[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

I think this thread is interesting, with perspectives or raw deal, or they need to take care of their own business and look back on the lost opportunities that they could control (like last weeks Ducks game).

When you look at these things in isolation, I'd say everyone is right. Flames did miss opportunities that could have made a difference, but they also got a tone of bad luck too.

Big picture, I look at it these two ways.

1. True, if you don't want some bad luck to cost you a playoff spot, then don't be a bubble team. If you are on the bubble and you hit some bad luck, it potentially becomes the difference of making and not, vs. the difference of maybe home ice vs. not.

That said, I don't think anyone should be faulting this version of the Flames for being a bubble team. We knew they weren't more than that from the get go, in fact, they were better than we assumed, so no need to wag our fingers at them for not being better.

2. So if we look at how things played out for them big picture, I don't know how anyone can say, they didn't get a bum deal or bad luck cost them. Sure, you can find the controllable, where they did cost themselves, but you can look at every team, including the elite, and find those. My view, is did the Flames do enough to have expected to be able to make more often than not, and I think the answer is 100% yes.

In the last 15 games of the season (1 still to be played), where they started that stretch, legitimately in 9th place via Point % - 2 pts behind Vancouver for the last playoff spot, with a game or games in hand on ALL teams they were in a fight with. They have gone 9-2-3 or .750 point percentage (President Trophy winning Jets will end with a .704 point percentage btw). If we replayed the end of the season 10 times, with the Flames maintaining that point percentage, I would almost be certain they'd make the playoffs 9/10 times. St. Louis is a good team, but that 13 game winning streak or whatever it was, combined with some bad bounces would not happen again.

This is not a time to nit pick or micro analyze where this team could have helped themselves, they did what they needed to do. They just didn't get the luck or the bounces across the league or in some of their own games, they deserved and IMO earned better this year.