saneopinion

"Keep the opinions sane and well thought out."

Canada, AB • Canada •

Flames half full but leaking...

There are 61 games left for the Flames this season. 75% of the season still remains.

A half full type person will tell you that the Flames are 3 games below .500 and because it is so early there is not a lot to be worried about. That may be true.

A half empty person will point out that to make the playoffs you would need a minimum 93 points typically. What that means is that the Flames will have to get 75 points in 61 games which equates to a 37-23-1 record or any combo of 75 points you want to throw in there. They are 2-6-2 in their last ten so that seems unlikely. They are playing an average of 15 games a month for the remaining months (or close enough) so each month would have to be close to a 10-5 record every month to make it.

I think it's obvious that all Flames fans want to see the Flames in the playoff because at least there's a chance. If they fail you just hope they fail miserably enough to get a decent prospect but that isn't the first choice.

I used to have a pretty solid idea about the team, these few guys were the fourth liners, these guys were the thirds and so on. Then it was easy to identify one or two guys who could step up if necessary. Now the Flames have the maximum number of contracts allowed, the amount of players when healthy can actually ice 6 forward lines. In addition they are not taking into account the abundant amount of defensemen they have.

It seems decisions after a certain point seems to have more weighted to the poor side than the brilliant side. Giordano to Russia so they could sign Bubba Eriksson? That was the first head scratcher I had a few years ago. There has been many since. Cammalleri is still a sore spot with many, you just don't let guys go who score that much, you find a way to keep them!

The Dion trade was a trade that could have infused draft picks and young talent when the Flames desperately needed it but returned some experienced mediocre players. I get the idea of trading for depth but I don't get it when it is not what you need. Not all moves have been poor, Bourque is certainly a highlight but as I said those type of moves seem to be outweighed by the bad.

Should the Flames find themselves outside looking in at the deadline the sexy thought has been to trade Jarome Iginla, I don't disagree but I get why not trading a 30+ goal scorer makes a ton of sense too! With the high amount of contracts Calgary carries they may be the Wal-Mart of the deadline. Send them your 2nd round picks and they will send you 20 goal scorers! If Eric Belenger can get a 2nd rounder so can Hagman. If Cullen can get a 2nd then so can Stajan. Hopefully you can trade enough Dion trade pieces to get you a couple picks that you can trade up with!

The reality is that the Flames are kind of a mess, they have been excused from having to clean it up due to injury. As sad as Langkow's injury is and as poorly timed as Kotalik's has been they have provided the kind of cap relief needed by this team at this point. As Kotalik nears return, probably next week, then the 2 way guys are probably going to the AHL and yes that includes Conroy. I will be interested to see what moves are made, if any, by Sutter and Feaster to try and rectify this but feel that unless it is focused on futures then they will have failed.

S>O>

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