For the fan.

[Mony]

Hello guys,

I know this is going to be a very emotionally volatile place for the next little while, perhaps even over the summer if it indeed does end early for us. I know we are all angry, livid, frustrated, upset, empty, let down, disappointed, and sad. Me personally, I have never been this sad about a game before. (Missed '04 because I was only 8 years old at the time, started watching the Flames again in 2013-14)

Yes, the NHL is a deeply flawed league. Flames are facing some major adversity - from outside sources, but also within themselves. I know maybe some of you will not even want to hear this from me right now, but I implore you to criticize this team when it matters, but also feel the pain no matter how much it hurts (sports will always be emotional, you will feel the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, and the reality is you will come up and down time and time again). This is one of the downtimes but I truly, honestly, see a team on the rise even with the way this series has played out. Even with the questions that now surround our young team.

We love the Flames here. I know it's painful (and I'm sure many of you have experienced more pain than me being fans longer than I), but remember that you stick by this team no matter what. The C of Red is something special and I may not post often but I feel like I belong here. For Stay Golden and every other person who has had a rough time the past few years and found a refuge in the C of Red. For all the times I felt very sad, and considered ending my life but if I died I would never watch Flames hockey ever again, and that is as heartbreaking as a loss like this.

Win or lose, swept or Finals, please stand by our boys.
Maybe the positivity is out of place, but I sincerely hope you all sleep well and we can let this one go in time.

And as always, Go Flames go!!!

[icecube]

I still believe in the young core of this team. Good things in store in the future.

As for the present, I also still think they can make this an interesting series. Gut check time now. Elliott's future with the Flames is on the line now.

[Mony]

Originally Posted by icecube

I still believe in the young core of this team. Good things in store in the future.

As for the present, I also still think they can make this an interesting series. Gut check time now. Elliott's future with the Flames is on the line now.

Absolutely correct, would agree with all of this.

Even if we clean out our lockers earlier than expected, have to have the faith. We're emotional because we are passionate, and it is better to be passionate about your team and love 'em even when they're kicking you in the ####\#####, depending on what you have.

You won't ever see a sports team have my heart the way the Calgary Flames do, I am here for life.

[flylock shox]

At the end of the day, it's a bunch of millionaires playing a kid's game. It means nothing. If you don't like your bunch of millionaires, cheer for another bunch, or put your time and mental energy into something else entirely.

[smiggy77]

Breath of fresh air to have some positivity.

In all honesty, The Ducks are a good team. With that, a little bit of puck luck and maybe a little more focus by Elliott, Games 2 and 3 would have been ours. We dominated and shown progressions in certain areas where we were weaker in Game 1 and early Game 2 (PP, Faceoffs, intensity, etc). While I haven't looked into it, I'd assume our possession numbers are much better than the ducks as well.

3-0 is a tough battle to come back from but if we just get some bounces going our way and Elliott standing on his head similarly to when he did during the infamous win streak of 2017, we'll really give the Ducks a run of their money.

Let's do this. Let's get win 1 of 4 starting Wednesday!!

Go Flames Go.

[Isikiz]

Thanks for the positivity. It's a really difficult read going through the PGTs after these heartbreaking losses. On the (kinda) plus side, the Flames have been a streaky team all season. Here's hoping another one of those streaks starts on Wednesday!

I'm still a Flames fan.

[old-fart]

Team is garbage with no heart and are pretenders. Don't deserve to win a single game in the playoffs.

[bax]

It's tough. The Flames have arguably been the better team in this series and yet here we sit down by 3 games. At the very worst this will be a good learning experience for the young guys.

I don't think this series is over. It's unlikely we will come back to win, but I don't think the flames will roll over. Let's hope we get some bounces and get on a roll here. Go flames go

[Mony]

Originally Posted by smiggy77

Breath of fresh air to have some positivity.

In all honesty, The Ducks are a good team. With that, a little bit of puck luck and maybe a little more focus by Elliott, Games 2 and 3 would have been ours. We dominated and shown progressions in certain areas where we were weaker in Game 1 and early Game 2 (PP, Faceoffs, intensity, etc). While I haven't looked into it, I'd assume our possession numbers are much better than the ducks as well.

3-0 is a tough battle to come back from but if we just get some bounces going our way and Elliott standing on his head similarly to when he did during the infamous win streak of 2017, we'll really give the Ducks a run of their money.

Let's do this. Let's get win 1 of 4 starting Wednesday!!

Go Flames Go.

Thanks! Nothing is impossible in sports. Try telling the 2013-14 LA Kings they should've just thrown in the towel after going down 3-0 versus the Sharks. They'll just point to their Cup ring please and thanks.

Irregardless of the final result, I believe adversity is what makes championship teams. And who better to teach the Calgary Flames true adversity than the Anaheim Ducks? The team is mentally fragile but it will teach them how to be strong and resilient. The NHL is a hard league to win in, draw a learning experience from this and become mentally solid. Hockey is 50% actual hockey and 50% mental fortitude.

[vanisleflamesfan]

Originally Posted by Mony

Me personally, I have never been this sad about a game before. (Missed '04 because I was only 8 years old at the time, started watching the Flames again in 2013-14)

Yeah... What you say probably comes from the heart and I guess I can respect that. But some of us have been Flames fans for much, much longer. And we are sick of having to get used to having our hearts broken. Some of us were alive and cheering during the '86 heartbreak and the '89 triumph. And so while we do appreciate your opinion, some of us cannot be placated by the 'words of wisdom' coming from a person who is not old enough to remember seeing Gretzky in real life.

The Flames have been breaking our hearts for decades and some of us are not too keen on being lectured by people who still feel that Justin Beiber is a "good musician".

Having our hearts broken by the Flames, and being embarrassed to admit to our friends that we are Flames Fans, is part of our DNA and while we might welcome you into the fold, we will do it with skeptical eyes, not open arms.

[aaron5425]

Appreciated this thread. I'll be at Game 4, cheering our team on as always. Maybe the drop in cost on resale market will allow fans to attend who would otherwise not have a chance to go to a playoff game.

Like everyone else, the last two games have been tough to swallow. But at the end of the day, we're flames fans. For the last decade we watched the OOT scoreboard hoping to limp in on the misfortunes of a rival. I know I'm not the only one who is holding out hope that we win four in a row. Who knows, anything can happen, right?

[Flamescuprun2018]

Thanks for this thread. I feel a bit better. Just trying to wind down after the most emotionally draining game I have watched first hand at the Dome in many years.

This series nor this game has changed how I feel about the future for the Flames. It must be some right of passage thing that we face a ridiculous amount of adversity this playoff and season so in the future we have the mental fortitude to cope and flourish when we are truly ready to challenge for a Cup.

I always like to take the learnings from adversity and try and find the silver lining.

For me it is obvious that Elliott is not the answer to our goaltending, lets spare losing a 4th round draft pick and let him walk. Tonites game is deal breaker for me on Elliott. Too inconsistent to be relied on especially at his stage of career. Time to move on and find another short term solution until one of Rittich/Gillies/Parsons emerges as an elite 1 goalie. My money is on Parsons and sooner than we all think. He is a gamer!

Just think of all the puck luck we have banked from this year for next year and all the ref calls that suddenly start going our way. Ridiculously bad coaches challenge/video review luck this year. We must be batting 10%.

Looking forward to next season already. The Flames are going to be hungry from game 1 after the bitter taste this series will give them all summer long.

[aaron5425]

Originally Posted by vanisleflamesfan

The Flames have been breaking our hearts for decades and some of us are not too keen on being lectured by people who still feel that Justin Beiber is a "good musician".

Being a Flames fan has nothing to do with age, whether you were around for our cup win, if you own seats or watch from the otherside of the world at 5am. We're all fans in our own way. OP wasn't lecturing anyone, he's pissed off like the rest of us, but the fact he wasn't alive in 89 is not a metric to criticize him by.

He's a Flames fan, like the rest of us, and that's all that matters.

[vanisleflamesfan]

Originally Posted by aaron5425

Being a Flames fan has nothing to do with age, whether you were around for our cup win, if you own seats or watch from the otherside of the world at 5am. We're all fans in our own way. OP was lecturing anyone, he's pissed off like the rest of us, but the fact he wasn't alive in 89 is not a metric to criticize him by.

He's a Flames fan, like the rest of us, and that's all that matters.

It actually does matter. It actually does matter if he has lived through the years of disappointment. If you want to lecture fans on staying true to the team, it actually does matter what your frame of reference is. Someone who started cheering in 2014 can't readily lecture a fan who has been there for 3 decades of heartbreak before that. It actually does matter. I'm sorry that being young doesn't qualify you for everything in the world but being young doesn't qualify you for lecturing to Calgary Flames fans about disappointment.

[MBates]

Originally Posted by flylock shox

At the end of the day, it's a bunch of millionaires playing a kid's game. It means nothing. If you don't like your bunch of millionaires, cheer for another bunch, or put your time and mental energy into something else entirely.

Kid literally opens the thread noting that cheering the Flames and belonging to the CP community help him or her battle through suicidal thoughts and provide refuge for others battling through loss of family members etc. and you come back with 'it means nothing.'

Maybe to you, but otherwise you are clearly wrong. And even if you were right, sometimes you can just keep thoughts to yourself.

For me, I have found an amazing way to have a genuine shared interest with my kids and my wife has joined in too. It might be cliche but for our family it is real. No matter how good or bad they are playing, we sit around together as a family in our jerseys and watch the games.

Mony, in my opinion, being positive is never out of place as a fan of pro sports. If losses like tonight and mistakes by young players and bad calls by refs make people rage and hate-filled then they should find something they actually enjoy and go do that.

Scream at the TV during the games...I do often. But if you can't let it go after the game is over and hope for a better result next game then you are doing being a fan wrong as far as I am concerned.

I appreciate the thread. I am typing this as I sit in a hotel room in Edmonton, wearing my flames sweater, and taking a break from reading transcripts of a trial of a horrible crime. A little perspective goes along way. Nothing that happened on the ice tonight is worth being furious and destroyed over.

Go Flames Go!

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by vanisleflamesfan

It actually does matter. It actually does matter if he has lived through the years of disappointment. If you want to lecture fans on staying true to the team, it actually does matter what your frame of reference is. Someone who started cheering in 2014 can't readily lecture a fan who has been there for 3 decades of heartbreak before that. It actually does matter. I'm sorry that being young doesn't qualify you for everything in the world but being young doesn't qualify you for lecturing to Calgary Flames fans about disappointment.

You're wrong, I need you to know this.

It isn't a secret that I'm pretty young, that I'm still in high school (class of 2018!) and that I've only been following the Flames since 2008.

Yes, yes, three decades of heartbreak. Yes, yes, yes, that's all very nice. Quick question: if you've been following the Flames since their inception in 1972, or even since they moved here in 1980, does that mean that nobody else knows more about the Flames than you do? Of course not.

I like to consider myself a very knowledgeable fan. I could list off scoring statistics for most every Flame dating back to 1988. I recognize that I wasn't there to witness the heartbreak of '86 or '04, nor was I able to see '88 in person. That makes me less of a fan?

As if you can say what makes a better fan. Do you not respect the opinion of media members who are younger than you, who have access to information you might not? If I joined Sportsnet tomorrow and published an article telling you not to be discouraged by this loss, not to be heartbroken, you'd judge it not based on its actual content, but by my age?

I'd like to inform you that I've been a Flames fan in one of their most depressing periods in history. They've made the playoffs in three out of the nine seasons I've been following them, finishing in the bottom six three times. Then, they claw back to the playoffs, and they get destroyed by a team who I've literally never seen them beat at home, and have seldom seem them beat at all. But I'm not a worthy enough fan to describe heartbreak because I'm a ####ing teenager?

Also, I hate Justin Bieber.

[MBates]

Originally Posted by vanisleflamesfan

It actually does matter. It actually does matter if he has lived through the years of disappointment. If you want to lecture fans on staying true to the team, it actually does matter what your frame of reference is. Someone who started cheering in 2014 can't readily lecture a fan who has been there for 3 decades of heartbreak before that. It actually does matter. I'm sorry that being young doesn't qualify you for everything in the world but being young doesn't qualify you for lecturing to Calgary Flames fans about disappointment.

It was a well-intended plea not a lecture (by a person who specifically noted they had not been personally around to experience much of what longer-term fans have). It actually does matter...

Win or lose, swept or Finals, please stand by our boys.

With the 100 year anniversary of Vimy Ridge having just passed, it was remarkable to me to note how almost all of the family members said how their grandparents / parents / uncles etc. who returned from WWI virtually never spoke about it. They just carried the burden entirely inside.

You are a grizzled veteran Flames fan carrying '3 decades of heartbreak' who at any time could have just chosen not to experience it.

Good grief...the gall of a young person to ask for people to be positive and not let an entertainment choice destroy your happiness in life.

[robaur]

why dont u spend 10 grand a season on the team and then get treated to that garbage.

so FFS....let ppl be pissed. please. its not wrong.

i like how teenagers who have no real dollars spent have a right to speak from such a high horse. please save it for the offseason. not tonight.

[robaur]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

You're wrong, I need you to know this.

It isn't a secret that I'm pretty young, that I'm still in high school (class of 2018!) and that I've only been following the Flames since 2008.

Yes, yes, three decades of heartbreak. Yes, yes, yes, that's all very nice. Quick question: if you've been following the Flames since their inception in 1972, or even since they moved here in 1980, does that mean that nobody else knows more about the Flames than you do? Of course not.

I like to consider myself a very knowledgeable fan. I could list off scoring statistics for most every Flame dating back to 1988. I recognize that I wasn't there to witness the heartbreak of '86 or '04, nor was I able to see '88 in person. That makes me less of a fan?

As if you can say what makes a better fan. Do you not respect the opinion of media members who are younger than you, who have access to information you might not? If I joined Sportsnet tomorrow and published an article telling you not to be discouraged by this loss, not to be heartbroken, you'd judge it not based on its actual content, but by my age?

I'd like to inform you that I've been a Flames fan in one of their most depressing periods in history. They've made the playoffs in three out of the nine seasons I've been following them, finishing in the bottom six three times. Then, they claw back to the playoffs, and they get destroyed by a team who I've literally never seen them beat at home, and have seldom seem them beat at all. But I'm not a worthy enough fan to describe heartbreak because I'm a ####ing teenager?

Also, I hate Justin Bieber.

holy ####. shut up.

[Mony]

Originally Posted by robaur

why dont u spend 10 grand a season on the team and then get treated to that garbage.

so FFS....let ppl be pissed. please. its not wrong.

Lol I never said you couldn't be pissed, friend. I said feel your emotions no matter what they are. If that includes feeling pissed, then fine.

I understand your frustration even if we have spent different amounts on this team this year. Hurts just as much for me as it does for you believe it or not. But this place already has 900 threads right now discussing where we have faltered, and I'm not going to get into debates about who or what or where - we have enough threads for that.

Consider this thread if you want a break from the draining negativity, and if my viewpoint isn't productive to you as a fan, you may disregard it altogether if you so choose.

PS to mods - I also don't mind if you eventually lock the thread. Fans understandably frustrated and combative. My message was sent to the C of Red in the best way I could. If you feel this thread will eventually become another heated place then feel free to do as you wish.