Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
I tend to disagree. The Western Conference up until the last two years used to have a handful of powerhouse to very good teams in the Hawks, Blues, Ducks, Kings, Sharks, Preds, Wild, etc. The rest of the conference was left to fend for two or three playoff spots at best. The past few seasons we have seen decline in nearly all these franchises and despite all these teams outside of the Predators being in decline the Flames are still treading water outside the playoffs or at best just good enough to claw in the playoffs and get handled. Playoff spots in the Western Conference have never more been up for grabs and teams like the Jets and Golden Knights have taken advantage. The Flames have not. Sooner or later the Flames are either going to make their move to overtake these teams or they simply are treading water in mediocrity until they have that big meltdown season to which they will probably start dismantling the team and doing the whole thing over again. Make no mistake the Haminic trade signalled a 3 year window of winning and in season one they have regressed badly.
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I think the Flames miscalculated and qualifying for the playoffs last season may have played into it. Overall the team is not ready and the required pieces are just not there. Level of experienced coaching has to take some responsibility too. Sutter's low scoring teams seemed to have a lot more confidence in holding leads than what we are seeing with this current group. This team just does not have not have an established identity from one night to the next.