Heartbreaker

I mean, it's not bad - I never liked the Blasty jersey, but I pretty much agree with this. The only reverse is that it's less red. Love.

I like that one too, and actually have one of those. For me, the problem with the current home jerseys is the black numbers, and the black logo. They can still use the 3-ply if they want, but the top layer absolutely needs to be white. This jersey got that right, with the numbers, at least. An aside, the problem with the current white set is the black pants. It'd be pretty slick if the pants were red. I'm looking forward to the retros. I just wish that we could actually be there to see them. Love.

This is one of my favourite threads of the year. I really appreciate the work that @Crzydrvr puts into it. It's an excellent reference. Love.

You know, I have been watching this team for decades, and am quite accustomed to frustration. Watching them develop Sam Bennett has been one of the most frustrating endeavours yet. I have been reading a few boards, and I'm also a bit surprised that anyone considers his playoffs performance like it's some kind of revelation. He's always been there, but the Flames have never really given him an opportunity to succeed. Of all of the year-end interviews, his was my favourite because I got the distinct impression that he was happy to play for our team. If I were Sam Bennett, I probably would have made that phone call a few seasons ago - you know the one: I am happy to read Conroy's remarks, and I am hopeful that they'll make good on it. He may never be the top line center that you hope you draft at fourth overall, but I have always believed that he'll be a damn good player, and the type of player that you need if you want to ice a winning team. Love.

It's been said here before, but let's get this man the 'C'. Love.

Y'know, I'm not even mad about this. My wife, from Brazil, has this saying - roughly translated from Portuguese: What's a fart when you've already 5h!t yourself? It seemed especially pertinent during Game 6 against the Stars. I might feel differently if the Stars go on to win the cup, and we have to hear for the next six weeks about how "the turning point was when we were 12 seconds away from being down 3-1", or "when we we're down 3-0 in the first seven minutes against the Flames", but I don't think either of those things are going to happen. In that sense, we're not nearly as tormented a fanbase as they have in Toronto. With that said, I do think that it would be a mistake to not make any changes. If there's a good deal to be made for 23 or 13, then give it some real thought. No player is untouchable, but I don't think that most GMs value our players as highly as we do. I definitely think that Giordano should pass the torch, and I believe that he would do it with grace. He's not a top pair defenceman in this league anymore, and that's fine. There are a few issues that I see going into next year will definitely need to be sorted out in order for this team to have any success: What are they going to do on the right side with the D? With Hamonic and Brodie both UFA, that creates a real problem, and I don't believe that we have nearly the depth that we've been accustomed to the last few years. Who is going to be the coach? What happens in net? Talbot basically came out and said that he wasn't happy, but did the coach totally alienate Rittich in the playoffs? Two years in a row when they probably should have put him in at some point, and in both years, he was shunned for someone on an expiring contract that would be the guy in a losing effort. And then, of course, there's the usual set of questions, like what the hell do we do to address the #1 center issue? Maybe you get on in a trade, but they're not cheap, and we're probably not picking high enough to draft one. I might be the exception, but I actually do have some faith in Brad Treliving. I think he's done a pretty good job with this team, and this is going to be a hell of an off-season. Remember the last time we were going to have a hell of an off-season? Jay Feaster was our GM. It's also important to keep in mind that it wasn't that long ago that this team was the top team in the west. These exits have hurt, and there has been some degradation to our core, but we're not that bad. Hopefully, we can get a little bit lucky, and our GM is savvy enough to get us out of mediocrity, which, I think is probably one of the hardest jobs in the league. Love.

I've thought that Fantenberg has looked pretty good in Vancouver, too. They're out there! Love.

I figured that with the launch of the Seattle Kraken website, we should start a thread. The draft will be interesting... This isn't too bad, although, I do miss the old two and three colour jersey schemes. https://www.seattlekrakenhockey.com/ Love.

That all said, I may have an unpopular opinion. I was really rooting for Mike Smith. I'd hoped that he'd hang up the skates at the end of last year, and stick with the team in some capacity. I really liked having him around. Seemed like a great personality, and may have been able to help out the boys. Love.

Like a boss. Love.

So, if we lose ours, where are you all going to be? FlamesNation? Reddit? Love.

Thanks for finding this info, Carty and Pyro. I really enjoyed discussions with FF52, and had been concerned about him when I noticed his absence several months ago. We used to talk hockey, occasionally disagree about politics, and talk about cool rock and roll that happened in Winnipeg. RIP, friend. You've been, and will continue to be missed around here. Love, KJ

Eberle can be traced to the last remaining piece of the Pronger trade as well. Love.

Welcome to Edmonton, Bud! Love.

Good point... I overlooked Ehlers, but we're looking with hindsight. Even still, Sam Bennett was the number one ranked prospect among NA skaters. It was an obvious choice, and I can only imagine the backlash if they'd gone off the board. People were still fuming about the Jankowski draft, and it would have been a bad start for Brad Treliving to follow the Feaster model. We can't be sure where Bennett would have gone in the 2013, or 2015 drafts, if I had to guess - I'd say in '13 he would have projected behind MacKinnon, Drouin, and Jones, but ahead of Monahan. In 2015, I think he'd land right behind Marner, and ahead of Hanifin. In either case, he goes top 5. Love.

Yeah, I was looking at the '14 draft, and thinking the same thing. There's a lot of frustration with Bennett, but the top 3 were never available to us, and who would we take after that? The only names that popped out from the first round, at least to me, were Pastrnak and Larkin. Aside from that, I'd still take Bennett. Love.

An aside, my favourite memory of Dan Cleary... Love.

This. This is an excellent point about perspective. Gotta be mindful of that. I like it. Love.

It was a Comity of errors... Love.

Love.

It was in fact, number 39, that scored the most important goal in Flames history to date. Love.

Actually, the Leafs (sic) haven't been owned by the teachers union since 2010 when ownership became MLSE. MLSE has been controlled by Rogers and Bell since 2011. Never liked that much. https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/rogers-bell-buy-control-of-mlse-1.997655 Love.

As long as we're not trying to put Giordano and Brodie back together, I'm agree. There seems to be a lot of messages going around on the board about how Brodie's problem this year was not playing on the right side with Giordano. Giordano - Hamilton > Giordano - Brodie. In my opinion, that's what makes Brodie expendable - not just the bad season. I like TJ a lot, and I think he'll be fine. I think that the extenuating circumstances this season probably had a lot to do with his play, and I hope he rebounds. However, I don't endorse breaking up a pair that is considered one of the best in the league. Love.