The Drive for 30th

[ricardodw]

There is absolutely no rational reason that keeps an organization from tanking once they have no realistic chance of making the playoffs.

The lottery means that even though you finish 30th you might not get the 1st pick overall.... BUT the worst you get is the 2nd pick overall.


What needs to be done is that the worst 3 teams get the number one pick.

The second pick overall should go to the team that gets the most wins (pts) after the trade deadline.

The third pick goes to the bottom (tanking teams) teams and the 4th to the best of the after the deadline teams.... and so on.

Teams in the lottery for 1 3 5 and 7 --- Florida, Colorado, Carolina and Tampa

Teams in Lottery for 2 4 6 and 8 ----

Dallas, Calgary, Winnipeg and Buffalo. Teams that are definitely not tanking and playing better than they did before the deadline.

Teams losing under this system because they tanked Nashville picking 9th through 14th instead of 5th.

Carolina Likely drafting 5th instead of 3rd. Tampa likely drafting 7th instead of 4th.




The teams that have done the best after the deadline would be:

St Louis , , 16
*Chicago , , 15
*Washington , , 14
NY Islanders , , 12
Los Angeles , , 12
Columbus , , 12
Dallas , , 12
NY Rangers , , 11
*Vancouver , , 11
San Jose , , 11
*Pittsburgh , , 10
Winnipeg , , 10
Buffalo , , 10
Calgary , , 10
Toronto , , 9
*Montreal , , 8
Ottawa , , 8
Phoenix , , 8
Boston , , 7
Minnesota , , 7
Colorado , , 7
Philadelphia , , 6
Tampa Bay , , 6
Detroit , , 6
*Anaheim , , 5
New Jersey , , 3
Carolina , , 3
Florida , , 2
Edmonton , , 2
Nashville , , 1

The teams that currently are not going to make the playoffs:

Dallas , , 12 or Columbus 12 or Washington 14
Winnipeg , , 10
Buffalo , , 10
Calgary , , 10
Phoenix , , 8
Colorado , , 7
Philadelphia , , 6
Tampa Bay , , 6
Detroit , , 6
New Jersey , , 3
Carolina , , 3
Florida , , 2
Edmonton , , 2
Nashville , , 1

[PlayfulGenius]

I think its great the team had a great home send off for Kipper...

.. now, just lose 4 straight on the road and they could have a Top 4 pick

[SebC]

The bottom teams would still tank... they're not going to go from 2nd worst to best after the plaoyffs.

[Yoho]

A nice three point game from the Carolina vs. Philly game tonight is just what the doctor ordered

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by SebC

The bottom teams would still tank... they're not going to go from 2nd worst to best after the plaoyffs.

Right now we have 4-5 teams whose organizations are trying to have them lose to improve their draft position.


The Flames are one of them.

I would much rather have the Flames organization playing full out to win the last 4 games and finish as the best team after the trade deadline AND to earn a realistic shot at the 2nd or 4th pick overall.

Right now the best thing the organization could do would be to pull the goalie at the start of the second period and try to keep the score within 5.

These are all road games and would likely get as much or more TV viewership if the Flames made a point of trying to lose them.


Would Nashville do the same and try to be worse than the Flames?

If the Flames mange to lose their last 4 games and get a top 5 pick that is so much better than trading their first and Pittsburgh's first to move from 9th spot to 5th spot. basically an organization decision is worth as much as the best part of the return that they got for their all time franchise player. That is just wrong.


Edmonton...... with the best roster in the NHL according to Lowe..... is likely going to get a better draft pick than the Flames...... how wrong is this? 2 pts since the dead-line and only got those because Colorado who has 3 #1 centres that are better than the Flames have had at least since Langkow was healthy is tanking even worse.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Right now we have 4-5 teams whose organizations are trying to have them lose to improve their draft position.


The Flames are one of them.

I would much rather have the Flames organization playing full out to win the last 4 games and finish as the best team after the trade deadline AND to earn a realistic shot at the 2nd or 4th pick overall.

Why does it matter? In the end, they're season is over. They don't play anymore games like 13 other teams. The games simply don't matter for them since their fate is sealed. That's all that matters to the coaches and the players. Making a stupid mini game that the players and coaches have no true investment into to appease the few that get upset that their team doesn't blow enough to get best chance of the 1st pick isn't going to fly by them. And I imagine the NHLPA would have to approve a change like this.

The players don't care about what spot their team picks in. They care about keeping their spot for next season and show why their a player that should continue to be in the team plans, or viable other teams in the off season.

[saillias]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Terrible - we cannot escape the gravitational pull of the Sun (9th place). This franchise is cursed - whether we try to win or lose, we always regress to the mean/mediocrity.

Put it better than I ever could.

What can a GM and coach even do to make it more likely to happen? There's nothing they can do to this team right now to make it suck. Meanwhile the rest of the bottom feeders have perfected the art.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by saillias

Put it better than I ever could.

What can a GM and coach even do to make it more likely to happen? There's nothing they can do to this team right now to make it suck. Meanwhile the rest of the bottom feeders have perfected the art.

Feaster has done almost as much as he could have. We're starting guys fresh out of college. Putting our rookies into key roles. We traded our best forward (theoretically) and best defenseman. And now there's talk of bringing up 1/3 of the Heat and putting them into games as well.

The only thing Feaster maybe could have done is trade another vet or two and even that might not have made a big difference.

Feaster has done everything reasonable to help the tank job IMO. We got lucky in the DET game. Kipper's return to form hasn't helped the losses either.

This team had some bad luck to be in the bottom 3. We just aren't one of the worst 3-5 teams in the league unfortunately. I want MacKinnon/Barkov/Drouin/Jones as bad as anyone. At least there are some great guys in the 5-8 range.

Hopefully we get some luck in this next stretch both in the Flames results (NSH game is soooo key) and on the out of town scoreboard. A lottery win would obviously be amazing but is a longshot obviously.

[saillias]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

Feaster has done almost as much as he could have. We're starting guys fresh out of college. Putting our rookies into key roles. We traded our best forward (theoretically) and best defenseman. And now there's talk of bringing up 1/3 of the Heat and putting them into games as well.

I agree, that's what I'm saying. This team just has bad karma.

Honestly we would probably be worse if we had our healthy roster of vets. Kinda want Tanguay back to float around getting top line minutes.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by saillias

Put it better than I ever could.

What can a GM and coach even do to make it more likely to happen? There's nothing they can do to this team right now to make it suck. Meanwhile the rest of the bottom feeders have perfected the art.

It's too bad that the trade deadline passed or we could trade for Iginla and Bouwmeester. They could bring the lack of heart and dedication this team needs right now.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by Joborule

Why does it matter? In the end, they're season is over. They don't play anymore games like 13 other teams. The games simply don't matter for them since their fate is sealed. That's all that matters to the coaches and the players. Making a stupid mini game that the players and coaches have no true investment into to appease the few that get upset that their team doesn't blow enough to get best chance of the 1st pick isn't going to fly by them. And I imagine the NHLPA would have to approve a change like this.

The players don't care about what spot their team picks in. They care about keeping their spot for next season and show why their a player that should continue to be in the team plans, or viable other teams in the off season.

It cheapens the game. It ruins the competition and make the schedule have way too much importance...

St.L Likely get Home-ice advantage with a 4th place finish as they play Colorado twice and the Flames once in their last 4 games. LA and SJ gets to play teams that are not tanking.


Minnesota basically has a lock on a playoff spot as they get to play 3 tanking teams in their last 4 games.


It is different beating a team that is trying to win but does not have the personnel or coaching and another when the best outcome for that team is to lose.

[sun]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Terrible - we cannot escape the gravitational pull of the Sun (9th place). This franchise is cursed - whether we try to win or lose, we always regress to the mean/mediocrity.

Dude, your posts are next-level depressing right now. Look at all your recent posts - so bitter and sad. Just relax a bit, man.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by sun

Dude, your posts are next-level depressing right now. Look at all your recent posts - so bitter and sad. Just relax a bit, man.

I am actually a very happy person. I was just hoping the Flames would get something nice. We can't win, we can't have competent management, we can't have a good coach... at least we were going to get a franchise center... I guess there is still the lottery.

[Dagger]

Originally Posted by sun

Dude, your posts are next-level depressing right now. Look at all your recent posts - so bitter and sad. Just relax a bit, man.

It's sad, but it's true. The Flames have had a pattern of starting off the season decently, proceeding to go on a big losing/winning run, which then leaves us all questioning the direction of the franchise, and the pressure is largely off. This is followed by a sharp u-turn in the opposite direction(ie where our playoff push has been coming from the past few years and) only to choke out at the end(hence us moving away from the top 5).

[blender]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

We just aren't one of the worst 3-5 teams in the league unfortunately.

This is true. It is also what gives me hope as a fan that it could be turned around in a couple of seasons.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

The recent good play by the depleted, kid laden roster shows that Hartley isn't really the problem IMO. The veterans and the lack of training camp made Hartley look bad earlier this season.

[bubbsy]

Originally Posted by blender

This is true. It is also what gives me hope as a fan that it could be turned around in a couple of seasons.

Or that we're maple leafs west.

[kirant]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

The recent good play by the depleted, kid laden roster shows that Hartley isn't really the problem IMO. The veterans and the lack of training camp made Hartley look bad earlier this season.

I wonder if it's also that teams don't consider the Flames a real opponent anymore and take the game off mentally. The Ducks look like a good team most times, but were absolutely out of it last night.

[Buck Murdock]

Assuming Florida is picking 1st, what would you trade to them for their pick?

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Buck Murdock

Assuming Florida is picking 1st, what would you trade to them for their pick?

I don't think they'd trade it. MacKinnon or Jones would be a huge piece for them. It's really time to stop thinking of the top three if you want to avoid disappointment.