QOTD: When will our Calgary Flames make the playoffs?

[gilligans_off]

After we play strong this season but miss out, we win the lottery and draft McDavid. Then make it to the post season after it all comes together in the 15-16 season.

[Gaskal]

2014-15: 28th
2015-16: 18th
2016-17: Wild Card

[dammage79]

Voted for 15/16. I really feel that two of the four or five bubble prospects are going to take off this season. Namely Granlund and Ferland. Yeah Ferland. Have heard squat about him this off season and I feel he's going to come into camp and dominate.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Poe969

should be an option "before the oilers"

Every one of those options is before the Oilers.

[djsFlames]

I think we're a 28th-29th place team this year. It'll be our low point but will still be an entertaining season/team on most nights. Next year will see a large jump as whoever of Ramo/Hiller/Ortio that comes out ahead after this season takes the reigns in net, Baertschi, Bennett, Granlund, and the [McDavid/Hanifin/Eichel] pick are all here full time or being called for long stretches of time (Gaudreau is already a Flame), there's no way they hold Bennett back an additional year after already conquering the OHL twice as that point, and any of the top 2015 prospects are too good, and too elite that they've already also dominated their prior leagues at a younger age. Poirier joins the team later in the season and doesn't look back. Sieloff pushes for promotion and Wotherspoon is playing on our third pairing. 3-4 vets move on either via contract expiration or trade to make room for the large youth movement. With a huge boost in talent but lack of experience the team will struggle early in the season, and then go on a tear in early 2016 as the kids figure things out and adapt together. Because of the rough start we'll still find ourselves a couple spots out of the playoffs, but making a large jump from 2014/15. 2016/17 we get a 6-8th place berth in the postseason and the red mile is revived after a long 7 years.

[RoughRiderRowdy]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

I think we're a 28th-29th place team this year. It'll be our low point but will still be an entertaining season/team on most nights. Next year will see a large jump as whoever of Ramo/Hiller/Ortio that comes out ahead after this season takes the reigns in net, Baertschi, Bennett, Granlund, and the [McDavid/Hanifin/Eichel] pick are all here full time or being called for long stretches of time (Gaudreau is already a Flame), there's no way they hold Bennett back an additional year after already conquering the OHL twice as that point, and any of the top 2015 prospects are too good, and too elite that they've already also dominated their prior leagues at a younger age. Poirier joins the team later in the season and doesn't look back. Sieloff pushes for promotion and Wotherspoon is playing on our third pairing. 3-4 vets move on either via contract expiration or trade to make room for the large youth movement. With a huge boost in talent but lack of experience the team will struggle early in the season, and then go on a tear in early 2016 as the kids figure things out and adapt together. Because of the rough start we'll still find ourselves a couple spots out of the playoffs, but making a large jump from 2014/15. 2016/17 we get a 6-8th place berth in the postseason and the red mile is revived after a long 7 years.

Unreal post. a great read

[MisterJoji]

Every year I go with the expectation to make the playoffs. I just can't bring myself to cheer for losses. Realistically I think by 2016/2017 is a safe bet. It's impossible to guess what kind of roster moves will be made in the next 3 years but for fun lets say Ortio will be ready for full time duty after 1 year of backing up Hiller. Having Monohan and Bennett (possibly adding McDavid or Eichel) down the middle will be a huge strength. Throw Backlund, Stajan, Jankowski, into that mix as well, very nice problem to have. Baertschi, Gaudreau, Poirier, Klimchuk and the possibility of converted to wingers Reinhart, Granlund, Knight, the wings look strong as well. Big question is on the back end. Gio will be past his prime and currently we don't have any real potential blue chip prospects. Brodie is trending to be a legit #1 and there's potential in Kanzig, Wotherspoon, Seiloff etc. but this is still an area of weakness. I'm positive our front office has identified this and will address it moving forward. But when it comes to this season hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I will say this ...

experts generally don't know a whole lot. Do fans? No but who follows a team closer than fans? Local media? I think they see a lot of what fans do but can't be as honest about things for fear of looking like Jones at the Edmonton Sun (pom poms)

The Flames are not as bad as they are supposed to be, and therefore could once again be better than expected. They seem to exceed the sum of their parts. It's possible that their parts are actually undervalued and they are further ahead, and if that's the case, the addition of

a) top prospects

and

b) having a lot of cap space

could move this team forward really quickly.

Imagine if Gaudreau, Baertschi, Granlund etc push the team into a 8-10 spot by late January ... do they buy at the deadline with their cap space and go for it?

Will be fun to watch.

I've wondered about this. And it's an exciting possibility if the right pieces take off early this season. Also if you take last year and subtract the questionable goaltending in the first few months, with how close they kept the games anyways, how would the team have faired? What if Sven busts down the door in training camp and/or a forgotten/injured prospect comes back and makes such a strong case that he can't be refused eg. Ferland? What if Gaudreau converts just as his NHLE projects and scores 60+ points this season? So much for the Cammalleri-less issue. But all are possible, and the goaltending will surely be leagues better than when we were flipping between Berra and old MacDonald. A hot streak could put us within throwing distance of a spot by the deadline. And then it would be up to Treliving as whether or not to take advantage of the huge amount of cap space and assets we have to extract some additional talent.

However, I really hope he doesn't do this if the season does play out more favourably than people expect. Any big move to 'buy' should be saved until after the 2015 draft, when there will a chance to bring in some elite talent even better than last year's class. We need to continue to stock up even if by some odd chance we improve by a handful of spots this year. This team has some great assets and prospects already, but I don't think we're done collecting if we're hoping to dress a contender in a few years. And not all of our current pieces are guaranteed to succeed. You always have to consider that. So better to play it safe and keep gathering until the cupboards are over flowing.

[EVERLAST]

This year is gonna be a great great year
Playoffs

We have the depth in the cupboard

The boys in Adirondack win the Calder dispite a record number o callups.

Hartley gets extended.

Oh Yeah red koolaid is good.

[getbak]

2016-17, and just like the last time they made the playoffs after 7 years out, a trip to the Finals, but this time finishing the job.

[AcGold]

We were one of the most unlucky teams last year in terms of injuries. If we are lucky with few injuries , Ramo improves, Gaudreau and Poirier combine for Cammy's points, Wotherspoon steps up big time and Brodie improves I think we can make it this year. I know it's statistically improbable but I'm an optimist and want to see the boys get rewarded for one of the best work ethics in the league.

[FireGilbert]

Like most others I picked 16-17. LA and Anaheim will be top teams for years and there are 5 good teams in the central so I am going on when Calgary will be better than San Jose for third in the Pacific. The Sharks will likely start a rebuild by 2016 and by then the Flames rebuild should be complete.

[Vulcan]

As a fan I voted to make the playoffs this season. I'm old enough to know better but "Hope springs eternal", and all that.

[Caged Great]

Usually it takes 4-5 years for a full tear down rebuild to work from the point of tearing down till playoffs. Right now, we're at the 1.5 year mark. So I'm expecting 2016-2017 for them to make the playoffs, and then likely 18-19 when we'll be contenders if things go right.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by MisterJoji

Every year I go with the expectation to make the playoffs. I just can't bring myself to cheer for losses.

Maybe its just me, but I never saw it as cheering for losses. Its more that I learn to enjoy watching games without the expectation of winning, and knowing at the end if the day while we are loose more games than we win, its all part of the process of growing from a bad team to a good team. I don't think any of us cheer and go wild when we get blown out of a game and party like its 1999 or anything over a loss.

[Clever_Iggy]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

Maybe its just me, but I never saw it as cheering for losses. Its more that I learn to enjoy watching games without the expectation of winning, and knowing at the end if the day while we are loose more games than we win, its all part of the process of growing from a bad team to a good team. I don't think any of us cheer and go wild when we get blown out of a game and party like its 1999 or anything over a loss.

Ditto. Last season was the most enjoyable season since 2003-04 or perhaps 05-06. Little expectation, fun team to watch without having to get bent out of shape after every loss, bad goal or Amonte-off-the-post. I wasn't, and won't be, cheering for losses, but I certainly have no illusions of playoffs or even being close to playoffs after December and I'm quite fine with that.

[djsFlames]

Last season was fun at times (and the most hopeful I've been in a handful of years), but it doesn't compare to any of our playoff seasons between 2004-09. You can't beat the postseason with any non-playoff season, no matter how fun the team was.

[AcGold]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Last season was fun at times (and the most hopeful I've been in a handful of years), but it doesn't compare to any of our playoff seasons between 2004-09. You can't beat the postseason with any non-playoff season, no matter how fun the team was.

I would disagree. For a decade I found the team relatively unmotivated or poorly organized. When things went bad the coach would have a hissy fit, his mood would visibly effect the team. We'd give up a goal and the team would fall off the rails and you could just tell we didn't stand a chance in the game. When we did win it was from grinding it out in close games most of the time.

The Minnesota/Flames and Thrashers/Flames games were unbearable. I even left the Dome once in the first period out of disgust and boredom at how terrible the game was (we lost 0-2 and I didn't miss a single exciting moment in 40 minutes). Our goalie would get run over, the other teams in the league thought we were a joke of a team. TSN and all the other broadcasts would rip on us on a regular basis, deservedly so, for having one of the most undisciplined and unfocused mentalities in the league. One thing would go wrong and we'd just give up and there was no emotion on the bench, guys would just sit there and sulk that things weren't going their way, it was a little bit pathetic imo.


Compare that to last season, the team stuck up for eachother. We'd give up a goal and the game was far from over. In nearly every game the entire season we were competitive. Teams began to respect our work ethic and the analysts started to give us credit for our efforts on a nightly basis. Boston could no longer come in and walk all over us. I'll take that team over a country club that gets 4 postseason games.

[MisterJoji]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

Maybe its just me, but I never saw it as cheering for losses. Its more that I learn to enjoy watching games without the expectation of winning, and knowing at the end if the day while we are loose more games than we win, its all part of the process of growing from a bad team to a good team. I don't think any of us cheer and go wild when we get blown out of a game and party like its 1999 or anything over a loss.

Yeah I can agree with that. It was incredibly fun watching last years team giving fits to the upper echelon on a nightly basis, even if it didn't result in a W. Close knit team, sticking up for each other, great leadership throughout the roster, and hard working. Lots of fun to watch with no expectation of winning. That said I still cheered for a win every single game and still was disappointed with losses, although a lot less angry than the losses that piled from 2009-2013.

[Gaskal]

Not cheering for losses but I'll take it if that's how it ends. Heck, I still get mad if we lose to LA, Chicago and Anaheim.