The Flames are looking to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs and have a bigger impact this season. They finished first in the Western Conference and Pacific Division with 107 points last season but lost to the Colorado Avalanche in five games in the Western Conference First Round.
"You look back, it's a bitter taste in your mouth," Hamonic said. "It's not the way any of us drew it up, not how it was supposed to go. As [angry] and frustrated as we all are, for our group it's important to remember it happened, that we didn't play well, and it was a bad time. But now that it happened, it's important that you try to learn from it.
"I'm not sugarcoating how bad it turned out for us, but we did do a lot of positive things as a team. Then it ended bad, but we can learn from that and try to hit the ground running."
One of the positives to come out of last season was Hamonic's fit with Noah Hanifin as Calgary's second defense pair. Hanifin and forward Elias Lindholm were acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes in a trade for defenseman Dougie Hamilton, forward Micheal Ferland and defenseman prospect Adam Fox on June 23, 2018.
The relationship between Hamonic and Hanifin began quickly with texts and phone conversations after the trade, developed quickly with the Flames' preseason trip to the 2018 NHL China Games, and evolved into a chemistry on and off the ice.
"He's a special player, a special person too," Hamonic said. "Hey, he grew up in Boston. As a kid, I grew up an hour south of Winnipeg on the farm, so we couldn't be cut from two more different parts of the world. But by the time we got on the ice, I felt we had some rapport and the way he plays and skates, our styles kind of meshed.
"The small plays and quick decisions became instinctive and our play grew throughout the season. He's going into his fifth year and it feels like he's been around lot longer. He's 22, which is crazy, and he's a heck of a player, but he's still young and scratching the surface."
Hamonic said he believes that chemistry can improve, in keeping with what he believes the Flames' priority must be this season.
"To keep getting better," he said. "It's a long year. When you start looking too much into the big picture, it makes it tough in the regular season. Being more narrow-minded on the task at hand and how to simplify things ... yeah the ultimate goal is the Cup, but you get there gradually, and you have to remember that."