I'm becoming a fair weather Flames fan. Am I alone?

[Harry Lime]

Boring systems are hard to watch. Jaques Lemaire and Hitchcock have won a lot of games, but the brand of hockey is hard to cheer for. The worst part about a complicated system is that it stifles the creativity of truly gifted players.

I think that Gulatzan (sp?) is of a similar mindset. I predict that there will be buy-in from the players, and Calgary will win a lot of games this season. I also predict that we will get to see about 70% of what Gaudreau and Jagr are really capable of.

[the2bears]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

It's hard to care about the team when even the players don't seem to give a damn

I really hate this type of comment. Sure, you tempered it with a "seem", but how can you tell how the players feel? I think it's more like confirmation bias. You like the "they don't care" narrative, so you see it wherever you look.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by the2bears

I really hate this type of comment. Sure, you tempered it with a "seem", but how can you tell how the players feel? I think it's more like confirmation bias. You like the "they don't care" narrative, so you see it wherever you look.

To be fair, the poster is talking more about their own feelings in this case. It is a long season and it is hard to see the passion on some nights. Even the crowds are often real quiet.

[the2bears]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

To be fair, the poster is talking more about their own feelings in this case. It is a long season and it is hard to see the passion on some nights. Even the crowds are often real quiet.

I'm talking about making a judgement on the players, "when even the players don't seem to give a damn". I don't care if Hemi-Cuda gives a damn or not, but too many people are drawing conclusions about players' mindsets when they have no idea.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by the2bears

I'm talking about making a judgement on the players, "when even the players don't seem to give a damn". I don't care if Hemi-Cuda gives a damn or not, but too many people are drawing conclusions about players' mindsets when they have no idea.

You don't think fans can see how hard a guy skates or when he's mailing it in?

Really?

Because I would equate playing hard as giving a damn. It's hit and miss with this club albeit I'd admit that nobody is giving 100% effort all the time no matter what. So then really it starts to slide into grey, is it more often than not people seem to play hard, skate hard, whatever, or is it more often than not they float around and look like they're going through the motions?

[Psytic]

I think hockey in general is less exciting imo. I actually preferred bone crunching hits and chippy play there was more passion and investment in the players. Now effort is just measured by how hard they skate. So now if the Flames aren't scoring goals, its just a boring affair of chasing faster teams around all game.

[the2bears]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

You don't think fans can see how hard a guy skates or when he's mailing it in?

Really?

Because I would equate playing hard as giving a damn. It's hit and miss with this club albeit I'd admit that nobody is giving 100% effort all the time no matter what. So then really it starts to slide into grey, is it more often than not people seem to play hard, skate hard, whatever, or is it more often than not they float around and look like they're going through the motions?

Sure, some times you can tell if a guy mails it in. But I don't think you can judge whether they care or not. Do you think the Flames players don't care?

[Mr.Coffee]

I agree the game overall is much more boring because there seems to be the passion stripped from the game that organically arose from the physical aspect.

I understand why they did it and moved away from physicality but it did change the game in a negative way. The players have become so much better and the systems so much better, there are rarely mistakes made. The result is usually next to flawless systems play and the creativity and excitement seems to be less.

That said I am oddly more in tune to the Flames this season than the last couple. I think they have a legitimate shot to become something special given their goaltending is significantly better.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by the2bears

Sure, some times you can tell if a guy mails it in. But I don't think you can judge whether they care or not. Do you think the Flames players don't care?

nm

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by the2bears

I'm talking about making a judgement on the players, "when even the players don't seem to give a damn". I don't care if Hemi-Cuda gives a damn or not, but too many people are drawing conclusions about players' mindsets when they have no idea.

I think you’re being a little hard on a poster who gives their views on how things seem. It’s such a long season there are most definitely nights or shifts when players “don’t seem to give a damn”.

In the big picture I am certain every player on the Flames roster cares. That doesn’t always translate to the ice though which is what we pay to see. Maybe fans expectations are increasing due to the exorbitant cost of attending a game.

Anyway I have a hard time getting pissed at a poster who feels this way.

[heep223]

Anyone who says that they think the NFL is more exciting than the NHL loses all credibility in my eyes.

[Mr.Coffee]

The NFL is awful. The NFL is mostly commercials with some boring stuff in between but I must admit it’s marketed like no other in a pretty impressive way.

[drewtastic]

Agree with posters who express their disinterest with the NHL in general. If the Flames left Calgary, I’m certain I wouldn’t watch NHL hockey anymore.

The 3-on-3 OT has been the best thing in a while because there’s so much open ice. The game is so fast (and players/equipment so big now) that there is so little room out there 5 on 5. The game has become less about line rushes and more about “zone-time” and cycling. This isn’t exciting to me.

Additionally, there are so many goals scored off of wrist shots from the point, “seeing-eye” shots passing through multiple skates, eluding goalies limited in their vision. This isn’t exciting to me either, yet the focus on goals in any fashion is the new normal. “Pucks on net”, as it were. So, these have become examples of “good goals”.

The Oilers/Stars game tonight is an example. An uptempo game overall, but the Oilers got two goals by throwing pucks at the net that glanced off of Dallas defenders’ skates. And then the crowd celebrates these goals like they’re amazingly well-orchestrated. These types of goals win games, get teams points and determine playoff positions. And they happen because everything is so crowded out there.

Anyways, I don’t know what the solution is (other than widening ice surfaces), but these are frustrations I have with the product, amplified by the fact that I also think an 82 game season is too long...(separate rant for a different day...)

[AustinL_NHL]

I thought Calgary Puck was supposed to be where the die hard Flames fans are? It's depressing reading some of these posts.

[N-E-B]

Originally Posted by AustinL_NHL

I thought Calgary Puck was supposed to be where the die hard Flames fans are? It's depressing reading some of these posts.

I would say the vast majority of us are still die hard Flames fans. A few posters will lose interest for different reasons, and that's okay.

[madmike]

Hockey for me overall just seems a lot more boring. Every team in the league plays systems now and while it may help a team win, it makes the game less exciting. Rushes up the ice with space are pretty much nonexistent. I don’t watch much hockey at all these days. There are better ways to spend my time.

[Itse]

CP has been crushing what's left of my interest in the team lately. The amount of negativity is just absurd. The GT:s used to be a fun thing to participate in, but for the last few years they've become just a constant stream of negativity and hyperbole regardless of whether we're winning or losing. It seems this season the PGT:s and really the rest of the Fire on Ice is going to same way. Everything turns into a fight or a pile-on. Normal tolerance for difference of opinion seems to be gone, and there's a ton of people who spend their time attacking other posters instead of the content of their posts. (I really wish the mods would do something about that btw.)

I now mostly come to the forum for the off topic discussions and to see if there's some news.

Honestly this place is ridiculous. It's almost as if we're so used to the team being a constant also-ran that people don't know how to enjoy a good team.

I've recently realized that when I just watch the games they're good entertainment and I'm having fun. But when I come here to talk about them, it's almost as if everyone else has watched a different game from an alternate universe where everything always sucks.

EDIT:

On the plus side, I've realized that I do enjoy the actual games more than I thought I did.

[gunnner]

To me the only problem with the game is the hitting is be forced out of the game by the rule changes and the result is definitely less intensity and/or animosity. But the speed and skill in the game is at an all time high. If we had 1980’s goaltending right now with nightly save percentages below .850, we would have 10-8 games regularly with the quality and number of shots.
http://www.quanthockey.com/nhl/recor...e-leaders.html

[TheFlamesVan]

Anyone who claims the game is more boring today, please go rewatch an entire game from the 80s and one from the mid 90s. I'd bet 70% of us turn it off before the end of the first.

I grew up with it, I loved it, but it's all nostalgia. The game today is much better than ever before.

[Pointman]

Originally Posted by TheFlamesVan

Anyone who claims the game is more boring today, please go rewatch an entire game from the 80s and one from the mid 90s. I'd bet 70% of us turn it off before the end of the first.

I grew up with it, I loved it, but it's all nostalgia. The game today is much better than ever before.

I tried to watch Summit Series as an adult, as I was not alive at 1972, and it was a horrible hockey to watch. I ended up watching about two periods of the whole series.

I also have watched 1989 Game 6 in full length and it was fine, although it was more of education than entertainment for me.