Quote:
Originally Posted by nemanja2306
You're right, there have been games where the Flames lost because of few mistakes. However, there were games where the Flames were completely outplayed yet won/forced OT because of Mike Smith and Rittich. Also, other teams also make mistakes. It's not just the Flames.
Brad Treliving sent a 1st round pick and 2 second's for Hamonic. Why? Because he believed that the team was ready to compete. Not just playoffs, divison, maybe even for the Cup. Hell, even Gultuzan said this is a 100 point team.
Yet here we are, battling for playoffs and outside looking in. I cannot really understand how can anyone look at this season as a whole and not be disappointed.
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It's an 82 game season, naturally goaltenders will steal games for your team. A lot of opposition goaltenders and even their backups have stolen games for their team against us as well. It's definitely not just the Flames, that was my main point. We haven't been as bad as everyone thinks, the coaching isn't as bad as everyone thinks and we're facing the same type of problems every team faces in a long season.
To your second point, we gave up a lot for Hamonic. But he hasn't been nearly as impactful as I personally thought he was going to be. He doesn't have a great offensive skillset and it shows with his 1 goal this season. Been solid in the defensive end, but the addition of him doesn't make us a contender. He's just a slight upgrade over losing Derek Engelland.
Treliving also stated in the summer that he thought scoring goals was going to be this team's weakest link and it has come true. We rely on 2 lines to win us virtually every game. Other teams have the type of depth to have 3 or 4 lines consistently contributing in a meaningful way. We don't have that. We have a rookie center who's hit the rookie wall hard and a 4th line that's under performed compared to last season. Not enough internal help.
I'll be disappointed if we miss the playoffs. But I didn't think we'd be a contender anyway. I thought we'd be a bubble playoff team with a chance to win a round and that's where I think we are. We've had a tough schedule up to date and now this is the time where the team needs to make up ground and win. With no passengers and maybe even a small trade deadline addition, I think we can get hot and get in. Mike Smith has the ability to steal a round as well, so I definitely haven't given up on the season.