I think about the significance of the changes made this season of the flames and how important I think they were. While we can all debate the style of play and advanced stats that said the team should have been better... I don’t think there is any debate about how much there needed to be changed made to change the dynamic in the room. Felt like everything went wrong for the team in the last half of the season and it’s obvious some players did not respond well and neither did the coaching staff. Leading the league in posts and missed scoring chances may have just made players more frustrated with how they lost games they deserved to win.
The Brouwer buy out had to happen for many reasons but I think the biggest is that he was the largest example of some lone being given opportunity without earning it. He wasn’t even sticking up for his team mates enough the way a veteran leader should. The concept of waiting another year for his buyout to be more economical was definitely not worth the effect it would have on the mentality of the other players that this guy was getting a free ride.
The coaches had to go because of how rigid they were with line ups and power plays. And because it seems they had lost the room. I’ve heard that Peters system is not that different but he’s more of a tough coach who demands more of everyone.
If the stories about Hamilton not fitting in and what happened at his exit interview are true... then him leaving is also important for the team to start to come together. Whether he deserved to be unliked by his team mates doesn’t change the fact that he was a prominent player on the team that was obviously not gelling with the room.
Essentially, the players need to come into this season believing that changes have been made... that the distractions and doubts from last year don’t need to be repeated. Not that this is a cop-out for the players that are still here... it’s on all of them to be better and not let set-backs like a bad goal or a dumb penalty call cause them to collapse. But it feels like Treliving recognizes these changes had to be made for the psyche of the team itself.
With guys like Stajan, Brouwer and Hamilton gone... this marks a point where the young core of this team get to make it their team. Guys like gaudreau, monahan, and tkachuk can be the more vocal guys in the room and become bigger leaders. I think that eventually has to happen for a team to be a real contender. It can just be old veterans do the talking and the young guys do the walking.
The players from last year can come into camp and look around and feel like this team has gotten younger, faster, and more exciting... that the team has been refreshed rather than getting stale and continuing with the status quo. Compare that to Edmonton where they will be seeing the same faces in that dressing room that lead them to another year of futility.
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