Calgary lowest in desirability for UFAs?

[HOWITZER]

Alright. I seriously don't really put any stock in anything this guy has said. Like someone said earlier here, with a lot of these posts you can get a pretty easy gauge of how the list shapes up even before you read the first paragraph.

That being said.

There are some things that Calgary does warrant (on ice stuff), but definitely doesn't warrant (off-ice). I've had the pleasure being down east for university to do coop work terms in a few cities (Ottawa, Edmonton, and Toronto, while going to school in Waterloo and being from Red Deer (needless to say I spend a lot of my tuition money in airfare)), and if we simply analyse this list, for me personally, it's totally skewed.

1. Toronto. Okay. Having spent the last 3 months living in this dump, I really don't understand it's grand allure. Sure you have downtown TO, but outside of that it's between 50-100kms of suburban wasteland beyond that (except for the lake which is disgusting and don't recommend spending all that much time in it). This city has a huuuuuge need to think of itself as the "centre of the world" and it's almost impossible here to follow anything that goes on outside the dome of the GTA. As a player, I don't think I could take it here. You're constantly peppered all the time, and it would drive you up the wall. Crime is a problem, the streets are always gross and dingy, don't get me started on highways/public transit/traffic.

2. Ottawa. Having worked in Kanata, Ottawa is a really spread out city that really is boring. You have the government crowd that filters into downtown every day, and then the downtown is just dead and there's absolutely nada to do down there. Despite it's beauty, I can see why someone would not want to live there, and the rink is outside the main city, past the greenbelt, beyond Kanata, and in the middle of a field. Not exactly a sports hotbed.

3. Edmonton. Pure and simple, does not deserve being ahead of Calgary despite having a team that realistically should be leaps and bounds better next year. It just feels way too blue collar and is an inhospitable wasteland (maybe a slight exaggeration) in the winter.

Final point: Man, all the anti-Alberta, anti-west, anti-oil hate from EVERYONE out here is enough to drive you mad. Unless these people have actually experienced Alberta, their reaction is always the same, "Oh, Alberta sucks. It's sooo flat, boring, and there's nothing to do. It's only just fields, and you have the tar sands and it's super cold. You guys are destroying the environment for the rest of us." So I don't really care what this guy thinks he knows. I've met and talked to enough people out here that I won't put any stock into it until they've actually experienced it and they can still justify their argument.

[polak]

Anyone who would use "flat and boring" as negative against Calgary hasn't seen a map.

[The Boy Wonder]

I've lived all over Canada and other places in the world, and this rank "citywise", is a joke. As for the hockey team I'm too biased to judge this fairly.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by polak

Anyone who would use "flat and boring" as negative against Calgary hasn't seen a map.

2nd'ed

And its not like I live in Calgary either...

[PeteLFan]

I think the weather thing is overblown. The weather in Calgary isn't so bad. The summers days are beautiful, long, and warm. The winters are not so bad either.

The reason I would pick LA is that's its a new experience living in a big city with a lot of things to do. Calgary is great place to come back for summers, Christmas and retirement.

The hack who wrote the article is obviously biased.

[Lanny'sDaMan]

Originally Posted by icecube

Nobody claimed it did, nor do I necessarily agree with this particular article.

But when a guy is basically calling Bourne a ######, when in fact he knows a lot about hockey, that poster needed to be called on it.

I never called him a ######. Do NOT put words in my mouth. I called him a mouth breathing, never made the NHL, Vancouver Fanboy.

That being said I will/can not put any stock in anything he says when he admits in his article to a bias for a team/area. That is piss poor journalism. Call it an opinion piece if you want, but it's still lazy and not worth the discussion.

[Phanuthier]

nm

[Redrum]

8. Vancouver Canucks
"I’m a BC boy"

Yeah, this list doesn't mean s***.

[edn88]

I am pretty sure if they were asked, and not part of some trying to be funny guys blog, UFAs would rather come to Calgary versus Edmonton or Winterpeg. But would not be surprised if we were in the bottom ten of locations UFAs would want to go to (without extra monetary incentive).

[Flamefan1]

Free agents will continue to choose Calgary over many cities despite tHeir current rebuilding stage. Players will almost always choose Calgary over Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Carolina, Nashville, and Columbus. I don't want to run down these other cities but Calgary is considered by the hockey world as a great city to live in as evidenced by the many retired NHL players living there. Unfortunately Edmonton , Winnipeg are not highly desired locations to reside in and the hockey season is long.

There will be exceptions such as Schultz, but there will not be many. Calgary is not desperate to sign free agents under their current situation as evidenced by Raymond's agent stating Calgary has not approached them.

Obviously older players like Iginla will and should go to teams where they stand the best chance of winning a cup which would exclude Calgary and all the above mentioned teams.

[mustache ride]

Originally Posted by Flamefan1

Calgary is considered by the hockey world as a great city to live in as evidenced by the many retired NHL players living there.

I think that might have more to do with the fact that most of those retired players are still working in Calgary.

[Brannigans Law]

Building by way of UFA is stupid anyways so who cares.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

Nothing wrong with Calgary being cold.

It's how you get some of the best skiing in the world. Although that probably doesn't attract NHL free agents, since they're working during ski season.

I thought their contracts forbid skiing and snowboarding too, due to the injury risk.

[You Need a Thneed]

When the time comes that we actually WANT to sign top end free agents, they will gladly sign here.

[bysutter]

For whatever reason not a single player of note, coach of note, GM of note or scout(s) of note want to be involved with the flames. Great city, sold out Dome, owners will spend to the cap.....this syndrome goes back to when King allows D. Sutter to go upstairs.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by bysutter

For whatever reason not a single player of note, coach of note, GM of note or scout(s) of note want to be involved with the flames. Great city, sold out Dome, owners will spend to the cap.....this syndrome goes back to when King allows D. Sutter to go upstairs.

...what?

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by bysutter

For whatever reason not a single player of note, coach of note, GM of note or scout(s) of note want to be involved with the flames. Great city, sold out Dome, owners will spend to the cap.....this syndrome goes back to when King allows D. Sutter to go upstairs.

Didn't Hartley choose the Flames over the Canadiens for their head coaching job? So that's not all true.

[ricosuave]

Originally Posted by fotze

Our self loathing is world class.


A Mr. Misty is a tasty summer treat.

Try a Mr. Misty float!

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

Didn't Hartley choose the Flames over the Canadiens for their head coaching job? So that's not all true.

it's not at all true, and was a pretty ridiculous, confusing post.

Players go to where the winning is. Seemed to me like after our 2004 run we had no problem signing guys. We aren't going to win this season. People aren't going to sign here until we turn the corner, which we will.

Who cares if some millionaire dink doesn't want to play here? Good, get lost, we don't want you either. You'll probably bring a gorilla sized ego and float around anyway, and I probably won't enjoy watching you suck up our younger guys' icetime.

[Redrum]

Has this guy ever been to some of these cities? It takes a lot of Calgary hate to put them anywhere near last. It's the cleanest and probably safest city on the list and the winters aren't significantly worse than those northern US cities at the top of the list.

Edmonton could never be put ahead of Calgary even if they weren't the joke of the NHL, the city is a carcinogenic hole and it's the worst organization in the league.

Detroit at 11? Sure it's known for being a great organization but having to live in a post apocalyptic wasteland kind of offsets that a bit. They don't even have nice areas of the city like most dumpy US major cities. At best you have a nice block where you might not get stabbed if you step outside.

Dallas that high? It's just a generally disgusting place. Feels like you're sharing a hot tub with few million smelly greasy fat people, even in the winter.

That's just going "citywise", not considering the Flames have a ton of cap room and opportunity for players.