How's your flames passion level?

[wired]

Wow, is this the Oilers board?

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by wired

Wow, is this the Oilers board?

If this was the Oiler board we would be lapping up everything the club tells us and thinking that our players were infallible. The fact that we are questioning the direction of the club puts us up the food chain from Oiler fans.

[Looch City]

Originally Posted by New Era

If this was the Oiler board we would be lapping up everything the club tells us and thinking that our players were infallible. The fact that we are questioning the direction of the club puts us up the food chain from Oiler fans.

Yeah but we are visually better this year.

[terminator]

Originally Posted by Iggy City

Yeah but we are visually better this year.

Haha.

My intellectual honesty dictates that we are visually better this year.

#endplagiarism

[heep223]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

The speed hurts the game. Anyone here, you try doing anything around the house at full speed and see how that goes. odd man rushes on full speed and on bad ice are a disaster.

The NHL forgot that when they got rid of clutching and grabbing, the offensive player clutches and grabs too. You guys have played hockey so you understand. Puck gets dumped in and there's a race. The forward will grab the defender and ride him responsibly into the boards and then there's a puck battle. Nowadays the forward has to allow the defender to get to the puck then at full speed can either drill him (and most likely get penalized) or peel away and let the defender pass the puck out. There is no battle, there is no possibility of a turnover. No offense.

The quick faceoff, no line changes after icings, removing the red line. These all hurt offense.

I disagree with all of this and am wondering if you're joking? Removing the red line really opened up the game. Remember the days of a whistle every two seconds because of two line passes...shudder. The clutch and grab era was horrible to watch, fat d-men water skied behind everyone and just sucked the life out of the play. Which is what you're describing.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by heep223

I disagree with all of this and am wondering if you're joking? Removing the red line really opened up the game. Remember the days of a whistle every two seconds because of two line passes...shudder. The clutch and grab era was horrible to watch, fat d-men water skied behind everyone and just sucked the life out of the play. Which is what you're describing.

Opened up the game for what? Players can't even cleanly receive a long pass 3/4 of the time and just tip it into the zone then either chase it or go for a line change.

Yes from 2000-2004 the grabbing did get out of hand but they just had to adjust it back to 90s levels and actually call penalties. Not go all out and make the game non-contact. There were not constant whistles for two line passes cause players didn't try it. They had to actually slow down and work the puck into the opponents zone, unlike now where it's just a dump-in then cycle cycle cycle. And there's nothing wrong with fat d-man water skiing and taking the man out of the play (see Regher). And there's nothing wrong with whistles anyways. Get the star players back on the ice after a break or two.

[Flash Walken]

I'm still passionate about the franchise but the games are difficult to watch because they are so boring or even worse, boring and terrible.

I"ve turned off several games this year midway or partially through the second or third period because of how boring the product is on the ice.

[zukes]

I haven't missed a game, or turned one off. I still record games that I am going to be out for and cut myself off from the internet until I can watch when I get home.

That being said, I am not as excited to watch them. It's hard to get up for games when they are becoming less and less meaningful.

What we need is a 9-3 December. That would put them back in the conversation and games would then be exciting.

When any positivity is followed by two losses, it's hard to get any excitement going.

[SofaProfessor]

I still watch the games. Still cheer for the goals for and curse the goals against. But I just don't feel as excited as I did the two seasons previous. Even when the boys ended up 4th from the very bottom it was fun to watch them. They competed hard and a ton of those losses were exciting one goal games. Last season may have spoiled us a bit. This season is just boring and uninspiring. How can I get excited for the game when it looks like half the guys on the ice can't wait for it to end either?

[Bingo]

I'm similar to Vinny01 ...

First off I have to stay somewhat engaged having to write 70 or so game stories or I'll go Shining on my family with an axe.

But I do see the difference between a young roster that isn't getting it done, and an older one (2009-2013) that missed every year without change despite hockey fans knowing it's never going to happen.

One scenario is bleak with a light at the end of the tunnel, the other bleak with a brick wall at the end of the tunnel.

Watching a few moments in the past few games where the entire young core is marched out for a powerplay is exciting because you can see the pieces.

I keep going back to timing and how they were ahead of schedule, and that being ahead could have them doing silly things this season with Hudler, Wideman, Jones and Russell. Instead now with a brutal record the silly contracts shouldn't be signed and at some point some asset stocking will occur. Nothing would worry me more than a 4 year Hudler contract at $22M or something.

Watching the games I'm still intrigued by the young players and how they're developing so I'm not that frustrated. I can't cheer for losses, but I find the 29th overall spot at least gets me interested in the deadline and June on days between games.

[polak]

This is the only place where "puck battles" are glorified and referred to as what's missing in hockey.

Yeah, it's SUPER exciting watching players huddled around one spot on the boards, kicking, grabbing and pulling at each other for 20 seconds. That's the pinnacle of hockey...

The '05 lockout rule changes were awesome. No red line, touch up offside, no shooting the puck over the boards and obviously taking out clutching and grabbing all made the game better.

Some of you must be having "back in my day" syndrome.

(I can't comment on the state of the game before the '00s, however)

[cannon7]

The 1996-2005 era, which really started with the Florida Panthers cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Finals really made hockey hard to watch most games. Especially for a team with as little skill as the Flames had for most of that time. The current Flames roster, for all its flaws, still has a lot more skill and potential than the Flames of the clutch -and-grab era.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by polak

This is the only place where "puck battles" are glorified and referred to as what's missing in hockey.

Yeah, it's SUPER exciting watching players huddled around one spot on the boards, kicking, grabbing and pulling at each other for 20 seconds. That's the pinnacle of hockey...

The '05 lockout rule changes were awesome. No red line, touch up offside, no shooting the puck over the boards and obviously taking out clutching and grabbing all made the game better.

Some of you must be having "back in my day" syndrome.

(I can't comment on the state of the game before the '00s, however)

Actually back in the day when the puck got tied up along the boards the ref would just blow the whistle and there would be a faceoff. None of this 'move it move it!" stuff.

I'm not a back in the day person. I would support the right changes to make the game better. I'm one of the few that would support full 4-on-4 for 60 minutes, or maybe 50 minutes.

But it either has the be the old way or a radical new way. The half-pregnant way they have now is silly. The loser point is the culprit of everything. They need to go to W-L. I don't care how they decide the game, 3-on-3, shootouts, two goons fight it out at center, it doesn't matter, it needs to be W-L. Could you imagine if in baseball each team got a point if tied after 9 innings?

[Street Pharmacist]

I have yet to hear a compelling argument for dropping the current point system. The more teams in the fight the better for the league, so how does having the race over in January help anyone??

[saillias]

Originally Posted by polak

This is the only place where "puck battles" are glorified and referred to as what's missing in hockey.

Yeah, it's SUPER exciting watching players huddled around one spot on the boards, kicking, grabbing and pulling at each other for 20 seconds. That's the pinnacle of hockey...

The '05 lockout rule changes were awesome. No red line, touch up offside, no shooting the puck over the boards and obviously taking out clutching and grabbing all made the game better.

Some of you must be having "back in my day" syndrome.

(I can't comment on the state of the game before the '00s, however)

It was pure crap btw.

I mean unless you really liked the Red Wings

And if we're having a discussion about the modern state of the game, the hockey right now is not the most entertaining. I feel like hockey peaked for entertainment back in 06-09. An NHL game is very mechanical, very systems oriented, a circling, possession chess match. The narrative around the league right now is "wow the speed of the game!" Players are not faster, it's a crock. It's just the best way to score goals now, run around in circles until the other team is tired, goal.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

I have yet to hear a compelling argument for dropping the current point system. The more teams in the fight the better for the league, so how does having the race over in January help anyone??

The race needs to be over in January for the benefit of the team themselves. The league needs to have really good teams and really bad teams which cycle over 5 year periods, unless they mismanage. Today we reach the trade deadline and almost all teams can't figure out where they are.

So in the regular season all the games are blah as teams shut it down to try and tie 1-1 and get at least 1 point. Why does anyone watch hockey in October when all teams are going to be bunched up in February anyways?

NFL, MLB, NBA. The standings matter from day 1.

[irrevocable]

Love for the team: High.

Passion? ..well: It's low.

I love this team and have watched regularly for the past 7-8 seasons. I hate seeing the names we have on the team, yet, a good majority of this season have been crap efforts or blown opportunities. It hurts, it's frustrating, and yeah.. it kinda puts you in a bad mind state.

We all love this team. It just really sucks seeing us at the bottom of the league. Not fighting for the perpetual 9-10 spot.. but actually sucking so bad we're right at the damned bottom.

Makes zero sense, Jack Adams coach.. skilled forwards, some supposed depth, and a blueline that was supposed to be one of the best in the league on paper.

Uhhhgg. This season needs to end.

[Coach]

A strong "meh" for me right now. Last year was a bonus, still a ways to go before consistency becomes a trait on this team.

Still love the team, just not going out of my way to watch games. Last year you would watch the whole game regardless of the score, because the games were always exciting and you knew the Flames would make it interesting no matter the score. This year feels more like the dog-days of Iggy & Friends.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

The race needs to be over in January for the benefit of the team themselves. The league needs to have really good teams and really bad teams which cycle over 5 year periods, unless they mismanage. Today we reach the trade deadline and almost all teams can't figure out where they are.

So in the regular season all the games are blah as teams shut it down to try and tie 1-1 and get at least 1 point. Why does anyone watch hockey in October when all teams are going to be bunched up in February anyways?

NFL, MLB, NBA. The standings matter from day 1.

If half the league is eliminated by January you end up with a bunch of teams trying to out-tank the others for best draft odds like the NBA. That's terrible for the league and fans as meaningful games in February and March make for much better entertainment than watching teams go through the motions of playing out their schedule.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by saillias

Players are not faster, it's a crock.

Iginla described it recently:

"People like to say the game is way faster now, too. I, personally, think it’s consistently quicker, but I don’t think the top end of the game is faster," he said. "When you look at Paul Kariya and Pavel Bure and Teemu Selanne and Joe Sakic, well, the difference now is that the fourth lines are faster. So they are faster than the old fourth lines.

"I don’t think today’s best guys are any faster than them (Ovechkin, Crosby), it’s just that everybody’s flying now. The pace of the game is just more consistent now. Everyone backchecks. The high end, that doesn’t feel any faster to me. At least not since they took out the red line. It did get quicker then.

"And the lack of hold-ups, since they made that change, the game’s been pretty much the same since then. But we used to hold everyone up. Then it was about slowing everyone down.

"Now it’s all skating."

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