No, the Flames have not had the success that we as fans thought was going to happen. No, I am not 100% satisfied with the moves that Calgary did or didn't make at various times over the last 5 or even 30 years. No, I am not a huge fan of the owners themselves (at least one or more anyway).
With that being said, FFS, this organization is NOT the Edmonton Oilers, the Arizona Coyotes, the Florida Panthers, etc. This team goes out and spends to the cap, and then above that with buyouts and an expanded coaching staff including a higher-priced associate coach (with Peters - who was not bargain-bin, but rather a rip-off IMO), expanding the scouting staff, brought in higher priced trainers (didn't we get LA's head athletic trainer or something a few years ago?), etc.
This team doesn't seem overly shy to spend money. They aren't the Rangers. They aren't the Maple Leafs. Those teams make money hand over fist - Calgary does not. Calgary spends more than enough to 'make this team a contender', but it hasn't happened. Calgary is a stable franchise who isn't selling or rumoured to be selling every other year, firing GMs every other year, having a tonne of controversy or embarrassments, etc.
I am frustrated by the lack of changes that I personally wanted to see, but let's see what does happen first, and how this team performs. Sometimes changes that you don't like end up working out.
This team is not as successful as I would like it to be, but it is anything but a disaster either. This is coming from a frustrated fan here. I will be watching again next season eagerly to see how this team does, how individual players do, and how this team is trending. I will keep doing so and will only stop if this team eventually does become the embarrassment that Edmonton is. It is far from that.
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