DOING IT ALL

The 'fearless' moniker isn't given.
It's earned.
And right now, the result of an opening-night melee still painted across that trademark grin of his, Travis Hamonic is doing everything imaginable to warrant such praise.

Indeed, the stay-at-home D-man is doing it all for the Flames these days. A splendid showing on the California road trip where - among other highpoints - he scored the game's only goal and delivered an airtight defence of that one-goal edge in Hollywood, before finishing off the week-long voyage with a season-high 22:55 in ice time, was evidence enough.
Then, sometime late in that final road tilt, a puck founds its way under his plastic, half-moon face guard and whacked him square in the jaw.
Again.
Rub some dirt on it and away we go, he figures. The guy's a warrior, after all.
So, after all that, the question was posed to him to following Wednesday's practice at the Scotiabank Saddledome:
'Are you playing the best hockey of your career?'
"I'm feeling pretty good," Hamonic said with a chuckle. "Sometimes you feel it, sometimes you don't.
"That night (in LA), it was a good one.
"For me, I just try to get better every game and make sure I'm having fun out there. That's a huge component of my game - to enjoy myself, smile and keep going whether it's going well or not."
One look at the numbers gives a pretty good sense of where things are at for him, 10 games in, after missing eight with that painful facial fracture.
His 5-on-5 shot share is impressive enough, as the Flames generate 58.41% of the attempts when Hamonic is on the ice. But it's the quality of those that paints a more telling picture of just how impactful he's been since returning from injury.
No one else on the team - let alone on D - has a better ratio when it comes to high-danger scoring chances. At 61.9% (39-24), Hamonic is more than 10 points higher than captain Mark Giordano, who's next in line among rearguards at a smidge above 50.
So what, exactly, has led to his early success?
Hamonic - humble as always - credits head coach Bill Peters, his defensive partner Noah Hanifin, and the fact that's more comfortable in his surroundings now than he was a year ago.
"The way (Peters) has us playing, it's a system that I'm very comfortable in," he said. "My teammates, my family, the city of Calgary … All those things come together and make a difference. I'm someone that the better part of my game comes out when things like that are in place."

Admittedly, Hamonic doesn't pay any attention to his point totals or underlying numbers. He prefers the old-school approach of gut-feel and game-tape to critique his own performance. It gives him the kind of instant feedback he desires, and a more visual representation of where he excels, and where he needs to improve.
"If I miss my pass, turn it over or miss my check, you'll see me probably four or five times in a game grab the iPad and quickly look at it," Hamonic said. "It's the old thought process: Look at it right away, see what's wrong, deal with it, turn the page and forget about it, because it's not going to help you three shifts from now.
"If I play 30 shifts in a game, I'll go home, watch them all once or twice, rewind and see what I could have done differently. That helps me for the game next, to slow it down."
And with a talented, like-minded mate to bounce things this off, the review process becomes that much easier.
Hamonic, who says Hanifin is "one of the best skaters in the league," has developed a trust in his partner that goes way back to when the former Hurricane was first acquired.
Because he, too, was in a similar spot last year and knows what the adjustment period is like.
"You're somewhere for a long time and then you come to a whole new team and it's difficult," Hamonic said. "I reached out right away and when we met in person here, it felt like we already knew each other because we had a rapport built up.
"His abilities on the ice make it easy for a guy like me. The way he skates, the way he can get up (in the play), get back. He's more physical and hard on guys than maybe people realize, and I think down low that can kill the play pretty quickly, and give me or him and opportunity to get the puck and break it out.
"It's a great pair. We complement each other real well, and I think we're really starting to hit our stride."