From Bountiful to Ponoka

[tantalum]

"The alternative is to have a losing franchise and losing franchises are only loved for so long."

I think Ken Holland has it wrong, at least in Canada. You just have to look at the attendance records for the Canadian hockey clubs to see that Canadian hockey fans will tolerate loosing hockey clubs for years and years. Toronto is probably the best example.

Not entirely. The canucks had poor attendance until they got good. The Flames almost moved to Portland because of attendance woes (canadian dollar also factored in). The Sens have had issues. A decade ago I wouldn't be shocked to see 3 or 4 canadian teams in the bottom half for attendance.

oh and anyone see the Kiprusoff embellishment last night? Sure he got a stick in the neck from Hornqvist (who was just slew footed by Bouwmeester) but it was like Kiprusoff was blown up! The stick went flying this way and he went flying the other way. I was pretty sure I had it on good authority from that site that he never ever embellishes, 'cause he's a Flame. He did Luongo proud on that one.

No problem, Calgary.

After tonight's loss to Nashville, Calgary has 41 points in 40 games - so according to Sports Club Stats, which shows that the Western Conference is currently trending to 93 points to make the playoffs, Calgary only needs to go 26-16-0 to make it.

Oh, and hope that 4 of Phoenix, San Jose, Colorado, Dallas, Nashville, and St. Louis falter, and that the trend doesn't return to 97 points for which they would have to go 28-14-0.

Also keep in mind that San Jose has 6 games in hand and are a much better team so you can likely cross them off the list of one of the 4 that need to fail. SO IMO 4 of 5 teams need to fall. Preds are 5 points up with a game in hand they will be hard to catch for the FLames I think. Stars have 3 games in hand but they were in this type of position last year and then fell (different coach now though).

[dhabums]

Preds are 5 points up with a game in hand they will be hard to catch for the FLames I think. Stars have 3 games in hand but they were in this type of position last year and then fell (different coach now though).

On Jan 2, 2011 the Flames were also 5 points back of the 9th place Nashville Predators. Despite the greatest run in the history of hockey, the Flames still ended up 5 behind.

[BCExpat]

Well, I just hope this means the Flames are sellers at the trade deadline.

[Per]

I think the Canucks should try to trade for Max Friberg, leading goal scorer (tied with Stone) at the current WJC, as a way to keep the heated rivalry with the Flames going.

After scoring in the shootout against Switzerland he decided to do the riding the stick celebration he'd seen on EA Sports NHL game... little did he know of the connotations... Tiger Williams... Calgary...

Doing that in front of the Calgary crowd was not a smart move - if he wanted to be popular.

They kept booing him during Sweden's game against Finland last night, and especially during the shootout!
He waved to the crowd, and then went five hole on the Finnish goalie to score the GWG.

[Fred]

The canucks had poor attendance until they got good. The Flames almost moved to Portland because of attendance woes (canadian dollar also factored in). The Sens have had issues. A decade ago I wouldn't be shocked to see 3 or 4 canadian teams in the bottom half for attendance.

The Cdn$ factored in big time, it was trading at what 60-65 cents to the US $. At that time Canada was doing whatthe US & most other EU country should have done at that time balance their budget. We're now over it and in good standing and the US and EU still have to start

[dbr]

They weren't charging US$ for tickets, and the team still managed to finish in the bottom 10 of league attendance two years running (98-99 and 99-00).

[tantalum]

The dollar certainly factored in. No doubt. However, thanks to completely shitty teams they went from what was literally a 15 year waiting list for season tickets to not being to sell season tickets. Attendance was a huge issue. As was management, it was almost as if they didn't want people in the stands. Having gone to university in CAlgary during a good chunk of that time I was turned away from the Saddledome along with friends several times because they refused to put upper loge tickets on sale if they didn't sell the second bowl. Those were too expensive for students. THe flames decided no money was better than some.

[dhabums]

They weren't charging US$ for tickets, and the team still managed to finish in the bottom 10 of league attendance two years running (98-99 and 99-00).

Crappy teams + expensive tickets, both partially due to the dollar = many bad things.

[Blob Mckenzie]

If I am Feaster I am asking Iginla and Kipper to wave their nmc . The only way that team is going to move forward is to move their best two assets and stockpile some decent young players. Sure they'll get a few decent picks /prospects for guys like Glencross, Hannan, and Tanguay etc, but they need to strip that thing right down to the bones and rebuild.

It's hilarious to read calpuck and see how many of them are blaming the lack of success on B Sutter. How many coaches do they need to run through there before people realize it's not the coach ? I'm amazed he's kept them this close to the playoff race with that roster.

[Benjo]

It's hilarious to read calpuck and see how many of them are blaming the lack of success on B Sutter. How many coaches do they need to run through there before people realize it's not the coach ? I'm amazed he's kept them this close to the playoff race with that roster.

That and Bourque is worth at least a decade of first round picks.

[ESQ]

I would take 2 of the 3 in a heartbeat, but I won't say which two. But two of those players would be welcomed on the Wings any day, any year. And I would venture a guess that the other 28 teams would make room for them too and they would be fan favourites no matter where they played. That is the nature of sport.

Hmmm, I wonder which two he was referring to...

To be honest though, I don't really understand Lapierre's reputation. I have not seen him do anything particularly egregious with the Canucks, he's dropped the gloves when challenged, hasn't gotten suspended.

All I see is a guy who talks... a lot. If its his mouth that gives him the reputation as one of the dirtiest pests in the league, I`d love to know what he's saying.

[tantalum]

The Flames have no depth and even the braintrust that is CP seems to realize this. A lesser amount of people seem to understand that the depth they do have is below average overall. Yet many of those people then want to blame Sutter. All Sutter is trying to do is polish a turd and he's been trying to polish that turd for over 2 seasons. The problem isn't the guy doing the polishing, the problem is the turd.

[Vpete]

The Flames have no depth and even the braintrust that is CP seems to realize this. A lesser amount of people seem to understand that the depth they do have is below average overall. Yet many of those people then want to blame Sutter. All Sutter is trying to do is polish a turd and he's been trying to polish that turd for over 2 seasons. The problem isn't the guy doing the polishing, the problem is the turd.

But wait Butler was a -7 tonight and they traded Regehr for him!

I'll stop now as Canucks play Boston next.

[dhabums]

The Flames have no depth and even the braintrust that is CP seems to realize this. A lesser amount of people seem to understand that the depth they do have is below average overall. Yet many of those people then want to blame Sutter. All Sutter is trying to do is polish a turd and he's been trying to polish that turd for over 2 seasons. The problem isn't the guy doing the polishing, the problem is the turd.

But wait Butler was a -7 tonight and they traded Regehr for him!

I'll stop now as Canucks play Boston next.

I too am refraining from laughing hysterically.

[Vpete]

Calpuk just birthed so many new threads of infighting and bickering I can't keep up.