After the gut-punch roadtrip, the new/old scapegoat for the Flames woes on all the messageboards, call-in shows and water-cooler chats has been revived...
That's right: leadership. Flames don't have the "heart" or the "passion" or the "will to win". Jarome is too nice (wasn't he "one of the best leaders in the league" in December? Isn't he a hart trophy candidate?).
Folks...the Flames are mediocre, because, well...THE FLAMES ARE MEDIOCRE. Not because of some mythical, ineffable "quality" lacking in the athletic souls of our players (that apparently only manifests when the team is winning). Jarome could be the biggest asshole this side of Brian Burke and it still wouldn't make Aucoin a top 4 defensemen or Primeau a top 6 forward. It wouldn't heal Rhett Warrener's various ailments and it wouldn't make him better with the puck. Iggy could slam David Hales head into the shower tile a dozen times...David Hale's still not going to score.
If Jarome's fighting, scoring and generally beating the hell out of his opponents 8 out of every 10 games isn't enough push the club over the hump, then I fail to see how a rousing, charismatic speech is going to make the difference (hell - he might be doing that now anyways!). Iginla's done all he can do this year, on team with "veteran experience and savvy" coming out of it's ass. The Flames should have "leadership", of every possible stripe, to spare (add in the ball-busting antics of Mike Keenan as well). It's not the problem. Look at the roster again. It's a unwieldy combination of great and poor. Very bright and rather dull. And the result is lackluster.
