Calgary a sea of red Cs as Flames prevail
In today's province... ((reading over my cuppa java))
CALGARY - Even the Calgary Flames are having a hard time getting used to the attion that comes w/being on the Alist.
Flames president Ken King thought it was a crank call when his cellphone rang in the final minutes of Wed.'s 3-1 victory over San Jose Sharks & he was told it was Prime Minister Paul Martin's office.
"I said, 'Yeah, I'm Daffy Duck & I've got a hockey game to watch here,' & I hung up," King said yesterday.
Fortunately, Martin's office called back. The PM congratulated Alberta-born team captain Jarome Iginla & coach & GM Darryl Sutter on the Falmes becoming the 1st Canadian team to reach the NHL final in a decade.
"Ever the working man, Darryl said his greatest disappointment was that he didn't bring up the BSE problem w/the PM," said King, referreing to the mad-cow crisis that has crippled the cattle industry, especially in Alta.
The Flame's playoff run has been magical for fans whose only hope @ the beginning of the season was that Sutter's renowned skill for getting players to overachieve would end Calgary's 7year post-season drought.
Fans have been transformed from dreamers to believers as the underdog Flames knocked off leaders 1by1: Vancouver Canucks, Detroit Red Wings, & now the Sharks.
Newspaper headlines screamed "YES" yesterday as the city settled into the reality that the rag-tag Flames are heading into the Stanley Cup finale for the 1st time in 15 years. The Flames won the cup in 1989.
The city has been turned into a virtual shrine to the hockey heroes, w/the flaming C logo everywhere: on flags, banners, jerseys & Tshirts. Horns are honking constantly in recognition of the 10s of 1000s of car flags adorning vehicles.
In a more bizarre tribute, some people have handpainted the logo on their vehicles, fences & houses, along w/"Go Flames Go."
A video store along 17th Avenue paid tribute on it marguee to the soft-spoken Martin Gelinas, who has earned the nickname "The Eliminator" for scoring the series-winning goal in all 3 series.
"It's been 15 long years - TY Gelinas," said the sign.
Demand for red Flames jerseys cont.'s to surge & is keeping the CCM factory working OT.
"I've never seen anything like this," CCM spokesman Ross McCracken siad from Montreal.
"This Calgary Flames sea of red has taken our factories by storm," he said, adding that CCM has added extra shifts to try to meet the demand. "Anything that's red & has the Flames logo on it is hot."
While there is demand across Canada, the U.S. & Europe, it's almost insatiable in Western Canada, where Flames merchandise is selling out almost as fast as shopkeepers can put it on the shelves.
"It's insane," said Becky Sterling, who sold 200 Flames Tshirts over the lunch hour in her tiny table kiosk in 1 of the city's giant office towers.
Among the sea of red, Gord Simonin stood out w/his Hawaiian golf shirt of Flaming C's nestled among palm trees.
"It's a little loud, it's a little garish but this just fits in w/the whole sea-of-red mentality - it's a fun place to be right now," said Simonin, who never dreamed the Flames would get this far.
-CANADIAN PRESS
GO FLAMES GO!!!
carlotta