Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - 3 years ago we all said a 5 year rebuild would be fine.

Steve Bozek · 01-25-2017, 05:08 PM

Plenty of blame to spread around for this mess.

Basically, despite Corsi, or whatever, the team is not as good as last year on several levels. The "stars" (Giordano, Brodie) are not playing as well. The young key players (Monahan, Gaudreau, Bennett), who were expected to get better with age, have regressed. We hoped the departures were being replaced with better players, but I would argue the replacements are worse: Hudler (even though he was injured) is miles better than Chiaisson or Versteeg. Last year's Joe Colborne was also way better than Chiaisson, and Jones was as good as or better than Brouwer. Stajan's about the same, Ferland seems to be inconsistent and overall, no better than last year.The improvement in Backlund and Frolik, and the addition of Tkachuk doesn't make up for the disappointing performance of the other forwards except for Hathaway.

On defence, Wideman's worse than last seasn's Wideman, Russell was significantly better than Jokkipaka or Kulak. I like Engelland, but I liked him as much last year. The only improvement there is Hamilton.

The predicted improvement in goal didn't really materialize. We replaced Hiller with someone only marginally better.I like Johnson as a backup, but I'd argue that the pre-injury Ramo was as good or better.

Coaching and management haven't performed as well as expected either. The regression of the young players may have something to do with the coach, but the replacements engineered by the GM have failed to impress.

01-25-2017, 05:08 PM	#95
Steve Bozek Powerplay Quarterback Join Date: May 2006 Exp:	Plenty of blame to spread around for this mess. Basically, despite Corsi, or whatever, the team is not as good as last year on several levels. The "stars" (Giordano, Brodie) are not playing as well. The young key players (Monahan, Gaudreau, Bennett), who were expected to get better with age, have regressed. We hoped the departures were being replaced with better players, but I would argue the replacements are worse: Hudler (even though he was injured) is miles better than Chiaisson or Versteeg. Last year's Joe Colborne was also way better than Chiaisson, and Jones was as good as or better than Brouwer. Stajan's about the same, Ferland seems to be inconsistent and overall, no better than last year.The improvement in Backlund and Frolik, and the addition of Tkachuk doesn't make up for the disappointing performance of the other forwards except for Hathaway. On defence, Wideman's worse than last seasn's Wideman, Russell was significantly better than Jokkipaka or Kulak. I like Engelland, but I liked him as much last year. The only improvement there is Hamilton. The predicted improvement in goal didn't really materialize. We replaced Hiller with someone only marginally better.I like Johnson as a backup, but I'd argue that the pre-injury Ramo was as good or better. Coaching and management haven't performed as well as expected either. The regression of the young players may have something to do with the coach, but the replacements engineered by the GM have failed to impress. Last edited by Steve Bozek; 01-25-2017 at 05:10 PM.