Quote:
Originally Posted by Oil Stain
That's basically about it. Flames management and ownership\are complacent in the sandbagging of the upcoming season.
It's much easier to be patient with a losing club if you are selling out the building every night, and still selling buttloads of merchanidise. I think the fervent support in Canada allows them to be too patient.
Don't fool yourself. NHL owners aren't all about winning at all costs. If you think the Flames are seriously making any attempt to ice a competitive squad this season you are day dreaming. That's a luxury a team like Nashville doesn't have.
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Too patient? Are you kidding me? By all accounts, the ownership group were essentially forced (kicking and screaming) into a rebuild.
Hiring Burke (which I may not necessarily agree with) is a very LOUD example at how this organization refuses to be a lousy team for a length of time.
As for "not seriously making any attempt to ice a competitive team" - don't let 'tanking' and 'rebuilding' confuse you. If the Flames were tanking, Giordano, Glencross, and a few other vets would not have been retained. MacDonald was retained only because he did fairly well last season, knowing full well that the Flames had Berra and Ramo on the way (promising, but risky).
This organization is not going into full tank-mode. They even acquired some additional vets to beef up the roster, and force competition for the spots. Kids are not going to be simply handed NHL time. They will have to earn it.
You can believe what you want to. Flames will not be a playoff team unless Ramo and/or Berra/Ortio play insane goaltending and some of the kids become high-impact players and basically everything possible going right - but that isn't to say that the Flames are going to be the worst team in the NHL either.
This same fervent support you speak of in Canada is exactly why the Flames refused to rebuild when Darryl was let go. The pressure to win in Canada is very high. Sure, people will come and support you for a longer time in Canada than in some markets in the USA, but that comes with a price as well. Expectations are always high - crowds will boo, and sponsors get a bit angry and may pull the plug on things. Owners like the ones that Flames have are also very competitive and have a lot of pride - they do business in Calgary, and I bet they hear a lot of negative stuff when the team is doing poorly.
It isn't so black and white like you picture. The most important thing is to do the job right, and if that means you aren't competitive for a few seasons, than so be it. Tough to rebuild a team from FA signings - best players go to the best teams usually. Buying up all the FA's in one off-season likely puts you in cap trouble and with holes on your roster anyways.
No team is 'patient' in a rebuild.. although the Oilers are sure showing a lot of patience up there.