We haven’t been able to say this in months, but… hockey’s back! Let’s check out some news surrounding the Calgary Flames over the last day.
The regular season is FINALLY here! The Calgary Flames will be playing at Rogers Place tonight for their season opener in a Battle of Alberta showdown. The Flames and Edmonton Oilers will be facing off at 8pm MT.
Yesterday, the Flames announced the opening night roster. Don’t worry, we know Jaromir Jagr isn’t on it. There were some issues they were clearing with immigration, so he won’t get into town until today. But his first game as a Flame will be at the home opener on Saturday, so that’ll be exciting.
And of course, the players are excited.
Calgary Flames
Via Calgary Herald:
"“Listen, the first game, it’s always like that,” said Mark Giordano, imparting some wisdom on his 34th birthday before the Flames took off to Alberta’s capital. “Guys get fired up to play. It’s the first regular season game. You get those nerves a bit before the game and it’s going to be there, we’re playing a division rival. But I think we’re a lot more confident now and we know our systems.“Now it’s just execution for us.”"
A player who’s going to be on the chopping block if he doesn’t do well is goaltender Mike Smith. After being acquired from the Arizona Coyotes, the 35-year-old didn’t have too high of expectations by Flames fans. But now with the Flames having their contention window open, Smith needs to step up.
And hopefully, he can keep up that stellar performance he had against the Winnipeg Jets in their last preseason game on Saturday.
"“It sure doesn’t hurt,” said the 35-year-old of having a good performance heading into the 2017-18 campaign. “The start of camp was a bit rocky. But it was a lot of new things for me and that, mentally, can wear on you a little bit. But I just wanted to get better every day during camp and it felt like I did that.“If I didn’t play well that last game, it didn’t mean I was lacking any confidence or anything like that. But it was nice to finish camp on a high note.”“It’s nice to play in a game that matters. A tough test for our team right off the bat but I’m excited for the challenges ahead and the start of the Battle of Alberta.”"
Some links surrounding the Flames
Preview: Flames @ Oilers (Calgaryflames.com).
Calgary Flames season revolves around goaltender Smith (Calgary Herald).
Flames gearing up for Battle of Alberta season opener: “We’re ready to go.” (Calgary Herald).
Flames’ Backlund turning heads as one of NHL’s best two-way players (Calgary Herald).
Some links surrounding hockey and the NHL
NHL division previews: 2017-18 Pacific Division (FanSided.com).
As NBC jilts the NHL, league’s decision to skip Olympics looks more and more like missed opportunity (National Post).
Eichel agrees to 8-year, $80M contract extension with Sabres (NHL.com).
As season starts, hockey fans deserve to be upset about NHL’s Olympic decision (Toronto Sun).
Next: Flames sign 45-year-old Jaromir Jagr
That’s all for today’s Flames Daily! Let’s hope the Flames come out on top for their season opener.