Thanos Thanos:
I'm not as negative as some in town right now. Despite the killer body checks and slap shot, not to mention re-pairing him with his coach from junior who made him into something big, Phaneuf sort of quietly turned in the second coming of Trevor Kidd: first rounder, big name, stupid injuries, brain missing somewhere while on the ice, never lived up to potential, and eventually disappeared into obscurity.
I'm somewhat amazed at the loyalty someone like Jokinen has somehow managed to generate among the fans. In team history he was the biggest stiff since the days of Kent Nilsson. For a guy who was supposedly desperate to get into the playoffs he showed absolutely no heart or drive to anything besides collect a paycheque by just showing up. He also said that getting traded again was like a slap to the face. Well, the real slap to the face was watching him not do anything at all to justify his $5 mil a year. And even if they hadn't done the Ranger trade they would have got nothing in the end anyway because I could see no justification to keep him past the end of this season anyway. The only downside is that they gave up a first round pick just to get him. But considering that the Flames first-round history is kinda awful anyway, in the greater scheme of things, it probably won't mean much later down the line.
Blow up the team or rebuild through a flurry of trades? I don't know. I don't even really care right now. Unless they hit another 8 out of 10 , and then a minimum of 15 out of the remaining 25 winning streak they're probably out of the playoffs anyway. I feel bad about hating Keenan so much last year. At least his teams made the playoffs easily before they tanked out in the first round.
My prediction: regardless of what happens, both Sutters are probably gone by Christmas of this year. Sutter-hockey looks good for the first five years but eventually it always wears out it's welcome. I just hope long-term that the dark days of the mid-1990's thru 2003 aren't making an unwelcome return.
PS: Most fans are incredibly stupid anyway. Going by the radio shows and some of the local discussion boards some of them actually think that the likes of Crosby, Ovechkin, or Thornton were going to be traded here soon. Get real, dummies.
You nailed it. I'm hopeing alot of these aquisitions were done so we have more to throw around before the trde deadline.
CKA Uber 
