Don't confuse hopefuleness for declaration re: Jankowski. And of course Flames fans are going to defend our players when idiot and self righteous Oiler fans come on our thread and trash them. And don't go Get all classless by poking at a person with a disease like alcoholism.
And when do Oiler fans not call Larson anything other than a saviour and better than anything CGY has?
- TandA4Flames

You should know that myself and a few other posters started that as a gag and it slowly morphed into a micro-religion surrounding our lord & saviour, Larsson (praise be unto him). We merely repeat what the scripture dictates and the scripture is the story of Larsson's (praise be unto him) career as an Oiler. Nothing but the absolute truth.

Also, any claims about him being better than Calgary's top-3 are either troll attempts or completely made-up by you. Larsson (praise be unto him) is FAR too humble to encourage any comparison to beings FAR below him.

Put simply: it's a (frank)ing joke that you're taking seriously #Winner

Put any decent center to the wing and their 2 way game should improve. Whether you want to admit it or not, monahan is not a passenger on his line. While Johnny struggled, and/or was injured monahans production didn't drop at all.

Not saying Dre won't be a great center, but he hasn't proven it over a full season. At this point he would be the 3rd best center on the Flames. Definitely has the tools to be better though.
- dr_soiledpants

Bold faced lie right there. Pretty quick to forget his first 13 games with just 4 goals. And if that sample is too small, how about his first 18 games where he clocked a grand total of 4 goals and 2 assists? Or his first 24 games where he posted 5 goals and 3 assists? If that doesn't classify as struggling, your bar is set WAY too low.

Kinda like you excuse making pussies after we swept you in the regular season?

I swear half you guys breathed a sigh of relief when you traded for that 'built in excuse' Mike Smith.
- Larsson_fan

That's my bet for the man they will be blaming.......

So your GM and scouting staff strategically passed on him 3x with a chance another team might take him, just so they could say 'look what we got in the 4th round rather than the 1st' ? That might be the most strategically retarded thing a flames fan has ever said, and there have been some doozies. Is it more Plausible, that no one knew what JG could be, hit lightening in a bottle, than said, look how strategic we were, just to make themselves look good?
- Shyster19

https://www.google.ca/amp...f-johnny-gaudreau/sn-amp/
Read the story. Then I'll except your apology for thinking I'm just making poop up.

Bold faced lie right there. Pretty quick to forget his first 13 games with just 4 goals. And if that sample is too small, how about his first 18 games where he clocked a grand total of 4 goals and 2 assists? Or his first 24 games where he posted 5 goals and 3 assists? If that doesn't classify as struggling, your bar is set WAY too low.
- MaximumBone

That was his own struggles. Had nothing to do with Johnny. Is he immune to slumps? No, nobody is. Once he got his poop together he played well with our without Johnny.

Your team literally won the lottery 4 times...Oilers fluked the (frank) out more than any team in history and STILL would have sucked without the last one

not saying don't enjoy it just be honest

Flames got a little lucky with JG and Brodie but also made good picks...good development with Brodie. Certain teams seem to struggle to develop anything other than sure fire top picks
- flashfire

Well in the interest of your "honesty", let's do keep it real

You can harp over and over and over and over about the firsts, but they really weren't lucky other than Connor.
One turned into a huge bust and the other is a solid player, but certainly no franchise cornerstone. And nothing like almost every other first picked around him. (Save one of the other firsts the oilers fell into as mentioned)

Give them stamkos or a Tavares and we aren't having this conversation. Hell, make one of yaks/nuge a mackinnon and things are different.

They were a victim of the years they were awful. It happens. And don't give me some bs that it was bad organizational picks. There's consensus picks that every gm woulda taken. No gm was gonna go off the board and take trouba at first.
The only other guy in yaks year that was a possibility was Murray really. And he wouldn't have done much for us either.
Nuge was pretty much a slam dunk pick.

It's just this lame narrative that the firsts are the reason the oilers are good. It's Connor and talbot, and Leon, and klefbom, and team toughness etc. Only one of those are firsts.

Unless of course you're so enamoured with firsts that you're Interested in dealing is giordano or gaudreau for nuge? I mean dude, he was a first so it'll obviously make you better...

Oiler arrogance is just unmatched. Not even by Habs or Leaf fans. I predict regression by Leon and Talbot and obviously an overall drop by the Oilers.
You guys like to talk about how your improvement will come from internal growth but never seem to acknowledge that CGY is likely to experience some as well and still added better players to support that growth while Chia did.... nothing. In true Oiler fashion you're GM sat on his hands instead of doing something tangible to help his players out.
Sure hope you guys make some noise this year because after this and Connors contract is added to Leon's what little depth you have now disappears.
- TandA4Flames

The only really thing we really need is a RW. Not exactly a lot of room otherwise.

Actually hero,fact,we DO have McDavid,and we DO have Nicholson,and we DO have a Top 5 coach,and you guys have none of it. That's the facts there bud,like it or not. So go ahead and play "what if" all you want. Whatever helps you guys sleep at night. I'm going to sleep just fine,with McJesus hanging over my bed. Also fact,you guys have nothing to show for either your good years,or the many bad ones,and high draft picks,with bone heads like Nonis and Button to name just a couple. Fact,we handed you guys your ass last season,and we'll do it again this year,Hero. It's going to take a lot more than your Big Hero 6 bud.
- 2centz

a little butt hurt there bud?

Your team literally won the lottery 4 times...Oilers fluked the (frank) out more than any team in history and STILL would have sucked without the last one

not saying don't enjoy it just be honest

Flames got a little lucky with JG and Brodie but also made good picks...good development with Brodie. Certain teams seem to struggle to develop anything other than sure fire top picks
- flashfire

What OileR fan would deny how poopty we were, and than hiw unbelievably luck we got. This is the redderict you flames fans need to drop. I can fully admit everyone of those points. But than you guys need to admit that up until the last 2/3 years, your organaization and team have been nothing more than a wild card/ 9th place team since the 80's. really not much to brag about.

https://www.google.ca/amp/www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/the-draft-day-story-of-johnny-gaudreau/sn-amp/
Read the story. Then I'll except your apology for thinking I'm just making poop up.
- TandA4Flames

Nowhere in that article does it mention the 'strategy' of passing on him 3x even tho they thought he was a first line star that should go in the first round. If they actually thought he was a .75ppg player, and as good as he has turned out, no GM would continuously pass on him because they KNEW they could get him in the fourth. Quit drinking the coolaid

The Oil will miss the playoffs due to injuries and the Flames will lose again to the Ducks in round 1.

Klef will start Pitkanen'ing out of the league from concussions and Dougie will have his first major knee injury this year. Boom hot takes, (frank)ers.

a little butt hurt there bud?
- TandA4Flames

Heartbroken big guy

Glad to see Freelancer decided to write a troll blog. That's vintage Cloutier

Nowhere in that article does it mention the 'strategy' of passing on him 3x even tho they thought he was a first line star that should go in the first round. If they actually thought he was a .75ppg player, and as good as he has turned out, no GM would continuously pass on him because they KNEW they could get him in the fourth. Quit drinking the coolaid
- Shyster19

Well they did believe they could get him in a later round which is what lots of teams do for draft strategy. Admittedly, Gaudreau was a risk both to draft and to wait on on the draft. If they wanted one of KUcherov or Johnny. Once TBL took Kuch, they took Gaudreau. WORked out pretty well

Glad to see Freelancer decided to write a troll blog. That's vintage Cloutier
- LittleRickyV2

Well they did believe they could get him in a later round which is what lots of teams do for draft strategy. Admittedly, Gaudreau was a risk both to draft and to wait on on the draft. If they wanted one of KUcherov or Johnny. Once TBL took Kuch, they took Gaudreau. WORked out pretty well
- TandA4Flames

I dont disagree that they believed they could, but to state that their strategy was to wait on him ( if they thought he was so good ) is blind bias. Also to say that was 'good drafting' is a bit biased too. Anyone who thrns a late 3rd or 4th round pick into a top LW in the league is the definition of luck thru and thru.

Flames had Craig Button for a manager,so I'd say the mess our old boys club made,is on par with some of the tools that have run the Flames organization. As far as ownership goes,right now we have the best building in the league,not hopes for one. We have Bob Nicholson,one of hockey's most respected men. We have a top 5 coach in the league as well,where Calgary has Dallas Eakins 2.0. So yes,our ownership is far better than Calgary's
- 2centz

Top 5 coach??? Just what has he ever done to be called that??

This place went down hill fast
- dr_soiledpants

The regs have all been reasonable...

It wasn't until some of these new bandwagon tards like shyster and 2cents show up it went downhill. And the flames fans certainly didn't help at all by engaging them...

I dont disagree that they believed they could, but to state that their strategy was to wait on him ( if they thought he was so good ) is blind bias. Also to say that was 'good drafting' is a bit biased too. Anyone who thrns a late 3rd or 4th round pick into a top LW in the league is the definition of luck thru and thru.
- Shyster19

You are just so wrong with your statement. Luck is a factor with pretty much every draft pick - even the 1st overall!! You Oiler fans should know that more than anybody else. Your 1st overalls have pretty much all been BAD luck (except for McJesus) , right? Luck is a factor in the 1st round just as it is in later round (i.e. Alexandre Daigle). The Flames strategy was to pick Gaudreau a little later - they felt they could "get away with" letting him wait til the 4th - the other picks they made before him - they did not feel that these picks would last til the fourth. Say whatever you want but that IS draft strategy and every team does it. Do you think it's blind bias and total luck that Detroit for years has found draft gems in the later rounds and late in the earlier rounds? No - it's because they had/have a fantastic scouting department. Luck - good & bad - is always a factor but following a thought out draft strategy and following an organization's thought out draft process lowers the impact that luck has.

By your definition, all late 3rd or 4th round picks (or even later than that) who turn into top players in the league is pure luck and that is just ludicrous! So all the players below & a lot more that I have not thought of were total luck by the teams who drafted them?

Yeah - right!


Benn
Datsyuk
Fleury (Theo)
Gaudreau
Lidstrom
Hasek
Kurri
Glenn Anderson
Brett Hull
Zetterberg

Glad to see Freelancer decided to write a troll blog. That's vintage Cloutier
- LittleRickyV2

In my defense the first few pages were filled with solid responses from all fan bases.

In my defense the first few pages were filled with solid responses from all fan bases.
- freelancer

Those guys are all idiots though

You are just so wrong with your statement. Luck is a factor with pretty much every draft pick - even the 1st overall!! You Oiler fans should know that more than anybody else. Your 1st overalls have pretty much all been BAD luck (except for McJesus) , right? Luck is a factor in the 1st round just as it is in later round (i.e. Alexandre Daigle). The Flames strategy was to pick Gaudreau a little later - they felt they could "get away with" letting him wait til the 4th - the other picks they made before him - they did not feel that these picks would last til the fourth. Say whatever you want but that IS draft strategy and every team does it. Do you think it's blind bias and total luck that Detroit for years has found draft gems in the later rounds and late in the earlier rounds? No - it's because they had/have a fantastic scouting department. Luck - good & bad - is always a factor but following a thought out draft strategy and following an organization's thought out draft process lowers the impact that luck has.

By your definition, all late 3rd or 4th round picks (or even later than that) who turn into top players in the league is pure luck and that is just ludicrous! So all the players below & a lot more that I have not thought of were total luck by the teams who drafted them?

Yeah - right!


Benn
Datsyuk
Fleury (Theo)
Gaudreau
Lidstrom
Hasek
Kurri
Glenn Anderson
Brett Hull
Zetterberg
- hags11

Dont get me wrong, it takes really good scouting and a draft strategy to get any one of those guys on the list. And absolutely there is luck in the first round as well, but when you look at the percentage of a player from each round making it, there is far more luck in the 3rd and 4th. And back to the list of late steals, if anyone of those organizations 'knew' what those players were to become, they would never ever let them slide, and chance another team taking them. That thought process is the definition of Ludacrious.

I am all for poop talk. But it gets pretty stupid from both fan bases when people start connecting a whole fan base to 1 or 2 fans opinions.

I am cautiously optimistic about the Flames season. Some big question marks but I like what I see.

As an Oil fan I would feel the same. You guys know better than anyone that it does not take much for a season to go off the rails.

You guys have an awesome team with a lot of firepower. I am hoping that Chia finds more ways to (frank) it up.

When all other arguements fail, bring up the Stanley cup wins from an era when most of you 'fans' weren't even alive.
YOure owner mandated that you suck for as long as it takes to build a winner and your boys clown club managers followed orders like the sycophantic losers they are. How does equate to better ownership? And sure, ride that building credit for as long as you canbecause soon CGY will be Building as well and will likely out do your tear drop. Question. Was the inspiration for that shape based around all the crying Oiler fans did over the last decade?
- TandA4Flames

Was the inspiration for the Saddle all of the arses that were going to sit there?

I am all for poop talk. But it gets pretty stupid from both fan bases when people start connecting a whole fan base to 1 or 2 fans opinions.

I am cautiously optimistic about the Flames season. Some big question marks but I like what I see.

As an Oil fan I would feel the same. You guys know better than anyone that it does not take much for a season to go off the rails.

You guys have an awesome team with a lot of firepower. I am hoping that Chia finds more ways to (frank) it up.
- DuranDuran

As an Oiler fan, I don't think that we did anything to improve this off-season, and are likely slightly worse. In my opinion, any improvement we get from internal growth will likely be offset by more injury than we saw last year, as that was an anomaly for us. I think Calgary might leapfrog us this year, as they have improved, conditional on how Smith plays (but I think he will do well). And, all that said, I think either team would gain a little bit more edge against the other by signing Jagr on a 1 year deal.