CALGARY – Perhaps it would have been better if the latest Dome debacle was advertised as open mic night for the Calgary Flames.
As it was only after their listless showing against lowly St. Louis the players demonstrated heart, were on point, and finally came up with something entertaining.
“I just want to apologize to our fans,” started Nikita Zadorov following a 3-0 loss dotted with well-earned boos from the fans.
“We’re playing like s*** right now, so it’s tough to watch.
“Just embarrassing in front of our fans tonight, for sure.”
Next on stage, Elias Lindholm.
“I would have booed too if I saw the way we played,” he said.
“We’ve played like s*** three games in a row.”
At this point, the emcee steps in and reminds a dwindling crowd the team has actually lost four in a row.
Nitpicking.
Next up, MacKenzie Weegar.
“As much as you hate hearing the boos, it’s a bit of a wake-up call for us – we’re not a good enough team right now,” he said, using the word ‘disconnected’ to explain the rash of turnovers that contributed once again to the team’s sixth loss in eight games.
“It almost felt in the third period that they just kind of broke our will.”
Enter the headliner, Ryan Huska, who earned such billing by scoffing at such a notion.
“I thought (will) was long gone before that point of time,” said the Flames coach, bringing the thunder.
“It’s nothing to do with being broken, we just sucked tonight.
“That’s it.
“They’re not broken, they’ve just got to get going.”
What concerned Huska the most was the work ethic that had a good chunk of Saddledome patrons streaming out of the exits early, feeling cheated by the effort.
But not before sharing their thoughts with hearty boos.
“We didn’t work tonight, period,” said Huska.
“As to why there was a lack of work ethic, I have to spend a little time figuring that one out.
“The games we’ve dropped before, turnovers have been a challenge for us for sure.
“You haven’t questioned our work ethic.
“Tonight that’s a different story, so that’s not acceptable.
“You know, mistakes are gonna happen in the game of hockey, but what cannot happen is having an effort like tonight – that just should never happen.”
The Blues would easily have led by more than 2-0 after one period if not for Jacob Markstrom, who was spectacular all night.
Huska spent the bulk of the night trying endless line combinations in an effort to generate at least a few dangerous scoring chances.
No dice.
Nazem Kadri, who started the night on the left wing with Elias Lindholm and Jonathan Huberdeau, got the Blues on the board with a careless backhand pass on the powerplay that ended up with a Kasperi Kapanen shortie.
By night’s end, Kadri and Huberdeau were both minus-2 to bolster their league lead at minus-10 and minus-9 respectively.
However, as much as the duo struggled again the coach refused to let them be the story.
“It’s not just Kadri and Huberdeau – this is a collective one,” he insisted.
“I want more from the team.
“I’m not going to go to those two.
“I mean, if you’re expecting those two guys to win games for us, then it’s not going to happen.
“We’ll be waiting for that for a long period of time.
“The way this team will win games is when they’re competitive and they skate.”
An evening of painful, eventless hockey finally got spicy when the fans started booing the Flames at the end of the second period.
It was neither unexpected, nor unwarranted.
Did it sting?
“I hope it does – they deserved it,” spat Huska, before correcting himself.
“I shouldn’t say ‘they,’ I should say ‘we.’”
The group’s next chance to redeem itself will come Sunday, under the glare of the Heritage Classic outdoor game at Commonwealth Stadium, where the host Oilers enter with half as many wins as the Flames.
They too shared some pretty pointed comments following their latest loss Thursday.
While the good news is that at least one Alberta team will get two points Sunday, perhaps the better idea is to skip the parkas and parking woes and just get the two teams to sit down and share their feelings.
That’s where they seem to be doing their best work these days.
