Ottawa Citizen

DON'T PANIC YET, CALGARY FANS

The funk has found the Flames, but such is North Division life

- MICHAEL TRAIKOS mtraikos@postmedia.com twitter.com/Michael_Traikos

I don't know what the weather was like in Calgary on Monday. But with the Flames having played themselves out of a playoff spot in the past two weeks, the forecast seemed to be calling for falling skies.

Don't worry, it will soon pass. After all, the same storm affected Edmonton in January and then hit Vancouver earlier this month. Meteorolog­ists believe Montreal, which has lost four of its past five games, might be next.

It's all part of life inside the up-and-down North Division, where every general manager seems to have a giant, red button labelled “PANIC” on his desk that is a three-game losing streak away from being pushed.

The truth is, the sky is falling all across the country.

That includes even you, firstplace Toronto Maple Leafs, who were forced to talk about their past playoff failures after blowing a 5-1 lead against Ottawa last week and then benching William Nylander for an all-important game against the Habs Saturday.

Chalk it up to the pressures of playing strictly within your division in a season that has been shortened to just 56 games.

Every week is a chance to gain or lose ground, to jump to conclusion­s. One week, you can look like you're going to be the team that ends Canada's 28-year championsh­ip drought. The next, fans are writing off their team and wondering if they should familiariz­e themselves with Owen Power and the other top prospects in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.

Are we really only five weeks into the season? How many coaches have already spent time on the hot seat after one bad week? How many players have seen their names in trade rumours after going a few games without a goal? How many games have already been designated as a “must-win?”

And yet, no one has fired their coach or pulled the trigger on a trade to give their team a shot in the arm. No one has been mathematic­ally eliminated from the playoffs. No one has panicked.

It's probably because playing within the division means that you can climb into the playoffs just as easily as you can fall out of them, especially if you've got a four-game series with Ottawa on the horizon. And even if you wanted to make a trade, having to wait 14 days before any reinforcem­ents can join the team means you're probably going to get worse before you get better.

A few weeks ago, when the Oilers were 3-6-0 and drowning near the bottom of the standings, things were seemingly so bad that there was talk about whether Connor McDavid would be asking for a trade out of Edmonton at the end of the season.

Since then, they've gone 9-2-0 and own the second-best record in the division.

Last week, amid a six-game losing streak, Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini was forced to tweet that he has “full confidence” in GM Jim Benning and head coach Travis Green after fans were calling for both to be fired.

Now, it's Calgary's turn to panic. And for fans to take a deep breath and relax.

This has been a bad couple of weeks for the Flames. Not only did they go 0-2-1 against a Canucks team that was on the ropes, but then followed it up with two straight losses against the Oilers, getting outscored 9-2.

Heading into the first of two games against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday, head coach Geoff Ward called this a “make or break road trip.”

Luckily for the Flames, there's a four-game series against the Senators coming up to get them back into a playoff spot.

If not, then it's time to push the panic button and make a move.

 ?? PERRY NELSON/USA TODAY SPORTS ?? After a bad couple of weeks, Flames fans should resist hitting the panic button, says Michael Traikos. A four-game set against the Senators should help Calgary regain confidence.
PERRY NELSON/USA TODAY SPORTS After a bad couple of weeks, Flames fans should resist hitting the panic button, says Michael Traikos. A four-game set against the Senators should help Calgary regain confidence.
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