Quote:
Originally Posted by Blarg
If those two deals were finalized (Ward and Ribeiro) as they are speculated, I wonder whether or not the Flames would have made the playoffs. Would Ward be as good as Hiller was for us?
Does Ribeiro's attitude and off-ice issues poison the locker room chemistry? Pick 7 and 12 would be nice, but Ribeiro would be playing for us for the next 4 years.
I wouldn't mind Ward, but Ribeiro scares the crap out of me. He set himself straight for Nashville, but that's only because Phoenix bought him out and publicly ripped him to shreds.
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I highly doubt Ribiero would have poisoned the locker room. He had some personal demons but I don't think he was ever such a distraction that the team was affected to that extent. You could make a bigger case for Ward but even him I think given a new life and opportunity he would have stepped up much like Hiller did. It's not like Hiller was lights out even. Worst case scenario though I would take Hayden Fleury and Brendan Perlini over playoffs if that was ultimately what happened. Even in that scenario I think the team still would have played well and have been in the hunt no matter what.