Heartbreaker

It definitely felt like a Who Dat... Love.

Sadly, I don't see that happening, but I was thinking about that recently. It'd probably bring a really fun element to how that team does its business, and it might become a good part of the show/atmosphere. Love.

Yeah, there's a lot of people around here that were advocating for him all year. It's possible that he'll never be an NHL player, but it really would have been worthwhile to try him out this past season. He did really well in the A, and it's not unheard of for a guy to come up and score 10-15 goals. 10-15 goals could easily have been the difference between picking 16th, and being in the playoffs. It's not clear whether or not Matthew Phillips could have done that, but given that there were a lot of games where the Flames couldn't score if their season depended on it, it really might have been worth a shot. I am hopeful that he signs, but would understand if he doesn't. There are a few reasons to think that he might: Darryl Sutter is no longer the coach, and he was, without a doubt, the reason that Phillips didn't get a good opportunity Matthew Phillips is from Calgary, and grew up a Flames fan There are also a few undetermined variables: Will the new GM see him as a part of the picture in Calgary? Who will be the new coach? If it's Mitch Love, the chances might get a lot better. How many of the other 31 teams will be willing to take a shot on him? I'd bet at least one of them will offer a one-way contract. Personally, I'd really like to see him sign here again. I'd give him a one-way contract, too. That way, whether he's up or down, he'll get paid NHL money. A guy who has been one of the best players in the AHL should get paid one way or the other. Love.

Not going to lie... I was hoping that the Flames would trade off a few of the players on deals that expire next season. The trade deadline prices were ridiculous for a few days ahead of it, and this outcome was extremely predictable. Drafting 16th seems like the final insult that was this season. I know we'll get a fine player at 16, but I think we're in for a very long offseason. Love.

Agreed. How many heroic Connors can one conference handle? Love.

I suspect it's a moot point, but we did get Chucky at 6. I think that we all thought we were getting Nylander. If that draft happened again, I'd give you a 86% odds that he would go second. Two years before that, we got Bennett at 4, and that seemed like he fell to us. Love.

I think the Oilers have to be the Cup favourite. The West has been weak this year, and with the Avalanche out, I'm not convinced that the Oilers have the hardest path to the SCF. In the East, which is a murderer's row this season, whoever comes out will have had to endure. With Boston and New York out, I think that the best hope for a team that isn't Edmonton to win the cup is Carolina. Love.

There is an article in The Hockey News today - THREE BLOCKBUSTER MOCK TRADES FOR SIX ELIMINATED NHL TEAMS. It's suggesting that the Flames should trade Elias Lindholm to the Bruins in a 1:1 deal for Taylor Hall. The rationale is that it gives the Bruins a potential replacement for Patrice Bergeron, but I am more skeptical of the reason that the Flames should make this trade. Don't get me wrong - I actually really like Taylor Hall - but "a terrific public-relations move to bring Hall back to his hometown city of Calgary" doesn't seem like the right reason. The article also mentions that Hall would get more ice time with the Flames than he does on an extremely deep Boston team, and that it does include cost certainty for the next two seasons for an above-average scoring threat, but I'm still not seeing the upside. It makes no sense to trade your number one center for an older LW, especially given the depth that the Flames have in that position. I would be pretty stoked to see Hall in a Flames uniform, but he's not actually the right target, and this would be a very bad trade in my opinion. Love.

I think an argument could be made that they did play the style that was asked of them. They were a high shot volume team, and they minimized chances against. That said, the high shot volume is a red herring because the actual high danger chances were very low. You can throw 50 pucks at the net from the outside, and very few will go in against even the weakest NHL goaltender. Did you ever wonder why so many goalies looked good against the Flames this year? It's because the shots were not great. On the other side of that, even though they minimized shots against, they didn't have great goaltending. They didn't even have average goaltending. It didn't go according to plan this year. I don't think there's a good argument to be made that the players were lazy, or that they didn't execute the plan. There was a lot of bad luck, of course, but there have also been reports that they didn't ever practice the power play. They didn't ever practice 3x3 because, according to Darryl, "You don't play 3x3 in the playoffs." Evidently, nobody told Darryl that 17 OT losses probably means that you're not even in the playoffs. So, while I don't think that you can simply point the finger at Darryl, and say it's all good now, I also don't think that the coach was ever going to be a part of the solution. By the end of the season, he looked checked out, too. Maybe that's why the season was on Nick Ritchie's stick during that shootout. There are reports that he alienated a lot more people in the organization than just the players. No one needs that, Man, even if you're a HOF coach. Love.

You know, it's funny... there were a lot of people around here saying we should try something like that back when they were Flames. 👀 Love.

I think you might be right about that, and I'm pretty good with that. That said, I think the Flames are good with that because they're paying Darryl Sutter $8,000,000 to not coach this team, and I think that this route will save them a lot of money. For what it's worth, I would be willing to accept an order of magnitude less to not coach this team... Love.

Aww Jeez... don't make me agree with Eric Francis. https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/darryl-sutters-management-of-people-was-his-ultimate-undoing Love.

I've been following your posts for years now, and for the most part, I think that they're pretty good. I am a bit bewildered by your take the last few weeks, though. What sort of consequences do you expect for the players? As best I can tell, the atmosphere around our team this year was very toxic, and they are cleaning house. I am curious, what did you see this past season from Darryl Sutter that leads you to believe that things would be better next year? To be fair, here are some things that I expect would improve: They will likely hit fewer goal posts I believe that the goaltenders are better than we saw this year, and I think that they'll be closer to their career averages Jonathan Huberdeau will have a better season, although, I do think it's highly unlikely he'll ever reach his full offensive potential in a Darryl Sutter system I believe that those three factors could potentially be the difference between picking 16th overall, and actually being in the playoffs. I keep hearing about the OT record, and "if they'd only won three of those games". I believe that this team demonstrated very little this season to make me think that they'd last any longer than five games in the playoffs, so I tend to look at it the other way - "if they'd only lost a few more of those games in regulation..." My personal opinion is that this is one of the most frustrating years in franchise history. I believe that Darryl Sutter played a big part in that. Here are a few reasons: Refusal to play young players Insistence on rolling four lines Reliance on the wrong players - with the season on the line, we deployed Nick Richie in the shootout (to be clear, this is not the reason, but this tells you what you need to know about this coach at this point in the season - either he actually believes that Nick Richie is the right player, or he's sending a big middle finger upstairs, and either way, is that the guy you want?) On top of all that, the list of casualties under Darryl Sutter is getting longer and longer. I have a hard time believing that everyone is entitled, a whiner, or that they are weak. They obviously have faced adversity if they've made it as far as they have. There is a difference between working somewhere that the job is demanding, and working somewhere with a toxic culture. It doesn't make a person weak to not want to be a part of the latter. Love.

I mean, the good news about picking 16 is that even if another team wins the lottery, we can't drop down any further. Silver linings! Love. edit: spelling and context error

I'm just going to 'like' this, but then I'm going to 'unlike' it, but only so I can 'like' it again. Good Blockchaining riddance. Love.

Holy smokes! Love.

Yeah, I mean, if there are common variables that led to the GM leaving, and potentially all three skaters in the best line in the entire league last season, then maybe there is some issue that requires attention. Even if that's expensive. Love.

I wonder if the 12 minutes includes the two that he got with the Flames against Montreal that likely cost him his shot at a career with the Big Team. Love.

Weird, huh? Love.

Cool to see Brad Holland on that list. I used to talk hockey with him on the reg because he was a patron at the bar that I would tend. At that time, he was working in the war room, and it was his dream to fix the Calgary Flames (circa 2011). Not because he was a fan, but because he identified the issues, and felt that he had some ideas that would right the ship. I haven't seen him in years, and had no idea that he was working with his old man in Edmonton. Love.

Abridged to highlight the specific point, and not have it get lost below the fold. If you need a coach to change everything, it's probably a lot less painful to just change the coach. Love.

And like, it kinda sucked 15 years ago, too. Love.

Honestly, can’t say I’m well versed enough in it to have an opinion. I asked Peeps' question to Chat GPT, and it had a similar reaction, and a wordier response. Love.

You know, in a past life, I had a huge crush on my social studies teacher. She was great! She was also married to Harvey the Hound. Love.

Like as if things weren't bleak enough. Love.