Kippersoff will be the deciding factor here, he always single handily keeps them in games and steals games. If he regresses at all this year than the flames are in trouble.
if kiprusoff has any sort of injury that keep him out for a month the flames are toast. there are many nights where he bails them out of their horrible play. he is getting up there in age but great goalies dont decline a lot as they get older. he probably has 4-5 good years left
As another poster said, it is all based on Kipper and his play. He carried them and bailed them out many times last year. Maybe this is the year he regresses? Who knows.
One thing that could hurt the Flames is not only has Iginla not played in about 8-9 months...he's been regressing little by little and the last couple seasons it's taken him about 20 games to really get going.
Flames last year won 37 games, which is their lowest win total in like 10 years. Their GF/GA differential was not much better than the Oilers as well. Iginla is now much closer to a ~30 goal scorer than a >40 goal scorer. He was also a -10 player which is his lowest +/- since 02/03. As much respect that I have for Iginla, I think his age is catching up to him and we're now witnessing the start of the decline in his career. Their once great goaltending and defence which used to average under 200 goals against during their cup run days, is now averaging around 230 goals against, which isn't that much better than the 239 goals against allowed by the Oilers last year. And their offence has barely scratched over 200 goals for in 2 of the last 3 years. I think these are clear signs that the Flames are starting to regress and the gap between the Flames and Oilers is closing. It'll be a tight race between the two teams this year though. But as many posters have said, I think it'll rely on how Kipper plays. He's the main reason for the Flames success.
As another poster said, it is all based on Kipper and his play. He carried them and bailed them out many times last year. Maybe this is the year he regresses? Who knows.
Especially given the Flames offense, which was 27th last year. It shouldn't be that low this year but I doubt it will be much higher either.
When you score more goals keeping the puck out of your net doesn't become as much of an issue.
I'm not suggesting that defence and goaltending aren't problems, but scoring more goals will win you more games even if everything stays the same.
Its the differential that really matters. I dont see many indicators that they will improve on the differential.
Adding 2 more rookies (Schultz and Yak) and the same 'D' and goaltending as last year will not help the team keep the puck out of their net.
Again we appear to be left with the Tambo recipe for success which involves 'hoping for the best'. History has shown how that works out.
Bouwmeester-Butler
Giordano-Wideman
Brodie-Sarich
Smith
Kipprusof
Karlsson
Flames fans better hope that Kipper comes out of the gate on fire and Iginla hasn't lost a step. Edmonton's had a number of it's players playing together, and in mid-season form.
If Edmonton can shake the injury bug, they'll have a very good team, very soon. If you're Hartley, who do you send out when Hall-Hopkins-Eberle are out? Who when Yakupov-Gagner-Hemsky?
Should make for a good first game, and a good season series this year.
Here's a beauty from that CP thread. I guess we are all expecting the Oilers to contend for #1 in the division. Delusional morons. I don't know if history has caused them to have some massive inferiority complex towards the Oilers, but their hatred for us seems a lot greater than our hatred for them these days.
I don't know what he's talking about. I expect us to finish around 10-11
To be fair, i've noticed more level headed posters from CP lately regarding the state of affairs of both teams. Its usually the same culprits who spew the blind Oiler hatred over there.
Nonetheless, I think the Oilers have the advantage with a shortened season and a short training camp. Although both teams have new coaches, I would think Hartley would need more time to implement his system and get to know his players, as compared to Krueger, who was already here the last few seasons and probably isn't implementing a whole new system.
So they lurk here, good. Thinking of this forum making them so angry that they eat another big mac to fuel their sausage-like fingers into another "duhhh i hate teh oilers!!" posting frenzy actually makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
CP is disgusting, just full of vile human beings. Can't wait until the Flames are rebuilding and we see a half-full saddledome. When the Oilers rise are they ever going to hear it.
I looked through a few threads on that site and they literally talk more about the Oilers than they do their own team. It was hilarious, what is their deal? Why the inferior complex?
An empty crater with just one little spot at the bottom... All thats missing is 20 thousand red necks standing around waiting for air to turn into a mountain and 23 proctoligists from Edmonton to help locate their craniums. I honestly believe Jesus will come back before the flames. Apparently Vegas concurs.
That guys description of the Oilers is how I would describe the Flames.
The have some nice top end talent(Iginla, Cammalleri, Hudler and Tanguay) and a few good defensemen(Giordano, Wideman and Bouwmeester). Outside of that, there isn't a whole lot there. You could make the argument that even goaltending is a question mark because Kiprusoff is 36, hasn't played since April and is going to have to be absolutely elite like he was last season if the Flames want to have a chance. If he isn't a top 5 goalie, they might as well have Dubnyk in net because they aren't making the playoffs.
Oilers fans may be excited about the future....but Flames fans are excited about today and it makes no sense to me. We're optimistic. They're arrogant. I guess they have to hold on to some hope. A future built around Bartschi and Backlund is like having Eberle, Paajarvi and nothing else. Unless they have a summer like the Flyers had in 2007, this is likely the last year they'll be competitive.
I like when the Flames fan posted in the "Best top 6 teams in the league" thread.
Everyone ignored him because they felt bad that it would be too easy to cut him up
best post was the one convincing himself they were better yet already saying how being bad wasnt all that bad this yr then making excuses as to why it didnt matter if they were worse
Hey all, we need to watch the fan bashing or this thread will get shut down. Let's try to keep the discussion on hockey as much as possible. Sure the occasional "haha look at CP" post isn't too bad, but we can't turn this thread into a Flames fan rip-fest.
Edit: And as a general FYI, taking posts from other threads on HF to ridicule isn't allowed.
Quote:
2) Trolling: Do not post topics with the sole purpose of starting a dispute. Note that a person disagreeing with your opinion is NOT trolling; keep it civil, even if you're sure the other person is wrong. When visiting the team forums please note that they are fan forums for that team and are here mainly for the enjoyment of that team's fans. Do not visit team forums to cheer against or demean their team, or cheer for their opponent. In other words, if you want to cheer for the Habs and criticize the Bruins, do it on the Habs board. And if someone is doing the opposite on the Bruins board, don't start flaming them to defend the honor of your team. Either ignore it respectfully disagree and move on. Wishing illness or injury on someone will almost always be regarded as trolling or offensive. We do not permit any forums to be used to demean/insult the fans of other teams. That is considered trolling. Copying posts from one HFBoard team forum to another for this purpose is considered trolling.
Sigh... And these guys make fun of you all the time because of the Schremp remark.
But we can still post links to calgarypuke since it isn't an HFBoard team forum, right?
