Flames, Oilers enter Heritage Classic needing something, anything to turn season around

It hasn’t been a good start to the 2023-24 season for both the Calgary Flames or the Edmonton Oilers.

When the Flames missed the playoffs for the second time in three years, the Flames moved on from head coach Darryl Sutter and replaced him with Ryan Huska, hoping a change in leadership would improve the vibes in Alberta’s largest city. So far, it hasn’t been good, starting the season 2-5-1 with a power play percentage of 11.5.

After losing to the eventual Stanley Cup-winning Vegas Golden Knights in the second round last season, the Oilers went into 2023-24 with aspirations for a championship. But a 1-5-1 start, combined with an injury to reigning-Hart Trophy winner Connor McDavid have put Edmonton’s lofty aspirations in jeopardy.

On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss Alberta’s two NHL teams and their bad starts, and if their work ethics, or lack thereof, are part of the problem.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Edmonton and Calgary are set to do battle on Saturday in the outdoors, and these two teams have combined for eight points so far.

Frank Seravalli: What do you thinks those odds would have been on Betano? We get to the Heritage Classic in late October, and the Stanley Cup-or-bust Oilers and the underdog, rejuvenated Flames have eight points between the two of them.

If you watched either of their games on Thursday night, the one thread that ties both of these teams together to start the year is work ethic. Where’s the compete? Where’s the battles being won? You can talk about a lot of different facets of both of these teams that may come back to haunt them, but nothing really excuses them not working.

You can watch the full episode here…