Unpopular Opinions about Flames

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Here’s one
In terms of the Flames building a organization that can have some sustained success…the worst thing in the world wouldn’t be to have a bad year.

Benefits:

The top end of this draft is pretty good

The Flames have their 1st and 2nd. High 2nds are something this team has lacked

The team has a number of players that could be dealt at the deadline for good returns
o Brodie
o Hamonic (and I think he could be one of those rare situations where you deal him at the deadline, and then re-sign him in the summer)

Lesser return guys
o Frolik
o Talbot

Guys that aren’t pending free agents that would be really good adds to a playoff team
o Ryan
o Sam

The team gets a very clear view on if this team can win or not and make some decision regarding the core, including Johnny

This organization has been asset weak for decades. This season going wrong could set them up much better for the future if handled correctly.

Do you think the Flames have the guts to go this route? They didn't last time when it was even clearer that it was over. I can't see them making a radical change a year from being second in the league, even if it was a mirage.

This team has fundamental problems, but I don't see the Flames having the courage to swallow the medicine.

[mrdonkey]

Originally Posted by nik-

Do you think the Flames have the guts to go this route? They didn't last time when it was even clearer that it was over. I can't see them making a radical change a year from being second in the league, even if it was a mirage.

This team has fundamental problems, but I don't see the Flames having the courage to swallow the medicine.

There is absolutely no chance. They will wait until the 11th hour when Johnny has one foot out the door in a desperate bid to “just make it in and anything can happen.” Then they start making trades for pennies on the dollar.

It’s how this franchise operates, and they never can seem to put two and to together when it comes to why they are so consistently, aggressively mediocre.

[1qqaaz]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Yeah I don't think goaltending has been one of the major problems for this year.

On one hand, it seems like the goaltending has been okay this year. They're both sub 91%, which is mediocre, but at least they're close.

If anything, it's better than what the Flames are used to.

It would be very nice if the Flames finally had a goaltender who could put up at least one 92% season. If I'm not mistaken, the Flames haven't had a 92% goaltender since 2010-2011, and this is the longest drought in the league. It's even longer than the Oilers (Dubnyk did it in 2012-2013) and the Hurricanes (Khubodin did it in 2013-2014).

There are 20 active goalies (200+ games played) with career save percentages over 91.5% (Talbot is actually at 91.5%). Getting a single 92% season shouldn't be that hard or rare.

Of course part of it is on the defense and coaching, but over this many years, it's hard to put all the blame there.

[looooob]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

. It's even longer than the Oilers (Dubnyk did it in 2012-2013) .

I think I"d forgot how useful he was that year- boy did they ever botch the handling of that player (again not that we should be talking re: goaltending)

[Number 39]

The Flames have always been mentally weak and have always lacked a killer instinct. Even in the seasons they went to the finals. In 86 they should have finished the Blues in 6. That may have changed the outcome. In 89 the team came as close as you possibly can to choking vs Vancouver. In 04 Sutter was the leader and willed them onwards and that was a freak occurrence (perhaps they invalidate my unpopular opinion that season).

In every other season they have either missed the playoffs or frequently lost to much weaker opponents (perhaps with the exception of 1980). The whole organization has turned over many times since 1980 but I have always, in the back of my mind, waited for them to blow it. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to be a fan of a team that you had confidence would win when the games get tough.

I’ve been a fan since 1980, and will continue to be, but they can be a hard team to love.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by Number 39

The Flames have always been mentally weak and have always lacked a killer instinct. Even in the seasons they went to the finals. In 86 they should have finished the Blues in 6. That may have changed the outcome. In 89 the team came as close as you possibly can to choking vs Vancouver. In 04 Sutter was the leader and willed them onwards and that was a freak occurrence (perhaps they invalidate my unpopular opinion that season).

In every other season they have either missed the playoffs or frequently lost to much weaker opponents (perhaps with the exception of 1980). The whole organization has turned over many times since 1980 but I have always, in the back of my mind, waited for them to blow it. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to be a fan of a team that you had confidence would win when the games get tough.

I’ve been a fan since 1980, and will continue to be, but they can be a hard team to love.

To add, in 2006 they should have finished off the Ducks in 6, and then would probably have won the Cup.

[Jason14h]

Vs Oilers in the year Theo scored in game 6. They go up 3-0 in game 7 in first and blow the game.

[Strange Brew]

The self flagellation thread.

[TheRealPepman]

No disrespect to CSEC, but they shouldn't own the Flames. Let someone other group with more money and stronger devotion toward winning buy this team. CSEC is the main culprit as to why the Flames have sucked for the last 30 years. Too cheap to hire expensive coaches, too cheap to improve in-game experience, too cheap to build a high-end team, and most of all, TOO CHEAP TO FULLY PRIVATELY FINANCE AN ARENA.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by TheRealPepman

No disrespect to CSEC, but they shouldn't own the Flames. Let someone other group with more money and stronger devotion toward winning buy this team. CSEC is the main culprit as to why the Flames have sucked for the last 30 years. Too cheap to hire expensive coaches, too cheap to improve in-game experience, too cheap to build a high-end team, and most of all, TOO CHEAP TO FULLY PRIVATELY FINANCE AN ARENA.

You realize the Flames have like 50 cents in cap space right?

[Psytic]

Originally Posted by dino7c

You realize the Flames have like 50 cents in cap space right?

No cap on coaches and arena entertainment spend. Even if the team is mediocre there is other things that can be done to make the product more entertaining.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

On one hand, it seems like the goaltending has been okay this year. They're both sub 91%, which is mediocre, but at least they're close.

If anything, it's better than what the Flames are used to.

It would be very nice if the Flames finally had a goaltender who could put up at least one 92% season. If I'm not mistaken, the Flames haven't had a 92% goaltender since 2010-2011, and this is the longest drought in the league. It's even longer than the Oilers (Dubnyk did it in 2012-2013) and the Hurricanes (Khubodin did it in 2013-2014).

There are 20 active goalies (200+ games played) with career save percentages over 91.5% (Talbot is actually at 91.5%). Getting a single 92% season shouldn't be that hard or rare.

Of course part of it is on the defense and coaching, but over this many years, it's hard to put all the blame there.

An elite goaltender would probably be worth a few more wins and cover some warts but it appears that's something that only comes around to the Flames once every 20 years or so. They have failed over and over in regards to drafting one so maybe the GM will have to be aggressive in trading for a quality young backup goaltender in another organization that has a high ceiling. To be clear I'm not faulting Rittich for the bad start but he's shown that he can't play more than four or five games in a row before his game starts falling apart and you need more than that from a starting goaltender.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

On one hand, it seems like the goaltending has been okay this year. They're both sub 91%, which is mediocre, but at least they're close.

If anything, it's better than what the Flames are used to.

It would be very nice if the Flames finally had a goaltender who could put up at least one 92% season. If I'm not mistaken, the Flames haven't had a 92% goaltender since 2010-2011, and this is the longest drought in the league. It's even longer than the Oilers (Dubnyk did it in 2012-2013) and the Hurricanes (Khubodin did it in 2013-2014).

There are 20 active goalies (200+ games played) with career save percentages over 91.5% (Talbot is actually at 91.5%). Getting a single 92% season shouldn't be that hard or rare.

Of course part of it is on the defense and coaching, but over this many years, it's hard to put all the blame there.

It’s actually really easy to allocate responsibility for save percentage to the team.

When Jacques Lemaire was coaching Minnesota and Dwayne Roloson and Manny Fernandez were both putting up .930 save percentages, do you think they were really top goaltenders in the league?

The Flames activate the D a lot now. This leads to some better opportunities for the opponents at times.

Their current goaltending is fine.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Flames are a filler team, they're the rice in the NHL burrito, and it's been that ways save for 2 seasons in my living memory. The only game I've made an effort to watch front to back was the Heritage Classic, and even then I was on my phone for most of it because it was so boring. Johnny was one of the only players on the team that made them exciting to watch in the past, but now that every other team has figured out how to neutralize him that's no more. This feels like the late 2000's all over again; not enough talent, no clear direction, no prospects, no hope

[MillerTime GFG]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Flames are a filler team, they're the rice in the NHL burrito, and it's been that ways save for 2 seasons in my living memory. The only game I've made an effort to watch front to back was the Heritage Classic, and even then I was on my phone for most of it because it was so boring. Johnny was one of the only players on the team that made them exciting to watch in the past, but now that every other team has figured out how to neutralize him that's no more. This feels like the late 2000's all over again; not enough talent, no clear direction, no prospects, no hope

Depressingly accurate.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

It also describes 25 teams in the NHL at any given time.

[Geeoff]

Unpopular opinion: this C=NG thread is redundant because every other thread is a C=NG thread

[TheIronMaiden]

I like the Flames.

[1qqaaz]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

It’s actually really easy to allocate responsibility for save percentage to the team.

When Jacques Lemaire was coaching Minnesota and Dwayne Roloson and Manny Fernandez were both putting up .930 save percentages, do you think they were really top goaltenders in the league?

The Flames activate the D a lot now. This leads to some better opportunities for the opponents at times.

Their current goaltending is fine.

Again, the Flames are the only team in the entire NHL to not have a 92% season since 2011-2012.

There are 30 other teams that have done this. The only other team that technically didn't was Atlanta, who only existed until 2011. There's no way the Flames have had the worst save percentage situation, one that could can blame on defense quality or activation, that entire time.

You're wrong. It's extremely difficult to blame bad save percentage entirely on the defense/coaching when its over 5 coaches, 4 GMs, 9 years, about about 50 different defensemen.

Look at Robin Lehner. He has put up 92% during 6 seasons already (albeit some of those seasons have small amounts of games). Most of those seasons were behind terrible defense in Ottawa, Buffalo, and not Chicago.

Guys like him have been available too, so that's the frustrating part.

[couldcarryless]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

Again, the Flames are the only team in the entire NHL to not have a 92% season since 2011-2012.

There are 30 other teams that have done this. The only other team that technically didn't was Atlanta, who only existed until 2011. There's no way the Flames have had the worst save percentage situation, one that could can blame on defense quality or activation, that entire time.

You're wrong. It's extremely difficult to blame bad save percentage entirely on the defense/coaching when its over 5 coaches, 4 GMs, 9 years, about about 50 different defensemen.

Look at Robin Lehner. He has put up 92% during 6 seasons already (albeit some of those seasons have small amounts of games). Most of those seasons were behind terrible defense in Ottawa, Buffalo, and not Chicago.

Guys like him have been available too, so that's the frustrating part.

Really, if you look at Rittich's numbers except the florida game he is over 92% on the season, he hasn't been the problem it's our inconsistent team in front of him and a lack of offensive production, we need to be getting more than 1 or 2 goals in a game, end of story