For as much as Sutter was a good coach (see the 2004 Flames run to the Stanley Cup Finals), the same could not be said for his general manager skills. Seemingly, for every Miika Kiprusoff and Rene Bourque, there were quite a few Olli Jokinens and Jay Bouwmeesters to counteract those acts. In no way does this truly encapsulate the problems that the Flames had since 2004, as the Flames have made historically bad deals in the past (remember the Doug Gilmour trade in 1992?). The main problem with the Flames of recent years has more to do with the inability to develop talent around the face of the franchise Jarome Iginla. Other than Bourque, no other Flame has consistently put up offensive numbers and managed to stay with the team for more than a year. Defensively, the trade for Bouwmeester has not panned out as they have hoped, and to some degree, cost the Flames Dion Phaneuf in January 2010. Throw in this season's signings of guys like Jokinen (widely panned by everyone except Sutter) and Alex Tanguay (who has only had one great season and a bunch of mediocre seasons) and the Flames have headed towards a disastrous ending the likes that only the Islanders and Devils have felt this year. The future of the Flames isn't very bright, either, as they don't have much in the way of youth.
The way I see it: Edmonton stinks, but they will be better because the young players will learn what it takes to win from the handful of veterans that have seen playoff success. On the other hand, Calgary stinks, and there's not much hope for a turnaround, short of the team blowing it up after the season. They need to find a way to stockpile draft picks or at least, find a way to shore up the minor league system, something that has been a problem for years. This will be a clean-up that will take years, since the Flames don't have much in the way of draft picks in 2011, and they didn't get much in 2010.
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