Hockey is funny ... you get some bounces at for the most part the media and the fan base just ignore the warts and proclaim the team a group of destiny.
Don't get the bounces and things start to cave in, even when the team isn't actually playing that poorly.
The big concern is the crappy team playing crappy and getting crappy results.
The Flames over 6 games have actually played some decent hockey. This masks some brutal inconsistency that has given them the need to comeback in a few games, but overall their play has actually been pretty good.
Five on Five the Flames are 3rd in shot attempt spits, and 8th in expected goal splits.
If I was to zero in on an issue it's the perimeter play. They are 2nd in home plat shot attempt spits which is great ... getting to the middle of the ice, and not permitting the opposition to do the same. The rub though is the high danger variety (same shots coming on passes, deflections and rebounds) where Calgary is 14th in splits, and essentially breaking even overall.
This isn't a team that is playing poorly overall, but maybe they're not elite in offence to break from the middle of the pack with and create the chances needed to score five on five.
Either way they're bound to get a better share of bounces than they've seen to start the season.
I'm all for a retool in the modern NHL, it keeps the life blood flowing and generally results in better contract management, but I'd wait and see how this shakes out and look at it in the off season.
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