darryl sutter is walking the path of doug risebrough

well, that's the last straw for this girl.

it's sortof funny cause a year ago on this day, i thought that darryl fell pretty hard off of his untouchable perch when he traded a vyable centreman (lombo), a good utility guy (prust) and a first round draft pick (enter name of future NHL superstar ---just watch) for olli effin' jokinen.... the GM, once treated like a deity in this town (hahahaha"in sutter we trust"), made a trade that had the instantaneous potential to be one of the worst in franchise history, and he's followed it up this season with two other blockbuster deals that changed the face of the team in mid-january (debatably for the worse). ultimately, we're now looking at a roster where 5 out of 20 (25% of) players were skating for the worst team in the league only one month ago.... and somehow he's gonna try to convince flamesnation that this is a good thing.

while i'm still skeptically positive about dealing dion, the subsequent trades have all been complete jokes. we will look back someday and say to each other "remember early 2010 when darryl sutter lost his MIND ??!?" then we'll shake our heads and be glad that he's no longer driving this bus. dumping jokinen was necessary but picking up kotalik's contract (and a UFA higgins) was godawful. swapping backelhinney for toskala is fine for this season, but will leland be ready to make the jump next year ?? (i doubt it).... and finally, hopefully what will be the last trade darryl sutter ever makes for the flaming Cs: steve mafackin' staios [in'eresting stats here] for a whole other year at 2.7 million for aaron johnson and a 3rd rounder ? how is that trading UP ??!

so my question is this: is darryl sutter trying to re-build the team for the future, to win the cup, or to save his job ??! the trades are all a big muddle of mediocrity ---which has been the theme of his tenure in calgary. he does next-to-nothing in the summers, and consistantly deals massive blows to team chemistry mid-season [albeit ONE move was well warrented in january this year]. his identification of important player qualities is set in the pre-lockout era, and he's building cup-winners for 2002. we don't need older and bigger, darryl, we need younger and faster.... look around. you're a relic.

here is a pic of my fridge. in january 2008 (two years ago), i posted the team pic that was printed in the calgary herald.


here's who's still around :
langkow, nystrom, conroy, sarich, moss, regehr, iginla, kippy

here's who's gone:
huselius, hale, dion, yelle, eriksson, nolan, nilson, cumac, aucoin, mark smith (!!!), godard, lombo, primeau, tanguay, boyd, warrener.

while i say good riddance to a lot of those guys (i'm talking to you, anders), i also think he's missed the boat on lombo, primeau, tanguay, huselius, and boyd. of the guys that remain, i think nystrom, sarich, and conroy (obviously) are totally replaceable. of the guys he's since brought in, i really only think bourque, dawes, gio, glenX, higgins, and backlund hold any real value (with the jury still out on hagman and stajan, and an overpaid kotalik). then you've got a boatload of pluggers....

i don't know. i think daz's job is on the line and i think he's throwing down the gauntlet.... will the new-new-look flames be enough to make the playoffs ? if not, well then my guess is that we won't make the playoffs for years to come either, since we'll look an awful lot the same.

sorry for being so scattered, i'm pretty pissed about boyder.
we'll miss you, buddy. i hope you turn out like lombo and notch a bunch....
i think you'll like nashville.
see you next year.
:)