Like the 2009-2010 Flames, my personality is split. This is my darkside: frustrated, and done with this team. My hope is tonight, on the eve of the biggest game of the year, I’ll have reason to celebrate. Talk myself off the ledge and jump back on the bandwagon. But I have to get a few things off my chest first.
This Flames squad does not belong in the playoffs. Inconsistent play, lack of talent, poor coaching decisions, poor management decisions. The only thing consistent is this teams inconsistency. And the frustration has caused many of the fan base to snap.
Oh, and the list goes on. I mean, let’s really be honest and call it like it is. There has been nothing to celebrate since the Stanley Cup run of ….too long ago. They have no depth. They have no draft picks. No valuable Abbotsford (or beer league) talent. No rising superstar. Keeping the status quo for 2010-2011 is not a strategy. It’s the only option. And that is a bleak option. with 20+ games together, the new offensive injection is , well…offensive. Want to blame the players? Half of them are new. Want to blame the coach? Brent Sutter has had “this team” for only 20+ games. Want to blame his brother? I would. But not before blaming all of the above.
Want to blame the “small market”? How about those stellar-post-All-Star-hate-to-meet-those-guys-in-the-first-round Coyotes? They are so broke and dysfunctional that Winnipeg was an option I truly believed was exciting for the entire league. (I think the NHL missed a chance here, personally, just prior to the next Bettman venture called : Contraction. But more about the Commish’ in a future blog. Hell, we won’t have anything else to write about in a few weeks.) And if the small market argument is your thing, enjoy cheering for the New York Rangers at next month’s celebrity golf tournament to Raise Awareness for Victims Of The Dreadfully Mediocre.
So yes, I am pessimistic. I’m guarding my heart like a Gar-animals-wearing high-school late bloomer on the eve of the prom.
The “green side” of my Two-Face is a card carrying member of the Villagers Carrying Torches Outside of the Saddledome Walls.
The season is gone. The playoffs are over. The team is sub par. The future is worse. Fore.