Preseason hockey starts tonight!! Go Calgary Flames Go!! Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports
Good morning Calgary Flames fans! It’s GAMEDAY!
A note from the Calgary Flames website about two Calgary Flames who will NOT appear in either of tonight’s split-squad games:
"(1st round draft pick) Sam Bennett and veteran Mikael Backlund, are already on the mend and ruled out from Sunday’s contests"
According to the NHL.com’s Hockey Operations Guidelines:
"There may be a maximum of 23 players on each Club’s playing roster at any one time from the commencement of the NHL regular season through the trade deadline. Prior to the start of the season, each Club must submit to the NHL its “Opening Day Playing Roster” which shall be comprised of not more than 23 players. Each Club must have a roster of at least 20 players, composed of 18 skaters and two goaltenders. Players on Injured Reserve do not count in the 23-man limit."
Typically the breakdown of the 23 man roster goes as follows: 14 forwards, 7 defenseman, 2 goalies.
The Calgary Flames already have 12 forwards pencilled into starting spots by means of one-way contracts. According to Wikipedia, “A one-way contract means that the player is paid the same amount of money regardless of whether he plays in the NHL or the AHL.” Of course, many of the players below would not pass through NHL waivers, so trying to slide them down to the AHL would likely mean the end of their tenure as a Calgary Flame. Here’s the list of one-way contracts:
"Mikeal Backlund, Curtis Glencross, Jiri HudlerMason Raymond, Matt Stajan, David JonesDevin Setoguchi, Joel Colborne, Paul ByronBrian McGrattan, Lance Bouma, Brandon Bollig"
Sophomore Sean Monahan could be returned to the AHL Calgary Flames without facing waivers but the chances of that are slim and purple elephants dancing in the street while singing the “Macarena“. This leaves our Calgary Flames with one open roster spot up front.
For the sake of this article, we will assume one of the 12 originally listed forwards is placed on the Injured Reserve for the first 9 games of the season nursing a bruised fingernail allowing 1st round pick Sam Bennett to play his nine game audition.
Now for the poll question, who wins the final Calgary Flames roster spot for opening night of the 2014-15 Calgary Flames season?
In our weekly edition of ISEE (Iggy Smalls Excellent Edits), a sight I hope to see at least 2o times this season!!
Have a great day Flames fans!