A couple Calgary Flames notes on this off-day:
1) After adding the likes of Travis Hamonic, Jaromir Jagr, and Mike Smith to an already strong core, many expected the Flames to take the next step and become Stanley Cup contenders this season.
Those expectations certainly looked unwarranted early on as the Flames stumbled out of the gate going 6-6-0 in October and throwing up some duds along the way.
Though the Flames had to fight through some rough patches between the pipes, they have since righted the ship posting a 7-3-1 in November.
They've been full marks for that record, too, as they've controlled a hair under 55% of the 5v5 scoring chances in November after controlling ~51% in October.
There are many factors that go into this, but I think a big one is a key adjustment Glen Gulutzan made on the back end.
In October, Hamonic averaged a hair under 17 minutes per night at 5v5 while Dougie Hamilton averaged 15:40.
In November, the story has been much different as Hamonic is averaging ~15:40 per night while Hamilton leads all Flames defensemen playing ~17:50 per night.
Considering the Flames control more than 56% of the chances with Hamilton on the ice at 5v5, as opposed to just 48.4% with Hamonic out there, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's no coincidence the Flames have garnered much better results in November after adjusting their usage.
Hamilton is not perfect, but he's quietly developed into one of the better defensemen in the NHL. It's about time the Flames started using him as such.
2) I know I talk a lot about Micheal Ferland in this space, but I really can't say enough about his play this season.
He's tied with the likes of Jamie Benn, Patrick Kane, Anze Kopitar, and his linemate, Johnny Gaudreau, for 12th in the NHL with seven 5v5 goals and he has recorded more scoring chances in that game state than stars like John Tavares, Blake Wheeler, Nathan MacKinnon, Jonathan Toews, and Patrik Laine, among others.
He's scoring on 20% of his shots, which won't continue, but he's generating more than enough chances to still be a useful contributor when some of the luck dries up.