[Cali Panthers Fan]

What the data presented to me says is that we should have expected this rough start, regardless of the talent level of the players, or the qualifications of the coach. It is more of an outlier to get off to an excellent start with a new coach.

And sure, 13 cases isn't a lot, but these are all mostly in recent history, when the parity of the league was high due to a salary cap. It tells me that those teams who have consistency from year to year are at a distinct advantage over teams who made major shifts in playing philosophy from one year to the next. I would say that Gulutzan's system is night and day different from Hartley's system, which is a good thing long term, but comes with major growing pains in the short term.

But of course, Canadian fanbases are extremely short on patience, especially when they've been building for a while. It would have been smart if all Flames fans had tempered expectations to start this season.