VANCOUVER — Their captain, Mark Giordano, called Thursday's effort "unacceptable."
Their head coach, Glen Gulutzan, hinted that the next few practices won't be much fun.
And one of the Calgary Flames' veteran voices of reason, two-time Stanley Cup champion Kris Versteeg, tried to point to a silver lining: "I'd rather go through adversity now and get the crap out."
The results don't matter much at this time of year, but the Flames are going to need to flip the switch. Soon.
After Thursday's 3-1 pre-season loss to the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena, the crew from Calgary owns a 1-5 record in exhibition action this fall.