[toquester]

Quite a few people appear to be surprised with the turn of events recently, or chalk the youngsters success up to no playoff pressure. It may be true but something that may also be true, is that we let an expensive, relatively talented team in the old Flames, off the hook for underperforming. I think they underperformed and people let it slide because we were too loyal.

A better question might be, where should the old Flames team have been in the standings? Since the owners spent to the cap, and the management was always trying to improve the team through trades, yet this team continually wound up out of the playoffs, the team underperformed for years.

Are we seeing the results of a team where people care, or can it all be explained by the lack of playoff pressure?