Now understand that I love hockey as a game, but the Flames are for sure my number 1. I'm not blindly faithful but I can say with certainty that the team doesn't 'suck.' 7 wins on the road is pretty weak, but 20 wins at home is the best in the NHL. If I could explain the discrepancy I would, but I can't. It's ironic because during their playoff run, they won more games on the road than at home, and the core of that team (especially with Conroy back!!) it still, for the most part, intact.
batdad, of COURSE McLennan isn't going to get anyone anywhere (except for the 03-04 season when he played 11 games with a broken sternum when Kipper AND Turek went down and emerged with a winning record, keeping the Flames in the playoff hunt during the dog days of the season). However, I think that if (God forbid) Kipper goes down, Sutter would bring up Krahn or McElhinney to start and Noodles would remain the backup. It's impossible to say how a kid would perform if thrown into that situation, so reserve your judgement for now...
You're right, I know perfectly well how far a hot goalie can take a team, but I wasn't talking about the playoffs, I was talking about NOW. The Canucks (and, I know, the Flames) are by no means guaranteed a playoff spot. If a Sedin or Ohlund goes down and the team can't recover because they lack the organizational depth, it could cost them a spot entirely. The Flames have shown that their organization can handle losing big time players like Iginla, Warrener or Hamrlik for extended periods of time, the Canucks haven't shown the same resiliency (PS - this is what makes the Flames deep). That's where I'm coming from when I talk about lack of depth. Am I saying the Canucks haven't played well? No. Am I saying they've been handed games by officials or scored fluky goals to win? Absolutely not. Especially in the last three against Calgary they've shown more hustle and a greater work ethic. I'm not trying to take away from what they've accomplished, I'm just trying to be the voice of reason/devil's advocate--things can go terribly wrong for any team over the course of a season and the Canucks strike me as organizationally fragile. Understand that this attitude extends to all teams, including the Flames (for example I'm the first guy to point out that there's a slim-to-nil chance the Flames will be able to keep Iginla after next season).
We've had our disagreements before, and I guess they'll continue forever because I would much rather watch a paint-dry game in which the Flames won 1-0 than see them get blown out in a river hockey match. If I'm watching other teams it's a different story. Take the shootout--I hate seeing the Flames in shootouts because a) they suck at them and b) I don't know whether to watch or turn away. If it's two other teams, I love them, I love to watch the duel between the skater and the goalie, I love the intensity of it (even if it IS a little manufactured...). I watch all kinds of hockey, not just Flames games but when it comes to my team, everything comes second to a win--if it was a great game to watch and they lost I'm gonna be disappointed. If it was a great game and they won, that's the best ever. I'm not going to try to convince you that you should see it my way, I'm just sharing my opinion in response to yours.
I'm glad you added that caveat about how I don't blame refs for losses....but sometimes they DO play a greater role than they should. Every team in the league is negatively or positively affected by officials throughout the season--it happens and it's frustrating, but it's true. Did you see the 'hooking' penalty Jeff Friesen took to give the Kings a 5-on-3? It was ABSURD. I don't know if you were able to watch the Hawks/Flames game a few days ago but there were some questionable calls there too. I can admit when a bad call goes against the other team, I just like it that way a little better
You're not going to hear me blame games on refs when it's not warranted (remember me giving credit to the Canucks for outworking the Flames a paragraph or two ago?) but sometimes, not very often, those officials really do steal games one way or the other. I've complained about officiating before and my issue isn't that they target my team or this team or that team, it's that the officiating is tremendously inconsistent from game to game, even from shift to shift. Players can't change their behaviour if acceptable behaviour one minute becomes unacceptable the next.
Shadd, for me (and this isn't the Bible of how to cheer or anything), part of cheering for one team is hoping that their divisional rivals/biggest threats are weak because it improves your team's chance of being stronger. That's why I cheer against the Canucks, Wild, Avs, Oilers, Ducks, Sharks, Sens, Sabres, Preds....
Minstrel, do you watch games IN Calgary or Edmonton, or watch them broadcast FROM Calgary or Edmonton? It's really not fair for you to accuse fans in either market of making the game a negative experience if you've never been there. The fact that the fans care so much to boo calls or other players or whatever is GREAT compared to the nap-time crews attending games in California and New Jersey. Calgary used to be a market like that, before the Sutter Era--it was like a bookstore. I literally had a guy ask me to keep it down once, as if we were at a ballet or something. That is NOT being a fan. They boo calls (and, yes, they are prone to do so a little more than is really warranted) because they CARE, and I think a hockey market couldn't possibly ask for more. Chicago could use some of that passion these days...and that's not a knock on the city or the team or anything, ownership aside I think it's a great US hockey market and I wish that the team would pick it back up because Blackhawks fans deserve a winner.
NOW we agree on something, batdad! I love Conroy too, his enthusiasm is amazingly infectious--in an age of Barry Bonds and Terrell Owens to see a guy who really, truly appreciates the fans like Conroy does is really special, and I'm trying to say this independent of my Flames-tinted glasses. I don't expect him to be where he was when he left (which was because of market uncertainty heading into the lockout, not by choice of the Flames) but it's really nice to see a guy who deserves it get some success and some minutes.
Man I gotta stop writing these essays on this site. Sorry guys.
because i'm a Flames fan, but i agree more with your post than with Thundercleese's one... But maybe it's because i am a hockey fan before being a Flames fan...
I don't specially love them, but surely don't hate them... I cheer for a team, not against the other teams 
