How to rebuild a franchise....for Dummies (or Flames fans)

Trouble in Cow-Town? You bet! The Flames currently sit just 3 points ahead of the Oilers for last place in the west. Considering the hype, and the expectations going into the 2010-2011 season, this is an epic fail for the boys down south. Listening to radio talk shows, there is even talk of trading Jarome Iginla! That's when you know that the proverbial "shit" has hit the fan. The Flames future isn't much brighter either. They do not have either their 2nd or 3rd round picks for the 2011 draft. They now belong to Toronto and Edmonton respectively. So even to bomb on the season would not be as helpful for the Flames. So in watching what the Oilers have done over the past couple seasons, and what they are doing now, I thought I'd try and give my arch rivals a few helpful tips on what to do...

Clean House

Get rid of all the aging overpaid veterans, rid yourself of the pieces that don't fit. Steve Staios was a horrible pickup for a 3rd round pick, he needs to be rid of. At $2.7 million, he just isn't worth the seat in the press box. Same goes for Cory Sarich at $3.6 million. The Ian White trade doesn't even make much sense. Bringing in more older players such as Kostopoulos and Babchuk is a step in the wrong direction. Thank God Daymond Langkow is injured, but when he comes back, that's another $4.5 million for at best a 2nd line center. It could be a situation where they either hope he retires, or they might look into buying him out. Get rid of Nik Hagman, Ales Kotalik, and Olli Jokinen. They are all overpaid and under producing. If you can keep Alex Tanguay for under $2 million this off season, do so. The hardest part about all of this is that the Flames farm system is pretty dry of high end talent.

Draft Needs

So if the Flames decide that they will go on with the full rebuild, they would probably be selecting in the top 5 overall. That's good for them, so is the fact that the top 10 ranked players right now, are mostly Centermen and Defensemen. The Flames could really do with both, but preferably a Centerman. If the Flames could somehow get their hands on a Sean Couturier, Jonathan Huberdeau, or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. It would be massively beneficial to them. Acquiring another 1st rounder would be quite a feat, but reacquiring a 2nd and 3rd round pick, or picks, would also help a ton. Its really hard to start building for the future when you cant draft depth. The Oilers took Tyler Pitlick, and Martin Marincin in the 2nd and 3rd rounds respectively. Pitlick looks like he could be a nice addition to the Oilers roster in a year or two, and he has size. Marincin went #1 in the CHL import draft to Prince George and is excelling there. Plus he is 6'5" and weighs just over 200lbs. This is why a rebuilding team needs those picks. Drafting well and making the right moves also falls back to good management.


Shedding the Sutters

If the Flames ownership group were any smart, they would have got rid of the Sutter brothers a season ago. Now it has just gone too far. The team has suffered the effects of mismanagement and sub par coaching. The exclamation point for Darryl Sutters management campaign, was the bringing back of Alex Tanguay and Olli Jokinen. Both originally discarded due to lack of production, and yet, they were resigned this last off season. So far, Tanguay has looked better, but still not worth the trouble of being brought back. Jokinen on the other hand, has continued the terrible play that has plagued him ever since he left Florida. On the coaching side of things, Brent Sutters coaching style just has not seemed to fit well with the Flames. He truly hasn't had a ton of success at the NHL level and might be best returning to his Red Deer Rebels. His defensive style just wont work in the high flying Western Conference. Some of the Flames best players seem to have suffered the effects of his coaching system as well. The best example might be the Flames captain, Jarome Iginla. Whose production has slowly worsened since Brent gained control of the Calgary bench. I'm sure that at some point before this season ends, one of these two front office pieces will be discarded.


Hump Day Hammering

Enough with the Flames talk. I'd much rather delve into the Oilers beating that occurred tonight. Listening to 630 Ched after the game, I was slightly distressed at the amount of fans calling in wondering why the Oilers are sucking so bad. I'd like to point out the 1st years for two teams. In Sidney Crosby's first season with the Penguins, the team finished dead last in the east with just 58 points. Not only that, but the Washington Capitals, with a rookie Alex Ovechkin finished just ahead of them with 70 points. The Blackhawks did a little better with 88 points to finish 10th in Pat Kane, and Jonathan Toews' first years. The point is, this team is going to lose a bunch of games this year. They wont make the playoffs. There will be a point this year though, when this team will go on a rip. They'll go for 5 or 6 games, and you will see the flash. The flash of what is to come. These last four, five games have been miserable, but its just a matter of our guys finding their confidence. When you get blown out 7-1, 6-2, 8-2, and 5-0 in a span of 5 games, your confidence isn't very high. Trust me Oilers faithful, it will come, and be sure to be watching when it does...




 -Sporer