[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by browna

Many casual people around the city just enjoy the team winning. Sure, not happy when losing, but that's not being people simpleminded and "aloof to reality" as you intimate, or people not wanting to deal with it because they're not smart enough to figure out why or see the bigger picture. Issues are there, most people know there's lots of issues and its complicated, its just people would rather focus on the positive for something they've got nothing except some emotional equity invested it.

Certainly no one needs to not only have more negativity in our lives to worry about, we certainly don't need to constantly day in and day out predict/analyze/dissect that external negativity, or be told by someone that we should be reminded how bad things are or are going to be, for a hockey team that really doesn't matter day to day, in the bigger picture of people's day to day lives either.

As for the bolded part, many ways to skin a cat. I hope that's not the one and only "reality" (if that's what you're trying to say) of what you think it will take to put the franchise on the right path. Iginla's still the best forward out there and the replacement won't bring nearly as much as what he means to the Flames on the ice, nevermind the external circumstances.

Kiprusoff gets the benefit of the doubt until its proven that one of the Euro goalies like Ramo is the real deal, and that's just not avoiding reality; until we have a bigger sample then 7 or 8 games, after a non existent training camp (he never was the guy to need to work hard in the offseason, and the training camp got him ready in a regular season)and first injury in a decade to deal with, after his last decade of solid play, you can't yet write him off. That, and how many contenders are going to give up much for a backup (which is what he'd be on a team that is already a contender, barring injury) at the trade deadline?

If it were up to me and it was time to move a top player if the Flames are sellers in the next 3.5 weeks, Bouwmeester and/or to a lesser extent Giordano would be the reluctant targets that could fetch the most at this moment in time as far as pics and prospects.

The team is a point out of 30th so I simply don't understand this argument that they will tank if they trade players like Iginla, Kipper, Giordano, etc. The only change can be for the better as the team is staring at the basement as is and I think too many paint this doom and gloom picture of a Iginla/Kipperless Calgary Flames. Fans will move on without those players just fine as they did other HOF Flames.