Admitting to problems with their culture, commitment and identity is only the first small step forward for the Edmonton Oilers.

Some faces surely have to change and those who stay must improve as individuals if they are to rise above the mediocrity that has settled into Oil Country and make the NHL playoffs for the first time in four years.

They either do that collectively or drag this faltering franchise backwards more than a decade to the underfunded, non-playoff teams of 1992-93 through 1995-96. Do that or join hands with Kevin Todd and Todd Elik, Curtis Joseph and Josef Beranek, Gord Mark and Marc Laforge, and continue staggering towards ignominy.

The unflattering team picture of 2008-09 is an amalgam of screen captures: underachieving youngsters, bonehead penalties from a trusted veteran, turnover-plagued shifts, unconscionable goals against, mailed-in games and lengthy, debilitating cold streaks. This season, so many snapshots left Edmonton's hockey hotbed wanting more.

More offensive bang for the buck from centre Shawn Horcoff, who played 80 games and produced 53 points, just three more than he managed in only 53 games last year.

"It has been frustrating for sure, especially at the beginning. I didn't feel good or comfortable," said Horcoff.

More goals and more jam from the reluctant big man Dustin Penner, who scored just 17, his worst season in the NHL, and finished the year as a grossly overpaid fourth-liner.

"The goals didn't go in," said Penner. "Not because I wanted it that way."

More consistency, effort and commitment, yet again, from enigmatic star forward Ales Hemsky, who lost his point-per-game pace and failed miserably as their go-to-guy down the stretch.

"I was not happy with my last month," Hemsky said. "I know I have to be better."

More discipline from captain Ethan Moreau, whose ill-timed penalties were tolerated because of his veteran status but damaging to his team and his reputation as a solid leader.

More offence from supporting cast Fernando Pisani, Robert Nilsson, Andrew Cogliano, Kyle Brodziak and Sam Gagner, whose seasons were unpredictable and generally unsatisfying, but for Gagner's 25-game surge toward the end.

More intensity from defenceman Tom Gilbert, who was a first-rate offensive force but could be so much better with a physical edge. More impact from Patrick O'Sullivan, who never got comfortable after a trade-deadline-day move from Los Angeles and was virtually invisible. More finish from sniper Ales Kotalik, who scored 20 on the season, but could have had at least half a dozen more as an Oiler.

More finish on the power play, more success on the penalty kill. And more proficiency in the faceoff circle from Marc Pouliot, Gagner and Cogliano. Much, much more, in fact.

"I'm not naive," Cogliano said. "I understand I've got to be better and I will be better. I will work on it a lot this summer. Faceoffs are a major thing if I'm going to be a centre in this league.

"Everyone has things to work on," he continued. "I had a lot of ups and downs this season. I battled hard to get better. At the beginning of the year all the young guys were supposed to be all-world.

"We had troubles. I don't want to say anything negative about my teammates, but you look at Gags, he struggled at the beginning of the year. I struggled about 10 to 15 games in. We never hit our strides, all the young guys at the same time, like we did last year."

No, they didn't. If the root cause of those struggles was an absence of intensity and commitment linked to their glowing reviews and handsome stats of last spring, shame on them. And if in their hours of need they did not receive the guidance or reinforcement they needed from the team's veteran leadership, then shame on them, too.

There was an elephant in that dressing room all year, and we struggled to identify it before head coach (for now) Craig MacTavish called it a problem with the culture. He continually asked for more effort and too often the tank was empty. That's because their commitment to a ballsy, unrelenting style of play was allowed to lapse in hopes talent would take over, but the transition failed and they were left with neither skill nor will enough to win.

That is a deep and deeply disturbing problem of coaching, leadership and culture and it would be wise to change all of the above. GM Steve Tambellini took an entire season to size up his smallish, youngish roster and will surely move some little bodies out and bring other big ones into the fold. He is taking mere days to reach a decision either with or on MacTavish. At the same time he should be thinking hard about the efficacy of the veteran core.

For he must surely know they cannot go to war next year with the same top six, defence pairings, goaltending, veteran leadership and head coach, yet somehow expect different results. That is not a blueprint for improvement. That is the definition of insanity.

dbarnes@thejournal.canwest.com