[Regorium]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

I think this summer's hostility can be quite easily explained.

Last year people had high expectations especially after getting the free agent coup of the summer in Bouwmeester. They then had their expectations shattered, the supposed franchise defenseman traded, and nothing really positive to dwell on. Well actually the Flames became one of the best defensive teams in the league but that isn't really an accomplishment that your average fan would note.

So the psychological response is to turn against the team, to track down and isolate the problems. For many it became Sutter. For some it became specific players. It then becomes trendy to dump on the Flames and particularly Sutter and more and more people start piling on.

Now consider that his board is the nexus or meeting point for a wide variety of fans. Here you will find fans who were Flames addicts through the lean years of never making the playoffs. Some of them take the long view and things now are 100x better than the Coates era. You have casual fans some of whom take their opinions on the Flames from the water cooler or Eric Franics or Dowbiggen. You have everything in between. Some people hate the direction the Flames are going and have come up with that idea on their own. Some people are just repeating what some of the media is saying. Some people don't understand the cap implications of various moves that Sutter has made and try and evaluate it based on the old best player in the deal theory.

So you have a bunch of upset fans venting. Some intelligently, some not. And they are doing it on a forum that is also populated by some of the most knowledgeable Flames fans out there. Its an almost inevitable clash. Some fans wanted big changes no matter what they were. The Tanguay and Jokinen deals are bound to disappoint many because they don't represent anything we haven't seen before. Some fans can't comprehend how a team that didn't make any big changes might improve offensively.

What is different about this summer from the dark era is that more people care. And more casual fans care. From the Stanley Cup run expectations were permanently raised. People want heads to roll. People want fingers pointed. The answer that Sutter gave that the team merely needed to be retooled or tweaked is seen as folly even if it may be reality. Then the rhetoric intensifies. Sutter is an idiot. Battle lines are drawn. Expert posters who've seen that Sutter is no idiot become more defensive. Ridiculous arguments are heard for months and months straight without end from different people. It wears on everybody.

Interesting topic actually, there's a lot to be said about the psychology of certain types of Flames fans, Sutter's press conferences and moves, and why that has led to a big clash on the board this summer.

Apologies if this has been commented on in the past 15 pages and I will probably go back and read it but I just felt the need to respond.

This is exactly the type of post that creates an elevated tension level. You've labeled anyone that believes that Sutter isn't doing a good job as a sub-expert level poster. There are just as many expert posters that can argue the opposite side of the argument, yet you have already dismissed them as idiots, and their arguments "ridiculous".

I understand you were trying to be objective and look at the big picture, but your bias does show through, and that is part of what grates on a lot of people.