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Brad Treliving knows as well as anyone that the stars around which he’s built the Calgary Flames didn’t do what was needed in the playoffs.

Johnny Gaudreau finished the Flames’ five-game post-season run with only one point.

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Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm only picked up two each, although this was Lindholm’s first time in the playoffs so he’s under less scrutiny.

Treliving, the Flames GM, is fully aware that after the way the Flames lost to the Colorado Avalanche there are doubts about whether his top line can lead the team to the promised land of Stanley Cup glory.

But he’s also been around the game long enough to know this isn’t the first time similar questions have arisen about star players in the NHL.

“When you go through a difficult time, you have to think clearly,” Treliving said at the Flames’ end-of-season media availability at the Scotiabank Saddledome. “The easiest thing to do sometimes is put a guy on a train and send him out of town. I remember back, and there was a time when Detroit was never going to get over the hump with these two guys (Pavel) Datsyuk and (Henrik) Zetterberg. They were never going to win.