Don Maloney’s recent intermission interview has sparked a wave of conversation among Calgary Flames fans. His remarks about the organization’s desire to remain competitive, along with his insistence on keeping veteran players, drew frustration from many fans online. As President of Hockey Operations, Maloney’s comments raise concern, especially given that the team is currently at the bottom of the NHL standings.

Fans thought that things couldn’t get any worse, but they would be wrong. Sportsnet columnist and Flames beat writer Eric Francis had the chance to sit down with Maloney to get his further thoughts on the team’s plans, and it’s safe to say that Maloney has completely lost the confidence of the Flames’ fanbase. Let’s pull out the key points and unpack this absolute mess of an interview.

Maloney believes that nobody wants a “teardown”

The article starts with a quote from Maloney, essentially hinting at the organization’s disinterest in partaking in a rebuild that requires a full “teardown.”

The only time you enjoy the first pick of the draft is at the draft—there’s a lot of suffering to get there, and that’s the farthest from our mind. No one has an appetite to just burn it to the studs, take it all down.

This will upset many Flames fans, including myself, right off the bat. Maloney is completely out of touch if he believes that the market wouldn’t embrace a full rebuild. Just because ownership disapproves of one doesn’t mean that fans will. If I had to guess, I’d say at this point that 98% of Flames fans want a rebuild. Anything to end the mediocrity.

I think Francis’s quote below sums up the frustration Flames fans have pretty well:

To many fans, Maloney’s stance will come across as tone deaf. The bulk of Flames fans are fed up with striving to remain in the mushy middle, and are indeed clamouring for the organization to take a radically different approach with an eye on landing Gavin McKenna or Keaton Verhoeff at this summer’s draft.

Getting into the meat of the interview

Francis then questions Maloney on whether the Flames’ 6–13–3 record and continued losing have changed the organization’s direction at all. Here’s how Maloney responded:

No, our message is the same. I don’t think it would alter the long-term approach. We’re so conscious of the culture here, and creating the right environment to grow these players, and we feel it’s better to grow winning players in a winning environment. We’re still going to lean on our veterans, but leave the opportunity for some younger players to come in when they’re ready. I don’t think the overall approach is changing as we sit here Nov. 22.

This is not an encouraging answer at all. The fact that Maloney said that the team will lean on veterans is worrisome. As the team sits at the bottom of the league, the ideal situation would be to shop players to get future assets. Why are veterans such as Nazem Kadri, Blake Coleman, and Rasmus Andersson being “leaned on?” By the time this team is a real contender, none of those players are going to be in the league or on the team. With Maloney saying this, the question arises whether the team is truly willing to listen to offers for any of these players. Or are they just going to ride things out in hopes that this season was a “blip?”

Flames once again mention the “Dallas model”

When asked about whether the idea of ownership being against a rebuild is accurate, Maloney disagreed with that sentiment. Here’s what he had to say:

No, I don’t think that’s accurate. Yet, there’s a dynamic in Canada, you have 82 games, you want to sell tickets and get people to come to your games. It all kind of works together. No one has an appetite to just burn it to the studs, take it all down. There’s examples out there right now where you’re talking potentially decades it can take to rebuild. The draft is such an inexact thing. If you could be guaranteed that you could get a superstar or franchise-level player every year I’m sure ownership of any team would say, ‘okay, yeah, we’ll suffer for two or three years.’ But we just don’t think that’s the way for us.

We prefer a Dallas model, where they got Miro Heiskanen at three, but also got good players in the 20s, in the 30s. We’ve got to be better in our drafting and developing, versus saying, ‘let’s just lose easy for everybody.’ We don’t want that culture as part of this organization.

Ah, there’s the mention of culture again. The Flames mentioning how they want to sell tickets and get people to come to their games is funny. As of right now, I wouldn’t pay money to watch this team. Not a chance.

On another note, the Flames have expressed interest in following the “Dallas model” before, and Maloney’s comments just confirm this.

Yet is the Dallas model really the best way to build a contender? Yes, they hit on a lot of their draft picks, but that requires elite scouting and development. The Flames have had two great drafts in a row, but it’s too early to tell whether those picks have hit yet.

While it is possible to draft elite players in the latter half of the first round, the reality is that you get a way better chance of drafting a franchise player at the top of the draft. Just look at the current scoring leaders in the league right now. The top-four scorers in the NHL—Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, Macklin Celebrini, and Connor Bedard—were all first overall picks, followed by other players who were also high draft picks. The fact that the Flames can’t comprehend this is insane.

“In a fantasy world”

This is where Maloney really loses me. When asked about the upcoming draft and the impact a first overall pick could have on the franchise, Maloney gives some answers that are just straight-up delusional.

In a fantasy world, yeah. Unfortunately, this isn’t fantasy hockey. There’s not even agreement anymore McKenna is going first. There’s very few franchise players in every draft. Regardless of where we pick—one, five, 10, our hope is that we get a top-level player, and that’s not our focus at all.

Has Maloney even looked at next year’s draft class? It’s supposed to be one of the strongest draft classes we’ve seen in some time. If you get a high pick in this draft, there’s a good chance you’re drafting an elite player. The fact that getting a top pick “isn’t their focus” is just unbelievable to hear.

Again, in a fantasy world, it’s very enticing. You have to deal with the real world, too. First of all, we’re very early in this season. Let’s see how it plays out the rest of the year for those teams. No disrespect, those teams are really good, but on that side, look at some of the other teams that have been in this. I don’t want to say the teams, but they’ve been down and missed playoffs for years and years and years. And then you lose your fans, you lose your interest and nobody wants that.

Uh, no. You lose fans by constantly accepting mediocrity and putting out a product that nobody wants to watch. I’d rather watch a young Flames team make mistakes than watch a team filled with 30 to 35-year-olds making mistakes. Do the Flames really think that fans love watching the current team they have? What world does Maloney live in?

This proves that ownership has no idea whatsoever of what fans truly want. We don’t care if the team is rebuilding or at the bottom of the standings, just as long as we get to watch a team filled with young, exciting players night in and night out. Would the Flames not want to have a youthful team filled with promise to debut at Scotia Place? I’m sorry, but nobody wants to watch a 37-year-old Kadri, a 30-year-old Andersson, and a 35-year-old Coleman playing top-six minutes. This quote from Maloney is frankly shocking.

Flames don’t want to throw in the towel (as expected)

Finally, towards the end of the interview, Maloney states that the Flames aren’t going to throw in the towel. He claims that the team possesses a “long-term view,” despite his previous statements completely contradicting that.

We’re still evaluating every day as we go along, and when we say ‘how do we improve the club?’ it’s always with a long-term point of view. To me, it’s just too early for us to be throwing in the towel. There’s never going to be a point where we’re going to say, ‘let’s just get rid of every player that other teams want.

Flames fans are outraged, and for good reason

After digesting all that, the outrage Flames fans have been expressing is rightly justified. Maloney’s comments are very telling in that the team clearly does not understand the position they’re truly in, but rather, to them, it’s just a setback that could be fixed quickly. Spoiler alert: the Flames are just delaying the inevitable by choosing not to accept their true position as a rebuilding team.

I also feel the Flames believe that their fans are stupid. Do they seriously think that fans are completely okay with how the team is currently built? No, we’re not. Fans don’t want to watch declining veterans every game. We want to see young players getting opportunities to succeed, as they’ll be the future of the team. I’m also not convinced that the Flames are smart enough to trade their veterans this season. Besides Andersson, it’ll shock me if Coleman or Kadri get moved.

This interview with Maloney has sparked some serious outrage among Flames fans, especially online. Hashtags such as #FireDonMaloney and #SelltheTeam are being used by fans to express their displeasure.

In my honest opinion, the only way I see ownership seeing the issues of their actions is if fans hit them where it hurts: their wallets. That means not going to games, not buying merchandise, and not financially supporting a team that is completely oblivious to their situation. Overall, if things continue the way they’re going, it’s going to get really ugly, really fast.

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