Calgary Flames McGrattan, Raymond, Brodie My Stars Of The Week

The regular season has begun! For the Calgary Flames, they’ve seen two losses and one great win as they opened the season with battles against the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, and, most recently, the St. Louis Blues.

The Flames season started at home against the Vancouver Canucks. Lance Bouma opened the shots on net and throughout the game, Brian McGrattan also had a couple chances. Generally, the Flames looked rattled in the first period,  In spite of it all, goals by Paul Byron and Jiri Hudler to start the year wasn’t enough to take the hometown win. Instead, the Canucks took the season opener by a score of 4-2. Mark Giordano had over 25 minutes of ice time while Johnny Gaudreau tallied over 16 minutes on ice. It was a good start to the Flames season in spite of the final score.

My 1 Star
I’m giving this one to Brian McGrattan for his gritty play and numerous chances on net throughout the game. As well, I want to say a huge congratulations to him and his wife on the announcement that they are about to become parents!

The second game was in Edmonton as the Flames took on their Battle Of Alberta rivals. With Dennis Wideman as a healthy scratch, Calgary took control of the game and came out with a 5-2 win after Mason Raymond tallied a hat trick. T.J. Brodie and Jiri Hudler added to the final score. The Edmonton Oilers had 40 shots on net, so their loss was not for a lack of trying. But Karri Ramo stood tall in net and earned a save percentage of .950 and made 38 saves.

My 1 Star
Of course I’m going to give my 1 star to Mason Raymond – not something I ever thought I’d say, but he’s definitely earned it. With a hat trick and a lot of effort, he worked hard to gain more credibility that night.

The last game was in St. Louis as the Blues hosted the Flames in a 4-1 win. This was a tough game to watch as the Flames seemed to start off slow and it didn’t get much better throughout the entire game. True to form, they had their last moment push near the end, but the effort didn’t seem to be on the list of priorities. But, from what I’ve been hearing, the flu was making its way around the dressing room and it seemed that each night a new player or two sat on the sidelines as the rest of the team continued to trudge onward.

My 1 Star
T.J. Brodie. With his great skating ability, his quick reactions, and his smart plays, he earned the only star of the night. When everyone else looked down and out, Brodie played to his highest level of hockey in spite of the results.

This coming week is full of games, starting with tonight’s match-up in Nashville against Shea Weber and the Predators. The Preds are 2-0 this season so far and I hope the Flames are done with the flu bug and that the team is well rested after having two days off. On Wednesday night, the Flames are in Chicago to take on the Blackhawks and they’ll round out the weekend in Columbus and then Winnipeg before making their way back home to host the Tampa Bay Lightning next week.

Go Flames Go!