'We're sick of losing': Flames facing familiar frustration through seven games

CALGARY – Seven games in and it all feels so familiar.

Frustration abounds in the stands and the dressing room, where the hard conversations are already being had between players wondering whether everybody is pulling in the same direction.

There are passengers, there are injuries, there’s a significant suspension, the lines are a mess, the new systems have still yet to be grasped and now special teams are letting them down.  

An injury to Adam Ruzicka in the team’s third loss in a row Tuesday against the visiting Rangers means an unproven call-up will likely soon be summoned to join a group that has to feel like the walls are closing in on them once again.

“Last season was different,” said Nikita Zadorov, pausing before offering a refreshingly honest assessment of who took most of the blame for last year’s faceplant.

“It was Darryl (Sutter). 

“Now there’s no Darryl, so there’s no excuses.

“You guys don’t like hard coaches, you don’t like soft coaches, you don’t like good coaches, fair. It’s a new day league. You come up here and you play hard and you leave everything on the ice.

“Obviously the new system and new coaching staff are definitely a part of it as well. 

“It’s a big adjustment playing a different system and it takes time for us to learn it.

“But far easier to learn if you’ve got buy in all the way.”

Blake Coleman disagreed with the suggestion some aren’t on board.

But he praised his teammate for showing just how much he cares.

Both showed it on the ice in Tuesday’s 3-1 loss to the Rangers, a game the Flames led 1-0 thanks to Coleman.

Alas, two power-play goals and some remarkable goaltending from Igor Shesterkin were the difference. 

Back to the big picture.

This summer the players got what they wanted with Sutter’s firing.

Now it’s on them.

Similar team, better environment, same results so far.

Work ethic isn’t necessarily the issue.

Mental lapses are, as the team is prone to egregious giveaways and breakdowns that have led to losses in five of their seven outings.

You’d like to see someone run someone through the wall (as Zadorov did late in Tuesday’s tilt) or drop the mitts like Nazem Kadri did two nights earlier in Detroit.

But those are only flashes of emotion — something this team needs to show more of.

“I’m pissed off and I think a lot of guys are pissed off and I hope a lot of guys use it the right way, as motivation,” said Coleman. 

“Guys are frustrated, and quite honest… I don’t want to use the word embarrassing, but it’s a home game and we needed to come out and win and we didn’t.

“At the end of the day, losing has got to keep you up at night.

“I’m sick of losing. I think I can speak for the guys in the room we’re sick of losing. It burns me up.

“You’ve got to be one of those guys that hates to lose more than loves to win.

“As a group we’ve got to have way more fire.

“Same story, we’ve got to figure this out really quick.”

Coleman isn’t just talking about this month.

His frustration with this scenario goes back more than a year, as the fight to get above .500 in Calgary has been an epic struggle throughout that time.

It wears on players, not to mention the fans.

“I didn’t expect it to be this early – nobody did, but here we are,” said MacKenzie Weegar.

“Nobody is going to get us out of this rut except the 20 guys in this room.

“We’ve got the compete, and the effort in here, we’re just in a bit of a slump.”

Again.

Last year the losing streaks mounted, as did the frustration and the calls for significant change.

So far it’s the same old.

The difference at this point is that there is still plenty of time to right the ship, especially in a division with tons of struggling squads around them. 

Complicating the Flames’ lot in life was the ruling from Commissioner Gary Bettman Tuesday, upholding the four-game suspension on Rasmus Andersson. 

He said the late hit that injured Patrik Laine was “unnecessary” and “irresponsible” and said he was unmoved in any way to reduce the sentence to three games just so Andersson could play in the Heritage Classic at Commonwealth Stadium Sunday.

And so, a team that still sorely misses Oliver Kylington, will limp into the open air and national spotlight without its best defenceman and likely without Ruzicka, a second line winger who left Tuesday’s game after being hit head-first into the boards by Jimmy Vesey.

“I don’t know if I’m concerned, I’m just upset,” said captain Mikael Backlund.

“We’re going to turn this around and win games again.

“Next game is the biggest game of the year – we’ve got to come out of this and start winning games.”

Heard that plenty through the final few months last season.

“I think the main thing for us is we’re not working as a unit yet - we have too many individuals playing by themselves,” said Zadorov.

“So I think we’ve got to figure out if we want to play as a team or as your own guy.

“We watch videos and we agree on some stuff together.”

Uncomfortable conversations are already being had.

“You’ve got to be uncomfortable… I don’t think you should be comfortable in your life or you’re not going to be the best version of yourself.

“The good thing for our team is we’re only (seven) games into the season and we’re trying to figure out who wants to be here and who wants to play for who.

“We’ve got lots of time. Only one team in our division is rolling, and everyone else is in the same position as us.”

The same position the Flames were in last year.