Rebuild or retool?

It is one thing for a Calgary Flames fan to question the course of his hockey team. To say to general manager Jay Feaster, "How come you're doing this?" Or, "Why aren't you doing it that way?"

But when the question ends with "…like the Edmonton Oilers are doing it?" Well, Feaster turns into The Champ. He s-naaps!

"I'm sorry -- Edmonton finished where last year, caller? Want to wager on where we finish relative to Edmonton this year? I'm tired of this question, I'll tell you very honestly. I'm getting a little sour.

"How many teams … every year, for the last 10 years, five years, eight years, have finished in the bottom five, bottom seven, bottom 10? They've had a pick anywhere from No. 1 to No. 10, year after year after year after year, and they still wander in the desert. And they're no closer to getting out than they were 10 years ago.

"You know what? I look forward to the Battle of Alberta for the next X number of years. If the idea is, 'Burn it to the ground,' then Ken (Flames president King) can find another manager to do it."

Let the record show that the first serious, verbal volley to be fired in the Battle of Alberta in the last X numbers of years came on Sept. 1, 2011, the above quote from Feaster, speaking at a Town Hall forum at a team-owned venue called Flames Central.

Truly, the dichotomy of the National Hockey League's two Alberta clubs is perfectly summed up inside of Feaster's dilemma.

On the ice, Calgary owns the Oilers. They've won five of six meetings in each of the past two seasons. Since the lockout, Calgary has made the playoffs four times, while Edmonton made it to the '06 Cup final and hasn't qualified for the post-season since. In the last two years, while Calgary was missing the playoffs by four and six points, the Oilers were finishing dead last in the entire NHL.

Calgary has been competitive. Edmonton has been beyond brutal.

Yet today, some Flames fans look at the two teams and ask Feaster, "Why can't you be more like Edmonton?"

"It's something I've been hearing ever since I took over as acting general manager at the end of December," Feaster admits. "'Why don't you blow it up? Why don't you blow it up?'"

You can argue whether Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini ever truly intended to "blow it up" or not. But what can't be disputed is the young Oilers crop of up-and-coming, elite talent -- which clearly is the basis for any comparison that would have Edmonton coming out ahead of Calgary.

The Flames are likely going to be a better team this season, but the Calgary core is ageing. Jaromie Iginla turned 34 on Canada Day, and missed most of camp with back troubles. Brendan Morrison is 36 and coming off of ACL surgery. Miikka Kiprusoff turns 35 in October; Alex Tanguay is 32 in November. Even baby-faced Rene Bourque will be 30 before the New Year.

And the organization can not boast of budding Top 6 forward prospects the way Edmonton can, with Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Magnus Paajarvi or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins all 21 years or younger.

Add to that group a veteran Oilers forward line of Shawn Horcoff between Ryan Smyth and Ales Hemsky, and head coach Tom Renney admits that the group he's standing behind this preseason is closing in on what he's been waiting for since coming to Edmonton two seasons ago.

"You actually looked down, and you had weapons," he said of his position behind the preseason bench.

Feaster will have to pull off some slick GM'ing to avoid the crash that usually accompanies an ageing roster. And give him credit: He's already unloaded age and salary for youth, and has more cap room now than this organization has enjoyed in years.

But Feaster has to do something here. Nobody is happy with a team that doesn't get a playoff game, but doesn't get a Top 5 draft pick either.

"I don't think it is a rebuild," he said of the Calgary project. "We've got guys, obviously some of them are older, and the window is closing on some of those guys. We recognize that. At the same time, we're not ready just to jettison these guys, blow it up and hope we finish 30th."

Meanwhile, they've been through the most painful times in Edmonton. The playoffs may be unrealistic this season, but it's hard not to see a team with a chance at prolonged success in Edmonton, beginning sooner than later.

"We're in Year 2," said GM Steve Tambellini. "We introduced some young people to the lineup last year, and now we're seeing the next wave coming in."

Leading that wave is the young centreman Nugent-Hopkins, who just may have world class vision one day.

"Ryan's goal, he's come to this camp to play for this team," Tambellini said. "But, we've made it very clear to him: Come to rookie camp, come to main camp, just be yourself. Let's just see what happens here."

Mark Spector is the senior columnist on sportsnet.ca