Mark Spector

Mark Spector is a columnist for sportsnet.ca

The Flames sit 14th in the Western Conference.

If 'intellectual honesty' is what the Flames are after, the truth is right in front of them.

If they do the near impossible and climb past six Western Conference teams into a playoff spot, the Calgary Flames face this stark reality:

In Round 1, they will either meet the Vancouver Canucks, or face a team that's every bit as good as the Canucks team they faced at Rogers Arena Wednesday night.

"They have a great powerplay, a good penalty kill, three solid lines that can score, a good back end that can skate and move the puck. And they've got great goaltending," Calgary's Brendan Morrison, the former Canuck, said before boarding a flight for this Northwest Division grudge match.

"That's going to be a great gauge for us."

When it was over Wednesday, Calgary's gauge read exactly where it has been on too many nights this season.

Empty.

The Flames had plenty of scoring chances but failed to cash until there were 11 hopeless seconds left in a 3-0 game. Calgary skates fast, gets their chances, and leave you with the odd bruise.

But on most nights they don't score enough, and seldom fashion a comeback once behind.

After a 3-1 loss in Vancouver, it got even worse. Unintended pity from Daniel Sedin ensued, as his Canucks leave the Flames a full 18 points in their dust.

"We've got to get better. We can't let this slide," Daniel said after the wire-to-wire win. "Calgary played really well tonight. I thought they deserved better."

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It is Monday at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Flames have won four straight, with the lowly New York Islanders in town tonight.

In a hockey city that reflexively thinks ‘guaranteed win night' whenever the Isles roll in -- even if both teams are ranked 14th in their respective conferences -- they're talking big picture on the morning radio programs.

"We want to know what you think," the CBC radio host says, moments after hearing a clinical dissection of the Flames franchise from a local hockey scribe. "What should they do? Rebuild?"

The polls in the newspapers were 80-plus per cent in favour of replacing general manager Darryl Sutter. Having accomplished that, fans now move to the next topic: What do we do with the Flames?

Inside the organization, the debate burns every bit as hot. A few hours later, as he watches the Islanders at the morning skate, acting GM Jay Feaster is defining his latest buzz-term: Intellectual honesty.

"We can't try to kid ourselves about the situation we're in," he said. "We can't afford anything less than total honesty with ourselves, with every aspect of our operation. I think the worst thing that can happen is when you try and fool yourself."

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The backup plays against the Islanders, and Henrik Karlsson gives Flames fans a glimpse of what might be if the tear-down faction gets its way, and Miikka Kiprusoff is traded.

The Islanders lead 3-1 after the first period. In their four previous games -- all wins, all Kiprusoff starts -- Calgary had not allowed more than two goals against.

The Flames have found their game, said head coach Brent Sutter by staying "shoulder to shoulder. Paying attention to how we need to play."

It's taken a while for the Flames to find themselves.

"Were we going to be an offensive team and outscore teams every night?" asks Morrison. "Or were we going to be a team that played solid defence? Which way are we going to go here?"

What kind of identity did Calgary settle on?

"Definitely more of a defensive team than an offensive team," Morrison said. "Limiting the number of shots against, limiting the number of chances against, has directly resulted in wins for us."

Having allowed three in the opening 20 minutes against New York however, the Flames epitaph is written. They have scored four goals in a game just three times in their previous 20 games.

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The Phaneuf trade haunts this team.

Rumours that the big defenceman was not shopped properly are still rampant, with NHL GMs quietly confirming that they were aware that Phaneuf was on the market only after the Toronto Maple Leafs had acquired him.

Now, nearly a year later, communication is still a problem for Sutter. His brother Brent reveals, in a Calgary Sun article, that he has not spoken to Darryl in the week since he was fired.

By the time the Islanders leave the Saddledome with a 5-2 victory, Matt Stajan has extended his futility streak to two goals in 34 games this season. Niklas Hagman has points in just four of his past 21 games (just two goals), and Ian White has been traded for Anton Babchuk.

The return for Phaneuf has been stunningly unproductive. None of the aforementioned players get a point in Vancouver.

After the loss to New York, when the press has left the dressing room, Sutter calls a meeting. He tells the players to text their families waiting at the arena, and tell them to head home. The players will be late tonight.

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Five games ago, before a win at Dallas, Feaster and Sutter re-set the team's goals. The segments, usually five games in length, were chopped into three-game lengths.

The goal in Calgary, from now until the end of the season, is to play .667 hockey. Thus the three-game bites. Win two out of every three, and seventh or eighth place could be theirs.

But another eighth-place finish and first-round exit surely can not represent progress for a team that has not won a post-season series since 2004.

"It's not," Feaster says. "And that's not what we want to build. It isn't about just squeaking in and getting knocked out in the first round. We aspire to more than that."

It is Tuesday at a Burger Baron in Red Deer, the Central Alberta city situated halfway between Edmonton and Calgary, yet the newspaper at the top of the pile is a Thursday edition from Calgary.

It's from the day after Sutter was fired, and the sports section has been read countless times. Nobody is recycling it any time soon.

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"You've got to know that you can play with them. That you can beat them. It'll be a good test for us. A good measuring stick."

Morrison is talking about the Vancouver Canucks. The loss to the Islanders "stings" a little more said Jarome Iginla, when you look ahead at the schedule. At Vancouver, at home to Detroit and then a four-game road trip.

"No matter about the outside things, we need to stick together as a group," said winger Curtis Glencross. "No matter what the organization decides to do, our fans are going to support us.

"Last time they (the Canucks) were in here we had a good game, except the third period. Our third period let us down."

That "let down" is recorded as a 7-2 home-ice loss to the Canucks back on Dec. 1. It was 3-2 Vancouver after 40 minutes, then the Canucks flexed their muscles.

Calgary was closer to the Canucks on Wednesday, but close doesn't mean anything in the National Hockey League. The team has now lost two in a row.

Winning four straight did not dig the Flames out of 14th spot in the West. Losing twice hasn't changed their standing either.

Feaster's "intellectual honesty" is still being forged. Right now, the truth hurts.