Unpopular Opinions about Flames

[Da_Chief]

Tell Treiving to sell UFAs only at the deadline.
As soon as the season ends, start from top; relieve Treiliving, all coaches, all scouting staff pro or amateur.

Hire a president. Someone from a winning organization.
President hires the new GM, someone with a good track record. No more trying to outsmart the world with experience less hires.
There are plenty of good coaches that will be available, pick one. Again none of this only interviewing one person or zeroing in on one random coach from a losing organization.

Its a small world out there, there are teams that draft well all the time, see if their second in command wants the Directors job.

Let the new GM see who he wants to keep. You just cant allow the GM to ultimately fire a fourth coach in his 6 year tenure (ultimately cant see Ward coaching this team past this year). No Bill Peters thing doesnt get a pass since there was a lot noise surrounding him before the Aliu story broke.

[Inglewood Jack]

I can’t tell the difference between this thread and the other dozen active ones about the flames anymore. We’ve pretty much reached consensus that there are a multitude of problems with the team and they’re not just one tweak away from being back in contention.

Or does anyone out there have a true unpopular opinion, e.g. that the flames are on the verge of turning things around, and will surprise us all with a first round victory?

[Hackey]

I want to believe this organization learnt from the Feaster era where chasing mediocrity only hurts you in the long run. Unfortunately I could see them chasing the 8th seed again for a couple more years until Johnny walks.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by Da_Chief

Tell Treiving to sell UFAs only at the deadline.
As soon as the season ends, start from top; relieve Treiliving, all coaches, all scouting staff pro or amateur.

Hire a president. Someone from a winning organization.
President hires the new GM, someone with a good track record. No more trying to outsmart the world with experience less hires.
There are plenty of good coaches that will be available, pick one. Again none of this only interviewing one person or zeroing in on one random coach from a losing organization.

Its a small world out there, there are teams that draft well all the time, see if their second in command wants the Directors job.

Let the new GM see who he wants to keep. You just cant allow the GM to ultimately fire a fourth coach in his 6 year tenure (ultimately cant see Ward coaching this team past this year). No Bill Peters thing doesnt get a pass since there was a lot noise surrounding him before the Aliu story broke.

They did exactly this (more/less) with Brian Burke. I suppose my unpopular opinion is that I want to let GMBT see this thing through, ideally at least until we are in the extend/trade dilemma with Lindholm.

[TheRealPepman]

Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack

Or does anyone out there have a true unpopular opinion, e.g. that the flames are on the verge of turning things around, and will surprise us all with a first round victory?

Methinks with a retooled roster, the WC2 Flames will UPSET the C1 Blues!!!

Right now? Team is very blehhh.

[TheScorpion]

My unpopular opinion is that Lucic is the team's most consistently accurate passer.

[Mr.Coffee]

You’re right that is likely to be unpopular. I think Brodie is the teams best passer.

[1qqaaz]

I don't know why people give Treliving so much credit for trades that didn't happen (Hall, Zucker, Kadri).

[BigBrodieFan]

Unpopular Opinions-

Eat Bread, Doc, and Lucic are consistently the hardest working forwards (aside from the last BOA where Lucic turned into a wus)

Tkachuk is overpaid and is incredibly inconsistent.

I liked Hartley hockey.

The biggest defensive issue is on the forwards. They don’t seem to bother with defense at all, and the 5,6 d-men are often unfairly blamed for goals due to piss poor defense and low defensive hockey IQ by our forwards- especially Gaudreau.

Gaudreau never played good defense but his numbers made up for it last year.

Gaudreau has a disadvantage due to his hockey experience as a US college player. He’s not been trained to be physical and it shows- he plays scared and he’s a whiner. His piss poor performance is the main thing that’s dragging this team’s morale down IMO.

That’s all I can think of for now.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by BigBrodieFan

Unpopular Opinions-



Eat Bread, Doc, and Lucic are consistently the hardest working forwards (aside from the last BOA where Lucic turned into a wus)



Tkachuk is overpaid and is incredibly inconsistent.



I liked Hartley hockey.



The biggest defensive issue is on the forwards. They don’t seem to bother with defense at all, and the 5,6 d-men are often unfairly blamed for goals due to piss poor defense and low defensive hockey IQ by our forwards- especially Gaudreau.



Gaudreau never played good defense but his numbers made up for it last year.



Gaudreau has a disadvantage due to his hockey experience as a US college player. He’s not been trained to be physical and it shows- he plays scared and he’s a whiner. His piss poor performance is the main thing that’s dragging this team’s morale down IMO.



That’s all I can think of for now.

The only actual unpopular opinion in here is the Tkachuk one.

[calgarygeologist]

This team reminds me a lot of the Oilers tank teams from 2010 to 2015 but without the #1 picks. I see issues with Management and poor coaching choices. Lack of leadership in the dressing room. Players not playing too their potential. Poor style management. Can't find the right players for the team through trades and free agency. Inconsistent goalies.

[Roof-Daddy]

I don't blame Treliving for the current rosters woes as much as many are starting to lately.

He knew the roster needed changes and tried to make them. It's not his fault Minny balked at the amount of retention they would shoulder in the Zucker deal, and it's not his fault Kadri wouldn't waive his NTC to come to Calgary.

It takes two parties to make a deal, and in some cases apparently, it takes 3 or even 4.

I also don't recall any other top 6 centers being traded since the Kadri deal was cratered. He was also in on Hall with a fair and enticing offer, but ultimately NJ chose the AZ offer. While I want him to improve the roster long term, I don't want him to get bent over in trades either.

It's also hard to fault Treliving for Gaudreau's pitiful performance this season. Whatever is happening there certainly can't be laid at the feet of the GM.

Basically what I'm saying is, while Treliving isn't perfect, I'm not ready for him to be fired because of this dismal season, and that seems like it's starting to become an unpopular opinion.

[Hackey]

Other than his UFA signings I've been happy. This off season will be telling though. Does he have a pulse on what this team needs to do or not? I dont entirely fault him for giving the group another chance. They finished 1st in the West last year. I think now it's obvious that they are closer to the team after the Allstar break than before. This off season is kind of make or break in my eyes.

[powderjunkie]

I think a key thing to remember is that most GMs have several blunders on their resumes. Cup winners seem to have the fewest, but that may just be because they are given a pass by default, or that their teams are simply good enough to mitigate the blunders.


I think GMBT has the best chance of anyone to persuade ownership to take mid-term re-tool approach that has the greatest chance at a cup. Whether that is BT's opinion is not yet certain, but if/when it is, he is among the rare breed that might be able to say "forget about the playoffs this year; we need to go all in on 2022." Whether or not that would work is another question.

[skcli]

My unpopular opinion about the Flames is the beers are too expensive at the dome. They should offer free beers to all ticket holders in the following game if the Flames lose a game and double that if the team lose two in a row...etc

[Strange Brew]

I'm not buying that US college hockey experience is a disadvantage for future NHLers. I'll admit though it's something I hadn't thought of before.

[The Familia]

I swear to God I just had a dream last night where the Flames owners were granted permission to sell the team under the cover of night and sold them to a group in Indianapolis. It was headline news and everyone was pissed that Bettman allowed this to happen he did everything In his power to help keep teams like Phoenix and Florida from moving. Then it was announced that a new group was going to bring the 32nd expansion team back to Calgary.....

When I woke up I was actually hoping this was true....

[DazzlinDino]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

This team reminds me a lot of the Oilers tank teams from 2010 to 2015 but without the #1 picks. I see issues with Management and poor coaching choices. Lack of leadership in the dressing room. Players not playing too their potential. Poor style management. Can't find the right players for the team through trades and free agency. Inconsistent goalies.

It is a very interesting point of view. Like they didn't really have a plan when they put the team together. It's an unpopular opinion, but interesting. We need to draft a high end player for that top line.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

I don't blame Treliving for the current rosters woes as much as many are starting to lately.

He knew the roster needed changes and tried to make them. It's not his fault Minny balked at the amount of retention they would shoulder in the Zucker deal, and it's not his fault Kadri wouldn't waive his NTC to come to Calgary.

It takes two parties to make a deal, and in some cases apparently, it takes 3 or even 4.

I also don't recall any other top 6 centers being traded since the Kadri deal was cratered. He was also in on Hall with a fair and enticing offer, but ultimately NJ chose the AZ offer. While I want him to improve the roster long term, I don't want him to get bent over in trades either.

It's also hard to fault Treliving for Gaudreau's pitiful performance this season. Whatever is happening there certainly can't be laid at the feet of the GM.

Basically what I'm saying is, while Treliving isn't perfect, I'm not ready for him to be fired because of this dismal season, and that seems like it's starting to become an unpopular opinion.

Find another small skilled player left as unprotected as Gaudreau.

After Gaudreau worked out the Flames filled the roster with small skilled players like Gaudreau..... Czarnik, Mangiapane, Rieder Ryan...Pelltier Phillips.


If Gaudreau gets traded to a non-soft team that he can have other players backing up his smack talk he will again be a top 10 player in the league.

If Patrick Kane moved from the Hawks to the Flames for Gaudreau Gaudreau would improve and Kane would fall off.

[BigBrodieFan]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

I'm not buying that US college hockey experience is a disadvantage for future NHLers. I'll admit though it's something I hadn't thought of before.

Ironically, pro NCAA sports writers often use Johnny Hockey as their prime example as to why D1/NCAA hockey is supposedly just as good as AHL/OHL..

😐