How late is too late for a struggling NHL team to right the ship and become a playoff contender? After two seasons in a row that finished short of a full 82-game schedule, it's important view this one in its full-length context. (jtbourne)
How late is too late for a struggling team in the National Hockey League to right the ship and become a playoff contender? We’ve become conditioned by the idea that teams tell us who they are awfully early in an NHL season, because it’s mostly true. I’ve cited Elliotte Friedman’s interesting statistic several times in these columns, but once more for good measure:
You’ll note though that, hey … nine out of 59. That’s over 15 per cent of playoff teams that start poorly who find their way back to a measure of success. Those 15 per cent are wonderful stories, and they’re part of what the shortened seasons have robbed from us in 2019-20 and 2020-21. We’ve missed teams having the opportunity to rise above substantial trials and tribulations with a dramatic push on the last laps.
The Flames were dogs in 2016-17 out of the gates through 15 games, but it’s not like any of these teams showed well in the early going. These are seven teams that were below .500 hockey, proved that almost all teams have bad stretches, and their slow starts were just a result of timing rather than an indictment of their teams.
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