Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashasx
While I don't think I'm on the fire Sutter brigade, I think he is a very good coach that has unfortunately worn out his welcome. And this isn't the same team that has had 5 coaches in the last 8 years. This isn't Gaudreau/Tkachuk/Giordano's team anymore.
Did this organization not make an effort to bring in high-character, proven winners? When people say inmates would be running the asylum, are they referring to players like Coleman, Toffoli, and Kadri? I mean, Tanev to be honest looks like the most miserable player on the team, and I think everybody would call him an unbelievable teammate.
Something isn't right here. The team made an effort to bring in character guys and we are saying the fault is on the character of the team?
Sometimes a coach doesn't mesh.
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We often look to blame the unquantifiable when the reality of the situation is too difficult to deal with.
We say luck, we say “something” is off, that this and that don’t mesh, that chemistry is difficult to build…
The painful part of this is that the Flames did what they’ve always done whenever they had salary cap available to them - they blew their wad on whatever was available.
Nazem Kadri is no wiser of a signing than Troy Brouwer, it’s just on a different scale. I’d actually argue it’s significantly worse because of the scale (term, money) and because we had to send a 1st round pick out to facilitate the deal.
Committing big term and dollars to a UFA goaltender in Jacob Markstrom who had a career season the year leading up to free agency. Just another example of looking externally to resolve an issue that they created through poor internal structure. The idea of locking in term and big dollars to a 30 year old goalie coming off a career season should have been a much bigger alarm in our minds than it was…but we’re fans that want to be excited for everything.
Blake Coleman is this organization prioritizing “proven winners” at a premium in free agency. There’s a reason why Tampa Bay didn’t keep him - it doesn’t make sense to pay players like Coleman what the Flames offered.
Chris Tanev has worked out better than anyone could imagine, but it was also a reactionary signing. The Flames prioritized Markstrom’s negotiation ahead of Brodie’s, and Brodie took a deal elsewhere resulting in the Flames having to pivot.
Jonathan Huberdeau and Mackenzie Weegar fell into their laps because Florida came to table with them, and reeling from the Summer of Rejection, the organization was on the defence and locked them in rather than being prudent.
The point I’m trying to get to is that no highly skilled successful team is built through free agency and massive contracts being handed out to players that weren’t homegrown. This Flames team is built in exactly that way. I still like Rhett’s criticism of the team that it has no plan and is built in the same way the pre-lockout Rangers/Leafs were built. The organizational approach to team building is why they are where they are, it’s a systemic issue from the top of the organization down to the bottom.
Time to change.