Quote:
Originally Posted by moon
Sure some bitter fans who are shortsighted might put plenty of blame at Iginla's feet but he never once made them make poor trades, never forced them to not rebuild, never once forced them to make garbage FA signings, didn't force them to misjudge the team and think it was close. That is all 100% managements fault.
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It's plain that the governing principle of the Flames franchise for the last 10 years has been to make Jarome Iginla happy. To that end, management:
- Brought in players Iginla liked
- Brought back players that Iginla liked
- Turfed every coach that got exasperated with the Iginla-led players
- Continued to operate in a Win Now mode to keep the goal of winning with Iginla alive
- Tip-toed around serious and ongoing issues with the compete level of the veteran players
If the Flames started making serious re-tool moves three of four seasons ago - moving out Phaneuf for picks and prospects, moving Regehr for picks and prospects, hanging onto their own 1st and 2nd rounders instead of dealing for Jokinen and other vets - Jarome Iginla would not have been a happy camper. They would have had to move him too.
Flames management has been incompetent in a lot of ways and for a long time. But their biggest mistake in the last five years was treating Iginla like something more than what he is - which is a commodity. I hope they learn their lesson, and never treat another player, regardless of how big a star or how well liked, as though he's bigger than the team.