[Caged Great]

The season was never going to be easy because of the fact

We didn't have a 1st line RW.
Our 4th line players underperformed (cough Bouma cough)
We didn't have a #4, 5 or 6 defenseman throughout the season

Magically the team performed better when Ferland emerged as being competent as a RW on the first line and when the Flames acquired Stone.

It is hard for goaltenders to stop pucks when the defensemen are terrible. It is difficult to compete when nearly 18 million dollars in cap is tied up in players that are not worth their money. Wideman (5.25), Brouwer (4.5), Stajan (3.125), Engelland (2.917), Bouma (2.2). Brouwer can and probably will bounce back as he wasn't bad before his hand injury. Buying out Stajan and Bouma assuming they are not taken in the expansion draft will save the Flames 3.3 million dollars. Half of that will be taken by Jankowski and Hathaway, leaving 1.5 million or so to be spent elsewhere.

Nothing the coach can do when you're hamstrung by holdovers and bad contracts.