Right now I am disgusted on so many levels. I will never let the Cammalleri/Jokinen decision down, not ever. What a waste of money, and not only in that respect because let me tell you, if I was in charge of the firing I'd be on a warpath tonight. While it isn't Jokinen's fault that we allowed Cammalleri to slip from our roster, it IS Dion Phaneuf's fault that he is a liability to our team! GET RID OF HIM! I have never really been on the Dion wagon so I can safely say that trading him for ANYTHING would be beneficial to our status as an NHL team. He doesn't hit, he sure isn't scoring and he is a defenseman, not halfway in between center and D. I have had enough. This is a team sport! The only defensemen that deserve any recognition right now is Mark Giordano and Jay Bouwmeester. How are those two guys our best defensemen right now?! Simply because they are doing their jobs and are both playing with heart and effort. Logically, I would hope that someone else with a lot more importance than I is giving their head a shake right now. Sutter brothers?! Are you with me?
So let's play a game and pretend that I am in control of this franchise starting midway through last season. Acquiring Olli Jokinen would have been interesting and something I'd have been able to justify. Trading Matthew Lombardi in that process is also something I think was timely, unfortunately I felt that he had worked very hard last year and did deserve a run to the playoffs. Now, my dilemma with Michael Cammalleri heading into UFA territory would have stopped me in my tracks. He kept our team's fire and motivation levels soaring at all times last season and all Olli showed me in the last stretch was that he was occasionally capable of a few pretty passes and some cutesy goals. Do I want pretty? Do I come out on top because I am cute? Not in this profession, buddy! I would have traded Olli Jokinen in a heartbeat to free up the money I needed in my salary cap to pay MC appropriately. Piece of cake.
Like I stated earlier, losing Dion Phaneuf wouldn't really be any skin off my back. Mikka Kiprusoff has played the last seven games virtually by himself and we apparently have one of the top defensemen on our team? That hasn't been true since he picked up Avery's sloppy seconds; neither man has ever been the same since and I'm not the only one who's noticed. Phaneuf stood back all night tonight and watched...FROM THE ICE - that was his participation. I know a few people that have him in their hockey pools (some of which are franchise pools!) and all I have to say is, whoops. Whatever legacy was inside of him a few years ago has been long gone and I don't see a recovery in his future. I could be wrong, but I'm willing to bet on it. We should start looking now and take whatever we can get for him. I joked tonight with friends that since we're so eager to send Lundmark back and forth from the Flames to the Abbottsford Heat that perhaps it was time to keep him and send Dion down for a while. Whoever we bring up instead might prove himself far beyond the measures of what Dion is providing for us. Although that would never happen, it was the lighter note of our musical disaster this evening.
As critical as I am today, I want to express my love for my hockey team, through and through. I have always been a fan and I will always be a fan. As for each and every one of you who waited for the final buzzer to go tonight simply to boo your own team, you should be ashamed of yourselves. Do you know what is even more embarrassing than losing 7 games in a row? Bandwagon jumpers. Congratulations.
I know changes are on the rise and I'm excited to see what will happen to my team in the very near future. Due care and attention need to be paid to their rightful owners, so I plead to the Hockey Gods once again that the right decisions will be made this time around. At this point I don't see us doing anything memorable for our 30th anniversary year. Please, please prove me wrong!!
GO FLAMES GO!
T
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