The Calgary Flames Excellent Season

[aqua59]

Loathing Calgary almost as much as Edmonton I am over joyed at how Calgary flopped. 

 

I thought Calgary was going to be a flop last year because they were too old and Sutter was the coach. Once again I was wrong .Calgary had an awesome regular season.

So with last seasons off seasons changes I thought they'd be good again. $hit, twice wrong, they were the $hits this season. That part I really like.

 

An interesting stat from this season shows Vancouver and Calgary tied for wins at 38 each. Calgary had a whopping 17 OTL.

 

All that attention on Vancouver over their horrible start covered up the disaster in the making in Calgary.

 

I'd argue the picture in Vancouver is more encouraging right now, since management and coaching changes have been made over the past year and a half. 

 

Calgary has yet to experience the change. Calgary needs to be overhauled asap. 

 

I never minded Tanev and Marky heading to Calgary, I thought they were getting too old and that seems to be playing out. 

 

Canucks fans should hope that ownership in Calgary cleans house and hires Jim Benning, they seem to like hiring retreads as in Sutter.

 

If Vancouver doesn't win the lottery it would be an emotional win if Calgary hired Jim Benning to run the show in Calgary. Wouldn't that be sweet?

Edited April 14, 2023 by aqua59

[Kevin Biestra]

I thought Calgary actually did a pretty good job in replacing stars that bailed on them in the offseason.  It didn't result in the playoffs - almost did - but I can't really fault the attempt.  Canucks fans would want the same thing done if Elias bolted at the first chance in free agency.  Canucks fans wouldn't complain if the Canucks then signed Jason Robertson or another 100 point player almost immediately.

 

Anyway, I liked Darryl Sutter a lot as a player.  He was an EXTREMELY clutch playoff performer and for all we know would have been a Hall of Famer if he hadn't run into injury problems immediately after his rookie year and almost every year thereafter until he was done before age 30.  He's a grouch but he has earned the right to be and is a guy like Tocchet who doesn't ask anyone to do anything he didn't do - who can't ask anyone to do anything he didn't do because he did it all.

 

That said...yeah Calgary has an aging team and had a Pittsburgh Penguins kind of year.  I guess they might be wise to start selling off like the post-1994 Flames and doing so without having achieved their successes...but it's not like the Canucks have anything to show themselves for the last 10 years.  Though youth is now on our side...for a little while anyway.

[DrJockitch]

Markstrom was a talent that took a long time for Ian Clark to straighten out and I figured the longer he was away from him the worse Mark would get. 
This year the old Markstrom came back, king of the Yipps. Letting in the early goal again and again, we all remember that. 
I am not surprised Huberdeau struggled but surprised he was as bad as he was, I thought Kadri and Sutter would have been a great match.

‘Not sad to see them struggle. They are in tough spot, all the big long contracts they signed in the summer had bad years, not uncommon after signing retirement deals.

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by DrJockitch

[-AJ-]

It's hard for me not to think that Markstrom was a huge reason for their failure. Some disappointments on the offensive side like Huberdeau were also problems though.

[Warhippy]

No matter what happens in Calgary.

 

I can take solace knowing it was essentially the last game for them against Vancouver that sealed their playoff chances.

 

Good job boys.  

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

The whole fanbase of any franchise would start a legit riot if they hired Jim Benning.

 

I think more than any other team, Calgary is the best candidate for a re-tool this summer.  They are a team that should focus on building a winning core now, without making any rash decisions with their draft picks.

[Kragar]

Yeah, if Huberdon't and the POS Kadri can't find their stride after being around for training camp and having more time to get acclimated to the cowpie smell (or is that the black mold in the Saddledome?), it should be a looooong season for them next year.

 

Delicious!

[Ghostsof1915]

Flames tend to burn out.

[Canucks Curse]

no 11 pick for Rasmussen Andersson and a 2nd 

do it 

[Citizen Erased]

4 hours ago, aqua59 said:

Loathing Calgary almost as much as Edmonton I am over joyed at how Calgary flopped. 

 

I thought Calgary was going to be a flop last year because they were too old and Sutter was the coach. Once again I was wrong .Calgary had an awesome regular season.

So with last seasons off seasons changes I thought they'd be good again. $hit, twice wrong, they were the $hits this season. That part I really like.

 

An interesting stat from this season shows Vancouver and Calgary tied for wins at 38 each. Calgary had a whopping 17 OTL.

 

All that attention on Vancouver over their horrible start covered up the disaster in the making in Calgary.

 

I'd argue the picture in Vancouver is more encouraging right now, since management and coaching changes have been made over the past year and a half. 

 

Calgary has yet to experience the change. Calgary needs to be overhauled asap. 

 

I never minded Tanev and Marky heading to Calgary, I thought they were getting too old and that seems to be playing out. 

 

Canucks fans should hope that ownership in Calgary cleans house and hires Jim Benning, they seem to like hiring retreads as in Sutter.

 

If Vancouver doesn't win the lottery it would be an emotional win if Calgary hired Jim Benning to run the show in Calgary. Wouldn't that be sweet?

Yeah, and Benning should hire Willie Desjardins as his head coach. Then hire Travis Green and Jason King as his assistant coaches. Dan Cloutier will be the goaltending coach and Corey Hirsch will be the new color commentator.

[johngould21]

4 hours ago, aqua59 said:

Loathing Calgary almost as much as Edmonton I am over joyed at how Calgary flopped. 

 

I thought Calgary was going to be a flop last year because they were too old and Sutter was the coach. Once again I was wrong .Calgary had an awesome regular season.

So with last seasons off seasons changes I thought they'd be good again. $hit, twice wrong, they were the $hits this season. That part I really like.

 

An interesting stat from this season shows Vancouver and Calgary tied for wins at 38 each. Calgary had a whopping 17 OTL.

 

All that attention on Vancouver over their horrible start covered up the disaster in the making in Calgary.

 

I'd argue the picture in Vancouver is more encouraging right now, since management and coaching changes have been made over the past year and a half. 

 

Calgary has yet to experience the change. Calgary needs to be overhauled asap. 

 

I never minded Tanev and Marky heading to Calgary, I thought they were getting too old and that seems to be playing out. 

 

Canucks fans should hope that ownership in Calgary cleans house and hires Jim Benning, they seem to like hiring retreads as in Sutter.

 

If Vancouver doesn't win the lottery it would be an emotional win if Calgary hired Jim Benning to run the show in Calgary. Wouldn't that be sweet?

They've gotten very old, very quickly! I quess they got one really good year out of Tanev if that's any consolation.

[Phil_314]

4 hours ago, Canucks Curse said:

no 11 pick for Rasmus Andersson and a 2nd 

do it 

We have no cap space, if we can trade a winger (some of Garland/ Beau/ Boeser) for some early picks, plus Myers gets dumped, plus we don't have any interest in the prospects available at #11 then I'd consider it, though I'd be much more open to the 2024 1st.

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Bob.Loblaw said:

The whole fanbase of any franchise would start a legit riot if they hired Jim Benning.

 

I think more than any other team, Calgary is the best candidate for a re-tool this summer.  They are a team that should focus on building a winning core now, without making any rash decisions with their draft picks.

How are they going to retool? They have no cap space left, and have two prospects to their name (Wolf and Pelletier).  

 

Most of their key guys are on the wrong side of 30. The cliff is staring them down. 

 

I do believe that they will have one more playoff run in them, may as well trade out their 1st rounders and hope their old guys have a bounce back I guess. 

[Crabcakes]

5 hours ago, -AJ- said:

It's hard for me not to think that Markstrom was a huge reason for their failure. Some disappointments on the offensive side like Huberdeau were also problems though.

Some players take a long time to get over a trade particularly the first time they're traded like JH.  I don't know his family situation but if he now has a wife and kids, they may not have moved before and it takes time to acclimate to a new city.  I would expect him to rebound next year.

 

The Flames have some older players but I think that the bulk of their line up is young enough for them to rebound next year.  Just as long as they rebound less than the Canucks right?

[nuck-lifer]

They should make the playoffs next year but Marky is not the same. He played pretty well down the stretch but still made mental mistakes and seems to crack under pressure. Don't see them going past the first round if they make it. Demmer (if healthy) is a superior tender.

Tanev is also aging and injuries are catching up to him like in Van.

Must admit it felt good when Winterpeg sealed it. ABC any body but Calgary!

 

[fanfor42]

Hrudey is such a shameless Flames homer on the national stage I particularly enjoy that his favorite team is such a disappointment.

 

 

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

31 minutes ago, VancouverHabitant said:

How are they going to retool? They have no cap space left, and have two prospects to their name (Wolf and Pelletier).  

 

Most of their key guys are on the wrong side of 30. The cliff is staring them down. 

 

I do believe that they will have one more playoff run in them, may as well trade out their 1st rounders and hope their old guys have a bounce back I guess. 

If they trade their draft picks, that is an all-in.  It's wishful thinking to expect different results with the same core, especially since fans believe Sutter will be back (but not Treliving).  That cap is certainly a constraint, though.  I guess they'll stay put for now but if they start losing like we did, I think some changes will be made on the fly.

[Bounce000]

[jatylo]

Sounds like Lindholm and Backlund are on their way out after their contract ends in 2024. Could be an interesting off season if they decide to shuffle the deck and sell high on them. Let's be honest they will grasp on to the excuse that the only reason why they missed the playoffs is due to losing so many games in OT

[King Heffy]

Sutter is pretty clearly unwilling to conduct himself like professional and Lucic has never been able to over his entire career.  Ridding the room of those two cancers would do a lot to improve them, unfortunately.  They need a guy like Boudreau to make coming to the rink fun again and undo some of the damage caused by Sutter and his pet hunchback.  That being said, replacing Treleving with someone who is actually qualified to work in a hockey management role would be a good start.