Fan support going forward - where do you stand?

[MillerTime GFG]

I should have added....

A friend of mine has 1/2 season tickets in some of my favourite seats in the dome, right behind the Flames bench. The other 1/2 isn't renewing this year, so he put it out there if anyone wanted to buy them. I was considering it a few months ago, but I'm not going to spend money on this franchise right now. Putting my money where my mouth is.

[Paulie Walnuts]

It feels like the Brent Sutter years with Darryl and Feaster but I think a lot of people will come back when we make changes. Or Darryl 1.0 after the lockout season.

I thought I was done with hockey after watching the NHL screw us vs the Oilers but all the offseason changes excited me and reeled me back in.

If Sutter is back I probably will not be invested in the team as much as I was this year or the prior year. Hockey is about having fun and entertainment and Darryl strips that away from the players and fans not just with the on ice product but just the way he creates that negative atmosphere.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by bluejays

Right now I also feel Treliving is the best candidate we have as GM. Sad as that is. Rue the day Conroy is promoted to that. What a mess up that would be. That’s when despair would kick in. Treliving can deal. If he deals off assets for picks and good prospects I trust his judgement. Draft wise he’s done alright too. His signings haven’t been great but if the MO going forward is rebuild, I’m alright with Treliving moving that forward. I just don’t want ownership meddling or trying to move it along quick.

The entire front office should be blown out. No one in this organization deserves a promotion.

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

This thread will be for the vocal minority to chime in and share their feelings on the team and how their support will be going forward. What do you feel toward the team? Enthusiasm? Hope? Ambivalence? Antipathy? Will you continue to support the team with your ticket and merchandise money? Are there conditions on that support? What are your thoughts?

I'm still hopeful for this team. I'm also older than many here, so I've been through much, MUCH worse times than now, so this doesn't even come close lol. Will continue to support the Flames, spend money on them, no conditions right now because again, I lived through and still remember the really dark days, and for other who also did, it had a way of making fans a lot more even keel and less reactive after yes, a very disappointing season.

[OldSam]

My life has changed significantly in the last 5 years. Chronic illnesses and lowering immunity has lessened my obsession with the game. The Geoff Ward Era was the first time I turned Flames hockey off. No energy, no try, players taking on the bloody boringness of their coach.

When Darryl came back, I was so excited. I knew at least there would be an identity. Last year, absolutely. This year, not so much. Then Darryl made some rather questionable decisions.

I will always support the team, although on a lesser scale because of my health. It will be fascinating to see how the summer turns out.

[N-E-B]

I’ll always be a fan but I went to the Philly game on Family Day this year and I kind of realized I don’t like spending 5 hours of my night to go watch a team that may or may not show up. That was the last game I went to this year.

This year I turned the games off more than I ever have. It bugs me less when they lose and I don’t watch as opposed to investing hours of my life to watch them lose.

I’ll come back next year. I always do. But I’m hoping for either a competitive team or a rebuild. I loved the 2013-14 season getting to watch all the young guys.

[TheIronMaiden]

I love the Flames and I will cheer for them until one of us doesn't exist anymore.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

20 yrs + with seasons tickets. I'm probably out. We'll see.

It's less about this year. The NHL feels like the pre-salary cap era for Calgary. Pointless.

If Edmonton or Buffalo or the teams in the lottery this year are the model, I'm out.
I'll bandwagon the 3 years every 30 where the team is relevant.

Current stuff doesn't help.
The city and the team are idiots on a new arena
There's no joy in a fan community fixated on Jason Morgan plot lines

And to not let the team off the hook my teenage kids have no experience with a top team so all they care about is hot dogs. I can get those anywhere.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by Bend it like Bourgeois

And to not let the team off the hook my teenage kids have no experience with a top team so all they care about is hot dogs. I can get those anywhere.

If I'm the Org this is the piece, I'm most concerned about. The fanbase got a huge injection of late teens/early 20s folks during the 2004 run. The kids that grew up during Young Guns era. Now we're entering early middle age ourselves. The last thing the Flames want is to become the CFL and lose an entire generation.

[Nammer403]

Ill be here win or lose.
Ill see how my excitement level is when October comes and see the changes if any happen after tonights game.

[FlamesAddiction]

I will always watch and support them, but it is difficult to keep the same level of engagement with how disappointing things have been since last May. It's been a full calendar year of disappointment after disappointment, and it is starting to wear on me. It just hasn't been fun this year and life is too short to invest time in things that aren't fun and quite frankly, down right annoying.

A lot depends on what happens in the offseason. If they can build a team with more identity or start rebuilding, I'll probably become more interested again. Right now, most of the big named players are not bringing it and seem pretty sulky. As a fan, that is hard to get behind.

[rohara66]

I have never cared less about the Calgary Flames then right now.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by activeStick

I'm still hopeful for this team. I'm also older than many here, so I've been through much, MUCH worse times than now, so this doesn't even come close lol. Will continue to support the Flames, spend money on them, no conditions right now because again, I lived through and still remember the really dark days, and for other who also did, it had a way of making fans a lot more even keel and less reactive after yes, a very disappointing season.

I remember being kind of embarrassed in '04 that Peter Maher got so excited that they had made the POs it was worth a "Yeah Baby".

Of course, they had a great PO but the fact it was seen as a major accomplishment to make the last spot in with 94 points was a little cringey. It had been 7 years!!

[saillias]

Pretty checked out. It does seem somewhat impossible, like whatever the franchise does is not going to work.

Plus the org seems dysfunctional and to have once again picked the wrong direction and people.

There was a nice stretch of years where ownership didn't really come up. But lately Edwards presence influencing hockey ops, hiring his own coach, canceling his own arena deal, or not answering his phone because he lives in a Switzerland castle and we miss out on a trade, casts a shadow over everything.

[Crispy's Critter]

I've been "ride or die" since 1982. Not going to stop now.

If I can get through the young guns era I can get through what's happening now. However being older the games, playoffs, etc. don't have the same impact they once did.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by saillias

Pretty checked out. It does seem somewhat impossible, like whatever the franchise does is not going to work.

Plus the org seems dysfunctional and to have once again picked the wrong direction and people.

There was a nice stretch of years where ownership didn't really come up. But lately Edwards presence influencing hockey ops, hiring his own coach, canceling his own arena deal, or not answering his phone because he lives in a Switzerland castle and we miss out on a trade, casts a shadow over everything.

Yeah, if you're going to micromanage your team you at least need to answer the phone.

[madmike]

Ambivalence. I’m not expecting anything from this team for the next while. The on-ice product is boring to watch. The players aren’t great. And the Kadri and Huberdeau deals are long-term and look downright awful.

I think Huberdeau will bounce back a bit. Not sure what is going on with Kadri. The guy looks checked out already.

Wolf is the only prospect I think could be exciting.

[TheKiprusoffResurrection]

If they clean house, I will be extremely interested. If either Brad or Darryl stay on, not so much.

I see alot of posters in here pining for a new coach. I hear you, but have no interest in watching Brad hire his 6th coach.

Brad Treliving has tried and failed. The entire front office needs to be shown the door. Button and his team can stay on, the rest launched into the sun.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Crispy's Critter

I've been "ride or die" since 1982. Not going to stop now.

If I can get through the young guns era I can get through what's happening now. However being older the games, playoffs, etc. don't have the same impact they once did.

Yeah, I was going to add that as well. You think this is bleak and hopeless? My guess is you didn't live through the post-Fleury Young Guns teams. I was this close to stopping my fandom during the Greg Gilbert saga.

[Jore]

I’ve been checked out since they refused to give Phillips a real shot, and this is the least interested in the Flames I’ve been in my life. I think some fans are right that they will improve next year, but improve to what? A 1st round loss? The gap between this team and true contenders is huge and only going to get bigger as the team gets older.

Im really not interested in watching a capped out, veteran team grind to 15th place again. I’ll still follow prospects and certain players, but until the organization seriously reconsider its ‘get in and anything can happen’ treadmill of mediocrity I’m not going to rethink my disengagement.