Colin Dambrauskas: Could the Calgary Flames place better than Toronto, Edmonton, Tampa?

Nope. The Calgary Flames could be the worst team in the league next season. Carolina and Tampa will be better. Nashville and Colorado got better. Maybe Florida but even they have some good prospects ready to step in.

no

Buffalo and florida have the only chance finishing worse than flames.

No, yes, no

Calgary might be the worst team the NHL has seen in 20 years.

Out of all the Canadian teams, they are by far the worst.. but I can see Vancouver being a complete flop this year with all the mis-management Gillis the moron has done..i think its feasable that Calgary may do better than them, given that there is no pressure on Calgary. I certainly hope so..

Nope. The Calgary Flames could be the worst team in the league next season. Carolina and Tampa will be better. Nashville and Colorado got better. Maybe Florida but even they have some good prospects ready to step in.
- t_leafs21

Colorado will be better...but I dont think Nashville will be all that much better to be honest.

Calgary might be the worst team the NHL has seen in 20 years.
- Scooby_Doo

Well, let's not get carried away now...the Canucks could surprise us all

Colin Dambrauskas: Could the Calgary Flames place better than Toronto, Edmonton, Tampa?
- Colin Dambrauskas

Of the players leaving that you mentioned (Kipper, Iggy & Jbo) Jbo was really the only contributor to any success last year. Iggy isn't what he used to be and was a complete floater last year while Kipper had his worse season since joining the team. 2 of the 3 were liabilities. Losing Tanguay and Cervenka isn't that big of a deal either. Replace these 5 guys with young and eager talent and you're not too far off from last year. That being said they were terrible last year so don't expect much more than that.

No, yes, no
- jmatchett383

I think it's Edmonton's time to break out and fight for the playoffs...it has to be. If they struggle out of the gates then I feel one of their star forwards need to be moved in order to strengthen their core.

Of the players leaving that you mentioned (Kipper, Iggy & Jbo) Jbo was really the only contributor to any success last year. Iggy isn't what he used to be and was a complete floater last year while Kipper had his worse season since joining the team. 2 of the 3 were liabilities. Losing Tanguay and Cervenka isn't that big of a deal either. Replace these 5 guys with young and eager talent and you're not too far off from last year. That being said they were terrible last year so don't expect much more than that.
- bastage

I dont know about that to be honest...though I see your point with Iginla and the Pens, he was still holding the Flames together if not with point production but with leadership and work ethic.

Colorado will be better...but I dont think Nashville will be all that much better to be honest.
- Colin Dambrauskas

I think they might be but there is a cluster of five really bad teams. The flames and Sabres have cleaned their rosters the most of nhl talent but the Sabres still have Miller and the Preds also have a stellar goalie and that will likely put them higher then the flames. Florida will be better if they stay healthy. The Flames need a goalie to step up big for them not to be in the basement or another team to make a trade i.e Miller or Vanek or along those lines.

What?? the flames will be the worst in the NHL Draft frist overall.
Oilers will make the playoffs this year..

Does that writer have rocks for brains?

What?? the flames will be the worst in the NHL Draft frist overall.
Oilers will make the playoffs this year..
- The_Hinter

Yeah they massive improvement to their Blueline will really push team over the top, they finally got the no.1 they've needed for... Oh wait. They don't have one still.

I wouldn't be so confident. This is a team that has been brutal for a number of years and did little to address their biggest need. Ference is an okay pick up, but lets not fool ourselves all he does is add another 4/5 defenceman to a team loaded with 2nd and third pairing d men.

Have a chance, but certainly far from a lock.

Well, let's not get carried away now...the Canucks could surprise us all
- Colin Dambrauskas

I will bet the farm Vancouver has more points than Calgary at seasons end.

Nope. The Calgary Flames could be the worst team in the league next season. Carolina and Tampa will be better. Nashville and Colorado got better. Maybe Florida but even they have some good prospects ready to step in.
- t_leafs21

It's true. The state of this team, on paper right now, is atrocious. Your roster is lacking so much star-power, considering you have ZERO all-star players on your roster right now. It's going to be a LONNNNNG season in Calgary. The future is looking bright with the addition of all the young assets.

Good article and once buffalo trades away miller then they will definately be worse then calgary.

One thing calgary will need to try and draft in the next two drafts is there next iginla. I'm not saying you can replace a player like him cause you can't but the oilers have eberle and hall and yaks who could all be fourty goal guys when they reach full potential. Where all of the flame prospects are pretty blue collar. Monahan will be a 60 point guy and who knows with baertschi

I still maintain that the Flames will be better than they were last year if they can play a team game and someone steps up to be an actual captain.

I don't know what games people were watching when they praise Iggy for his work ethic. I'm being generous with the number I throw out, but I say in 60% of the Flames games I watched he looked disinterested and was pretty much invisible on the ice. 20% of the time he actually looked like a top line player and the other 20% he still looked like a player that was a superstar and could carry a team. The Flames biggest issue was their consistency and how they'd implode after they fell behind when they were playing well. Can you not put some of that on Iggys non-existent leadership from the last few seasons?

Kipper was terrible last year. Not much more you can say. He looked like he was already looking forward to his retirement. Again the main problem was consistency. He still made quite a few play of the year type saves but they were overshadowed by how many weak goals he let in. You can blame the defence in front of him but top goalies, including Kipper himself in past years, thrive off that and will bail their teams out.

Losing Boumeester will hurt and will have the biggest impact on the team but if they can play as a team and get the mindset that they need to outwork everyone to win I see no way that they're worse than last year.

I still maintain that the Flames will be better than they were last year if they can play a team game and someone steps up to be an actual captain.

I don't know what games people were watching when they praise Iggy for his work ethic. I'm being generous with the number I throw out, but I say in 60% of the Flames games I watched he looked disinterested and was pretty much invisible on the ice. 20% of the time he actually looked like a top line player and the other 20% he still looked like a player that was a superstar and could carry a team. The Flames biggest issue was their consistency and how they'd implode after they fell behind when they were playing well. Can you not put some of that on Iggys non-existent leadership from the last few seasons?

Kipper was terrible last year. Not much more you can say. He looked like he was already looking forward to his retirement. Again the main problem was consistency. He still made quite a few play of the year type saves but they were overshadowed by how many weak goals he let in. You can blame the defence in front of him but top goalies, including Kipper himself in past years, thrive off that and will bail their teams out.

Losing Boumeester will hurt and will have the biggest impact on the team but if they can play as a team and get the mindset that they need to outwork everyone to win I see no way that they're worse than last year.
- Hunkulese

Agree with you. I'm looking forward to the flames playing spoiler alot this year. Everyone seems to think winning is about the players you have, and forget that the coaching staff and TEAM mentality play a BIGGER role.

I still maintain that the Flames will be better than they were last year if they can play a team game and someone steps up to be an actual captain.

I don't know what games people were watching when they praise Iggy for his work ethic. I'm being generous with the number I throw out, but I say in 60% of the Flames games I watched he looked disinterested and was pretty much invisible on the ice. 20% of the time he actually looked like a top line player and the other 20% he still looked like a player that was a superstar and could carry a team. The Flames biggest issue was their consistency and how they'd implode after they fell behind when they were playing well. Can you not put some of that on Iggys non-existent leadership from the last few seasons?

Kipper was terrible last year. Not much more you can say. He looked like he was already looking forward to his retirement. Again the main problem was consistency. He still made quite a few play of the year type saves but they were overshadowed by how many weak goals he let in. You can blame the defence in front of him but top goalies, including Kipper himself in past years, thrive off that and will bail their teams out.

Losing Boumeester will hurt and will have the biggest impact on the team but if they can play as a team and get the mindset that they need to outwork everyone to win I see no way that they're worse than last year.
- Hunkulese

Consistancy will clearly be easier said then done. This is a bad team right now just accept it. The Flames have a lot of work to do to get back into the conversation but its not impossible and they already have a few really nice pieces but they will need for sure 1 year of being really bad (likely 2) before they get back

Consistancy will clearly be easier said then done. This is a bad team right now just accept it. The Flames have a lot of work to do to get back into the conversation but its not impossible and they already have a few really nice pieces but they will need for sure 1 year of being really bad (likely 2) before they get back
- blizzzard

Agreed. While it is entirely possible the Flames do moderate to decent, and push for an 8th seed, but, the reality is that this team lacks the star-power and high-end skill to compete with the rosters of the rest of the league. Karri Ramo may be your brightest spot right now with the potential he brings based on his play and numbers in the KHL.

I really enjoyed this - its great to see an evaluation of a biased article, and on an interesting topic. I think Flames could finish ahead of Florida and Buffalo if they have just as bad seasons as last year. Not sure about Nashville though, their new division will help them pick up some easier points.