'WE NEED TO BE BETTER'

SEATTLE - Back when we were kids, that glorious time between Christmas and New Year's felt like a freebie on the vacation calendar.
You could do whatever you wanted. You barely knew what day it was, it seemed like everyone else in the world was off, too, and you could over-indulge in all that makes the festive season great.
MacKenzie Weegar can relate to at least a portion of that.
With this - a Planes, Trains and Automobiles-like anomaly making up the Flames' holiday schedule - it's hard to know when one day ends, and the other begins.

In the past few days, alone, Weegar has made stops in Los Angeles, Anaheim, Banff, Calgary and now Seattle, for tonight's clash with the Pacific rival Kraken.
Typical Christmas.
It's the one holiday where you typically come out of it feeling more drained than usual, thanks to the food, the shopping, and those classic family gatherings that keep you up late.
"It was awesome," Weegar said, looking back on his Christmas in the Rockies. "I was describing it almost like a Hallmark movie out there. It was super Christmas-y. We got to do a little dinner at the Fairmont (Banff Springs). It was awesome and we had a blast. It was a nice couple days off and one of the best Christmases I've had in a while.
"We were supposed to be [a group of] 13, but a few of the family members couldn't make it because there were some snowstorms back home - but for the family that did come, we made the most of it. We played a lot of cards, some funny card games and stuff like that in the evening.
"It was a great time. A lot of memories."
But, like all good things, the holiday came to an end. And suddenly, you're thrown back in the fire.
The Flames - who played a back-to-back in LA and Anaheim immediately before the Christmas 'break' - landed back at YYC at 4 o'clock in the morning on Christmas Eve, meaning most heads weren't hitting the pillows until 5 a.m. at the earliest.
So, to return and play another back-to-back with travel out of the freeze is a curious piece of scheduling that the players haven't seen before.
Over the course of the regular season, the Flames will play the entirety of their 82-game slate in 182 days, or once every 2.22 days. In essence, you have to admire the comedy of a stretch billed as a 'break,' but in reality, is busier than most weeks during the campaign. This - with the break built in - sees the Flames play four games in only a seven-day span.
It's not an excuse, nor is the complaint exclusive to Calgary. But it is reality - especially when facing a team that hasn't played in nearly a week, like the Kraken, who were last in action on Dec. 22 in Vancouver.
"That's just how the schedule is," Weegar said. "You've just got to adapt to it and now we're back on the road. It was a good break, but we've got to compete hard. Every game is a huge game now; we're playing a lot of division games and whatnot, so forget about the break and we've got to focus on Seattle."

It promises to be a stiff test for the Flames, who are playing their sixth-straight divisional game and are coming off a 2-1 loss to the Oilers last night, after out-shooting their provincial archrivals 47-26. It was the 11th time this season the Flames have put up 40-plus shots, and now have a bizarre, 3-7-1 record to show for it, while scoring just 27 times in the process.
As a result, the Flames enter tonight's tilt in the Emerald City on the outside of the Western Conference playoff picture, trailing both the Oilers and Kraken by one point - but Seattle has four games in hand.
"I think that's part of our identity, to defend well," Weegar said. "Limiting their chances, last night was great - but coming into tonight, we still have to do that (again). It's been the story of a lot games this year has been bearing down on our chances, including myself. Helping out offensively, every guy needs to do everything they possibly can to get the puck in the back of the net.
"Good's not really cutting it right now. We need to be better. (This is) another team that's above us in the standings right now. They're a great hockey team. They play fast and we've got to respect our opponent here tonight.
"We've got to come out and play fast hockey."
As disappointing as Tuesday's defeat was, the Flames were the better team, playing one of their most complete games of the year and staying truer to their identity than they have all season.
While silver linings don't officially count for anything, it does give the Flames a foundation to build off.
Performances like the one Weegar gave are a big reason for that. It was, in this writer's opinion, the best game the Ottawa native has played in Flames red.
"I try to play hard every night defensively," said Weegar, who finished the night with two shots, four hits and monster 76.6% possession rate. "Obviously, when you get that team coming into town, you mentally prepare a little bit more for a couple of their top guys.
"But I think you have to prepare like that for every game. Doesn't matter who the opponent is. Hopefully I can start contributing more offensively, but I think Tanny and I - and Z when I played with him - we've played pretty sound so far this year. But there's still lots of improvements and little things I can get better at, and bearing down."