I enjoy hockey so I'll always follow the Flames game by game. I definitely felt apathetic to this year's team as the season progressed. It isn't a very likeable group and there's no feel-good stories. I'm not very old so this could be a weaker example, but when I look back at those Hartley years and that group, it's nothing but fondness. I would give anything to see Gaudreau, Monahan and Hudler from that time play a game together again. Fans value different things but I think when you're in it for the long haul you accept not every year will be sunshine and roses. It's during the down periods when you at least hope to have young players to root for and see progress, or even a younger team see develop and mature as they learn lessons on the big stage.
This franchise doesn't seem to hold that philosophy lately and this year's team is none of those good things. It's an old group playing a terribly boring system (that is on Sutter) with what seems like very little chemistry. We never got to see Phillips come into his own (many factors contributing to this). Pelletier was injecting some fun and creativity into the lineup and then got perma-benched until tonight for one mistake.
Look at how we all rallied around Walker Duehr's success this season. This fanbase is in desperate need of some fun, young players to watch come into their own. It's actually why I'm still really optimistic about next year from an entertainment perspective. We could have a lot of new faces to cheer for and who knows, maybe they'll rekindle some of those feelings we had watching Gaudreau and Monahan enter the league and become stars.
In short, my loyalty as a fan isn't so much tied to winning and success as it is an entertaining product. This group doesn't live up to that but you'd have to be incredibly pessimistic to think it won't get more fun again soon.
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