CALGARY -- They were screaming his name and bad-mouthing his work until one Calgary Flames fan let loose and fired a cow tongue onto the ice. That's right, a cow tongue.
Now, they may like to fling the occasional octopus onto the ice at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, but that's not the act of an angry Red Wings fan. It's to give the opposing team a slimy send-off, a sign that the Wings are about to move on to another leg of the playoffs.
Tossing a cow tongue onto the ice of the Pengrowth Saddledome means someone is mad; angrier than the bulls at the Calgary Stampede. Only it wasn't just someone last night, it was everyone. More than 19,200 people let loose on referee Kerry Fraser and if you listen you might still hear his name being taken in vain.
It all happened less than two minutes into the fourth game of the Stanley Cup final when Fraser called two penalties against the Flames, gave the Tampa Bay Lightning a two-man advantage for a full two minutes and, as a result, that all-important 1-0 lead, which became the final score.
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One to nothing may not sound like an insurmountable lead, but it is in this series. Consider Calgary's record when it scores first (12-1); now consider Tampa's (12-2). Getting the first goal for either team has been more important than a football team returning an opening kickoff for a touchdown. It's been more important than spotting your rival six strokes before you reach the first tee. It's a lot like telling Lennox Lewis, "Go ahead. Take the first swing."
So getting the first goal last night was huge for the Lightning, and getting it early, on the power play, made it even more significant.
Of the two penalties called, the first to defenceman Mike Commodore was deserved. He hauled down Tampa's Fredrik Modin, who had a clear shot and maybe a goal. The second, however, came after the whistle had been blown on the Commodore call. It went against forward Chris Clark, who was called for cross-checking.
Did Clark deserve to be dispatched? At that point in the game, with the Flames guaranteed of being one player short, some referees would have chosen to look away. Fraser didn't.
It was a case of you take your cross-checks after the whistle, you take your chances. Unfortunately for the Flames, Fraser called it and Brad Richards scored 56 seconds later for Tampa.
"Was I surprised [by the call]?" A little bit," said Clark. "Lack of discipline is sometimes the key to winning or losing. It was the only goal of the game so it hurt."
What also hurt the Flames was their offensive game, which was off the mark the way Scott Norwood was wide right for the Buffalo Bills in that Super Bowl.
After taking their two penalties in the first period, the Flames had oodles of time (48 minutes) and chances to score but couldn't. Jarome Iginla took a stab at scoring, several stabs. So did Jordan Leopold, Martin Gelinas and Ville Nieminen and all of them either failed to connect or shot wide.
"You can't count it as a scoring chance if you don't put it on the net," Calgary defenceman Rhett Warrener said.
"We expect to get goals," Iginla added. " Guys were working hard, but we have more determination."
Calgary put 29 shots at Tampa goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, who didn't even have to be at his Bulin Wall best. He just had to make some key saves and he did, just as his teammates had expected he would.
Tampa had to bounce back a little harder with two important players missing from the lineup -- defenceman Pavel Kubina and forward Ruslan Fedotenko. Both were out with injuries. For a few moments late in the third period, it looked as if Vincent Lecavalier might join them. Nieminen drew a five-minute boarding penalty and a game misconduct for ramming Lecavalier dangerously into the boards.
Lecavalier was down on the ice but skated away after the hit. The Flames were hurt considerably more by having to play short-handed for the final minutes. Asked about the hit, Nieminen said he had no comment on the officiating, while Tampa coach John Tortorella said, "I think you saw the play. I don't need to say anything about it."
Fans here were saying plenty as they left the 'Dome. They wondered why there was no penalty when Craig Conroy was hooked in the third period. They argued that being down early was the difference in the game. They were especially ticked over the referee who left the ice to a hail of raining debris.
They were giving him a cow tongue send-off, and a few fingers to go with it.
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