Can't quote you PhD:
Not really talking about what other teams are already doing - what can the Flames do that they (and other teams) are not doing? What can they expand on or adjust? The gist of my post was not for the Flames to become a feeder team at all - complete opposite, actually. Just become a consistently elite drafting and development team, figure out things that they can do (besides winning and contracts) that makes players (and their families) prefer to stay here rather than move elsewhere (figure out how to RETAIN stars, not become a feeder organization), and even develop their own coaches. Calgary will never really be a destination like more and more teams around the NHL are becoming. Calgary just needs to figure out to give themselves other advantages. That's essentially the gist of my post.
I think that looking at other sports and seeing what some teams in different leagues do can pay off. There will never be a perfect comparison of course, but you can get some ideas and adjust them to what works. Calgary hasn't been a successful franchise since the 80's. They have certainly had some highs since they won the cup, but they certainly can't be labelled as a successful model for copycats to mimic.
I remember Burke would go and talk to other teams in different sports. That's what I am talking about here. Find what those other teams who find themselves in circumstances that you can at least translate, and who punch above their weight, and see what they are doing. Return to being the innovative team that they were in the 80s.
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