[Igottago]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

This is your impression, but I don't believe for a moment that this has always been THE goal. But then, by the same token, the reason it seems like this is an organisational approach is because the Flames have so infrequently been in a home-ice position to start the playoffs. But this is a product of circumstances, not the target.


In twenty years there has been ten Stanley Cup-winning teams. It is extremely hard to win, and the fact of the matter is that most teams will never win one. Twelve teams have never won one. It took St Louis and Washington over forty years to win their first, and both are probably nearly as far away now from winning another one. Toronto has not won in over fifty years, and they look like they could realistically miss out on their best opportunity to win in at least two decades. No Canadian team has won in nearly thirty years.

The reality is that very few teams are fortunate and savvy enough to even open a true competitive window, and that most of the time this is what hockey teams can expect: either to miss outright, or to be eliminated in the first round. Teams like those in Calgary, Minnesota, Columbus, Florida, Manhatten, Toronto, Winnipeg and elsewhere illustrate just how difficult and futile it can be to build a championship team. Teams like in Edmonton and Buffalo show that even under ideal conditions spectacular failure can occur.

Winnning is very hard. But it is a mistake to misconstrue the lack of success for an absence of desire or motive. That is just nonsense. Every team, every management group, every owner, every player, every fan wants more than anything to win a championship, and no one anywhere is merely content if all their team ever does is make the playoffs.


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You must be an extremely naïve person to think that anyone here is suggesting a Stanley Cup or bust. Perhaps you need a little bit of assistance understanding nuance.

We are talking about a team that has been outside of the first round a couple of times in around 30 years. I think most Flames fans would salivate at the thought of winning a playoff round at this point. That would be an astronomical success for this team. If the Flames do that, I would consider this season an absolute success. We can talk about contending when the Flames show they can make the dance and look like they might even know what to do when they get there.