My thoughts the end . . . maybe

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by TheSutterDynasty

This board is so melodramatic. The post game threads after a loss are a micro chasm of it and it's full blown right now.

I'll be there at the season opener, and I will watch every game, as usual.

The Flames are my team and I will cheer for them regardless. It may be 1 year or it may be 40 but they'll win it all again. And I can say I've been there the whole time.

A lot of people on this board could go on about how long they have and will support the team. It's irrelevant.

If it makes you feel like some sort of superior fan, great. At the end of the day some people want the team they support to, you know, actually win. This team just got blown out of the water in the playoffs and looked terrible. There is reason for melodrama.

But congrats, hopefully your top tier fan card is in the mail.

[habernac]

It's a tough league. One of the reasons they had a tough time is that the end of the season was meaningless. They had nothing to play for. The Avs were pedal to the metal and ready for the playoff grind. Same thing happened in Tampa.

So how do you balance the regular season and playoffs so you don't come in flat? Truth be told, they were flat for quite some time, but continued to get bounces, wins, decent goaltending. Then the bounces stopped.

Still crazy to me that the guy with the biggest question mark was by far the Flames best player in the playoffs. Mike Smith was ready to play.

[flamesfever]

i think the experience factor played a major part in our defeat, both from the coach and many of the players. The team seemed to have what it took, and were even physical, in the first game, but thereafter were outplayed most of the time. It seemed to me the chemistry may have been upset by too many line changes, attempts to get Neal going by playing him far too much, and a weakness on both the pp and pk were part of our problems. I also thought we should have showed much more disdain for the refereeing...Johnny was man handled and abused much of the time with no penalties. Perhaps a video or two, sent to the league, could have stopped some of it.

I think before we risk ruining our team, by trading players that have contributed most to our success, we should carefully assess where the blame for our defeat resides.

[wired]

I really hope that there are changes to the Flames top 6. I wont go on record and say trade the whole top line, as not all should go, or any for that matter.
Even if its just juggling the lines semi permanent, as what is in place right now, is not working.
MT, wont get the payday he is looking for, not after this post season. I see a bridge deal coming.

[TheSutterDynasty]

Originally Posted by Igottago

A lot of people on this board could go on about how long they have and will support the team. It's irrelevant.

If it makes you feel like some sort of superior fan, great. At the end of the day some people want the team they support to, you know, actually win. This team just got blown out of the water in the playoffs and looked terrible. There is reason for melodrama.

But congrats, hopefully your top tier fan card is in the mail.

It's not a fan thing. I think it's a personality thing.

Go read some past post game threads. We won the Western conference, yet we lose one game and half this board talks about trading our top players.

One early playoff exit is not the end. Just like one loss over a season in minimal, an early playoff exit in the scheme of this team is minimal. Next year is another chance.

Should Tampa blow up the team? The Jets? Pittsburgh trade Crosby? One season is meaningless. It happens.

Fans here need to sack up, take the loss for what it is, and move on. A due process should be completed to make sure the best team and staff is in place but it's likely a tinker job and definitely not a blow up.

[taxbuster]

Sigh.

That's pretty much all I can do.

Right now my comment when asked is "&$%@*#$ Flames".

I'm pretty sure that in October, when the season swings around again I'll be watching in hopeful anticipation that "this year will be better". I might be sighing again at the end of the year and saying &$%@*#$ Flames" though.

[Northendzone]

here is my $0.02 on this topic.

1. in my mind all teams start with a 1 in 31/32 change of winning the cup
2. the best team increase their odds to what 1 in 3 to 6 or so by having a good combination of players & coaches
3. the worst teams decrease their chances by poor trades, salary dumps, poor coaching etc to 1 in 100 or more

then you throw in some pure luck of not having key guys sustain long injuries, a shot at an open net that hits the post, a blind shot that pinballs in, a penalty call that is missed, a questionable penalty that is called etc and you really start to realize how hard it is to win the cup.

potentially the cup winner could play 28 games and they need to win 16 times - that is .57 hockey. If you played at that pace in the regular season that is like 47 wins and you might make the playoffs

in some ways i consider myself lucky in that i was a flames fan living in calgary in 2004. the atmosphere around the city was great, and when the flames lost, you knew that there was another game in a day or two. it was a fun 2 months and statistically, it would seem that it would be hard to see that kind of run happen again