Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch Root
Over-rated for 13 years? Okay then.
And they don't need Care Price goaltending to be successful. They went on runs when both Johnson and Elliott played well.
Has the D been perfect? Definitely not. But lots of exaggeration in your post.
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How is it an exaggeration?
The Flames have made it out of the first round once in that entire span (2005-2017) and only did so because Vancouver was on their last throws of being relevant and promptly got destroyed in the second round by a good team (Anaheim, who then promptly lost in the conference finals).
The Flames had plenty of offense over the entire span that they made the playoffs. Kipper was good when they made the playoffs. The defense has been a good portion of the problem. That's not entirely on the defensemen either, as the forwards have not been great in that department either. Some years they weren't as bad as others, like in 2005. However, this year was not a great year for the D-men. The forward group was as good as it has been in a long time. D and a goalie will put the team in a better spot to take steps towards being an elite team, rather than just an also ran.
I don't want this team to be content to just make the playoffs. That is not nearly good enough. They need to strive to become a favourite in the West and a legitimate contender for the cup. You're not going to do that with Deryk Engelland/Matt Bartkowski/Dennis Wideman/Brett Kulak playing any regular role on the team. Look at Anaheim/Nashville right now. They each have 6 good quality defenders, plus kids that can step in. The Flames need to be able to have a comparable group to those guys because the final 4 teams usually have a high quality team all around.