Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
Contending team for five years? They were make the playoffs, miss the playoffs alternating for nearly their entirety save for the COVID shortened season. Totally fair.
The Flames are the poster NHL team for participation while not really mattering much. They exist to help the NHL round out the total to 32 teams but nobody cares about them or expects them to do anything meaningful. They don't even matter in Alberta anymore as the Oilers are more popular everywhere including a large portion of Calgary these days as you will see more Oilers clothing than Flames in Calgary schools. It is what it is as it's what happens when an organization gets caught nearly perennially in the mushy middle. Fans don't have the highs or lows to get emotional about. They are just there.
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Mushy middle when they were division winners or out for five straight years? That's anything but the mushy middle in the time period we are discussing.
I won't defend Calgary team building, they've been in the bottom third of the league, and likely from trying to remain competitive to a fault.
But it's not a run since 1989 of irrelevance as you claim. That's over the top.