The frustration of possibly the worst season is franchise history has the team owner saying that change is inevitable.

"I've been an Oilers fan for a lot longer than I've owned the team, and I'm not at all happy with how the team has performed," Daryl Katz told 630 CHED. "It's no fun for anybody. But most of all, though, this experience has been no fun for our fans. I know it, our management knows it and our players know it. Last place is somewhere I never thought we would be, and it's completely unacceptable."

Edmonton entered the Olympic Break five points behind Toronto for fewest points in the league. The Oilers are a mere 16 points behind 14th-place Columbus in the Western Conference.

Edmonton started 6-2-1, but has won four times in its last 28 games, including Thursday's 3-2, 10-round shootout win in Los Angeles. That snapped a four-game losing skid, and franchise-worst 11-game road losing streak. The joy didn’t last as Edmonton was flat at home Sunday and lost 7-3 to Anaheim.

General manager Steve Tambellini has been given free reign to improve the on-ice product. "Yes, there's absolutely no question," Katz said. "Tamby has the complete green light to do whatever he needs to do to rebuild the hockey club. Notwithstanding all the injuries, what we have to date is not working. That's clear. I expect, and we should all expect, to see some changes."

But Tambellini will have a short window to work his magic. A trade freeze is in place until midnight, Feb. 28. The trade deadline is 3 p.m. EST March 3.

Trade rumors have surrounded the Oilers for weeks. Ethan Moreau, Fernando Pisani, Andrew Cogliano, Robert Nilsson, Patrick O'Sullivan and Steve Staios have all heard their names mentioned. Sheldon Souray, the biggest potential acquisition for another team, is on injured reserve with a broken hand and will likely be staying put.

Moreau, who is the longest-serving Oilers player, hasn't heard a thing. He thinks the odds are 80-20 that he will be moving. "Hopefully, they're realistic in what they're asking," said Moreau, who does not feel his $2 million contract next season is an impediment to any deal, even for someone who could be a fourth-line forward on another team.

Moreau knows he's auditioning right now. "You want to win and do well for the Oilers but it (having scouts in attendance) gives you something to play for. It's human nature; you want to impress whomever is watching."

Cogliano's name keeps coming up in relation to Phoenix forward Peter Mueller. The Coyotes are shopping the 6-foot-4 former first-rounder, who hasn't caught the fancy of coach Dave Tippett. The Oilers are reluctant to move Cogliano, who scored 18 goals in each of his first two NHL seasons, but has just five goals, none in the last 14 games, and only one in his last 26. Of his 13 points, just four are in the 26 games, a span in which he is minus-13. He played a possible career-low 6:34 in 10 shifts last Wednesday in Anaheim.

"My name always seems to be out there. I'm not sure why. It's either I'm a good guy to trade or we have a lot of smaller guys on our team. If I do get traded, I guess I'm not a part of the future here. But I want to stay in Edmonton for a long time. This is all out of my control."

Despite the mess, Katz sees a positive future.

"We have a great young core, with a ton more talent coming along. I look at a team like Chicago and I see what happened with their young talent in a few short years, and we as an organization are keenly aware of where we are and what our objectives are moving forward."

Katz knows there is no overnight fix to the team maladies, but he acknowledges how lucky he is that Edmontonians are sticking with the club.

"Many teams don't have an opportunity to rebuild and it's only because of our fan base that we have the opportunity to take this step, and that's exactly what we're going to do."

Now those fans have to be rewarded for their faith.

CALGARY

Saturday's 3-1 win over Anaheim gives Calgary a 30-23-9 record. The 69 points put the Flames third in the Northwest Division, and gives Calgary a perilous hold on the eighth spot in the Western Conference, one point up on Detroit and Dallas -- who both have a game in hand. … "Obviously, there's got to be a strong push the last 20 games of the year, and we need to play well," said coach Brian Sutter. "It’s not like we haven’t been playing well. The last six games or whatever we've actually played some pretty good hockey, we just weren't scoring any goals and it was affecting us at the end of the night as far as wins and losses." … After the break, Calgary plays nine home games and 11 on the road. Eight games are against teams outside the playoffs, and a couple others are against bubble teams. Eight games will be divisional battles, including three against Minnesota. … The power play, while still not going gangbusters, was better in the last few games before the break, going 4 for 16. The Flames are 22nd in the league with a 16.83 percent success rate. … Eric Nystrom ended a 43-game scoring drought with a goal Saturday on a play in which he drove to the net. "That was definitely a relief. I'm kind of upset that we have the break now. I was feeling pretty good out there," he said. "I've been saying the past week or so that I've got to start taking it out of the corner and to the front of the net more. … I just tried jamming it in and the goalie left a little room there." … Jarome Iginla had two goals Saturday, and had three goals and two assists in the final three games before the break. … Iginla and Daymond Langkow were honored in a pre-game ceremony Thursday in celebration of both players recently hitting the 1,000-game milestone. … C Mikael Backlund was reassigned Sunday to AHL Abbotsford. … Calgary tried to send C Jamie Lundmark to Abbotsford, but he was claimed off waivers Saturday by Toronto. Lundmark was 4-5-9 in 21 games with the Flames this season. He also had 21 points in 32 games with Abbotsford. … Watch Flames TV go one-on-one with enforcer Brain McGrattan. 

The Wild beat Vancouver 6-2 Sunday, and enters the Olympic break at 30-27-4, good for 13th place in the Western Conference. … Minnesota traded D Kim Johnsson and D Nick Leddy, the team's first-round pick last year, to Chicago for D Cam Barker on Friday. The 23-year-old Barker, Chicago's first-round pick (third overall) in 2004, has 18 goals and 63 assists in 201 career games, including five goals and 10 assists in 52 games this season. "It'll give me a chance to maybe play more minutes, put some numbers up, help them on the power play and whatnot," Barker said on a conference call. Johnsson, 33, had six goals and eight assists in 52 games with the Wild this season, and he will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, something Chicago likes because it has big contracts for Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith kicking in next season. Last year, Barker had six goals and 34 assists in 68 regular season games, and ranked sixth among NHL defenseman with 29 power play points, including 24 assists. "I wasn't playing as much here in Chicago as I was previous. They have such a good roster. It's tough. I had to play a different role than I was used to. I'm looking forward to maybe playing a bit more and putting some points up in Minnesota." He got his first goal as a Wild player in Sunday's 6-2 win over Vancouver. … Marek Zidlicky set a franchise record Sunday for assists in a season by a defenseman, when he had his 31st helper. … Derek Boogaard tied a career high with his fourth assist of the year. … The Wild reassigned LW Cody Almond and G Anton Khudobin to AHL Houston Monday. … RW Chuck Kobasew, out since Dec. 26 with a knee injury, began skating with the team last week. He should be ready after the break. … D Clayton Stoner, sidelined by a groin injury since Jan. 6, had sports hernia surgery in Germany Friday. He's expected to miss 2-4 weeks. … RW Pierre-Marc Bouchard, out since game one due to a concussion, has been around the team recently, but he has not begun skating. … Minnesota had a season-high attendance of 19,342 Sunday, the team's 399th consecutive sellout. The Wild has sold out every preseason, regular season and playoff game in team history. … During his State of the State address Feb. 11, Gov. Tim Pawlenty gave some advice to those seeking his position, including, "Before you take the microphone at a Minnesota Wild game, carefully practice pronouncing the word 'puck.' " Hear the governor's pronunciation issue. 

The Canucks are 37-22-2 at the Olympic break, good for first place in the Northwest Division. … Vancouver went 4-4 on its eight-game trip before the Olympics. But the trip ended with a 6-2 bashing Sunday in Minnesota. “I don’t know if it was the overall fatigue or if quite a few of our big guns had their minds somewhere else,” said coach Alain Vigneault. … Roberto Luongo allowed five goals to Minnesota for the second time this season, but he wouldn’t use the long trip as an excuse. “You’ve got to dig deep sometimes when you’re tired and find a way to win,” he said. Luongo started for Team Canada Tuesday against Norway. Watch the incredible sprawling glove save by Luongo in Tampa Bay. … Third-period goals by Sami Salo and Mikael Samuelsson lifted Vancouver to a come-from-behind 4-3 win against Columbus Friday. Watch Samuelsson's rainbow tally. Andrew Raycroft stopped 32 shots — including all 19 in the third — to win his 100th NHL game … Check out what Raycroft has been reading, listening to and watching. … Mason Raymond, who has already posted career-highs with 22 goals and 43 points in 61 games, scored Sunday to end a three-game point drought. He had four shots in the game after getting six in the previous three games combined. … Pavol Demitra rejoined the team in Minnesota, and skated with Darcy Hordicuk and Tanner Glass. Demitra returned to Vancouver earlier in the week to take care of some personal issues. … Ryan Johnson was a healthy scratch for the fourth straight game Sunday. … Nice gesture: Equipment manager Pat O'Neill, filling the same role for Team Canada, offered to transport the bags of the Minnesota Olympians on the Canucks charter back to Vancouver to spare them some travel hassle. … Seven Canucks talk about their feelings as they prepare to wear their country's colors in the Olympics.

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