'We're definitely embarrassed by that game' -- Iginla

[rinkrat]

If you were Darryl Sutter, what would you do? Seriously.

And, please, be realistic.

No packaging up Kris Chucko and Curtis McElhinney in exchange for Drew Doughty and Dustin Brown.

Put on your GM hat and contemplate a fix. Because, clearly, this thing has gone bust.

* Do you blast apart the much-ballyhooed core? Dispatch Robyn Regehr? Dion Phaneuf? Even Jarome Iginla?

* Do you tinker from the fringes? Move a first- or second-round pick and a prospect for immediate help?

* Do you stay patient, trust the coach, trust the leadership group, pray for the best?

The Flames have one win in seven outings. They are sinking like a proverbial stone.

Look at it this way — at the start of December, they were nine points clear of the Vancouver Canucks.

Right now? One point behind, and marooned in eighth spot in the Western Conference.

Not sure how it looked on television Sunday night, but, live and in person, this latest display was shockingly bad. Many in the press box figured this had all the makings of that date in San Jose, a dilly with a playoff-like atmosphere.

Instead, it was the Canucks playing hard for a period, then cruising — which is still one more period of diligence than the local heroes bothered to turn in. By the way, Olli Jokinen got only two third-period shifts.

Typically, when reporters stampede into the dressing room post-game, there might be — maybe — three or four players lingering.

Sunday, after the 5-1 pasting by the Canucks, they were all sitting there. (Well, except for the starting goalie.) No doubt they’d been freshly scolded by their boss, Brent Sutter.

"You never want to say you got out-competed and out-worked, but we did tonight," said Flames captain Jarome Iginla. "We always get asked about losses . . . that was one of the worst of the year. We were pretty excited about that game . . . and turning our game around, and we come out and play like that? That’s the toughest one, in my mind, so far this year.

"It’s not good enough at home. It’s not good enough anywhere. We’re definitely embarrassed by that game."

So let's hear it . . . .

Your suggestions are always welcome. Who should be shipped out? Who should be brought in?