Calgary Flames defenceman Nikita Zadorov went off when asked on Tuesday about his team’s poor start to the season.
The Flames are off to a 2-3-1 start and face the New York Rangers as part of Tuesday night’s schedule in which all 32 teams are in action.
“The main thing is we’re just not working as a unit,” he told reporters. “We have too many individuals playing as themselves. We have to figure out if we want to play as a team or play as our own guy.
“We’re only six games into the season and we’re trying to figure out who wants to be here, who wants to play for who.”
The Flames made wholesale changes at the management level in the off-season, with Ryan Huska replacing the fired Darryl Sutter as coach and Craig Conroy being promoted to replace the departed Brad Treliving as general manager.
“Last season was different. It was Darryl. Now, there’s no Darryl, so there’s no excuses,” Zadorov said. “You know what I mean? You guys don’t like hard coaches? You don’t like soft coaches? You don’t like good coaches? Fair.
“It’s a new-day league. You come up here, you play hard, and you leave everything on the ice. I think that’s how simple it is.”