Yes I don't criticize the Flames for not proactively engaging the rebuild. But I am highly critical of them for not recognizing that they sucked. After the first season with Brent it was bordering on obvious that this core, Iginla, Kipper and all were not going to cut it. It's now been 3.5 seasons of not recognizing that a rebuild was necessary. Of course, that's the same criticism of the Oilers too. Their rebuild was more prolonged and painful because they still tried to cobble together a playoff bound roster while it was clear that it needed to be blown up.
Washington, Chicago, Philadelphia, LA, all just bit the bullet and went through the painful moves to their cores to supercharge the rebuilding plan.
By waiting, the Flames have limited how much actually boost they'd get from a rebuild, and will make the process of returning to a contender all that much more uncertain and longer.
|