[GDT] Buffalo Sabres at Calgary Flames 7:00pm TV: SNW, MSGB - RADIO SN960

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

I'm trying to see a silver lining on this run we are making.

Flames are 3 points out of a playoff spot

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Mathgod

I came into the year expecting the team to make the playoffs. I saw 2-9-2 which included losses to the Brady-less Sens and the Preds. I did the math on what it would take them to get to 96 points. It looked too daunting. I changed my mind. It happens.

If you read the entirety of all my posts, you'd see the line of reasoning making perfect sense. Instead you're taking post segments out of context.

Well it certainly doesnt look like it will take 96 this season

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Well it certainly doesnt look like it will take 96 this season

Tough to say, last year on Dec 8 it looked like it would take 90 points to get in, and then they ended up missing with 96.

Even if it ends up being 90-92 this year it's still a huge mountain to climb

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

I'm trying to see a silver lining on this run we are making.

Maybe one of the wins>future people can walk us through it.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

Maybe one of the wins>future people can walk us through it.

Increasing trade value and adding Sharangovitch to the trade baits.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Tough to say, last year on Dec 8 it looked like it would take 90 points to get in, and then they ended up missing with 96.

Even if it ends up being 90-92 this year it's still a huge mountain to climb

12 game win streak again seems unlikely but you never know

Anyway, not even talking about the Flames chances...last year was a record high for the 9th place team

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Mathgod

I came into the year expecting the team to make the playoffs. I saw 2-9-2 which included losses to the Brady-less Sens and the Preds. I did the math on what it would take them to get to 96 points. It looked too daunting. I changed my mind. It happens.

If you read the entirety of all my posts, you'd see the line of reasoning making perfect sense. Instead you're taking post segments out of context.

So when you say “it goes back a very long time” you meant it goes back to October when you were the one saying all of those things?

[Mathgod]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

So when you say “it goes back a very long time” you meant it goes back to October when you were the one saying all of those things?

Since May of 2007. Calling for a rebuild and getting all kinds of pushback.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

I'm trying to see a silver lining on this run we are making.

The silver lining is the value of the players. All members of the 50-man roster are part of the organization and have value. And if each of those players increase their value, that is a good thing, even if you are hoping for a rebuild.

Vets

• Andersson is tied for 14th among defensemen in scoring, 1 pt out of the top 10. He is establishing himself as a clear top pairing defenseman - very good for his trade value.
• Kadri: also playing great, good for the same reason
• Coleman: looking every bit the stud he has for the last year or two
• Weegar: playing MUCH better than he was earlier in the season
• Sharangovich: playing much better - probably still not tradable, but still better for the org
• Frost and Farabee: both playing better, and looking like a solid asset trade. These guys are looking like the replacements for Coleman and Backlund, that Conroy was hoping they could be.

Goalies

• Wolf: returned to form after a shaky stretch (how is that anything but good?)
• Cooley: found money, and potentially tradable

Youth

• Bahl: continuing to evolve into a solid top 4 defenseman
• Kuznetsov: solid top 4 guy, basically out of nowhere
• Coronato: Huska has him back where he was last year, looking great
• Zary: playing his best hockey of the season, over the last few games

Every single one of these guys is looking better than they were at the start of the year. How is that not a good thing for the organization?

Also, While the team is playing great, I don't expect it to continue - they are on a hot streak, just as they were on a cold streak earlier. They remain a bottom 5 team in the league, IMO, especially after Andersson is traded. They are going to miss him more than some people think.

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by Flamesfan05

Bye McKenna

Hello Tynan Lawrence

[Super-Rye]

Originally Posted by Mathgod

Wonderful! Have a look at this I posted all the way back in.... 5 days ago. https://forum.calgarypuck.com/showth...92#post9584692



I'd say you have the control thing backwards. A team has more control over how low they finish in the standings (though in the Flames' case it's quickly slipping away with the recent string of wins) than they have hitting on picks.

Hitting on picks after the top 3-5 in the draft (depending on the draft) is much harder, because even the best scouting staffs have limited information to forecast what each player will become. Ultimately, no one can predict the future.

But there's one thing we do know. The best of the best players, more often than not, are found at the top of the draft. A last place finish guarantees at least a 3OA pick. Everyone in the bottom 10 has a shot at the first pick, though the lower you are, the better your odds are. Various things can be not guaranteed, though have different likelihoods of coming true. Odds aren't everything, but they do matter, and it's important to not lose sight of that.

If building a cup contender without first drafting top 3 picks was a viable strategy, everyone would be doing it. But it almost never happens. Building cup contenders with elite talent drafted at the top of a draft is way more common.

At 2-9, the Flames had a great chance to make this a year where they acquire a top pick. But now it's maybe too late. Where does this leave the Flames, now that they're climbing out of the basement and several teams around them are in free fall? Not in a great position. No realistic path to the playoffs, and no realistic path to a top pick. The rebuild will be set back a year. Or maybe a bunch of years if they continue finishing just below the playoff cutline as an annual tradition. This could very well be the case.

Good development, obviously yes. Smart trades sounds great, but it's hard to pull off because every team you try to make a smart deal with is also trying to make a smart deal for themselves.

As for taking a shot at me personally, I don't care to respond to that. I would just suggest that maybe, just maybe, there's a small part of you that can have some understanding for the frustration many of us are having, those of us who watched the 04 run and have been waiting patiently for this team to make it back to the conference finals. We've watched and watched as this team has always purely taken a "make the playoffs this year by any means necessary" approach instead of taking more of a long view. Conny has rectified this to some extent, but you still hear Mr Baloney insisting that the team is pushing for the playoffs this year. Do you feel frustration when you hear that? I do.

In the end, none of us have any control nor influence over what the team actually does. On that you're right. Nevertheless, we care. We want to see them win a cup, but they don't appear to be on a path toward doing that. And that's what's hard to accept.

This comes across as condescending and gaslighty and completely misses my point. Listen, you were the one who said there was a bunch of us against a rebuild. You were the one who quoted my post as evidence of this supposed anti-rebuild rebellion. I corrected you by informing you that I am, in fact, not opposed to a rebuild, I am just simply letting the season play out as I have no control over things.

If you want to spend the next 4 months wasting your free time picking fights and whining about stuff you don't control on the internet then be my guest. All the power too you. But let's not pretend like that's not embarrassing behavior.

Hobbies are supposed to be fun. If you aren't having fun anymore then maybe you need to go look in a mirror.