The 2020-21 Calgary Flames are eliminated from Playoff Contention.

[flames_fan_down_under]

There was a brief twinkle in time when this team was exciting to watch. Monahan, Lindholm, Gaudreau were a legit first line, they were having fun!, sharing the purple Gatorade on the bench after scoring, Tkachuk was mixing it up and scoring goals on the 3M line, Giordano was an absolute beast. It was beautiful.

Then something happened. They stopped sharing the purple Gatorade on the bench. The 3M line became less effective. Over time Tkachuk became disengaged. Giordano is still a decent player but father time has started to catch up to him. Brodie traded. Monahan stopped scoring goals. Bursts of skill and puck wizardry from Gaudreau but those bursts were often paired with long periods of soft ineffective button hooks entering the zone, lazy turnovers, and frustration.

I almost wonder if we would have been better off without those 50ish games of incredible hockey.

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by flames_fan_down_under

I almost wonder if we would have been better off without those 50ish games of incredible hockey.

or even better, imagine where they'd be if they missed the playoffs in 2015 like they were supposed to...ooh a proper rebuild, so droolworthy.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

I would be in favour of the entire roster being dealt to Seattle in exchange for a fresh reset.

The Kraken would laugh and hang up. Seattle would have passed on getting an NHL team if they knew it would be accompanied by the annual misery of being a Flames fan.

[Geeoff]

Let's treat the remaining games as a pre-season to see who we have in the organization worth keeping.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by flames_fan_down_under

There was a brief twinkle in time when this team was exciting to watch. Monahan, Lindholm, Gaudreau were a legit first line, they were having fun!, sharing the purple Gatorade on the bench after scoring, Tkachuk was mixing it up and scoring goals on the 3M line, Giordano was an absolute beast. It was beautiful.

Then something happened. They stopped sharing the purple Gatorade on the bench. The 3M line became less effective. Over time Tkachuk became disengaged. Giordano is still a decent player but father time has started to catch up to him. Brodie traded. Monahan stopped scoring goals. Bursts of skill and puck wizardry from Gaudreau but those bursts were often paired with long periods of soft ineffective button hooks entering the zone, lazy turnovers, and frustration.

I almost wonder if we would have been better off without those 50ish games of incredible hockey.

Yeah, I have been saying this for a while but the whole thing just reeks of an off ice issue between the players. Whether it's a divided room or a personal beef that has spilled over, the mojo they once had has completely evaporated. They haven't played as a team since the 2019 All star break. What happened that week?

[Number 39]

I also wonder this and if James Neal played some sort of role. There seemed to be a ton of urgency to get him out fast.

[Geeoff]

Originally Posted by SoulOfTheFlame

Dear god no... I'm trying to become a fan of that team!

Too many Canucks fans following Seattle IMO

[Manhattanboy]

I would keep Lindy, Gaudreau, Hanafin and Tanev.

I love Gio but he’s gone in the draft unfortunately.

Everyone else can go as far as I am concerned.

[1qqaaz]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

Let's treat the remaining games as a pre-season to see who we have in the organization worth keeping.

I don't actually think the Flames should put much weight in who plays well during a bunch of meaningless games. The meaningful games were in February.

I think it would be better to try out new combinations, strategies, and give some experience to some of the younger guys.

[Vedder]

The Ward decision is still so baffling. It was obvious that he was never going to be the answer.

Treliving deserves to be shown the door if keeping him was truly his decision. It could be that with the COVID uncertainty and lack of revenue that ownership favored saving some money and rolling the dice with the existing guy.

Unlike most, I'm not in favour of getting rid of the GM otherwise. The failing of this team comes down to its top players not performing to their contracts. When your rebuiild doesn't result in a top tier player you can't afford to have a guy like Monahan decline precipitously, and for Bennett to fall well short of an elite center (I'm not prepared to anoint him a successful reclamation in Florida just yet).

The failure of the Flames last rebuild has a fair amount to do with luck and lottery balls. The same will be true of the next try.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

I don't actually think the Flames should put much weight in who plays well during a bunch of meaningless games. The meaningful games were in February.

I think it would be better to try out new combinations, strategies, and give some experience to some of the younger guys.

I thought the same in the laugher against the Sens. What lessons were learned?

[Calgary4LIfe]

Well, this season has sucked so bad that the only way to save it was hoping for the Oilers to win (in regulation)? That's too much hope.


Flames came out of the gate terrible. Markstrom was unstoppable and 'god-like'. After that, it was inconsistent at best. After Sutter came on board, it has been better, but something isn't right still.


I am not paid to come up with any answers. I hope whomever is in charge of this mess this off-season can figure this out. I hope whomever it is sits down with Sutter and goes over this roster, and together they can figure out who needs to go, who is expendable, and who needs to stay.


I hope they don't screw this up. The players that have consistently elevated their games in the playoffs have all been traded away or walked away for nothing (Ferland, Bennett and Brodie).



Giordano is likely going to be shipped out or claimed by Seattle - who the heck is going to generate an ounce of offence from the back-end after that? I don't know what's worse - using assets to protect a 38 year old player for his last season, or feeling like you have to use assets to protect a 38 year old player because he is still the best 2-way defencemen on the team.


In my opinion, the only two forwards that have showed well under Sutter have been Gaudreau, Mangiapane and Lindholm. Giordano, Tanev and Hanifin have been the only consistent defencemen (and once again, only one of them can produce offence). Markstrom needs a bounce-back - this year hasn't been horriblek, but outside of the start, he hasn't looked like great either, but I will put him on the list.



That's my protected list when it comes to trades. Everyone else pretty much seems expendable to me.


Some people are down on Gaudreau, but I argue that while under Sutter, at no other time does it look like this is a dangerous team other than when he is on the ice. I think he has started playing like the Gaudreau we used to know. The team needs to play fast when he is on the ice. I bet he hits over a PPG again next season, as long as the team is playing fast.



The lack of offensive defencemen in this organization really scares me. Flames used to consistently be a high-scoring team from the backend. Now they are one of the NHL's worst. Plus, it isn't like they (as a group) are all that solid defensively. They have been better defensively under Sutter.


Oh, and re-sign Stone. He deserves it. Maybe start using him on PP2 next season, or even PP1 if Giordano is gone. Nobody else can score from there anyway other than Giordano.


4 more games. Might as well dress Domingue. He must be tired of baking so many pies.

[Vedder]

The other complete failure was keeping Monahan the boat anchor with Johnny for way too long before trying something else, ANYTHING ELSE.

Johnny ends the season on a bit of a run, while Monahan ends the season on 3rd line left wing playing 13 minutes..... Yeah, I don't like Monahan.

[Manhattanboy]

I’m sure he’s a great guy and all but Geoff Ward? Really Tre, he was your guy? Above and beyond all other interested or potential candidates?

There’s a saying that some things are entirely predictable.

Tre and his entire staff need to be fired. Time for a major turn for this franchise.

[Reggie Dunlop]

The crowds weren't really into it this season. The Saddledome was like a library.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

The crowds weren't really into it this season. The Saddledome was like a library.

The best thing about this season was that it wasn’t available to be watched live, sparing fans the full effect of the garbage product put on the ice.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

The crowds weren't really into it this season. The Saddledome was like a library.

The fake canned crowd noise often seemed louder than the real fans at the Dome.

[flames_fan_down_under]

A big highlight for me this year was seeing Reggie on the news selling his awesome swag.

[Jordan!]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

The crowds weren't really into it this season. The Saddledome was like a library.

I was in the building in cardboard though. i was the curse.

Sorry

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by troutman

The fake canned crowd noise often seemed louder than the real fans at the Dome.

Are you new here? The dome is a library on most nights.