Flames 'want to feel that winning culture again'

RIGA, Latvia -- MacKenzie Weegar is trying to salvage a lost season by ending it with a golden lining.

The defenseman is one of three Calgary Flames players representing Canada at the 2023 IIHF World Championship in Finland and Latvia, each eligible to play after Calgary (38-27-17) failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second time in three seasons and just one year removed from a first-place finish in the Pacific Division.

"It's disappointing, right?" Weegar said. "That's the word a lot of players say when they don't make the playoffs or they get out of the playoffs, but I think for me, it's more just getting back to some meaningful games. I want to feel that winning culture again. I want to win a gold medal. I haven't won in a while, and we obviously have a good chance to win gold and that's what I want to do.

"It's just weird because there's no reason why we shouldn't have been in the playoffs. Look at our dressing room and the players that we have."

The trip to Europe will be a small sliver of normalcy for Weegar, Milan Lucic and Canada captain Tyler Toffoli before the Flames enter a second straight offseason of upheaval. A year ago, Weegar, and forwards Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri, joined the Flames after they lost forwards Johnny Gaudreau (signed with Columbus Blue Jackets) and Matthew Tkachuk (traded to Florida Panthers for Huberdeau, Weegar).

Huberdeau signed an eight-year, $84 million contract ($10.5 million average annual value) Aug. 4 that begins next season, but had 55 points (15 goals, 40 assists) in 79 games after he tied Gaudreau for second in the NHL last season with 115 (30 goals, 85 assists). Kadri (seven years, $49 million) and Weegar (eight years, $6.25 million) also signed contracts.

General manager Brad Treliving left the organization April 17 after nine seasons and coach Darryl Sutter was fired May 1. Lucic is one of five players who can be an unrestricted free agent July 1.

"It's one of those things you can't really control, especially when there's such high expectations," Lucic said. "It wasn't [Treliving] that traded Johnny and Matthew. One left because he had the right to being (a UFA). The other one wasn't willing to sign a long-term deal.

"If you ask me, Brad did a really good job of making the most of the situation he was put in. After that, it's just the bad luck and everything that could go wrong did go wrong for us. I know it kind of sounds like 'poor me' and 'should've, would've, could've,' but you just look at the numbers.

"Even with Darryl. Say what you want about him, but he was a great coach. Even if you break our team down analytically, I think we were the seventh-best team. It was one of those things of everything that could go wrong did go wrong, and it wasn't 'Tree,' and it wasn't Darryl. It was just one of those things. It was just unfortunate it happened the way it had."

Calgary finished fifth in the Pacific and two points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference. It has failed to advance past the second round since reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2004.

The Flames averaged 3.15 goals per game (19th), down from 3.55 (sixth) last season, and the power play fell from 22.9 percent (10th) to 19.8 percent (tied for 19th). Calgary also led the NHL with 17 overtime and shootout losses and had a League-high 13 one-goal losses in regulation.

The results, understandably, dictate a second straight offseason of significant turnover.

"It's not that Darryl's a bad coach," Weegar said. "I think he's a great coach. He puts together a great game plan. I just think for our locker room a change was needed to be made to get us going again. We needed just a new voice in the room. That's sort of why I said why we needed a coaching change. It had nothing to do with him being a bad coach. I just think we needed a different presence."

Weegar and the Flames will get it.

First will come a new GM to replace Treliving, a search fronted by newly appointed president of hockey operations Don Maloney.

The new GM will then go about replacing Sutter.

The players, in the interim, will wait for the offseason to sort itself out. Again.

"There's literally nothing we can do," Toffoli said. "We're along for the ride. If I get a phone call asking for certain things then obviously, I'll be there, but for the most part they're making their own decisions.

"All our job is to go out to play."