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Originally Posted by Jimdon
Some posters saying "let's make the playoffs and see what happens" is the goal of every team, that's just not true. You think the Leafs goal this year is to just make the playoffs and see what happens?
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Yes.
Yes.
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Or the Capitals in the years before they won the cup?
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Yes. But for most of these teams (the Oilers have experienced even less playoff success than the Flames have in the last decade) it is not "holding on for dear life." Rather, it is the first step in a longer term goal to win a championship: first, win a game; then make the playoffs; then secure home-ice; then win a playoff game; then win a round; then win another; then win the Cup. I guarantee you that this is the outlook of nearly every NHL team today, including the Flames. Not every team can meet every goal, or even most of these.
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Making the playoffs and holding on for dear life isn't the goal of successful teams, it's the expectation. It's lower than the expectation even. Making the playoffs should be the bottom rung of the ladder of a contender or successful team, not the goal.
Maybe the goal of a young up and coming team with no where to go but up, but that goal is just a stepping stone to bigger expectations...
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Some people seem to think that there are only two stages in the life-cycle of a NHL team: "rebuilding," and "contending." And I have seen it implied here and even espoused that if you are not doing one, then you should be doing the other; the worst possible situation is to be "stuck" doing neither. This is not reality.
The fact of the matter is that each and every year very few NHL teams are true "contenders"; this year, TB, Colorado, VGK, Carolina and maybe Toronto or Washington are among them. There are a few "rebuilding"teams that include SJ, Anaheim, Arizona, Buffalo and Ottawa—possibly also LA and Seattle. Then, there is everyone else. Most NHL teams will either miss the playoffs outright, or fail to advance past the first round. I think most coaches and managers are realistic about where they are in the cycle, and the Flames, along with two-thirds of the teams in the NHL are right there in the middle: not true "contenders," but also not in a stage—or even on the cusp—of "rebuilding" for various reasons. And for these 20, 22 or 23 teams you can be sure that their top priority today and for the duration of the entire season will be to make the playoffs, and to hopefully win a round. Most of them will fail to get that far.
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