Thoughts

Written by Justin Azevedo | 13 December 2010

A few things that were bouncing around in my head.

-This week, I've had no less then 4 people ask me why I still cheer for the Flames. They say that I'm always critiquing players negatively, giving reasons why there are people out there that would do a better job then the Sutter(s), etc. When I sit down to watch a game, I want the Flames to win. I cheer for the crest, regardless of how much success, or lack thereof, the team has. It's difficult to explain to a person who doesn't follow sports as closely as I do, but there is a reason that we have been fans over multiple years with changing management and personnel-because they are our team and we want them to succeed.

-I think it's funny that people have been all over Iggy for not scoring, and as soon as he does put the puck in the net, it's his teammates fault that the Flames can't win. Case in point: Randy Sportak's column in the Sun yesterday. Either the team does enough collectively to win, or they don't. Some players may be relied on more then others, but it's not the fault of a single person or the result of a single play-it's the whole 60 minutes. Good teams overcome bad players and unfortunate plays. As of right now, the Flames simply aren't a good team.

-To everyone that wants to fire Darryl right now: what exactly is your plan? Go without a GM until one of adequate skill can be found? Obviously, that's ridiculous. Promote Feaster? You mean to tell me that a guy who made minimal moves in Tampa before they won the cup and then proceeded to max out the cap and have a losing team (sound familiar?) will do a better job rebuilding the Flames then Sutter will? Not likely. At least Sutter is a "hockey guy". Feaster's a lawyer. The best solution is to let Darryl do his thing till the end of the year-but the owners can't be afraid to block something if it's clear it will hurt the team.

-Lastly, should the fans boo Dion? I know they will, but I'm not totally sure they have the right idea. Dion was making 6.5mil-but it was a negotiation that led to that cap hit. It’s not Dion's fault he got traded for such a small return. There’s never been anything confirmed that leads me to believe that there was tension in the room, and Dion has stated many times how he and Iggy still have a good relationship. Yeah, so he gave us 60 odd games of shittiness, but the 'Dome doesn't boo Jokinen every time he touches the puck and he's had 102 games of pure awful. Remember the emotion he showed in his interview? In my opinion, he really hasn't done anything to warrant the booing.

Have a good week everyone!