CALGARY — Calgary Flames they are not ready to give up and do not want to consider the possibility that a season that many consider to be lost could be ended by withdrawing from the season.
Even though only one team in the last 55 years has returned to the playoffs after finishing with 10 points in its first 22 games, Flames president of hockey operations Don Maloney says the club's vision remains the same.
In an extensive 45-minute one-on-one, the man in charge of the last-place Flames said that while he sympathizes with fans demanding a rebuild, it won't happen under his watch.
“The only time you like the first pick in the draft is in the draft. It takes a lot of suffering to get there, and that’s something we don’t think about at all,” Maloney said.
“No one has the desire to just burn it down, tear it all down.”
To many fans, Maloney's position will seem tone-deaf.
Most Flames fans are tired of being stuck in the middle and are really demanding a radically different approach from the organization, with an eye toward getting Gavin McKenna or Keaton Verhoeff in the draft this summer.
“I feel for the fans because I know there's a story out there: 'They should just blow it up – they're not going anywhere. Why aren't we playing with these young guys? Just get rid of the older guys, get the younger guys, get draft picks,” Maloney said.
“If we could trade somebody and get a top-3 or top prospect, we wouldn't have any restrictions on making deals if the deal makes sense with our long-term plan. If (general manager Craig Conroy) got a call on anybody today and said, 'Wow, this is good for us long-term,' then sure.
“So the idea that we're digging our feet in the sand and saying no – we're being realistic about where we are. We know we have real things to work out in the short term, but we're going to continue this draft process, develop well, work on deals that make sense for us long term. What the fans don't understand is that we have a team next year that we have to put on the ice, and what happens if some of these young players aren't quite ready? And then you know, next year you’re the 32nd-place team.”
Again, this would be music to the ears of many disappointed Flames supporters.
In the first of a two-part Q&A with the rarely quoted Maloney, he evaluates the first quarter of the season, what went wrong and whether the organization's approach moving forward could change.
In the second part, Saturday.
Sportsnet: What is your estimate for the first quarter?
Don Maloney: It was bad and unexpected. We need everyone to play a certain style to be competitive in this league. Basically, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. We started slowly and fell behind by the eighth goal. We can't score. You're not very good at defending yourself. When I look at the roster now, it's hard for me to pick one or two players about whom I can say: “This guy played consistently, to the point of being identical.” I think we're realistic in our expectations, but we definitely think there's more to this group than we've shown. But our record is a record. We're 32nd in the league and that's very humbling. Everyone in the organization feels this.
SN: Same lineup as last year, same coaching staff, same everything, different result. Can you indicate why?
DM: No, honestly, I can't. That's all we've been doing for the last month: evaluating everything we've done, from who we've signed and when we're signing them to how we've trained, how we're training, and we haven't found an ingredient other than lack of consistency. I think there's a certain style we need to play right now, and it's not pretty in and of itself. It's a little tighter defense, fewer mistakes, smarter puck handling. And we weren't a particularly smart team either. You know, we're one of the most penalized teams in the league, and we have the most penalized bench players. Why? It was the perfect storm: everything that could have happened put us in this position. It's still November. But if we sit here in February and March and continue to flounder, then obviously there will be changes.
SN: Has this start changed the organization's approach to future development?
DM: No, our message is the same.
SN: At some point, if the losses continue, could this season change the organization's approach?
DM: I don't think it will change the long term approach. We care a lot about the culture here and creating the right environment for these players to develop, and we believe it is better to develop successful players in a winning environment. We will still rely on our veterans, but will leave room for some younger players to come in when they are ready. I don't think the general approach will change as we sit here on November 22nd.
SN: Is it true that the owner's directive states that there will be no reboot or recovery?
DM: No, I don't think that's accurate. We've got a collective group here with Dave Nonis, Craig, myself, Brad Pascall, Peter Hanlon, and we're talking about how we move forward. We all want to win the Cup. However, the dynamic in Canada is you have 82 games and you want to sell tickets and get people to your games. It all somehow works together. No one has the desire to just burn it down, demolish everything. Now there are examples where you say that recovery may take decades. A project is such an imprecise thing. If you could guarantee that you could get a superstar or a franchise-caliber player every year, I'm sure every team owner would say, “Okay, yeah, we'll suffer for two or three years.” But we just don't think it's for us. We prefer the Dallas model where they have Miro Heiskanen at three years old but also have good players in the 20s and 30s. We need to be better at drafting and designing rather than saying, “Let's lose easy for everyone.” We don't want this culture to be part of our organization.
SN: With a tough draft that includes Gavin McKenna, isn't it tempting to just lean on the hand you were dealt earlier this year?
DM: In a fantasy world, yes. Unfortunately, this is not fantasy hockey. There is no longer even an agreement: McKenna will go first. There are very few franchise players in each draft. Regardless of who we choose – one, five, 10, we hope that we get a top-level player, and that is not our goal at all.
SN: Shouldn't there be a lesson learned from the fact that the league's top four scorers are now No. 1 overall picks, with teams like San Jose, Chicago, Anaheim and the Islanders all turning around with their star draft picks leading the way?
DM: Again, in a fantasy world this is very tempting. You will also have to deal with the real world. First of all, we are very early in the season. We'll see how things pan out for the rest of the year for these teams. No disrespect, these teams are really good, but then look at some of the other teams that were in it. I don't want to talk about teams, but they've been losing and missing the playoffs for years and years and years. And then you lose fans, you lose interest, and no one wants that.
SN: Everyone seems to agree that you are missing change makers. How can you get them if you don’t pick one, two, or three in the draft?
DM: Well, Matthew Tkachuk played a pretty big role and was drafted sixth. There are some good players in the draft. You don't have to be at the bottom to make a difference. As we all know, you're probably more likely to end up at the bottom, but it's one thing for us to have this discussion in March and April. Another thing is October and November. For a team like us that came in with certain expectations, we're not just going to do it because we had a bad month. We're going to continue to do what we do, develop and recruit our players the way we think is right. We'll see how the next few months go, but again, this won't be a knee-jerk reaction to a very disappointing 20 games.
SN: I'm with you, no one starts the season saying, “I hope to finish in the top five.” But what about the idea that this false start is an opportunity to turn around for the greater good?
DM: We still evaluate every day as we go, and when we say, “How can we improve the club?” it's always from a long-term perspective. In my opinion, it is too early for us to give up. There's never going to be a point where we say, “Let's just get rid of every player that other teams want.”
SN: When you talk about the long term, do you have a goal in mind where you expect this team to become competitive?
DM: In an ideal world. We're hoping to get a little momentum going into the new building. But again, that's how these young players develop. If we had had this conversation in the summer, we probably would have felt a little better. We have some promising players and some young players, but when you sit where we are in the standings, things look a little murky.
This interview has been lightly edited for brevity.
