The Calgary Flames went through the pre-season without losing a game and convinced everyone in Calgary that their team would rebound from a disappointing 2009-2010 to contend in a tough Western Conference. Well, that certainly hasn’t happened. The Flames are currently second last in the Western Conference – only two points above the last placed Oilers.

In actuality, the Flames have been a major disappointment every year since they made a surprising run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2004. They got lucky in 2004. Kiprusoff played out of his mind, Iginla was good enough to carry the team, and the rest of the players were hard-working and chipped in big goals at opportune moments. Everything came together for the Flames that season. It was magical, and expecting the Flames to duplicate that run was insane.

They followed up that season by winning the Northwest Division in 2005-2006, but were upset by the Ducks in the first round. They failed to make it past the first round in each of the next three seasons and missed the playoffs entirely last year.

It isn’t surprising that the Flames have performed at this mediocre level. They’ve always been good enough to contend for a playoff spot, but never strong enough to actually make any substantial run at the Stanley Cup. They’ve essentially had a team good enough to stay afloat, but not good enough to actually excel.

This reminds me of a team I know well. This team I know had major problems like the Flames, but continued to bandage their cracks instead of fixing their Grand Canyon sized holes. This eventually led them to become one of the worst teams in the league.

In honour of Dion Phaneuf’s return to Calgary tomorrow night here are all the reasons why the Flames reflect the hapless Maple Leafs of the post-lockout. That sentence alone should convince the Flames that they desperately need to re-build.

It's only two wins in a row - both of which the Leafs needed a shoot-out to finish - but it's a start. Jonas Gustavsson said it best when he described it as two small steps in the right direction.

This win probably says more about the Washington Capitals than it does about the Leafs. What sort of Stanley Cup contender lets the lowly Leafs back into a game after being up 4-1 in the third period.

The Leafs are still seven points behind the Bruins for the final playoff spot, but, somehow, they're only two points behind 9th place Ottawa with two games at hand (which speaks to the atrocity of the Eastern Conference).

The rest of the week will determine whether the Leafs mini-streak is anything more than luck. The Leafs play the Penguins on Wednesday, followed by the Flyers on Thursday, and the loathsome Habs on Saturday.

Despite how ugly tonight was, it was a win, and, at least for tonight, that's all the matters.

I didn’t want to write this monthly recap. There’s nothing good to talk about as evidenced by the titled. It was a horrific month.

People are jumping off the Leafs bandwagon at an alarming pace. It’s the 1980s all over again. Miraculously, I’m still hanging on. The Leafs are trying their hardest to break me, but, so far, I’m still kicking. It’s like I’m on a train doomed to crash. Instead of scrambling to get off I’ve just buckled myself in. Fuck it, might as well get a good seat for this baby.

Click here to know how I feel.

I’m going to keep this short. Remember when I thought the Leafs saved their season? I'm like those oblivious housewives in Mad Men who are rampantly cheated on. Delude, delude, delude.

The Leafs haven’t hit rock bottom because they keep falling further and further. Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does.

In one of the more depressing psychology experiments I’ve ever read dogs were given electric shocks. One group of dogs are able to end their shock by pressing a lever. The lever for the other group of dogs has no effect. The dogs were next tested in a box-like apparatus in which the dogs could escape the electric shocks by jumping over a low partition. The dogs that previously "learned" that nothing they did had any effect on the shocks simply lay down passively and whined. Even though they could have easily escaped the shocks, the dogs didn't try.

I think I’m just going to go lay down.