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Old 07-18-2016, 03:02 PM   #100
bigrangy
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Looking around the league and seeing what good teams have, it seems wrong to say the Flames do not have the talent to compete and go deep in the playoffs. They have a solid, solid top line, they should have a great second line, and Backlund makes any third line one of the best. Their 4th line players are probably closer to league basement than league average, which is a serious problem, but should be easy enough to fix.

The defense should be stacked, with two elite top pairing d-men and Hamilton knocking on the door. The bottom half of the defense (as with most other good teams) is done by committee, with Kevin, Spoon, and others being able to step into the top 4 and not drown immediately.

The goalie situation should be remedied, with Elliott being one of the best goalies in the league (statistically) and Johnson supposedly being (and is paid like) an above average backup.

The x-factor will be the coaching and how everyone fits together. There is enough talent on this roster to at least make a push for the playoffs. Management knows this, and I imagine they're wanting to contend as early as this year. I don't think the Flames are quite ready to start selling futures for presents, but the time of accumulating assets, being sellers at the deadline, and hoping the team loses out in its last ten games should be over. The Flames must learn to walk this year so that they can be ready for a few years worth of marathons. The Flames have been too bad for too long to rush what has so far been an excellent rebuild. All the pieces are in place (hopefully), it should just be a matter of fitting them in.
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Last edited by bigrangy; 07-18-2016 at 03:05 PM.
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