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Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
If the Oilers fanbase could tolerate a long rebuild (or consecutive rebuilds depending on how you look at it), then the Flames should be able to. I don't want to believe that their fanbase is more dedicated and resilient than the Flames fanbase.
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The Oilers' fanbase is at any rate more delusional than the Flames' fanbase. They didn't tolerate a long rebuild; they were sold a bill of goods one year at a time, and eagerly bought it.
With a lot of Oiler fans, all you have to do is play the Gretzky card. ‘We built a dynasty around the greatest player in the game, so it's obvious that we can do it again. Just wait and see, and meanwhile give us your money!’ The Flames don't have any such card to play.
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If I made it through the Young Guns era and the current mediocrity, I could live through an actual rebuild.
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That's just the problem. The owners know exactly how many fans did not make it through the Young Guns era. At present, they have to spend a minimum of $60 million a year on players just to reach the cap floor. If they had to do that while drawing crowds of 12,000 or 13,000, they would lose their shirts.