MacKenzie Weegar has had enough.
After Friday's 4-0 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks — one that dropped the Calgary Flames to 4-10-2, the worst mark in the NHL — the visibly frustrated defenceman aired his grievances with his team's uninspired performance.
"It's tough to explain. I don't know why we have passengers when we're trying to get back to being a .500 team...," Weegar said. "Everybody should be showing up every single night, prepared, ready to go with lots of energy."
The Flames entered the night riding high after winning two straight for the first time this season. The second of those wins came on an emotional night for the club as it celebrated Nazem Kadri's 1,000th NHL game to kick off a two-game homestand.
It's part of the reason why Weegar was so disappointed in the follow-up effort, as the Flames were shut out by the Blackhawks, who were lifted offensively by a four-point night by Connor Bedard.
"I just felt like we came out a little flat. Credit to them, I thought their D-corps did a good job down low, swarming our forwards, trying to get out of the mud a little bit," Weegar said.
"But I thought half the team was into it and half wasn't."
Despite the final scoreboard reading 4-0, the Flames entered the third period trailing by just a single goal. Chicago's final three tallies of the night came on Calgary breakdowns that left goalie Dustin Wolf out to dry.
"I don't know why we thought we were down four goals going into the third period," Weegar said. "We just lacked our structure. The first (goal): kick in, second one: two-on-one, third one: three-on-one, fourth one: turnover."
For his part, Weegar ended the night a minus-3 in just under 24 minutes of ice time with a second-period fight against Alex Vlasic.
"It's frustrating for myself because I don't like being a minus. It pisses me off a lot," he said of his performance. "But I'm more pissed off at the breakdowns more than anything."
Calgary will look to bounce back on Sunday as it hits the road to face the Minnesota Wild to begin a two-game road trip. The game begins at 6 p.m. MT / 8 p.m. ET on Sportsnet West.
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