With the Calgary Flames, it is completely true that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. All contributions are valued...but also expected. You bring yourself, and whatever skillset you possess, to the rink every day and you do the work. You also do the work in the off-season and buy-in to the culture of fitness and unending tenacity.
The on-ice product, both individually and collectively, is eminently entertaining and admirable, true...but someone, somewhere, has done something intangible and perhaps, for me anyway, has done the single most important thing. They have determined who we are going to be and committed themselves to moving us to that place. I don't know if it was Burke's "pugnacity, testosterone, truculence and belligerence" as that same message had been given to, and fallen on deaf ears with, Toronto. In fact, those attributes don't actually seem to define us all that closely.
Instead, I think our success is ultimately rooted in two fundamental things. Our GMs and scouting have identified that Hockey IQ is a key attribute we want in our draft picks and acquisitions. We want smart players who not only understand the game but, maybe more importantly, can understand how to buy-in to a system and a way of approaching the game, that can maximize the TEAM's performance beyond their own individual results. Second, and this is really the bottom line as far as I'm concerned, we have found team leadership that has created the one thing you don't get any other way but through consistency, fortitude, passion, integrity and hard work. They have instilled culture...capital C Culture....Flaming C Culture into this team. Mr. Hartley and staff, I'm looking at you. Mr. Giordano and other veterans, you also share the credit for making this happen through your own commitment to it on and off the ice.
We haven't gone away because someone said we don't have to and that we can overcome our defects through hard-work and collective accountability. We can work harder AND smarter than others. We can want it more. We can refuse to stop. We can see obstacles as simply new challenges. We can defy the odds. We can exasperate those who only see analytics and pure athletic ability as arbiters of success and deny the impact of hearts, and smarts, and inter-changeable parts that all pull together. We can not only want it more but work harder for it and expect less by default but demand more by earning it.
We can do these things because someone, somewhere, saw it first, said it first, started walking it forward and selling it to this team. Whoever those pioneers and early adopters were, they deserve a medal. Everybody bought in. Everybody paid the hard prices. I have never been more proud to be a fan of this team.
Last edited by Biff; 04-09-2015 at 11:32 AM.
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