I seem to recall Peter's team in 2019 getting lots of praise too. The playoffs really soured our perception of the season, but up until then, Flames were one of the toasts of the league under Peters. We had great underlying stats, two lines that were firing on all cylinders, and a back end supported by Gio that won the Norris that year.
It really was after the all star break, where the Flames were pretty much in cruise control, and guys stats started to fall back down that it began. Flames didn't back into a playoff spot, but were not playing their best, and then got rolled by an Avs team that found their game in the playoffs.
Early into the season, Flames were just as hype as the Flames are now IMO, minus the shutout stat. People just have short memories, and recency bias is definitely a thing.
|