Winning changes everything.
The Oilers have a lot of guys in the media who tie-back to the Oilers in some ways, much more than the Flames. So, they are naturally more inclined to wave their pom poms for the Oilers.
With that being said, Flames NEED to ice a top-tier product CONSISTENTLY.
The last 20 years - barely any playoff success to speak of. Occasional 'regular season' glory, followed by 'did not make the playoffs'. What superstar is there to cheer? Gaudreau and Tkachuk were the only 2, and now there are zero.
There isn't really any conspiracy. Oilers are unashamedly embarrassing at patting themselves on their backs. They never stopped patting themselves on their backs even through them being the most embarrassing team in all of professional sports. That's who they are. I don't want the Flames to be like this.
However, if you want more fans, more ticket sales, higher priced tickets, more away fans, more merchandise, more media spotlight, more avenues of revenue - then fricken win. That's it.
Rebuild the right way. Don't take stupid shortcuts and turn this team back into a flip-flopping bubble team with no playoff success. How many new fans have the Oilers made in the last 5-10 years? A heck of a lot more than the Flames made. You don't have to be embarrassingly bad like the non-tankers who were simply bad and won the lottery - that's not the point i am making here. Oilers were a horrificly-run organization who fluked out and won a lottery. That's not some kind of model to follow. What I am stating here is that winning sells PERIOD.
Oh, and BTW, ice a product that is enjoyable to watch as well, especially during this rebuild phase. Don't take a shortcut, but make it fun. No boring trap, no dump and chase and dump and chase and not ever make an exciting play (ala Brent Sutter, ala one of the GGs (or both!!), ala Geoff Ward). Get Pospisil some protection too - I don't want that kid having to play a different style, nor do I want his career to end from a fight.
Just don't take shortcuts. Build this team with patience, or once the shine of the new building wears out, more apathy will set-in again. Calgary needs to draft and develop a core - there are no Tkachuks and Gaudreaus clamouring to play here. Draft them. Develop them. Build a good team around them. Everything else will take care of itself.
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