Bet on last place for the Flames?

[Meers]

Originally Posted by edslunch

Schneider and Rinne are good enough to keep them out of last place.

Agreed.

I think the strongest candidate to challenge the Flames for the top pick will be Florida - the loss of Weiss dulls an already impotent offence there and I can't see Barkov having that much of an impact as a rookie.

Buffalo's pretty horrible as well.

But the deciding factor, as always, will be the unknown unknown of injuries.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

I think over a full 82 games people are going to be surprised how truly terrible this team is this season.

Anyone who thinks loosing your #1 minutes logging D (Even though he sucked), your captain and top scorer (Even though he sucked), your #1 setup man, and #1 goalie equates to anything other then a terrible team is kidding themselves.

We MAY not finish dead last, but we will be right there. On paper, this is probably the least talented team in the NHL

I agree and feel that if last season was 82 games that the Flames would have probably finished 30th. I get the feeling that a lot of fans think that the team will put forth a strong effort because they are young and that will translate in a better than 30th finish. They may be in for a rude awakening. If I had to put my own money on a team finishing 30th (not the same at the OP's bet) I would pick the Flames with the Panthers and Devils as strong considerations.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by sun

No way they finish 30th.

Wanna bet $100?

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by Meers

Agreed.

I think the strongest candidate to challenge the Flames for the top pick will be Florida - the loss of Weiss dulls an already impotent offence there and I can't see Barkov having that much of an impact as a rookie.

Buffalo's pretty horrible as well.

But the deciding factor, as always, will be the unknown unknown of injuries.

The Avs are going to be terrible. Patrick Roy as a coach... ? hahahahha

They will be picking top 3 next year.

[Enoch Root]

If the bet is simply 30th or not 30th, you should take it.

I believe the Flames have as good of a chance of finishing 30th as any team in the league. However, there are several teams capable, so the odds are not 50/50 for the Flames.

And as someone else said, it's a Texas hedge - if they do finish last, at least we'll get the consolation prize of another stud pick.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

If a bet is one team against the field (29 teams) straight up, take the field every time. At the begining of last year, I think most would have picked Columbus as the worst team, and they were no where near last. Heck, one could have made an argument for Montreal at that time. Too many variables to be so sure.

[Kiran403]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

If a bet is one team against the field (29 teams) straight up, take the field every time. At the begining of last year, I think most would have picked Columbus as the worst team, and they were no where near last. Heck, one could have made an argument for Montreal at that time. Too many variables to be so sure.

Agreed. There are too many variables involved to guarantee that any one team could be worse than the others.

I took the bet.

[Redliner]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

I think over a full 82 games people are going to be surprised how truly terrible this team is this season.

Anyone who thinks loosing your #1 minutes logging D (Even though he sucked), your captain and top scorer (Even though he sucked), your #1 setup man, and #1 goalie equates to anything other then a terrible team is kidding themselves.

We MAY not finish dead last, but we will be right there. On paper, this is probably the least talented team in the NHL

The 2003-04 Team was pretty damn untalented on paper too, with the exception of Iginla. Kipper was still an unproven 3rd string goaltender, and our top-line center (Conroy) was an NHL journeyman who had only twice put up more than 50 points in a season. Our other "scorers" were Marty Gelinas (35 pts) and Lombardi, Saprykin, and Dean McAmmond, none of whom broke 30 pts. What that team did have was a tough as nails, lunch bucket brigade mentality that made them extremely difficult to play against, and this is what I see Flames management trying to re-establish with the players they are acquiring through trades and the draft. Personally I love it. I think that the playoffs will be a stretch for a couple of years, but I honestly don't think this team will be as bad as everyone is expecting it to be. No way they finish 30th.

[The Yen Man]

Yah, I have to agree with the majority of the posters here and take the bet. I know the Oilers made it look easy, but finishing last isn't actually that easy. Just look at the past season for the Flames as a prime example. Another team or two that's near the bottom start tanking, and all of a sudden, Flames are sitting 26th or 27th instead of last. The Flames play a couple of teams that's mailed it in (either already secured a playoff spot, or just not feeling it that night), and bam, they're up to 24th and 25th. It's a lot easier finishing 24th to 29th than it is to finish dead last.

[GirlySports]

Flames will never pick top 5, we all know this

[GreenLantern2814]

They will finish between 27-30. A full 82 games with our youth, our defense and the complete lack of experience in goal is not going to be pleasant in the standings.

I have a hard time seeing how Nashville is going to be worse, they still have Weber and Rinne. That's two all world players at their respective positions.

The flames have one top line player. And even then I'm not sure he's a top line guy on a playoff team.

Florida will be tough. But their young talent is two years into its pro development so they should be making strides.

Carolina shouldn't be add bad as they were if ward is healthy.

Who knows with Tampa. They may outscore everyone. Their d still sucks. Bishop may or may not turn out.

At this point, the flames have to be 30th place favourites.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

I have a hard time seeing how Nashville is going to be worse, they still have Weber and Rinne. That's two all world players at their respective positions.

Rinne cannot score goals and Weber can only score so many. They will not be able to score and Rinne was not very good last year. If Rinne plays like he did last year they are a good bet for last. As bad as we are at centre just think that Trotz has said Matt Cullen is their number 1 C going into this season. Look at their other forwards and there are some AHL squads that will boast a better forward group.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

At this point, the flames have to be 30th place favourites.

I'm not so sure about the Flames being a lock for 30th. Granted, our new division is going to be very tough on us and that could be the factor that solidifies our spot at the bottom of the standings.

I agree that Nashville should be improving this year. If Jones cracks the lineup immediately then their D group will be even stronger than it already was. Rinne is a beast in net. And they have some young talent in Forsberg and Budish that could hopefully make the big club and inject enough scoring to win some 1-0 games.

Tampa and Carolina had no business being in the bottom 5 last year and should be closer to the playoff bubble than to the top draft pick.

The Avs have enough talent up front that they shouldn't be losing as bad as they have been. I can see them being in the top5 at the draft but not top3.

Florida should be improving but they have a tough division to play in this year and I expect they will be looking hard at the bottom of the standings and in the top3 at the draft.

The Devils are my favorite for the 30th spot but as bad as the whole Kovalchuk loss is to that team they did bring in Schneider, Clowe, Ryder and Jagr. They also have some pretty good prospect depth that they may try to tap into for roster depth. However, I think the most important thing is how their division rivals pan out. The Pens are guaranteed to give them a hard time. The Canes, Caps, BJs, Flyers, Islanders and Rangers should all be playoff teams but they are not consistently strong. If all of those teams are fighting for playoff spots then I can see the Devils at 30th.

[timbit]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Rinne cannot score goals and Weber can only score so many. They will not be able to score and Rinne was not very good last year. If Rinne plays like he did last year they are a good bet for last. As bad as we are at centre just think that Trotz has said Matt Cullen is their number 1 C going into this season. Look at their other forwards and there are some AHL squads that will boast a better forward group.

Hornqvist and Wilson missed considerable time with injury last season.
Look at their forwards again. They added Stalberg and Nystrom as well as Filip Forsberg at the deadline. Much better than the Flames current roster of forwards. Wilson Cullen Legwand and Fisher at C.

Rinne is a world class goaltender.

[ricardodw]

The Flames will likely not finish as poorly as they did in 2013.

They have significantly more depth and other than Gio/Brodie/Wideman getting injured and the goalies being off the map bad..... and MacDonald showed he is not off the map bad and has the profile of a lot of the goalies that turned out to be good no one is irreplaceable on the Flames. well Glencross being injured would hurt.

The fall off in an injury is not calling up Alui or Bancks or Street or Piskula or Nemisz or Negrin who got their NHL games not because they earned them or actually had a shot to become NHL players..... but because they were the only warm bodies available.

This year the top 6 players in Abbotsford and the top 3-4 D-men have a realistic chance to have NHL careers and they have to be better than Smith and Butler and Horak and Knight and Bouma and Blair Jones.

In the past 3-4 years we would have been excited if Marcus Granlund was ready for a top-6 spot or if Hankowski and Rienhardt were 40 game NHLers. And whether it would be better for Wotherspoon and Breen and Ramage to start the year in the AHL or as 7/8 d-men with the Flames.

This year these are the guys that will be competing for call ups.

[Flash Walken]

It's been a decade since Kipper hasn't been in the crease for Calgary.

Dennis Wideman is the team's #1 defender.

Lee Stempniak and Curtis Glencross are the team's best forwards.

With any sort of injury issues, this team is going to be battling for 30th all year, and I don't mind it.

This is one terribly ugly roster.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

It's been a decade since Kipper hasn't been in the crease for Calgary.

Dennis Wideman is the team's #1 defender.

Lee Stempniak and Curtis Glencross are the team's best forwards.

With any sort of injury issues, this team is going to be battling for 30th all year, and I don't mind it.

This is one terribly ugly roster.

Pretty sure everyone here is aware of the Flames situation... The question mark is whether or not that makes us a lock for 30th or if another team is equally bad and can compete for the basement against us.

Is Florida going to be as bad after losing Weiss or are they going to be able to pass the torch onto Huberdeau and Barkov? Can Markstrom steal enough games for them to avoid 30th?

How will the Devils fare this year? Will the stars align to kick them in the nuts this year when they do not have a 1st round draft pick?

Will the Pred's late-season / off-season changes help them out of the basement? They have the D and G covered, all they need to do is find goals within their forward group.

[moon]

For those saying Calgary will not finish last which other roster is worse than Calgary's?

Nashville's forward are as bad but goaltending and defense looks better. Maybe Florida is comparable but outside of that hard to find a team that looks as bad as Calgary.

As many have mentioned I would take the field over Calgary as too many unexpected things can happen but if you had to choose one team to finish 30th hard not to look at all the teams and go with Calgary.

[The Coppernian One]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I agree and feel that if last season was 82 games that the Flames would have probably finished 30th. I get the feeling that a lot of fans think that the team will put forth a strong effort because they are young and that will translate in a better than 30th finish. They may be in for a rude awakening. If I had to put my own money on a team finishing 30th (not the same at the OP's bet) I would pick the Flames with the Panthers and Devils as strong considerations.

The Flames "would" have had 71 points over 82 games last season. That would be less than Edmonton's 29th place finish (but more than Columbus' 30th) from the year before. It would have also been a 29th or 28th place finish in each of the two years before that (when the Oilers were 30th). The Flames are not as good as last year so you have to think they're a strong contender for 30th.

That being said take the bet. A strong contender doesn't mean it's guaranteed and several teams are in the running so straigh up, odds are in your favour.

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by moon

For those saying Calgary will not finish last which other roster is worse than Calgary's?

worst roster in the league, debatable but entirely possible. however, those who are saying they will not finish last are still closer to the truth than those who say they will. even if Calgary is the front-runner at 30% chance of last place suckage, it's still more than twice as likely that they don't. that's why it's a good investment to bet that they finish above 30.