Quote:
Originally Posted by howard_the_duck
Touché. That roster should already have a cup, so it’s cup or bust this year.
Doesn’t make that roster any less scary for the flames. Best is to hope for someone else to knock them out or they limp into the later rounds with some vulnerability
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It's a really good roster, but there have only been two playoffs since they made it in as a #8 seed and had Makar join them 2 games into that series. So it's one year as essentially a #2 seed and a follow up as the #1 or Division winner. I think they should have made the final 4 at least one of these past two years, and that's why the season for them would be a big disappointment if they don't get to the Conference finals this year. But to say they should have won a cup is a bit of a stretch. Really them blowing that 2-0 nothing lead and frankly getting worked over by Vegas last year should leave a bad taste in the Av's mouth like the Lightning sweep to Columbus did. I'd argue their time is now, and the next year since they have MacKinnon at a great number.
There are some signs emerging that Colorado, St.Louis, and Calgary are looking like the three best teams in the Western Conference. Some of these predictive advanced stats are starting to directly show up in the standings. Vegas is still a threat because one day they'll be allowed to put out their 92 million dollar team. St.Louis looked really out of sorts last year, and got blown away by Colorado every bit as harshly as the 2019 Flames did. But that team isn't getting a lot of buzz, but is looking pretty solid right now. So I don't think Colorado is going to just come waltzing out of the Central. They might in fact have to deal with the 92 million dollar Knights, and than a pretty balanced Blue's team.
It will be fun as a fan. A couple weeks back these two games against the Wild looked like they would be a test, but the Flames passed it very well. So now it's time to see how they measure up to the likes of Colorado and Tampa. There's no one else above those two on the food chain.