Article: The Rebuild Begins. With That, A New Hope

[Caged Great]

The most important week in the entire history of the Calgary Flames concluded yesterday at 1 PM local time. The face of the franchise is now playing for Pittsburgh. The best defenseman on the team is now a Blue. Even Blake Comeau was moved over to Columbus. There has been some debate over what we received, verses the perceived value of those players, however, the return is somewhat besides the point. The most important thing is that a new chapter has begun.



The Calgary Flames are in a strange situation as they pretty much have a blank slate from which to start building a new team. The plan moving forward from today will determine both how long this rebuild will be and whether or not it was done properly. To evaluate how to rebuild this team properly, one has to look at the teams that rebuilt their team successfully and how each of them achieved that.

The rest of the article is here


http://www.firesidechat.ca/2013/04/0...at-a-new-hope/


Let me know what you think?

[Sakari]

I miss those Flames.

[Phanuthier]

A glass half empty way of looking at this... is that with no 2nd round pick (traded for Cammalleri deal), and if St L misses the playoffs and Pittsburgh wins a cup (worst case scenario), we would be going into the 2013 draft as if we didn't acquire any picks at all.

One 1st round (early) ..... late 1st round, close to early 2nd rounder..... 3rd rounder... etc...

Really, the Pittsburgh draft pick is pretty much re-couping the lost 2nd round pick that we lost in the Cammalleri deal.

[Jake]

It was interesting reading about how Boston, LA, and Chicago were built. Those teams had some amazing drafts, especially Boston's 2006 draft (Kessil, Lucic, and Marchand). Chicago had three solid drafts in a row, and were particularly successful in the later rounds. The Penguins rebuild was less impressive in my opinion. Landing Crosby was 100% luck.

It is kind of sad reading that though... the Pens and Hawks rebuilds took over 5 years. It goes without saying that most would prefer a faster rebuild.

I hope the Flames manage to follow Boston's and LA's path which combined good drafting with shrewd trades and FA signings. Do the Flames currently have the staff in place to make those decisions though? I'm doubtful. Scouting over the last couple of years appears to have been a major improvement. Feaster has not impressed with his trades in that he has achieved underwhelming returns, was not timely (in other words, did not move Iginla when he probably should have), and under values 2nd round picks (look at who Chicago and Boston drafted in the 2nd). Free agent wise I'm also skeptical about his signings.

Like you said there are some potential similarities with the Flames, but it is very early on and it is realistically impossible to say that for sure. I think we can be confident that currently there are no potential franchise players here, although Baertschi, Gaudreau or someone else may surprise. If the Flames draft MacKinnon, Jones, or Drouin, the Flames may replace Iginla quicker than expected. Personally I'd lean towards taking both forwards ahead of Jones.

[Flames0910]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

A glass half empty way of looking at this... is that with no 2nd round pick (traded for Cammalleri deal), and if St L misses the playoffs and Pittsburgh wins a cup (worst case scenario), we would be going into the 2013 draft as if we didn't acquire any picks at all.

One 1st round (early) ..... late 1st round, close to early 2nd rounder..... 3rd rounder... etc...

Really, the Pittsburgh draft pick is pretty much re-couping the lost 2nd round pick that we lost in the Cammalleri deal.

I see what you're saying, but at the end of the day, we still have Cammalleri as an asset that could be traded before the draft, or stick around and mentor younger players before being traded at the deadline.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Very good article. It is interesting to see how successful rebuilds have happened and also consider what the finished roster looked like. These teams not only put together the right cores but paid attention to the role players required too.

Not sure that Jankowski projects to be the third line C. This often is the guy that wins draws in the d zone, is tough to play against, shuts down the opposition, and moves the puck up ice. Guys like Staal, Bolland, etc. Stephane Yelle served the Flames well in this capacity though Staal had more offensive upside. Even the Oil recognize this adding Smithson.

The top line centers also have a very good 2 way game in these cases. Something that Olli unfortunately never progressed to above average.

That is what was perplexing about the patchwork approach the past few years. More and more interchangeable wingers. Generalists, not specialists. You can still have top talent on the wings, but you need good 2 way guys up the middle.

They also have guys that get under the other team's skin.

And on size, the Flames entered the season 30th at an average of 195 lbs. They started the season needing to use speed and compete but this faded. They lost confidence and compete.

[Bane]

The most important week in the entire history of the Calgary Flames concluded yesterday at 1 PM local time.

I don't think so.

Personally, I'd rank it the 5th most important week in franchise history.

1) The Calgary ownership group purchasing the Atlanta Flames.
2) The 89 cup win over Montreal.
3) The 86 series vs Montreal in the finals.
4) The 04 series vs Tampa in the finals.
5) Trading Iggy.


Other than that, good article.

[Badger Bob]

Using Pittsburgh, Chicago & LA as benchmarks was useful for the purposes of the article. Here's the snag about though, is that the Flames really are at rock bottom. Forwards for 3rd & 4th lines have been abundance for years. So, unless there's something particularly extraordinary about any of them, that aspect is nothing to get excited about.

Some of the potential top line prospects could develop, but none of them project to be front ranked superstars. That's going to be the difference maker in the next few drafts, when the Flames get a series of high selections. Then, it would be clearer in assessing the progress of the rebuild and better assessing the team's direction. Time will tell.

[IamNotKenKing]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

A glass half empty way of looking at this... is that with no 2nd round pick (traded for Cammalleri deal), and if St L misses the playoffs and Pittsburgh wins a cup (worst case scenario), we would be going into the 2013 draft as if we didn't acquire any picks at all.

One 1st round (early) ..... late 1st round, close to early 2nd rounder..... 3rd rounder... etc...

Really, the Pittsburgh draft pick is pretty much re-couping the lost 2nd round pick that we lost in the Cammalleri deal.

Seriously? [shaking head]

In answer to the actual thread, I thought the article was great. Yup, a LOT rides on this draft. Here's hoping!

[bucksmasher]

I wouldn't get to excited about a proper rebuild. Feaster is already talking about swinging for the fences next year with half a bat.

[freakinsaprikin]

Very good article. Thanks for taking the time to write and share.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

Very good article. It is interesting to see how successful rebuilds have happened and also consider what the finished roster looked like. These teams not only put together the right cores but paid attention to the role players required too.

Not sure that Jankowski projects to be the third line C. This often is the guy that wins draws in the d zone, is tough to play against, shuts down the opposition, and moves the puck up ice. Guys like Staal, Bolland, etc. Stephane Yelle served the Flames well in this capacity though Staal had more offensive upside. Even the Oil recognize this adding Smithson.

The top line centers also have a very good 2 way game in these cases. Something that Olli unfortunately never progressed to above average.

That is what was perplexing about the patchwork approach the past few years. More and more interchangeable wingers. Generalists, not specialists. You can still have top talent on the wings, but you need good 2 way guys up the middle.

They also have guys that get under the other team's skin.

And on size, the Flames entered the season 30th at an average of 195 lbs. They started the season needing to use speed and compete but this faded. They lost confidence and compete.

It seems that I have been alone in the wilderness in recognizing that the Flames had become the smallest wimpiest team.... possibly ever.

The article really point out that that one of the constants of SC calibre teams is size. Size that is talented and on the ice of a lot of the game.


I remember in 2010-11 when the Oilers came out and spanked the Flames in the season opener with Eberle scoring that pretty goal. Renney had them them all taking the man and playing BIG. I looked at the roster and thought they would be dead after 20 games of small guys playing so big, They finished last.


The road to success seems to be simple...... Good BIG players are >>>>>>>>> small skilled players.


Bourque >>> Cammalleri.... for instance.

You put up with Penner's attitude and work with him because you can't coach Stempniak to be 265 pounds.

[CSharp]

Pretty good article and it hits the point about the last 4 championship teams that the Flames don't have - size and character. The current group that played on the ice last night against the Oilers and got a shellacking has got no drive and no passion. I think the Flames is going the way of the Oilers and hoping for a quick rebuild. But the way they're doing it is totally scary because there is absolutely no size up front and they're a push-over in the back, even with size on defence. I really think they need new management in order to build up this team to be competitive again. Even though I hated Burke in the past, I think he's a good candidate to make it happen. And it won't be two to five years. It'd be about the same amount of time as everyone else or longer.

[FAN]

No offense, but I think the article is poorly written and you should spend more time proof-reading. It doesn't say anything that we all don't already know. And some of the examples used seem poorly researched.

Take the Blackhawks example, how did drafting James Wisniewski benefit the Blackhawks? As for the Bruins, you made it sound like trading Thornton and using the cap space to sign Chara and signing Tim Thomas as a free agent to the be team's #1 goalie was all part of the master plan.

In terms of the Kings I think you meant to say that the Kings "finished by by drafting Doughty, Voynov, and King" in 08 and not in 07 (typo). And you completely left out the drafting of Schenn (among others) who helped them acquire Richards. Or Jack Johnson who was a key piece in the Carter trade.

You talk about similarities between the last 4 champions being character, size, and skill and then go on to say the Flames are off to a decent start by mentioning guys who are relatively undersized? And what about "Jankowski and Agostino have certain skills that could cause them to become really good 3rd line players." I am assuming that is another typo because I'm not sure Jankowski becoming a really good 3rd line player gives the Flames fan base a lot of hope.

And no offense, is it really necessary to link us to every single article you've written? You're a board member here and it's your article. Why not post the whole thing here if you want comments.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by FAN

And no offense, is it really necessary to link us to every single article you've written? You're a board member here and it's your article. Why not post the whole thing here if you want comments.

3. Thou shalt keep thy posts legal. Copyrighted material may not be traded or sold on the forum. Copyrighted material may not be reproduced in part or in full on the forum, post links to photos or articles that you do not own the copyrights to. You may include a two or three paragraph excerpt to give the general idea you want to discuss (unless the article is only that long, then just post a link).

I don't own the rights to it technically even though I wrote it, so I have to link it.

[FAN]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

3. Thou shalt keep thy posts legal. Copyrighted material may not be traded or sold on the forum. Copyrighted material may not be reproduced in part or in full on the forum, post links to photos or articles that you do not own the copyrights to. You may include a two or three paragraph excerpt to give the general idea you want to discuss (unless the article is only that long, then just post a link).

I don't own the rights to it technically even though I wrote it, so I have to link it.

Ya but...

5. Thou shalt not shamelessly self-promote. In other words, no advertising, no posting of affiliate links, and no posting personal links to games where generating traffic is involved in winning. If you want to pay to advertise a business or site, contact Bingo. Posting a "Hey come to my site" thread with your first post is bad. Putting a link to your site in your sig is ok. If in doubt, ask first.

[Badger Bob]

Originally Posted by Bane

I don't think so.

Personally, I'd rank it the 5th most important week in franchise history.

1) The Calgary ownership group purchasing the Atlanta Flames.
2) The 89 cup win over Montreal.
3) The 86 series vs Montreal in the finals.
4) The 04 series vs Tampa in the finals.
5) Trading Iggy.


Other than that, good article.

#2 should be #1 on your ranking. It wasn't just a Cup win, but to be the only visiting team to clinch in the Forum transcends a franchise sale/relocation.

Originally Posted by bucksmasher

I wouldn't get to excited about a proper rebuild. Feaster is already talking about swinging for the fences next year with half a bat.

They're worried about losing season ticket holders. Of course there has to be some face-saving and salesmanship.

[GettinIggyWithIt]

[QUOTE

The road to success seems to be simple...... Good BIG players are >>>>>>>>> small skilled players.


Bourque >>> Cammalleri.... for instance.

You put up with Penner's attitude and work with him because you can't coach Stempniak to be 265 pounds.[/QUOTE]

I agree that this year's version of the Flames isn't nearly big or tough enough. In fact, I think we fell victim to having too many of the "same type of players".

But Bourque and Penner are not good examples in my opinion. We don't need big players that are useless, lazy and difficult to motivate -especially not at their price tags. Bourque and Penner aren't going to make teams competitive. Both Montreal and LA have much better examples of big, strong forwards that contribute to their team. I'd much rather have Cammaleri over Bourque and Stempniak over Penner but I wouldn't want a team full of those guys and no bigger bodies to wear down the opposition.

[metroneck]

Clowe? Doubt he'd sign, mass overpayment required.

[cubistcastle]

Honest opinion: You could use some work on your writing. There are some interesting thoughts here. I think the article could have benefited from some sort of visual aid (maybe a chart or text box) to break up the parts of the article in which you are just relaying facts from the analysis portions. Just a simple text box detailing which players the team added and how they were acquired would work well I think. Add team names as section markers to make the article easier to navigate and fix a few grammatical oversights and baby you got a stew goin'!