Calgary Flames Daily: Nervousness settling in early

After some pre-season games last night, nervousness is already settling into Calgary Flames fans. Let’s check out some Flames news.

We were excited to say “It’s game day!” yesterday, but I spoke too soon. The Calgary Flames had their split-squad games last night, both against the Edmonton Oilers. Half the team was in Calgary and half was in Edmonton. But unfortunately, the Flames didn’t win either game.

They lost 5-4 in Calgary and lost 5-3 in Edmonton. And with the refs cracking down on slashing on the hands, the Flames in Edmonton had a big number of minor penalties. 12 of them, to be exact. They spent almost half the game just sitting in the sin bin.

Some players looked good (Mark Jankowski, Dillon Dube) but there were some who didn’t quite impress. I’m looking at you, Mike Smith. The Flames switched the goalies out in both games midway through the game to give more goalies the chance. Mike Smith started the game in Calgary. He allowed four goals on 13 shots.

However, at least Mike Smith recognized that it wasn’t a good performance.

Calgary Flames

Via Calgary Herald:

"It was far from good. But the good thing is there’s a lot of work left to do. I’ll be out there first thing on Wednesday to get some stuff done.There’s been a lot of lead-up to this pre-season, so it was nice to get out there and at least get into a game. It wasn’t the outcome I was looking for, but it’s the pre-season, and I don’t necessarily look at the results. I want to feel good in the regular season, and this was just a stepping stone."

Head coach Glen Gulutzan was quick to defend him and defend goaltenders in general.

"I’m not going to judge … it’s really early. It’s a little different for goalies. They see three practices, and if you think of all of their skates in the summer, it’s pretty tough for them when guys are playing shinny hockey … so it’s good to get them minutes."

To be fair, pre-season isn’t a super tell-tale of what’s to come in the season. Last year, Brian Elliott had an excellent pre-season run and we all know how the season started and ended for him. And like I mentioned yesterday, the Colorado Avalanche won all of their pre-season games last year and again, we all know how their season ended.

Flames Tweet of the day

(yes, we’re just promoting ourselves)

Hockey Tweet of the day

Links surrounding the Flames

Some good, bad, and ugly in Flames pre-season opener against the Oilers (Calgary Herald).

Looks good on paper, but can Flames deliver on the ice? (Calgary Herald).

Flames G Smith: Debut was “far from good” (TSN).

In a league short on sure things, notion the Calgary Flames might try to move is ludicrous (National Post).

Links surrounding hockey and the NHL

Nathan Walker pushing to be NHL’s first Australian (Puck Prose).

5 bizarre hockey games affected by poor ice conditions (Sportsnet).

Statistically speaking: Fantasy hockey mock first round (TSN).

Next: Who will be playing on Sam Bennett's wing?

That’s all for today’s edition of Flames Daily! Will Mike Smith rebound in Wednesday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks?