For the second straight year, we decided to ask you, the fans, how you are feeling. The Win Column conducted a survey to get your thoughts on management, coaching, ownership, the upcoming draft, and whether or not you would keep or trade certain players. After more than 200 responses, it’s time to share the results!

Before we get started, feel free to check out the results from last year’s fan survey. I purposely asked many of the same questions to see the change over the two years.

Thoughts on Craig Conroy’s second season as GM

Craig Conroy had a very different second season compared to his first. Thus, his results in the survey have dramatically shifted. Conroy’s grade for his second season was pretty evenly split between Met Expectation and Below Expectation. Last year, Conroy had a pretty even split between Exceeded Expectation and Met Expectation, so there’s a substantial drop-off there.

The majority still think Conroy can manage the team to a Stanley Cup, but 54% is a large drop-off compared to 73% last year. This summer and the 2025–26 season will define Conroy and which side of the ladder he eventually falls on.

Thoughts on Ryan Huska’s second season as head coach

Like last season, the majority of fans thought Ryan Huska met expectations in his second year. Compared to last year, however, Exceeded Expectations increased by more than 15 percent. Although not the most enjoyable watch, Huska and the coaching staff did employ a system that worked for the team.

Interestingly, the results for coaching the team to a Stanley Cup are nearly identical to last year’s poll, with a difference of three percent. In a newly added question, the vast majority of fans think the team should wait before giving Huska an extension.

By all reports, it sounds like the team will be giving him an extension, which would go against the respondents of this poll. However, after a season in which the team exceeded expectations, you can see why they would give him an extension.

Flames ownership and team direction

No surprise here. Three out of four respondents think the Calgary Flames need an ownership change. This is relative to the results last year, with respondents wanting new ownership growing by about four percent. After another season of middling, it’s no wonder that the sentiment increased.

The team has been steadfast in its “compete now but also get younger” motto, which can be classified as a “retool.” Fans were more on board with that last year, with 41% of respondents sticking with the “retool.” That number has fallen by 10% this year, while add and compete also fell.

Tear it down and rebuild picked up that support, gaining more than 15%, representing almost two-thirds of fans. I am very much in this boat. The Flames are not. Remember that press conference with then-CEO John Bean, when he said he could never use the word rebuild? The Flames will try to have their cake and eat it too. It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see how it works out for them…

I wanted to add this question because Gavin McKenna, a potential franchise superstar, changes things. 39% of people say their answer changed on the retool vs. rebuild question because of McKenna being available in the coming draft.

There has been a bit of a sentiment out there that the Flames should speed up their process because of Dustin Wolf’s 2024–25 campaign. The large majority of fans disagree and want the Flames to continue with their plan.

Another repeat question, which sees the large majority of fans concerned that the Flames’ current plan will mean they miss out on those top-of-the-line “game-breaking” talents. The percentage of fans that are concerned grew by 14% compared to last year. Maybe that is due to watching the game-breaking talent of the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers run through the Dallas Stars and Carolina Hurricanes again. Maybe it’s having to sit through the Flames’ 2024–25, where the leading scorer had 67 points. People are tired of not having those elite talents.

A look at the summer ahead

Over half of the respondents think the Flames should lock up Wolf as soon as they can. Given his stellar performance last season, this isn’t a surprise. I would still prefer some more runway before I agree to give him a long-term extension—given the volatility of the position—but fans love this kid. He has proven people wrong at every step and will likely continue to do so. Which is why he and his camp might wait on an extension. If he believes he can put up another season like he just did, his contract demands will only go up.

Admittedly, this is the result that surprises me the most, and in a good way. Nazem Kadri had a fantastic 2024–25 season, but he’ll be 35 when next season begins. Exploring the market doesn’t mean you have to trade him if the offers aren’t up to par. He also has a No-Move Clause through this season, so he reserves the full right to choose to stay if he likes. But in a market where practically every team is looking for a second-line centre and the free agent/trade options are dwindling at best, now presents as good a time as any to get value on Kadri.

We’ve heard a lot of smoke in the last week about the forthcoming Rasmus Andersson trade, so it makes sense that the majority think he’ll be moved around the draft/free agency. Will a team make the jump on Andersson, or will teams begin lining up once Aaron Ekblad chooses his next destination in free agency (or re-signs with Florida)?

No surprise here. An overwhelming majority of fans would trade Andersson this summer if they were in Conroy’s shoes. Andersson has been a great Flame, but it’s time for both sides to move on. I could make a 10%/90% of fans joke here, but I won’t. If you know, you know.

Looking ahead to next season and beyond

A lot of fans think the team will finish around the murky middle again. Wouldn’t that be fun? A third of fans think the team will finish lower than last year.

More fans think the team is further away from making the playoffs in this year’s result compared to last year. I thought this was interesting, given the Flames’ finishes in both seasons where they were polled. Whatever the case, watching the playoffs—especially the final few rounds—shows just how good the good teams are, and how far away the Flames are. Regular season standings might say things are close, but those really good teams have realized they can just coast through.

Culture, culture, culture. It was repeated constantly by management, coaching staff, and players throughout the season. A majority of fans do agree that the Flames idea of culture is an important thing to have developed. I think it’s quite interesting that both sides of the pendulum had the largest amount of votes. It has become a buzz word that some people agree with, and others don’t, as demonstrated by the poll results.

While the majority of fans did agree that the Flames’ idea of culture is a good thing, an overwhelming majority still want the team to prioritize the future of the organization over the culture of the team now. And that just makes sense.

We see a pretty even split for Cole Reschny and Ben Kindel for the fans choice for 18th overall. I do think Braeden Cootes deserves some more love here.

The fans

Last year, I had media and the fans as one question. This year, I decided to break it up into two questions.

People think that the media is too positive about the team or just right. I think that is a fair response.

When looking at the fanbase, things are pretty close between all three options, but too positive wins out again. It is a lot closer than the media question, but the consensus is that the fanbase and media are too positive about the team. You can be the judge on these results.

Personally, I watched the team a lot less in 2024–25 compared to previous seasons. I wanted to test that hypothesis on the fanbase. And it appears to be somewhat true. More than half the fanbase watched/attended the same number of games as in previous years. However, fewer people watched or attended games in 2024–25 compared to previous years. That lines up with what I’ve heard from the circles in my life.

Hopefully, the emergence of Zayne Parekh and other factors will strengthen the watchability of games in 2025–26.

Describe the Flames’ future in one word

The most common answers describing the Flames’ future were:

Mediocre/Mediocrity (27)

Mid/Middling (22)

Bright (10)

Bleak (10)

Promising (10)

Hopeful (9)

Garbage (8)

Wolf (7)

Exciting (7)

Terrible (5)

Uncertain (5)

Depressing (4)

Average (3)

Positive (3)

I thought Wolf getting seven responses was pretty neat. The fanbase is extremely divided on answers for this question. Mediocre and Mid take the top answers, but after that, it transitions from a good word to a bad one. Bright to Bleak. Hopeful to Garbage. Exciting to Terrible.

Describe being a Flames fan in one word

The most common answers when asked to describe being a Flames fan were:

Depressing/Depression (30)

Pain/Painful (26)

Frustrating (12)

Sad/Sadness (9)

Rollercoaster (8)

Exciting (5)

Horrible (5)

Disappointing (4)

Meh (4)

Shout-out to the two respondents who just typed “AHHHHHHHHH” in response to this question. Hope you’re doing okay.

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