[Article] Calgary Flames: Alone at the bottom

[Amethyst]

Since the 90s, other than that magical run in 2004, you are pretty much guaranteed the Flames will not make the playoffs or they will be immediately eliminated. They've changed coaches, players, and GMs and that remains consistent.

Years ago, I stopped going to games and now I barely pay attention.

I don't know what is left to change that will make things different. Maybe the Montreal hockey gods really did curse them when they won the Cup there back in 89?

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I think a 45 year summary is interesting to compare franchises and success rates. You can't ignore it.

But when it gets applied to the current team I always roll my eyes.

What are they doing now? Is it different than what we've done in the past? Do we like the current GM? Are they doing anything right?

The team moved on from UFAs, moved a starting goaltender, didn't spend a huge amount of idle cap space, and completely nailed the 2024 draft.

Hopefully those are steps towards changing the next few years when compared to the last 45.

The one thing that appears to be clear from ownership is they do not believe the path to a cup is built at the top of the draft. Every GM has stated the goal to win and compete as soon as possible and never planning on picking high.

The current retool is the result of 5 key UFA’s deciding they do not want to stay after the 2 franchise players left/forced a trade the summer prior. I like the direction Conroy has taken the team and I am optimistic about the drafting.

I am really interested to see what moves this team makes this summer. Will they stay the course? Will they make a significant add? I believe the organization outperformed their own expectations this past season and it is good to hear the plan is not changing.

[Badgers Nose]

Cue the fans that read this site every day, and post once every blue moon to tell us how little they care.

You obviously care, just eat your Flames porridge.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

The one thing that appears to be clear from ownership is they do not believe the path to a cup is built at the top of the draft. Every GM has stated the goal to win and compete as soon as possible and never planning on picking high.

The current retool is the result of 5 key UFA’s deciding they do not want to stay after the 2 franchise players left/forced a trade the summer prior. I like the direction Conroy has taken the team and I am optimistic about the drafting.

I am really interested to see what moves this team makes this summer. Will they stay the course? Will they make a significant add? I believe the organization outperformed their own expectations this past season and it is good to hear the plan is not changing.

I disagree.

I think they felt losing all those key players and diving to the 9th pick last year, would see a similar or worse position if they moved their starting goaltender and didn't spend to replace what they lost.

I think the plan was a plummet, but Wolf and chemistry halted the skid.

Makes me wonder if they move Andersson and don't replace him to further push things downward.

I think the plan was a top five pick.

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by indes

Definitely checks out. The Flames lack of star power through the middle has been a tragedy for the last 30 years. How is it even possible we haven't had a star center since Niuewendyk?

https://thehockeywriters.com/flames-...chise-history/

I'll always cheer for the Flames but for the love of God can we get a franchise C?

You can't even keep the goalposts straight in the space of 1 reply. Were we lacking a star center? A franchise center? A generational center? A HOF center?


What a lazy ####ing narrative.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I disagree.

I think they felt losing all those key players and diving to the 9th pick last year, would see a similar or worse position if they moved their starting goaltender and didn't spend to replace what they lost.

I think the plan was a plummet, but Wolf and chemistry halted the skid.

Makes me wonder if they move Andersson and don't replace him to further push things downward.

I think the plan was a top five pick.

I do agree the plan was to not lose their 1st to the Habs like they did and thankfully it wasn’t the 11th pick they gave up. I don’t think top 5 pick was ever really in the mix though. Frank Serivali stated throughout last summer this team wasn’t bad enough to bottom out. Moving Markstrom was as much about getting Wolf in the lineup after a dominate run in the minors and cashing in on the asset while he had value than it was trying to secure a high pick.

I am very interested to see what they do this summer.

[indes]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

You can't even keep the goalposts straight in the space of 1 reply. Were we lacking a star center? A franchise center? A generational center? A HOF center?


What a lazy ####ing narrative.

LOL! Moving goalposts in 1 post, asking for 1 thing, would be a real feat!

Maybe I can simplify it for you. We haven't had a star center since Niuewy. Could we get a franchise center please?

Does that work for you or do you need it written in crayon?

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by indes

LOL! Moving goalposts in 1 post, asking for 1 thing, would be a real feat!

Maybe I can simplify it for you. We haven't had a star center since Niuewy. Could we get a franchise center please?

Does that work for you or do you need it written in crayon?

No, your existing crayon writing is conveying your lack of coherent thought quite well.

I'm sure we didn't have a star/franchise/whatever definition suits your narrative goalie or a star/franchise/whatever fits your narrative right wing in 45 years either.

[indes]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

No, your existing crayon writing is conveying your lack of coherent thought quite well.



I'm sure we didn't have a star goalie or a franchise right wing in 45 years either.

Good thing we're not moving goalposts. What's your ####ing problem this morning?

[Groot]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Lol at least you own this ridiculous lunacy.

A random attempted drive-by insult versus adding anything of substance? What a surprise.

You have as much class as you do intelligence.

Feel free to explain why it's "lunacy" or explain your own counter position like others in this topic have. Judging by the response to the post, a lot of people agree with me and my supposed "lunacy" so maybe the problem is you?

[Rhett44]

We have terrible ownership that doesn't believe in the word rebuild.

All the teams that have won cups lately have elite players they drafted at the top of the draft. It is what it is at this point. Nothing will change.

We just have to hope to draft a dman and center who become elite. People love to say we need to use the Dallas model, but that model doesn't win a cup either.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by Rhett44

We have terrible ownership that doesn't believe in the word rebuild.

All the teams that have won cups lately have elite players they drafted at the top of the draft. It is what it is at this point. Nothing will change.

We just have to hope to draft a dman and center who become elite. People love to say we need to use the Dallas model, but that model doesn't win a cup either.

It’s interesting in looking at Florida they have 4 players they drafted on their team and Barkov/Ekblad are those guys. This team theoretically just needs to draft thst elite center and they might have the 3 cornerstone pieces down with Parekh and Wolf

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I think a 45 year summary is interesting to compare franchises and success rates. You can't ignore it.

But when it gets applied to the current team I always roll my eyes.

What are they doing now? Is it different than what we've done in the past? Do we like the current GM? Are they doing anything right?

The team moved on from UFAs, moved a starting goaltender, didn't spend a huge amount of idle cap space, and completely nailed the 2024 draft.

Hopefully those are steps towards changing the next few years when compared to the last 45.

I am with you here but I guess I’ll wait to say they nailed the 2024 draft until we can measure in NHL results.

[InternationalVillager]

Originally Posted by Groot

Could not care less. According to the article, Flames made the playoffs 11 out of 20 seasons, and we all know a few they fought to the bitter end of the season a few times just to miss by an inch. So say about 75% of the last 20 seasons have produced quality entertainment. For me personally, that's fantastic.

To each their own, but I watch hockey for entertainment and to me there's nothing entertaining about watching a garbage team scrape together 20 wins in a season so they can draft a stud and then hopefully not suck in a few years.

If the Flames never win a Cup or even make a Cup finals again in my lifetime, I'm not going to be looking back on my life with any sort of regret. I pity anyone that does. Go Flames Go, thanks for the ride.

You should know in September that you are going to make the playoffs.

How many out of the last 20 seasons have we actually felt that way?

Fighting for the Cup on a consistent, annual basis is the goal. Not fighting for a playoff spot on a consistent, annual basis.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I think a 45 year summary is interesting to compare franchises and success rates. You can't ignore it.

But when it gets applied to the current team I always roll my eyes.

I agree, but with some exceptions. There are certain things that seem to end up in an organizations culture that have momentum that can't be broken just through the turnover of personnel. Two examples:

• Losing in the first round in the 90s with great teams
• The inability to win in Anaheim

Those seemed to creep into the collective heads of those teams and have actual impact on results. Maybe the first round losses is a stretch, but there was enough data points to say something was going on with Anaheim in their heads.

[DiracSpike]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

For my part, I find regular-season NHL play really dull to watch. If that’s all the NHL offered, I genuinely doubt I’d even follow the sport anymore.

To me, it’s all about the intensity, drama, and high stakes of the Stanley Cup playoffs. So the difference between a Flames team that finishes three point out of a playoff spot, and one that finishes with the fourth worst record in the league is negligible. One lost a few more boring regular-season games in November or February than the other. Neither gave me the entertainment of playoff games and a Cup run. But at least with a few elite blue-chip prospects, I’d have a lot easier time imagining the team’s fortunes turning around.

100%

I'm sure a lot of people are super in to the regular season, you're better fans than me, but yeah to many there's no real difference between tying for 8th place and finishing last. Except at least if you finish dead last you get a shot at drafting a McDavid or MacKinnon. All the stuff about how we never tanked, or always tried, is kinda cope. I think we can all agree this sucks, the Flames haven't had more than 5 playoff wins in 21 years, speaks for itself.

[Hackey]

Originally Posted by Groot

Could not care less. According to the article, Flames made the playoffs 11 out of 20 seasons, and we all know a few they fought to the bitter end of the season a few times just to miss by an inch. So say about 75% of the last 20 seasons have produced quality entertainment. For me personally, that's fantastic.

To each their own, but I watch hockey for entertainment and to me there's nothing entertaining about watching a garbage team scrape together 20 wins in a season so they can draft a stud and then hopefully not suck in a few years.

If the Flames never win a Cup or even make a Cup finals again in my lifetime, I'm not going to be looking back on my life with any sort of regret. I pity anyone that does. Go Flames Go, thanks for the ride.

If all you care about is entertainment then I think you're really downplaying the excitement of deep playoff runs and possible cup wins. The excitement and entertainment value in the playoffs is multiples times greater than the regular season. I think you're lying if you try to claim they are even remotely similar.

The 2004 run is easily the most exciting and most memorable moment for Flames fans over the past 35 years and it's not even close.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I disagree.

I think they felt losing all those key players and diving to the 9th pick last year, would see a similar or worse position if they moved their starting goaltender and didn't spend to replace what they lost.

I think the plan was a plummet, but Wolf and chemistry halted the skid.

Makes me wonder if they move Andersson and don't replace him to further push things downward.

I think the plan was a top five pick.

Exactly my thoughts.


Now the question becomes: "Does Conroy continue with his plan, or does last season's relative success make him shift direction?"


Did Conroy show his hand at the trade deadline that he is continuing with a planned draft high approach by not rewarding the team with spending assets to help them get into the playoffs? Or did he show his hand by not selling what he could at the deadline (though we have to assume the market was attractive enough, but Conroy had shifted).



I guess we will see if the plan has really shifted or not since the last off-season. My guess is that the plan is to draft high, but doing it without taking it too far down to the studs. It is really interesting how some people think the Flames are still competing, and how others watch it and think that the Flames are burning it down. I am convinced Conroy is a mastermind at keeping people guessing by walking that line and avoiding using the dreaded "R" word.

[WCW Nitro]

This might be just a cope, but I wouldn't want to be a fan of a team that just bottomed out and won a lottery or got a very high top 2 draft pick. Yes, that usually leads to more success, but it seems like such a short cut way to winning. Like can a Pens fan actually feel the team did something extraordinary, they just lucked into drafting Crosby. I would argue the season the Flames guys had is just as impressive considering everything than some lottery team winning the Cup.

[Hackey]

Originally Posted by WCW Nitro

This might be just a cope, but I wouldn't want to be a fan of a team that just bottomed out and won a lottery or got a very high top 2 draft pick. Yes, that usually leads to more success, but it seems like such a short cut way to winning. Like can a Pens fan actually feel the team did something extraordinary, they just lucked into drafting Crosby. I would argue the season the Flames guys had is just as impressive considering everything than some lottery team winning the Cup.

100% a cope to deal with the reality Flames ownership has created.

If McDavid and Draisaitl were leading the Flames to back to back finals, fans would not care. They'd be loving the ride. Just like Oilers fan are and should be. It's just entertainment remember.