Mark Spector

Mark Spector is a columnist for sportsnet.ca

A 9-1 loss to San Jose has the Flames looking for answers.

The January swoon of Alberta's two NHL teams suggests radical surgery could be in store.

The wind isn’t blowing quite the same way it has been in Alberta this winter.

Out here, if their teams bomb out again, there won’t be any firing of coaches this time around.

Not in Calgary, and not in Edmonton, where they are on track for the worst season in that organization’s history. Even Oilers head coach Pat Quinn was ready to admit after a 6-0 loss to Colorado, "They're in first place and we're sucking hind banana here."

Where exactly is the hind banana located, anyways?

As the two Alberta clubs struggle through a collective two-wins-in-24-games slump — Edmonton has one win in 16 games, Calgary one in its past eight — the only thing we know for sure is that the front office is looking more closely at its rosters than its coaching staff.

In Edmonton, where it has all fallen apart this winter, fans are finding out that perhaps this mess wasn’t all Craig MacTavish’s fault after all.

In Calgary, the recent conga-line of coaches — Darryl Sutter, Jim Playfair, Mike Keenan and Brent Sutter — stops with the highly respected former New Jersey and national junior coach.

Together, the two clubs suffered a 15-1 Alberta massacre in losses at San Jose and Denver respectively Monday night. Talk about sour gas, if it can’t be the coach’s fault anymore, then maybe they should flare the dressing rooms in Oil and Flames country.

"It’s been a while since I’ve played that poorly," admitted Flames assistant captain Robyn Regehr, who was only minus-3 on the Flames 9-1 loss at San Jose. Curtis Glencross and Craig Conroy were both torched for a minus-5 on the night. "I think it’s one of the worst games I’ve ever played ... I think it could be said for a lot of us out there. For me it felt like every decision I made was a wrong one."

The night before, the Flames would have won in Anaheim with any kind of goaltending from Curtis McElhinney, but lost 5-4 instead. But it appeared that their overall game was coming around, which was perhaps why Brent Sutter was nearly speechless after the spanking in San Jose.

"If ever there’s a wakeup call ... when you get beat as bad as we got beat tonight ... certain things that obviously continue to be dealt with," he said. "To be quite honest, I’m stuck for words. Obviously very embarrassing ... we had a pretty good day off today, a pretty good night off tonight ... we’re certainly not a tired team.

When you are a good team with veteran leaders — as the Flames clearly are — and you’re still stumbling around 50 games into the season, it’s fair to question how (or even if) the program is evolving.

"It’s obviously very embarrassing and disappointing," Sutter said. "There are certain things you expect from individuals and we didn’t come close to it. It’s very humbling to see what happened. When you get beat this bad you better realize it’s a wakeup call."

Calgary has made four consecutive first-round playoff exits, replaced their coach three times, and appear to be no further ahead this season.

We’ve always thought GM Darryl Sutter built this team brilliantly, with the four pillars of Miikka Kiprusoff, Jarome Iginla, Robyn Regehr and Dion Phaneuf. But if they can’t take the next step through four seasons and 50 games, how long can a GM wait before changing that foundation with a trade?

Up Highway 2, it’s not a question of who among the leadership group is available. It’s how many GM Steve Tambellini can get rid of.

Captain Ethan Moreau has eight points and is minus-7 this year. He’s not fighting, hitting or checking like a captain should be. Assistant captain Sheldon Souray has three goals and is minus-16. Assistant captain Shawn Horcoff is having the worst season in his career — 19 points, minus-22 in 43 games — while yarding in … wait for it … $7 million in salary this season.

It’s a total rebuild on the way in Edmonton, while the Calgary Flames might only need to replace the right major organ to be on their way.

Either way, it’s time to bring out the scalpel.