Alex_YYC
Senior Member
Another win. One more win and I’m giving up on them!
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Calgary Flames Official Thread
- Thread starter Surrealplaces
- Start date
Just build it
Active Member
Nah, gotta support them no matter what.
Alex_YYC
Senior Member
lol, I’m done being the supportive fan, I want a cup!Nah, gotta support them no matter what.
Mountain Man
Senior Member
It's a tough one, I like the team and like seeing them win, but I know we need as high of a draft pick as possible. There is quite the log jam at the bottom right now, so winning isn't helping us but it's more fun to watch!
Alex_YYC
Senior Member
They managed a win against Seattle, hopefully they lose as expected tonight against Vegas.
Alex_YYC
Senior Member
Well that didn’t happen, and they looked good in the win. So disappointing 
BrandedBlue
New Member
Not exactly Flames related but adjacent: Calgary Wranglers continues to fall off and the team draws lower crowds than the Hitmen.
- Hitmen are 9th out of 22 teams in average attendance in 2025-2026 with 3817 per game
- Wranglers are 28th out of 32 teams in average attendance in 2025-2026 with 3126 per game, and this is the lowest out of the 5 Canadian NHL affiliates that play in the same metro area as their parent team. In 2023-2024 Wranglers attendance was almost 1000 higher per game at 4101.
This raises a few questions for me:
1. I wonder if the Wranglers make or lose money for CSEC and how much the value the proximity of the affiliate team for calling up and sending down players vs potentially playing in another city with better attendance revenue?
2. If the Flames continue on a rebuilding path and accumulate higher level prospects, will that lead to an increased interest in the team? Or will an overall lack of optimism about the Flames trickle down to affect the Wranglers attendance
3. Would the Wranglers be better off playing in another market without so much competition from other high level hockey offerings? I've seen Saskatoon suggested on another forum. Personally I'd love to see either the Wranglers or Hitmen play out of Airdrie, but they don't have a good sized rink. I also wonder how interested City of Calgary and/or CSEC is in a PWHL expansion team. They are hosting a neutral site game at the Saddledome on April 1 so we'll see how well they do for attendance for that game. It seems more likely that Edmonton will be in the running for a PWHL expansion team over Calgary unless one of the Hitmen or Wranglers moves to another venue.
- Hitmen are 9th out of 22 teams in average attendance in 2025-2026 with 3817 per game
- Wranglers are 28th out of 32 teams in average attendance in 2025-2026 with 3126 per game, and this is the lowest out of the 5 Canadian NHL affiliates that play in the same metro area as their parent team. In 2023-2024 Wranglers attendance was almost 1000 higher per game at 4101.
This raises a few questions for me:
1. I wonder if the Wranglers make or lose money for CSEC and how much the value the proximity of the affiliate team for calling up and sending down players vs potentially playing in another city with better attendance revenue?
2. If the Flames continue on a rebuilding path and accumulate higher level prospects, will that lead to an increased interest in the team? Or will an overall lack of optimism about the Flames trickle down to affect the Wranglers attendance
3. Would the Wranglers be better off playing in another market without so much competition from other high level hockey offerings? I've seen Saskatoon suggested on another forum. Personally I'd love to see either the Wranglers or Hitmen play out of Airdrie, but they don't have a good sized rink. I also wonder how interested City of Calgary and/or CSEC is in a PWHL expansion team. They are hosting a neutral site game at the Saddledome on April 1 so we'll see how well they do for attendance for that game. It seems more likely that Edmonton will be in the running for a PWHL expansion team over Calgary unless one of the Hitmen or Wranglers moves to another venue.
Roaring Flames
Senior Member
The Hitman might be simply sold and moved elsewhere, opening a spot for a CSEC owned PWHL team in the already crowded event level of Scotia Place. If the Wranglers are moved, it defeats the whole purpose of the centralized training campus for the Flames being built at Scotia Place.
Rollerstud98
Active Member
Man I've wished we had a proper arena here in Airdrie for years. Would have been so awesome having the Wranglers play out of Airdrie as the Airdrie Flames using the flaming A logo. I rarely take the opportunity to go ti Flames games anymore as most weeknights im way too tired. But if the arena was only 5-10 minutes from home that would change things for me.
UrbanWarrior
Senior Member
I usually don’t follow hockey… but how these boys doing so good all of a sudden? Winning 8 of the last 10 games is a pretty good run, yeah?
CalgaryTiger
Senior Member
It's combination of the Flames not playing as poorly as they did in October and the fact that the rest of the league isn't that much better than the Flames are. Even after paying so well for two months they haven't actually climbed that high up the standings.
Sorting by points percentage, they're still four teams between them and a playoff spot. And they are still 28th overall.
Saying all that, they've played a lot more at home recently, where they're well above ".500", versus a difficult schedule to start the season. In January they continue to play a majority of their games at the dome, so it isn't inconceivable to see them continue to to climb up the standings. I expect them to stay where they are or even higher in standings, they're not worse than those teams below them, so I wouldn't expect them to be lower.
Staying where they are puts them in the top 5 lottery odds and should get them a good player. The worry is, they'll once again not be good enough for the playoffs and not bad enough to get an elite player.
Sorting by points percentage, they're still four teams between them and a playoff spot. And they are still 28th overall.
Saying all that, they've played a lot more at home recently, where they're well above ".500", versus a difficult schedule to start the season. In January they continue to play a majority of their games at the dome, so it isn't inconceivable to see them continue to to climb up the standings. I expect them to stay where they are or even higher in standings, they're not worse than those teams below them, so I wouldn't expect them to be lower.
Staying where they are puts them in the top 5 lottery odds and should get them a good player. The worry is, they'll once again not be good enough for the playoffs and not bad enough to get an elite player.