Yes, even though the Flames are actually *above* .500, Head Coach Greg Gilbert is a little miffed at pretty much everyone. After the 4-2 loss to *Montreal*, he was quoted as saying that he's said all he's gonna say, and now it's time for action...which means benching the lazy guys, bringing young guys up from the minors, and practicing harder than they ever did before... Man, I'm really disappointed that they Flames have crapped out as much as they did... As a loyal Flames fan since birth (my name on the TSN.ca chats is FlamesFAN), I'm used to this... They start weak, crap out early, gradually make up lost points before crapping out again before the All-Star Break. Then, they play the best hockey of any team in the league after the break, but it's always not enough because of the rut they dug early on in the season. *Sigh* Maybe this year, the 13-2-2 start will keep them above .500 until the All-Star Break, then the annual "Flames Are Great" run will start as usual and bring them back to the top of the Northwest Divison. HOPEFULLY.
I really hope so too ... but I fear reality has other plans.
*dreams of the glory days of Nieuwendyk, Loob, Mullen, Roberts, MacInnis, Suter, Gilmour, Otto, Vernon, Patterson ... and wakes up wondering how they managed to win only one lousy Cup.*
Past hills of chambermaids' dark bare arms and fields of muscles quilted to the bone, Right now I'm flying over, yeah right now I'm flying home.
Hey, if the Sabers had been smart enough to draft or trade for Nieuwendyk, Loob, Mullen, Roberts, MacInnis, Suter, Gilmour, Otto, Vernon, Patterson in the late '80s, I'm sure they would have won a Cup too.
Past hills of chambermaids' dark bare arms and fields of muscles quilted to the bone, Right now I'm flying over, yeah right now I'm flying home.
It'd sure be nice if Calgary could at least make the playoffs - I think they still will, but it's always more fun when more Canadian teams make the playoffs...except Montreal.
Hey, look at the Flames roster: how many of these guys did we actually draft? Gauthier! All our goalies are from other teams, and our prospects are iffy at best...well, that's not counting Krahn, Stoll or Kobasew...but allow me to show the fine tradition of Flames first-round picks with Niklas Sundblad...the WORST first round pick EVER...and Tkazcuk, Fata and Saprykin haven't done much of anything...and only Saprykin is still with the Flames. The problem isn't trading the good guys away, it's the inability to replace them (Coates & Risebrough had that problem)
This is the kind of stuff that happens when you have a commish that changes NHL bylaws so he only need eight owners on his side to turn down any NHLPA's proposals.