I actually understand what the OP is saying in a lot of ways. There's certain elements that are above and beyond Flames fan's not wanting Edmonton to win. This time it feels different. I know that is not what Flames fans (and I am diehard) wants to hear but it is. Flames fan's may not want Edmonton to win for natural reasons but what does the conversation look like if it was Toronto in the finals, the most popular/hated Canadian team?
I said it at the start of the playoffs, for me the Cup drought needs to be over. The curse needs to be broken. The fan's deserve a cup, a reward. These ****ing Canadian NHL owners are playing roulette with their fan bases. We deserve some element of reward at some point ever since the NHL made things a lot more even 21 years ago. There has to be a point in all of this other than just sucking more time and dollars from the fan bases across the country.
There should also be a pride thing at some point. The #1 hockey nation in the best league actually can't compete. It's an embarrassment and should be taken as such due to the complete and utter underperformance. A lot of my friends who are Flames fans disagree with me but when the conversation switches to describing the level of patheticness to other sports/leagues, it becomes more obvious. The NHL is in a league of it's own with the way things are market wise but a few examples being.
Imagine if America couldn't really compete in NFL football despite producing the best players? Imagine if Canada had a stronghold on Superbowl championships/playoff wins decade after decade. Imagine American's being furious with Canada for specific reasons. Would a hard core NY/LA/Boston fan of a sports league say enough is enough and be ok with their rivals winning?
Can anybody realistically see any top European soccer powerhouse not being able to compete in their #1 sport? How long until the pitchforks would come out vs the league? I could just imagine UK, German, French,Italian, Spanish fan's going decades and decades without wins and being completely handcuffed in a supposed "competitive balance" system.
Perhaps Edmonton wins or doesn't but the conversation from Canadian league executives needs to be a lot more forceful to deal with the imbalances that are beyond evident. Canadian teams need a much higher salary cap, ability to sign and retain players for longer and a lot more.
Some people may argue this but the data is beyond clear. When you actually do a deep dive into the stats, players, careers and more vs cup championships, it's shocking. Imagine a sports top players being selected by their home country clubs and doing absolutely nothing in terms of wins. Other countries wouldn't allow it but we have allowed it for far too long.
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