My heyday as a fan was the late 80s to early 90s. Maybe it had something to do with my age (15-24), but I got much more of an emotional charge out of the games. And since the team was a powerhouse back then, I was somewhat spoiled over what I expected out the team - basically, they were competing for the President's trophy and hopefully a long playoff run ending in the Cup.
Now I've taken a few steps back and I follow the team mainly from a strategic, long-term asset management perspective. I still love playoff hockey, and I want to see the Flames franchise build a team like the powerhouse of yesteryear, a team that strikes fear into opponents and is capable of beating any team in the league in the 7 game series.
I'm patient now. I'll endure 3, 5, 6 years of lousy hockey if I think the team is assembling the pieces of an elite roster. If they're spinning their wheels, then following the team becomes almost an exercise in skepticism and comedy, the way some people who hate Ottawa follow politics. These days, it's like watching the gong-show - or rather, a repeat of the same episode of the gong show I've seen a few times before.
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