[sureLoss]

Nothing earth shattering here: As expected won't get into coaching discussions

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/...eams-collapse/

Emotionally drained following the most shocking face plant of the NHL’s stretch run, Brad Treliving knows he’s facing a summer of significant change.

However, the fourth-year Flames GM insists that as he dissects all that went wrong in the final month of the season the reality is, “Things are never as bad as they seem.”

“Is there more to be done that I would have thought two months ago? Certainly that’s probably a fair assessment,” said Treliving of the significantly new outlook on a team that won four of its last 17 games since it last appeared in a playoff position Feb. 25.

“How we’ve finished is not lost on me. But the answer is going to be found once the emotion subsides and the dark cloud dissipates and you can look with a clear mind. But there’s no question there’s work to do.

“You can also make mistakes by saying, ‘Everything is wrong and let’s stick a stick of dynamite in this.’ The first instinct is we have to blow the whole thing up. I don’t think we’re in that mode.”

In an exclusive, wide-ranging interview, Treliving’s first public comments in several weeks included taking no issue with Smith’s frank comments.

Nor does the GM believe Smith meant to throw any of his teammates under the bus.

In fact, Treliving is on a similar wavelength with the 36-year-old goalie in terms of what ails this team most.

“There’s an emotional level you have to get to to assist you in winning and we have to look into that,” said Treliving, stung tremendously by the stunning turn of events that included losing seven straight until Saturday’s win.

“Are we emotionally invested enough? We’re missing something. I think we’ve got to find a way to be more emotionally engaged. We’ve got to be a harder team to play against. That can mean a lot of different things, but we’ve got to define the identity of our team. We’re missing something.”