Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
I just don't think that's the case anymore in the NHL where there's so much parity and even expansion teams can now be competitive on day one as all players are conditioned and play hard most nights. It's a results based league and to win in consistently you need timely goaltending and goal scoring. Two things the Flames have received neither. The stuff in-between is window dressing IMO that keeps fancy stats people busy and provides fans silver linings after losses. We sat through some Gulutzan seasons of 60 minutes efforts that never led anywhere and Darryl's Kings team missed the playoffs 2 of the last 3 seasons while being advanced stat darlings. It's a skill driven league now and the Flames are kind of going against the grain.
|
Expansion teams are successful now because of the rules. Not because of parity.
2000 expansion draft (which was the last of the last expansion era) - you could protect 9 forwards, 5 defense and a goalie. The Flames protected guys like Andrei Nazarov and Clarke Wilm.