Having been a Blackhawk Fan for over 50 years, I have formed an opinion on what and why a team can be "successful"...and much of this has to do with who is judging this "success", as much as how a team is built. "Don't even THINK of winning a Stanley Cup!, it's too expensive", was the message Dollar Bill Wirtz was reported (by multiple sources) as telling his GM...For HIS ownership, success was making the playoffs and filling the building. And for decades, this was satisfactory to the majority of the Blackhawk fan base. Having a team that had the ILLUSION of being a competitor. Of course, using Dollar Bill's yardstick, losing in game 7 of the SCF would be the ideal...no need to pay championship contracts, and a full building for the maximum amount of time. When the team fell off the playoff landscape, along with the dumping of perceived stars, rather than ponying up the cash, the fanbase turned very quickly, and a decade of playing to weak home attendance was a clear sign, that the fans had felt their loyalty abused.
I see this in Toronto, over 4 decades, and in the Alberta teams recently...no incentive, except for quick fixes to create an illusion, and no grand plan. For Edmonton, tanking to stock up on first contract guys. For Calgary, hanging on too long while trying to squeeze out the last of a mostly home grown core. Different paths to indifferent results. Winnipeg are a flawed team, using 3rd line quality as top 6 roster (guys like the ex-'Hawks were never top 6 in Chi, except in short term injury situations), and with horrendous goaltending, neither they nor the Oil seem to have much upside. I haven't seen enough of the Sens or the Habs to comment, except, like the Leafs, the Habs seem to have a tremendous weight of expectations from fans and the press, and fairly impatient fan bases...it takes SOME trust IF the ownership has EARNED that trust (as the next generation of Wirtz is rebuilding with Chicago fans).
Vancouver also has a ridiculous weight of expectation, and somewhat self-bloated opinion of it's chances, from their own front office (honestly, a GM claiming that they DESERVE on-ice officiating calls in their favor?)...but also seem to be riding out their roster peak that appears on a down-slope. But I shed no tears for them.
My question to my friends that are Flame fans...How much do you trust the ownership and Burke, and how long are you willing to be patient with the necessary rebuild? It doesn't seem that all your front office pieces are in place, so things are moving slowly, and that has to be addressed soon. No rebuilding to success is possible until this gets done.
I think that given the sell out rates at your arenas, and the massive influx of media revenue from Rogers, et.al., simple economics aren't as big a negative factor to Canadian teams as some here have claimed. As far as Canadian cities being less than ideal draws for FAs? I find this hard to believe, except for Winnipeg, the Canadian NHL teams have been entrenched and well supported for decades, and a professional player that choses an NHL career would recognize that these ARE NHL cities, and the money and opportunities for endorsements would be in proportion to the talent and likeability of the individual.
The Sal Cap has leveled the amount of cash that can be spent on rosters, it is up to the organizations to figure a plan for efficient utilization of that cash.
Your Flames have been great before, and I hope that it is not long before they cycle up again...
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"If the wine's not good enough for the cook, the wine's not good enough for the dish!" - Julia Child (goddess of the kitchen)
Last edited by thefoss1957; 01-10-2014 at 11:55 PM.
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