A Sad Day in Flames Town

Folks, it's days like this that I hate about being a die hard fan. I am a massive Dion Phaneuf fan. Aside from Jarome Iginla, he was the other favorite player I had on the team. With the Flames mired in a slump that ended last night, our G.M. Darryl Sutter decided to shake things up and he traded away Dion Phaneuf! I'm not angry about the trade, but I am not happy about it in the least. I understand that changes need to happen, but I don't feel we made a good trade here. Not only did we trade Dion to the Maple Leafs (one of my most hated teams), but they only got a bunch of middle of the road players. I don't feel that this trade really addressed our need for more improved offence! Secondly, I can't help but feel that this could be a repeat of the worst trade in in Flames history, Doug Gilmour for Gary Leeman. That ended up being disastrous for the Flames, and wonderful for the leafs. We just traded away the most feared, and statistically, the #1 defenseman since the lockout, for very little in return. I know, I know, it free's up salary in the salary cap era, but there were other options, and much better options in my opinion.

Now I just saw on the sports ticker, that the Flames are expected to announce the trade of Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust to the New York Rangers, for Chris Higgens and Ales Kotalik! I wanted Jokinen gone for sure, because he has been a bust for $5 million, but again, we're getting back mediochre players. What the heck? I thought that Darryl wanted to compete for the cup this year! Now at a very critical time in the season, he is purging the team. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me. You are revamping half the team in the middle of a very tight playoff race. One or two players is understandable, but 6 in one day? These are players coming from different systems, that now have to learn a new system (style of play), and establish chemistry with the remaining team members. It doesn't seem like a very smart move to me. If by some miracle, this bold move works out, Sutter will look like a genius. But if it blows up in his face, and believe me, in the sporting world it is very likely; the fans will be calling for his head.

This kind of anxiety makes it hard to be a fan some days. However, regardless; I will always support my team. But I am going to really, really miss my boy Dion Phaneuf. I hope he does well, in Toronto, and makes Sutter sorry for trading such a dominant talent away.