Give me hope for next year

[Locke]

And here I thought I was pessimistic.

These changes seem like all kinds of grim.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Is Blasty back next year?

I associate Blasty with the Young Guns, maybe it’s cursed

[1qqaaz]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

I’m an eternal optimist, with that being said:

- definitely a down year this year for many, there should be some normalizing to the mean (ie better)

- it was a tough year to get into a losing funk, like the Flanes did this year. Nothing to do to get your mind off of the game. Of any year, this year would be a year where it wouldn’t be fun to be losing. In a normal year like next year, losing streaks may end sooner.

- We have been playing well under Sutter, especially after getting some good practice time in. Easy to think that we could be better in a full season including camp under Sutter.

- we will be playing in a division where only two teams made the playoffs this current season, and we likely finish with the third best record out if all teams.

- I believe our numbers show that we have been a bit unlucky this year, given our scoring chances, that should correct itself.

- if this current season was standard 82 game length, we likely would have caught both Montreal and Winnipeg the way they were playing at the end of the season.

Good teams make the playoffs even during unlucky off years.
All of your points are good and correct, but at the end of the day, they're kind of excuses that mediocre teams make. If your team is so mediocre that it relies on full seasons (rather than shortened seasons) and several good years from players, there's no chance of winning a cup.

Some of these points could apply to the 2011 Flames that missed the playoffs. Or the the 2016 Flames, etc. Or 2012 Flames. Or the 2013 Flames.

The problem is that the Flames have been unable to move beyond this level. And I believe the reason for that is largely poor asset management and a lack of good draft capital. That and poor coaching.

On the bright side, I think most realize this is pretty obvious problem now. So perhaps it can finally change soon. They do have a proven coach now.

[djsFlames]

There are good UFAs this summer. I mean not the 50/50 chance they're an albatross ones.

Move a core player to get younger and sign the *right* guys and maybe we can reload and do some damage.

To those not excited by Sutter, his first three games behind the bench were the best hockey I've seen from the Flames in years. He doesn't wimp out around making different lines when things don't work, and he's found something with the three guys on the top line. And now we're winning and scoring a lot of goals.

Smh at "I'm not excited by a 2-time cup winner behind the bench."

Tkachuk can only improve
Markstrom can only improve
Monahan with a repaired hip can only improve

Pretty sure they'll be a lock to at least be a lower playoff seed.

[Elkyiv]

Things will be the same, if not worse, if the roster is similar.

[bizaro86]

Happiness = Reality - Expectations

After this dumpster fire of a year, it seems reasonable to expect the Flames to neither win enough to matter nor lose enough to get a good pick. With expectations set properly low, reality should be able to match or exceed them even without much unexpectedly going right.

So fan happiness should be higher.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Elkyiv

Things will be the same, if not worse, if the roster is similar.

I think most are banking on some key ingredients changing.

[WhiteTiger]

Whenever you feel all hope is lost and things are looking grim. Always remember...At least our team isn't the Oilers.

[FlamesAddiction]

Shane Wright, Brad Lambert, or Matthew Savoie

That's where my hope lies.

[Oil Stain]

The Pacific Division will be a dog's breakfast so its pretty likely the Flames will be a playoff team.

[Britflamesfan]

Good grief how quickly you all forget, let’s go with the same core players yet again and have yet another go. Have you all forgotten the disappearing act the comes with this group when going gets tough! Whoopi we have just won some games where it once again does not matter, no hitting, no hard play, Jonny can skate around safe in the knowledge nobodies going to be hard on him.

Watch some of the playoff games and see what we would be up against, zero chance of winning Stanley with this group. However, you seem happy to once again make the playoffs in a rubbish conference and get hammered yet again. The goal is to win the cup not be the forever mediocre team.

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by FBI

I'm struggling to find hope/care about our crap team and I've been a diehard fan for 30+ years.. I'm now more interested in the Panthers..

Are you guys holding on to any signs that things might turn around and be fun next year? I'm wracking my brain but can't come up with much..

[Fighting Banana Slug]

It was a weird, terrible, underwhelming year, no doubt, but there is reason for some optimism. Full year of Sutter, normal year and schedule (with fans, hopefully), improving younger vets, potential bounce back year for Tkatchuk, some new blood through trade or kids graduating.

The difference between good teams and bad teams is razor thin. Everyone's recent favourite, Florida, looks really fun, but they hadn't made the playoffs or won a round in forever.

No one sets out to be mediocre, barely scraping by to make the playoffs, but the reality is that the Flames have a decent team that should make the playoffs. Those dreaming of Wright and Bedard are just that; dreamers. It would take a lottery miracle, as the team simply isn't that bad.

[Poe969]

Sutter press-conferences. That is all.

[GioforPM]

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by Scary Eloranta

Either there are some overly optimistic fans in here or some people just haven’t been watching closely. This team isn’t even remotely good and needs a total overhaul. How many years do we have to watch the same movie? Even if the divisions were still those same and we somehow got in, we’d still be destroyed in the first round. All you have to do is watch some of these games to see how far away we are from even being competitive.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This team has some good parts, namely a quality top line, a strong shut down center, a strong defensive pairing with an elite shut down defenseman in Chris Tanev and a pretty reliable goaltender. This team does have some big holes to fill, but there appears to be at the very least, a path towards a potentially very good team next season. They don’t give up much and if they can just find those extra goals that eluded them for parts of this season, then wins should occur much more often than losses.

Even though we’re not going to the playoffs, this team was very competitive against the best teams in this division which says something I think. It’s just up to management to find the right pieces that can put them over the top and in my opinion, that’s another quality scoring line. The caveat is that they can’t screw up again, this is the last bullet in the chamber. Another James Neal, Troy Brouwer, Curtis Lazar or Mason Raymond and this team is toast. Burn it to the ground at that point and go for #1 overall.

[djsFlames]

Seattle mock drafts out there have the Kraken taking Lucic.

As much as he's grown into his role that woukd be great for us and open up a lot of flexibility to do things

[SeanCharles]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Seattle mock drafts out there have the Kraken taking Lucic.

As much as he's grown into his role that woukd be great for us and open up a lot of flexibility to do things

Yea I love Looch but moving that bad contract off the books would be huge.

[djsFlames]

Then throw everything you've got at Landeskog.

That man was clutch last night with the Gordie Howe Hatty. There's your next captain if you can get him long term.

[CSharp]

I think the only hope we're gonna get is when the wheels totally fall off of this team after the generational draft pick years where the Flames don't pick up any players of significant value. Flames will still be a perennial mediocre bubble team - may or may not make the playoffs. When they do, they'll get bounced in the first round anyway. My only hope is that there is a wholesale management change and a mentality build this team not only to make the playoffs but to go as deep as possible every year. "Yeah, but we're trying to do that every year already" cliché BS with the teams that we have just doesn't cut it.