Quote:
Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
But honestly, I don't know if this franchise could suffer the alternative worst case scenario of seeing another star player leave within the same calendar year as two others. It would be devastating to the image of the team, city and the long term viability of the franchise.
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So, first of all, I don't agree with that. The last city that had this stigma of being "the team that can't get its stars to stay" was Columbus, and that seems to have gone away. But more importantly than that, we know exactly what it would take to change the image of the team in terms of its ability to attract talent: new facilities. The facilities suck. Calgary isn't Winnipeg, it's not Buffalo, it's not Arizona. It's not Vancouver or Toronto either, as far as that goes, but I think the pendulum of "no one wants to come here" has swung a little bit towards the doom and gloom. If Huberdeau walked next summer but at the same time they broke ground on the new home for the Flames, I don't even think it would make an impact.
It would, however, be devastating to Treliving. That would be the end of him, for sure... and I don't think having a GM fighting for his job is a good place to be in the NHL.
I get the sentiment that, well, the Flames will be bad for the last 4 years of his deal anyway, so who cares. My counterpoint is, first of all, no one can really predict where any team in the NHL will be in 4 years, and second, if the plan is to suffer through 4 years of darkness and pain, that's... I just don't think that's a good thing to be ready to accept. I don't EVER want to be the current San Jose Sharks.