colorado goalie David Aebischer made 27 saves and narrowly missed his third career shutout in Calgary.
"I like it here, it's been a fun building for me to play in,'' Aebischer said. It took until 7:36 of the third period when Yelle scored on a power play for the Flames to finally get a puck past the 24-year-old Swiss goalie.
The Avalanche regained their two-goal cushion shortly after when Nedorost whipped a shot into the top corner, Colorado's second power-play goal of the night.
"It was important to finish this road trip with a win, especially after we were a bit unlucky last night,'' Aebischer said. "You see the character in this team when with our best two players missing, we battled hard and played probably our best game on this road trip.''
More Game notes: Rob Shick was the game's lone referee. Brad Meier was also supposed to work Saturday, but he was injured during a game Friday night. ... Rookie Calgary D Jordan Leopold returned from a shoulder injury that sidelined him for six games. ... The Flames have outshot the opposition 14 times but have won just two of those games (2-8-3). ... Colorado LW Alex Tanguay hasn't scored in 15 games. ... The last time the Flames scored more than three goals in a game was a 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Nov. 4.