Quote:
Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden
It's not rare for good teams to go on slumps. I get the sense that this team has the ability to make an exciting run down the stretch.
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Flames have always been a 2nd half team and always play better then the 1st half. Maybe some nerd can look up to see if they've historically had a better 1st half then 2nd, but as far as I can recall half 2 is when the team usually picks it up.
Of course the pessimists think we're Oiler level right now. Some of the dumbest/worst stuff I've read this week is how these are the ''darkest time I can remember as a Flames fan'', or how BT set us back 5-7 years because he traded an assumed-to-be lottery pick for a top 4 D. Those people must have forgotten 2 seasons ago. Or 2010-2013. Or the late 90s.
Times definitely aren't dark. We have a good young core, depth at
most positions and pretty much every call up has played well. The farm team is doing well and we have a smart hard working GM who isn't afraid to make a splash. Just because he doesn't fire the head coach when CP wants doesn't mean he isn't hard at work looking to improve the team. Some people forget that it takes 2 teams to make a trade and your dealing with people's livelihoods when making these decisions. This isn't as simple as EA NHL like some people like to think.
Often credit isn't even given to the other team when they win. It's all Flames did this, Flames lack that. It's as if some people truly think that trading for a player or hiring a new coach will magically make the rest of the league forget how to win and it's an automatic fix that the Flames will start to win. There's also another team on the other side of the ice with 21+ players and coaching staff/human beings who happen to be the best at their jobs in the world too. It's actually quite strange for all fanbases, not just the Flames, how little credit is given to the opposing team when they win.
I was one of those people who was cautiously optimistic about it being a good season. I hoped for the playoffs, but I sure didn't make it an expectation like some did. Regardless of how many draft picks were traded away, this was a 5 year plan to make the team an annual playoff team and this is year 5. Like Burke says, we aren't at the sprint stage yet. I think we've finally learned to start to run though.
I think the Flames will have a much better 2nd half going into 2018 and start to fire on all cylinders. The bandwagoners will jump back on. Those who don't watch games anymore will start to tune back in. And the GG haters will slowly silence themselves after the next win streak.
For what it's worth, I've moved from a GG supporter to someone who thinks he should be replaced. But I also don't mind if he stays and sees this season through. A lot of things that need to fixed are fixable. The PK has improved. 5 on 5 we're pretty good. The defence is starting to learn how to lock game down. Fix the PP, get the top guys going again, and we'll get on a roll.