Flames now projected to miss playoffs according to analytics site
The Calgary Flames are on the outside looking in.
And odds are they’ll stay that way.
At least, according to a leading hockey analytics site.
The Flames have just a 47% chance to participate in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, according to the analysis done by MoneyPuck. MoneyPuck also projects Calgary out at having 25% offs of getting into the second round of the playoffs, and a 4.6% shot at winning the Cup after Friday’s NHL Trade Deadline passed.
They were a 73.8% bet eight days ago, and a top-five Stanley Cup favourite.
MoneyPuck
“We all feel like we could be a team in a much better position right now, but at the end of the day it’s points and structured the way it is for a reason,” forward Blake Coleman said after a 2-1 setback to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday — the Flames’ fourth straight setback. “You’ve got to win hockey games and we’ve just found way too many ways to lose.
“We all hate losing. It’s honestly pretty incredible how many one-goal games we’ve lost this year. The best way to sum it up and the only thing I can think of right now is we’re a great team that just doesn’t know how to win.”
Calgary trails the Winnipeg Jets by five points for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference, and are nine back of the Edmonton Oilers for the second. The Flames also trail the Seattle Kraken by nine points for third in the Pacific Division.
They’re just one up on the retooling Nashville Predators, too, with the latter having three games at hand.
It make the group modest buyers at the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline, swapping Ritchies and adding some depth at minimal cost.
“We’ve got a good team,” Flames general manager Brad Treliving said Friday. “It’s easy to poke holes in it right now. We’ve got a good team that’s underperforming. There’s a difference. We’ve had individuals underperform, and collectively we’ve underperformed. We’ve all got to own it.
“It falls on all of us. We’re in the position here. We’ve all got a piece of the pie — management, players, coaches — and now we’ve got to dig ourselves out as best we can. We’ve got to dig it out with the group we have.”
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