Calgary Flames post-mortem

Based on the article by Randy Sportak of the Calgary Sun, he claims that the Flames will undergo a big change, possibly a coaching or GM change? I personally think that they should not tinker too much. Why on earth would I say such a thing? Well... I believe firmly that this team was the most talented and skilled team that captain Jarome Iginla has played with during his tenure. The only thing I question is the mental makeup of the team.

The key thing that everyone has talked about is "consistency". The team have been world-beaters on some days, but on other days, they fold like cheap cards. They get flustered when other teams start pouring the pressure. To me, that's a mental thing. These are all things that you can work together as a group to overcome. That culture or negative attitude of accepting losing should no longer be accepted. They should all "hate" to lose, and play like that all the time.

The easy way out is to start changing out players via trade or free agency. I'm not saying that Sutter should not go after a player that would clearly add some skill to the team. All I'm saying is that they should recognize the talented players on the team and allow them room to grow. Perhaps, give a bigger role to some younger players like Lombardi, Boyd, and others in the farm system. Whatever happened to Andrei Taratukhin and Mark Giardano? They should've been given a shot this past year. They were all promising young players that got alienated somehow.

That said, I think that somehow Huselius is going to be the odd man out, and it is unfortunate because this guy represents a lot of the trials and tribulations the Flames went through this year. When he was on, he was clearly the Flames second-best player on the team. Kipper is on the same boat, but he's not going anywhere. And he should certainly stay. Nobody represented the Flames season more so than Kiprusoff. Like Huselius, Kipper has been all-world for the most part and simply average on others. Perhaps upgrading the defense would help.

One last thought. The Flames identity was also something that was in question all year. That is clearly related to the consistency issue. Do they want a powerhouse defensive style, a la Minnesota Wild or Vancouver Canucks? Maybe they want to have a more passing, keep the puck away, creative team, ala the Sharks or Red Wings. They need to make up their mind. I personally would like to mold the team more like the Red Wings and Sharks, but it may not happen with Keenan and Sutter running things. Who knows? Let's see how next year pans out. Go Flames go!