Mark Spector

Mark Spector is a columnist for sportsnet.ca

We’re still not sure on exactly what is the problem with the Calgary Flames.

When the head coach comes out and says, “Enough is enough,” what he really means is this: “If we are truly the gritty, tough-minded playoff team I think we are — a team that can play with the big boys out West — then let’s show it. ‘Cause we’ve played 50 games here, and I haven’t seen it yet.”

Brent Sutter uttered those three words — “Enough is enough” — before his Calgary Flames walked out of the tunnel to face the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night. Who knows what he was muttering when he walked back into the coaches’ office after a one-sided 3-1 loss — the Flames sixth straight.

We’re guessing Sutter has more questions than answers today.

The true measure of a quality team comes when you play a Stanley Cup contender like the Blackhawks. So the ruler came out Chicago Thursday night at the Saddledome, and when it was over the scoreboard read: Contenders 3 Pretenders 1.

How close are the Flames to playing at the Blackhawks level these days? Well, they have lost all three games to Chicago this season. So perhaps that question is best answered with this line from George Johnson’s Friday column in the Calgary Herald:

“They’re in the same League. But not the same league.”

Truly, Miikka Kiprusoff was the blowout buffer on Thursday. If Turku Broda doesn’t make several stunning saves for Calgary, this one is over after 40 minutes.

So where are we now, Flames fans?

Where do we go with a consistently good team that, for the fifth consecutive season, appears unable to make the next step. Must significant changes wait until the Flames lose out in the first round again? Or does management see that fate on the horizon, and deal a big-name defenceman at the deadline?

Or does GM Darryl Sutter stick with his hand, and risk a half-decade of first-round exits?

The latest new coach is 50 games into his first season and already showing signs of frustration. Clearly, it wasn’t Brent Sutter’s plan to be holding a walk-through practice on Wednesday, two days after that 9-1 shellacking in San Jose.

“It’s important to get back to knowing what our team game is,” said the Flames coach. “That’s got to be your security blanket: ‘This is what we do.’

“There have been ups and downs . . . but at some point you have to figure it out. I would say we’re at that point.

“We’re 50 games into the season, how much longer do you go? You keep wondering, ‘Geez, are we getting it or not getting it?’”

Did the Flames look like a team that “got it” on Thursday night? Not with 20 shots on net; not with a faceoff percentage of 44; not with only nine hits charted by the hometown stats crew.

But go beyond the recent 10-game slide, where the Flames have two wins, have only twice scored more than two goals in regulation time, and own 2-for-30 a powerplay.

The seasonal stats are far more worrisome: 26th in the NHL on the powerplay (16.1%); dead last in faceoff percentage (47%); 28th in shots per game (28); 26th in goals per game (2.53).

The identity Sutter is trying to instill in Calgary is one of a relentless team to play against. A club that rolls four lines and wears you down with plenty of speed and tough, physical play. A team that gets the puck and dares you to try and take it away from them.

But the reality is, Calgary loses more draws than any team in the NHL — even more than Edmonton! — and consequently doesn’t have the puck enough to even embark on that type of game. If you believe the real time statistics charted by the league, the Flames are ranked 24th in giveaways, 13th in takeaways, 16th in hits and 15th in blocked shots.

And 30th in faceoffs. If you didn’t think the Olli Jokinen deal would paralyze this club at centre, think again. On pace for 16 goals at US $5.5 million, this guy is killing the Flames down the middle.

Meanwhile, folks in Calgary are seriously questioning Jarome Iginla, who hasn’t scored a powerplay goal since Nov. 30. In the major test against Chicago Thursday, Iginla was minus-2 without a shot on goal.

It says here that, rather than question Iginla’s abilities at age 32, the Flames had better find a centre that can furnish him with a few faceoff wins and clean shots on net.

Iginla isn’t the problem in Calgary.

But as the Flames dip into ninth place today, we’re still not sure on exactly what is the problem with the Calgary Flames.