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snake, you are indeed a dedicated fan. hemsky is a good player but he is not the second coming of jari kurri. with regards to the young players its a crapshoot at best as to how they develop. If you are lucky gagner may become a star but nillson and cogliano will be good/average players at best. Even if all 3 do develop into excellent players you still have that halfwit Lowe running thee team. As soon as gagner wants what he is worth contract wise he will be traded for a whole new bunch of future superstars and the oilers will continue the 40 year rebuilding process.the bottom line is the oil have 6 wins in 35 tries now. you need to take off the rose (copper and blue?) colored glasses and look at the reality of the situation. this is not a good team. ps. pitkannen is an above average d man but the only way he sees the Norris trophy is if Phaneuf invites him down for a barbecue.

6 wins in regulation in 34 tries is not the sign of a good team with playoff aspirations. the whole 4 on4 OT and shootout was put in place to entertain uneducated hockey fans from the south. Nearly every team in the NHL is at or above .500 due to loser points and skills competitions. Again this was designed to give the "merkins" hope even when they have poor teams. Didnt expect to see the wool pulled over the eyes of canadian hockey fans. next year they are going to use the target competition to decide games. If it is still tied they will have chugalugs to settle it. Will put a premium on drafting german/irish players instead of shootout specialists.When the smoke clears in April expect to see the flames in the top four in the conference with or without the gimmick wins.The fact they can lite it up when Kipper is subpar makes them the full package deal. When Kipper does regain his form ( I dont think he has forgotten how to play) calgary will have the personnel to play tight checking and run and gun when needed. Other than detroit and ottowa there are few teams that can boast that capacity. The last few teams to win the cup had good defence and goaltending but could also lite it up on any given night

SDF, not attacking anyone.I thought from the inital post you wanted info for a future trip. i didnt realize we were just "debating' for fun. i have been to mexico 12 times in the last 20 years. every time down there i see americans and canadian tourists treating the country like a giant waste basket and the people like second class citizens. Not all tourists are like that but it certainly isnt difficult to find an ugly tourist at any given time.if you are polite and couteous the people there are far more friendly and helpful than the average calgarian. Granted there have been some suspicious deaths in the last few years. It usually seems to involve someone plastered out of there mind who just happened to be making an ass out of themselves ( see drunken slurs towards locals,hitting on local women) at a bar earlier. You have to wonder at what point the local people and police decide the few bucks the tourists toss them are no longer worth it. You dont seem the type to have this type of activity on the agenda so I think you are missing out on a beautiful vacation destination if you stay away based on these isolated incidents.

Just thought i would see what your take is on the current situation in the west. the oilers would be 10 games under 500 without shootout/4-4OT. That would place them dead last. the ducks traded away a great young player for a washed up exoiler and will continue to struggle . Niedemeyer is kidding himself if he figures he can waltz in half way thru the year and the flames are ripping teams up on the road. Luongless canucks are easy pickens and Minny is a two man show. Flames will finish top 4 in the conference and will be a load to handle in the playoffs.

SDF,doesnt seem like a fact finding post to me.seems like you have made up your mind without ever entering the country. I would stay in calgary for my vacation if I was you. we have gang shootings, drunken hit an runs and the diving in lake sundance this time of year is amazing. on top of all that you could wander around Vic park at midnight and take in the xmas lights. with all the cops in calgary I am sure you will be okay feliz navidad

went to cozumel in late november. diving was fantastic. the poeple were extremely friendly and there was never any fear of walking around San miguel at night. The resort was at the north end of the island so we were away from the crowds during the day and only 10 minutes away from San Miguel when we wanted to go out. I was with my wife so i kept the drunken brawling and womanizing to a minimum but we were always treated well by the locals.I will be returning next year with my 5 and 7 year old daughters as the resort and the entire island was very family friendly ( most of the toursits we saw at the resort were young families).I would feel a lot more relaxed about my wife and kids wandering around San Miguel than downtown calgary ( didnt see any crack heads or drunks on the streets in Mexico).Be smart,be polite and courteous, and you will have no problems

LV, hit the nail on the head. If it is something you really enjoy and are willing to spend your free time doing that then it is a way to save a little money. If you have a couple of kids and other interests besides fishing it isnt a very cost effective way to spend your time unless you are willing to work for 5 bucks an hour. Would rather spend an extra hour or two at my job and pay for flies thus freeing up my valuable and rare free time for other things. If the only motivation is saving money then i suggest selling all your tieing equipment and spend a coupel of hours each night collecting bottles and then buying your flies. Will likely work out the same

they got outshot 42 to 13 against the avs and only got in the game when colorado started to coast. playing "60" minutes is the least of edmontons problems. The oilers are where they should be with the talent challenged group they have. The flames on the other hand have a lineup that is capable of playing much better. I will not dispute their early play has left them in a hole but we have seen calgarys worst whereas the oilers are just getting warmed up. you are a devoted fan snake but well see where the two teams are after 60 games. while the flames may have been overated at the beginning of the year by the so called experts ( many picked a calgary /ottowa final) they have the talent to get in the post season and then anything can happen.the oilers ontheother hand are likely 2-3 years away from post season play ( assuming lowe doesnt trade coglianno and gagner for more Penners)

the only thing getting me thru the poor play of the Flames is watching the gong shows out of edmonton and toronto. everytime I think calgary cant play any worse as a group I just watch TSN highlites from a leafs or oilers game and I dont feel so bad.

thanks to all who sent me info ( good and bad). This is actually a group of my father inlaws friends who are coming up from the states for a weeks worth of fishing so if I do the planning I want all to go well with no surprises. I had a group in mind before posting and now have other options and information to consider. thanks again FFC

I had considered this outfit just because of my great experience with Brian Peace and the good things I have heard about one of the guides employed by BC but I am a little skeptical of the company as a whole based on my personal observations of the website ( recent trip pics are still april 07) and some issues with products offered( I hope this is OK to say this). I am certainly not bashing this company in any way as I personally have not dealt with the new ownership. Any first hand experieces with BC fishing and its guides would be much appreciated ( response to the thread if allowed or PMs to my acct). Thanks to those who have already offered up some info.

I have friends coming to calgary for 2 weeks in the summer. Unfortunately i will not be here to supply them with what limited experience/info I have so I would like to set them up with a qaulity guide with competitive rates for 5-6 days of fishing in southern alberta. they are mainly river/stream anglers but a stop at Bullshead or one of the other still waters may be in their plans.I would like to hear any and all opinions on who to consider and who to avoid. thanks to all members for their help

what happens if I pose this question and someone posts that guide abc was excellent but 2 guys post that the same guide was poor. Will the negative comments get edited ,thus leading me to believe that there were no bad experiences with this guide?. this results in me booking someone who may or may not meet my needs/expectations. again I think you need the good and the bad to make and educated choice. I will pose this question as you suggested and hope that all opinions are given their merit and space on this board.

is there somewhere on the site these policies are written out or is it simply at the discretion of the mods when and where they are applied. i have tried to find a fair evaluation of the local guiding services on the web and this seems to be the only forum where there are actual local user opinions as opposed to the guides sites themselves . The only guide i have ever used in alberta is bowcrow and unfortunately he is no longer in business .this was money well spent but from what I remember from other threads, not every experience with local guides has been as good. therefore if i wanted to find out the good and the bad about local guides where should i look ( I am looking to book this service for some visitors next year on some of the other alberta rivers).just seems like this should be the likely and best place to find this info. if all FFC offers is good evaluations/happy endings and fishing stories then so be it. just thought it could be more when it comes to this type of info. thanks for your response TM

qaulity of customer service good and bad will always be subjective and individual. I still would like to know when someone feels they have recieved poor service from a guide, local shop or manacturer. I can then make up my own mind as to whether it is justified or just sour grapes. Again ,dont want to stir the pot but I remember some negative ( well thought out) reports on guides and shops being shut down and I wanted to know if that stance had changed. Posts (good and bad) about FFing products and services makeup the majority of really useful info on this site for myself. I still like to read about fishin stories and general fishing misc but these evaluation type posts help me( and others Im sure) save money and make wise choices when it comes to purchasing high end gear. Appreciate the praise given Patagonia ( and will look at there products as a result) but i would also like to see all the negaative opinions on gear,guides,etc as well

wouldnt expect it from someone with his "orientation". nasty player with good skills. mental wendal was always fun to watch

why is it positive reports on customer service are OK but everytime a guy posts a negative opinion of a local guide or shop it is kiboshed. Personally would like to see both the good and the bad or neither. not trying to cause a stink but i would prefer to see the negative performance evaluations as these are the ones to likely save the average guy more money. seem to recall a stance by the FFC mods that negative reports on guides,shops ,etc werent going to be allowed. has this agenda changed or is it just going to be positive evaluations only. just curious

will be in cozumel in november. anyone do any FF there. wondering if it is worth the expense ( $200 buys a lot of diving). any info on caliber of fishing and quality of outfitters is appreciated

think penner is an average player surrounded by average talent. think lowe is a wingnut for paying him like hes top 20 in the league.so far now he has overpaid horcoff,lupul, pisani and now penner. the oil have a whole bunch of 3-4 million dollar muckers. with KLOWE and MACT at the helm this gong show will be the most entertaining collection of misfits west of toronto. surprised there arent more blu and copper fanatics defending this sad sack hockey team. the only thing more fun than watching the flames win is watching the oilers stumble around

I thought the boys on the bus were horrible last year. This years edition of the edmonton oilers will set new all time lows for mismanagement and performance. Everything Lowe and Mctavish touch turns to crap. Penner has gone from a decent power forward to a 5 million dollar pylon and the rest of the "young guns" look woefully outclassed every time out. Thank god the ownership continues to have blind faith in this bunch of misfits. Hopefully they will bring another exoiler out of retirement to "help out"( heard rumors that Dave Semenko will be the new power play coach). Will make for an entertaining year following the train wrecks surrounding this team. Not to late to dye that copper and orange red.