Expectations for the 2024–25 Calgary Flames season have been thrown out the window at this point. The team was supposed to struggle and instead had their best start in franchise history. Since then it’s been a series of streaky play that’s seen the team go from division leader to looking at a wildcard spot from the outside in approaching the final week before Christmas.
With the Flames not in a playoff spot nor a draft lottery spot, we wanted to know if Flames fans are happy with how the season has gone thus far. We asked, you answered.
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Are you happy with how the season has gone for the Flames?
We presented the following question to our readers with a simple yes or no option for response: Are you happy with how the season has gone for the Flames so far?
Are you happy with how the season has gone for the #Flames so far?
— The Win Column (@wincolumnCGY) December 13, 2024
Yes, happy with the Flames’ season
Collecting 60% of this week’s response, just over half of fans are happy with how the Flames season has gone. If you’re in this voting group I would assume you’ve been pleasantly surprised by unexpected wins and possible playoff contention. For the Flames entering the season, that was a dream.
Beyond the playoff possibilities, Dustin Wolf has had a very strong season sharing the net with Dan Vladar and is only one of many graduated Calgary Wranglers to have received a chance this season. Justin Kirkland and his amazing story were a prominent part of the team’s offence until he tore his ACL in November while young talents like Matt Coronato, Jakob Pelletier and Walker Duehr have all had impacts in the lineup.
Beyond the youth, Jonathan Hubderdeau is also on pace for a career-high in goals. Who’d have thought?
There certainly have been moments to be happy about over the course of this season and although it hasn’t been what anyone expected, it’s also been a much more entertaining team to follow and cheer for, often compared to the 2014–15 “Find-a-Way Flames” and the vibe that team had.
There’s an energy within the locker room that can find its way onto the ice in big ways like it did last night against the defending champion Florida Panthers. Maybe that’s what’s made this season feel different in a way. It’s not the streaky play, mediocre offence, or results in the standings, it’s the journey they’ve had to get here.
No, not happy with the Flames’ season
40% of fans have not been happy with the Flames season thus far. The unhappy faction of fans also has lots of ground to stand on. Currently, the Flames are 14th in the league standings, not in a wildcard spot or a draft lottery spot. Whether you’re measuring success this season on wins or losses, 14th overall is almost the furthest from success you can get.
It’s a tale as old as time in Calgary: mediocrity. Never being good enough to compete for a championship but never losing enough to select a franchise-altering talent. This has been historically compounded with poor deadline trades and offseason signings of course, but has largely been the issue in Calgary the last 20 years.
For anyone who voted no this week, it might be because you can feel that gut-wrenching mediocrity moving closer and closer to reality as the season progresses. Every time the team looks to be on a slide, they win a chunk of games. Every time they look to be taking over the division, they go on a road trip and drop three or four in a row. It’s something we all know too well.
Outside of the standings, the coaching and management of the young talent on the team have also come into question lately. Line combinations rotating on the weekly, call ups and questionable healthy scratches have all brought head coach Ryan Huska under the microscope this past week. It’s as if the team doesn’t know what it wants to be, and personally I find that extremely frustrating.
Comments and considerations
The comments on this week’s poll did a great job summing up the frustration this question posed to fans. X user @ogie488 said, “It’s honestly tough to answer that question. You want to see the team do well but at the same time this group isn’t winning a Cup so what’s the point of being any good”.
For some, their opinion was more solidified. X user @_papamitch cited a philosophy issue as the root of his frustration saying, “Not really. We keep trying to push an agenda that has never worked. This “by committee” philosophy will get us nowhere. Love what I am seeing from the young guns, it’s just a shame they’re usually kept on such a short leash. Zary and Coronato on the PP is progress though” Others agreed that the team needs to seriously reconsider their expectations, smarten up and start losing games.
For some, it seems the journey to get here has been taxing and confusing enough with @pelletierfan23 commenting, “…How we’ve gotten here feels unnecessarily frustrating”. Following suit, @Mangia_pain commented, “We were supposed to be fun and bad, not bad and boring”.
Finally, my favourite comment that encapsulates this entire question and all of the subsequent responses. From X user @rfilsinger, this gif of Larry David looking uncomfortably uncertain.
— Filsinger (@rfilsinger) December 13, 2024
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