[CaptainCrunch]

Thanks everyone for participating.



Part of this was built around me seeing if I'm far out to lunch in terms of my feelings about the Flames in general and the NHL.


Part of this was kind of done out of interest of general viewpoints.


Plus its always good for us to learn more about each other, that's what community is right.


My answers.


1) Are you going to continue to watch the playoffs or are you going to pack in in and wait for the start of the offseason activities?



Honestly I lost interest the minute the Flames final buzzer went off. First of all, because its still summer, second of all, I just found that I don't care all that much about the other teams. Its been that way for a while, I used to rabidly follow the playoffs, now its over when the Flames are done.

2) How likely are you next year to dedicate a lot of time to watching Flames hockey?



I've found my dedication to the Flames and hockey have dropped over the years, I used to be a lot more involved in discussions around this Flames team on this board, but I've kind of been limited to posts here and there and fueling my hate for the Oilers in the E=NG thread. Part of the year is the feeling that the game has left me behind. Advanced Stats has to an effect killed my desire to talk hockey. If I wanted to do math I'd go back to school for fun. Also in terms of the game style, a lot of the passion has been leeched out of it by coaching systems, this started in the mid 90's. The game isn't a physical and passionate as it was before, instead we get a lot of players that play slot hockey systems and then we point to stats why they're awesome. I think part of me on a level has looked at the monetization of the game and the shift in the game and I'm like, I don't like it as much anymore.


3) Would you consider yourself a die hard flames fan, a interested flames fan, a casual flames fan?

I've gone from ride or die to, there's a game on, but I have a guy looking for a set of white walls on the the other line, I'll get back to you (Major League represent). Frankly in a lot of ways, Hockey has become a lot like that ex best friend that you've drifted away from. Sure you'll chat once in a while on text or the phone, but its not a live or die thing.

4) What would it take for you to switch team allegiances?



I don't know if I would, if the Flames folded or left, I'd be done with hockey. But even switching teams would create the same sense of frustration I seem to have with the game itself and the players themselves.


5) Do you think that the on ice product that is provided by the NHL a) Its great hockey don't change a thing b) Its not a great product, I watch it because there's not a lot out there or I feel obligated c) I'm thinking of being done with the NHL.


I would take B moving slowly towards C like a drunk in a canoe heading towards a waterfall. The officiating is infuriating to me. But its not the only thing. I talk to friends about hockey and we talk about the term video gamization of sports. A video game looks cool and its a reasonable facility to it, but it never gets it quite right as it follows massive calculations. Hockey feels like that, there's so little passion in the game in the playoffs the pace ramped up but I never got a sense of the hate that old series used to have. I think the game has sapped a lot of the creativity out of a game that should be incredibly creative. Coaches fear for their job so they implement not my fault systems that script out the player. The game takes very few chances on the ice and that's what use to make it fun. The risk of the pinch, the risk of the goalie coming out to play the puck, the risk of a seeing eye puck cross slot. Do I hit first or play the puck. All these things have been broken down and spindled by coaches into system scripts and math.



So what am I saying. While the hockey is certainly faster, while the players are certainly better. The game feels sterile and cold and predictable to me.