Culture, culture, culture. We’ve heard that word hundreds of times this year in relation to the Calgary Flames. In comparison to the past few years, it was a nice change to hear about a positive culture. Players wanted to show up at the arena and play. In the content the team put out, it looked like the group really enjoyed playing together.
But how important is culture? Is it worth sacrificing the future of the team for the culture of the team now? Not all teams that have bottomed out and rebuilt have won the Cup. But most teams that have won the Cup have bottomed out and rebuilt.
I don’t think a guy like Jeff Skinner is signing a one-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers because of their culture. He signed with the Oilers because of the opportunity to play on a line with Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl. Boosting his point totals so he can grab a bigger contract in the summer. An opportunity to go to the playoffs for the first time likely didn’t hurt, either.
Skinner didn’t really work with the Oilers, only scoring 29 points in 72 games. He was even a healthy scratch at times. But Edmonton and its elite players provided him with the best opportunity for his next contract, so he thought.
What is the Calgary Flames’ culture, and is it worth preserving?
What exactly is the Calgary Flames’ culture that they’ve built up and intend to preserve here? It’s clear that the Flames’ focus is just on making the playoffs. Is that really a good culture? Just getting in and seeing what happens? Do you need to preserve it over everything else? Especially year after year of teams that have bottomed out correctly going on to lift the Stanley Cup.
We’ve heard a lot from the team that it’s not okay to lose. That’s a good mindset to have. But this team has made the playoffs in nine of the last twenty seasons. They have two playoff series wins—three if you include the qualifying round win over the Jets in the bubble—in those nine appearances.
The Flames have that qualifying-round victory and their round-one victory over the Dallas Stars in 2021–22 as their only playoff victories over the last 10 years. They’ve missed the playoffs in six of the last 10 seasons, with three of those being the last three seasons.
The Buffalo Sabres haven’t made the playoffs in fourteen seasons. They still have more playoff series wins than the Flames in the last twenty years. Four for Buffalo versus two or three for Calgary, depending on whether you consider the qualification round or not.
If the Flames focus too much on preserving culture, they will end up with exactly what they had coming into this roster reset. No elite talents up front, a lot of good middle-of-the-lineup players, a solid defence, and a good goalie.
How important is culture?
The rosters are definitely different over the last three years, no question. But in two years of so-called bad culture, the Calgary Flames finished 16th and ninth. With a good culture this year, they finished 16th. There are a lot of comparisons in 2022–23 and 2024–25. Culture wasn’t one of them.
I maintain that you can build a culture. You can’t build elite top-of-the-lineup players, however. The San Jose Sharks haven’t had a great winning culture over the last few years. But they did add Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, William Eklund, and more. Last offseason, they signed Tyler Toffoli in hopes of catalyzing a winning culture in the room. I’m sure they’ll be adding some more veterans this summer. We will see how it plays out.
I’m not saying culture is a bad thing to have. In fact, quite the opposite. Just like my day job, it’s important that there’s something concrete that makes you want to be there. But sacrificing the future of the organization so that the culture of the team is good now is a disastrous recipe.
Teams that set a good example
I don’t think the Colorado Avalanche had a particularly difficult time building up their culture after a horrendous 2016–17 season. They had 48 points. But, they just so happened to select Cale Makar with that draft pick and added him to a squad that featured Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, and Mikko Rantanen. They didn’t win right away, but they did win the Cup in 2021–22.
The Vegas Golden Knights traded away Reilly Smith a week after they won the Stanley Cup. They traded away Marc-Andre Fleury for nothing but cap room. The Tampa Bay Lightning moved on from Steven Stamkos—the face of their franchise for years—last offseason in favour of Jake Guentzel. The Florida Panthers dealt Jonathan Huberdeau after a 115-point season. Those teams have all won.
