TSN says Flames 14th

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Nice, Dreger has Sven as the #3 rookie this season. Behind Granlund and Bobby Orr... uh, I mean Justin Schultz.

[dissentowner]

Coming up, the panel tells us how Iggy will be dealt.

[Mightyfire89]

Big fat meh.

[oldschoolcalgary]

sounds about right... i think I said 13th in the poll

[Ezio]

I find it strange that the Oilers have 3 players in the top 50 according to TSN, yet they still finish 13th.

[trackercowe]

Sweet! Suck it Columbus!

[Hockey_Ninja]

Meh. The media has been trashing the flames for these last few seasons so it's no surprise they placed us so low.

[Roof-Daddy]

1. On paper our center depth is beyond brutal
2. Our two best and most prolific players are not only on the wrong side of 30, but actually the wrong side of 35 now
3. Three straight years out of the playoffs
4. Only one high profile rookie/young player in Sven (Backlund, Brodie and Cervenka don't count when compared to the plethora of stupendous young talent that the buttheads up north have failed their way into)
5. A string of sub par seasons (when compared to those players performances in the past) from many Flames players including Cammalleri, Bouwmeester, Stajan, Stempniak, Comeau etc.

All of those are adding up to worse and worse pre-season beatings from prognosticators and "experts" everywhere.

I really can't blame them, and neither can the Flames organization IMO.

Over the course of the last three years, this team has earned the beat down it's currently receiving from the media.

Up to the players to go out and prove them all wrong.

[Torture]

Who did they have rated 15h?

[trackercowe]

I really don't want to go the Oilers route at all, but I am tired of middling around only to finish in 9th or 10th spot and as a result don't see any changes to the team.

Personally I would much rather see us finish in 14th place than in 10th. I am sick and tired of the same old circumstances we have been in the last few years.

So screw it, if we can't compete for a sure fire playoff spot bring on the suck!

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by Torture

Who did they have rated 15h?

Columbus.

[Savvy27]

I've got to say that the consensus of NHL radio, TSN, and Sportsnet having them rated in the bottom three in the Western conference has my confidence a little shaken. I'm aware of my bias for the Flames, but I really didn't see this coming.

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by Ezio

I find it strange that the Oilers have 3 players in the top 50 according to TSN, yet they still finish 13th.

That's because the other 20 players on the Oilers roster aren't in the top 500

[Goodlad]

The way I look at it is no one on this team had a really good season last year (except Kipper). That was still good enough for 9th in the West. We've since added Wideman, Hudler and Baerstchi, and the only player we've lost of any note is Jokinen. Granted this could be the year age finally catches up with Iggy and Kipper, we have tons of question marks at center, and we have a whole new coaching system to get up to speed on in a shortened schedule, but I still think too many things would have to go wrong for us to drop all the way to 14/15 in the division. Meanwhile only a few things have to go right for us to squeak into the playoffs.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Savvy27

I've got to say that the consensus of NHL radio, TSN, and Sportsnet having them rated in the bottom three in the Western conference has my confidence a little shaken. I'm aware of my bias for the Flames, but I really didn't see this coming.

A consensus of fools!

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by Joborule

Why does everyone think Oilers will do better than Flames? And Flames will be bottom of standings?

Flames have added offense. They should be able to score more goals this season than last. Flames probably will miss playoffs, but won't be bottom of the barrel.

The oilers top 6 has been playing all season in different leagues. I believe a couple of their d-men also played. I don't think they make the playoffs but I do think the oilers will get off to a good start just because half the team is in game shape

[Jables16]

I'm pretty sure TSN doesn't give a flying f*** about the Flames and I guess I can see why. They're not in the East, so that's a knock right there, they're not a dominating Presidents trophy type team like Vancouver, and they don't have the last three #1 picks like Edmonton, and they're not new to the league like Winnipeg. It's frustrating at times but that the way it is.

[moon]

Originally Posted by Jables16

I'm pretty sure TSN doesn't give a flying f*** about the Flames and I guess I can see why. They're not in the East, so that's a knock right there, they're not a dominating Presidents trophy type team like Vancouver, and they don't have the last three #1 picks like Edmonton, and they're not new to the league like Winnipeg. It's frustrating at times but that the way it is.

TSN had Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg all ranked low and Edmonton was a whopping 1 spot ahead of Calgary so hard to say that they like those teams and not Calgary based on their preview show.

Seems lower than what I had them but right in line with what many outsiders have the Flames at. With the major holes this team has, questionable coaching and performance in the past 3 years it really is hard to get that upset with people ranking the Flames so low. They have done nothing to show anyone that they deserve a better ranking.

[Poison]

Ray Ferraro is the biggest Oiler homer and Flame hater. Every time i see or hear that guy i want to punch him. Hard.

[GreenLantern]

FYI Ferraro was the first one to beak Erixon for leaving Calgary, and the first one to rub it in when NYR traded him away. He has my respect for that.

I think 14th is a bit harsh, any team with Jarome Iginla and Mikka Kipprusoff has the chance of being competitive.. but I understand their logic based on past performances.

People need to stop waiting for this big bust to happen to rebuild, this team is already rebuilding with freshly stocked good prospects, some of which we saw show cased in the WJ's this year.

Just because you are rebuilding doesn't mean you can't try and keep winning in the process.