There will be no shutting the naysayers up, regardless. Even if we make it, they will just tout Toronto / Colorado around unless we make it next year.
And that will be the tough part, so hard not to want this given they are so close. And I fully believe this team will improve next year, but if this makes any sense, improvement isn't necessarily going to mean playoffs next year either, regardless of this year. I think we get better as a team, but I don't expect the Flames to graduate out of the group of teams they are surprisingly competing with this year. And it's a big group IMO, ranging all the way from the Avs to the Nucks IMO, fighting for those bottom spots. Lots of factors go into making it for teams, some will get better, worse luck next year etc... and even though I'm 100% happy with the rebuild pace, I could very easily see this team taking a step forward and still missing next year because it's so tight.
So hard not to want something that is so close right now, given IMO it's going to be so hard to grab for the next few seasons, even with a consistently improving young team.
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