The Flames opened the NHL season with a loss, but it was a packed house and eager fans remained optimistic about the shortened season.

The Calgary Flames lost 4-1 to the San Jose Sharks on Sunday night. It will be a quick turnaround for the Flames — Calgary hosts the Anaheim Ducks Monday night.

Better late than never seemed to be the attitude of Flames fans, who dusted off their jerseys and turned the Saddledome into a sea of red.

"Of course I'm putting the lockout behind me. I'm a Canadian. Canadians watch hockey. That's what we do,” said fan Noel Dickie.

Short season hopes

Fans are now looking forward to what will happen by the end of April. The Flames have missed the playoffs for three straight years and now have just over three months to edge out the rest of the division.

"We've had three bad years and we've never made them so I think this is the year that's going to be the turnaround,” said Ken Schreader.

The optimists think the shortened season is an advantage.

"In the fall they seem to get off on a slow start and then pick up Christmas, January, February,” said Joe Starkman. “The slow stuff's behind us, they're going forward from there … [I] think the flames have a good shot ‘cause if you can get on to an eight or 10 game win streak, you'll be in."

Dan Cawthorn agrees. “Not to dis my own team, but we generally play better in the second half of the season. So maybe we'll act like it's already the second half of the season. We'll just win all our games now.

Mike Schreader doesn’t even need a theory. He’s convinced the Flames can do it. “We're hoisting the cup.”

On Sunday night, one glaring indicator of fan discontent was a sign in the lower bowl that read "We were held hostage by greed," but the sign disappeared after one period.

As other NHL teams have done at home openers to soothe the feelings of jaded fans post-lockout, the Flames deeply discounted food, drink and merchandise Sunday. The Saddledome stores were doing a brisk business 90 minutes prior to the game.

Calgary did not apologize for the lockout as some teams did, but instead expressed appreciation for their fans' loyalty prior to the game.

With files from The Canadian Press