Calgary Flames Daily: Mark Jankowski making home-debut
By Ramina Shlah
The Calgary Flames begin their seven-game home stance tonight against the Dallas Stars. More Flames news over the last day here.
The Calgary Flames begin their seven-game home stance, their longest of the season, against the Dallas Stars tonight. Someone excited for that game? Mark Jankowski.
After Jaromir Jagr got injured, Jankowski was recalled from the Flames’ affiliate team, the Stockton Heat. Janko played in one game last season with the Flames in his season debut and debuted against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. Tonight, he’ll finally be making his home-debut at the Saddledome.
He has yet to get a point, but playing at center with Sam Bennett on the win seems to be working. Tonight, we’ll see a lineup change as well. Instead of Curtis Lazar on that line, he’ll be sitting out and Kris Versteeg will be on that line. Versteeg and Bennett have played well together, so this will be an exciting line combo tonight.
More from Flame for Thought
- Updates from Conroy: UFAs, main camp, captaincy, goaltending, prospects
- Fantasy Hockey: Potential Calgary Flames sleeper picks
- Flames captaincy updates and candidate rankings
- Camp Notes: Previewing Calgary Flames Prospects at the Young Stars Classic
- Could Flames goalie Dan Vladar be a trade option for the Avalanche?
Via Calgaryflames.com:
"“I’m just really excited to finally play at the ‘Dome here,” Jankowski said following Friday morning’s skate. “Ever since I was drafted by the Flames I’ve wanted to play in front of these fans and obviously they’re some of the best fans in the league, so just playing in front of the C of Red, I’m just really excited.”“He looks like an NHL player to me,” coach Glen Gulutzan said, assessing the rookie’s performance over his first two games since being called up from the Stockton Heat.“He’s been able to hold pucks, he’s gone to the net, and he’s played good defensively.“Very few guys step up to home plate and hit a home run their first at bat. But I like what I see. There’s certainly NHL subtleties. He’s an NHL player. And now he’s got to get comfortable in an everyday league.”"
The Flames will also be hoping to get a better home-record. They only have one win at home in front of their fans and are 1-3-0 at the ‘Dome. With a seven-game home stance starting, that record needs to get better. The Dallas Stars are playing the second game of a back-to-back. So they may be slightly tired, but they’ll also be hungry for a win. Let’s hop the Calgary Flames are hungrier.
Right now, the Stars and Flames are both 5-5-0, so this game could go either way. The stars are also 1-4-0 on the road going up against the Flames 1-3-0 record at home. This will be interesting.
We’ll also see a couple extra changes, with Tanner Glass in the lineup taking the spot of Curtis Lazar. And Matt Bartkowski will be in again taking the place of Brett Kulak.
Some links surrounding the Flames
Flames’ Matthew Tkachuk born to be a gritty difference-maker in the NHL (Sportsnet).
Game Day: Flames coach wants more production from third, fourth lines (Calgary Sun).
Finally! Flames centre Mark Jankowski pumped for Saddledome debut (Calgary Sun).
PROJECTED LINEUP – FLAMES VS. STARS (Calgary Flames).
Some links surrounding hockey and the NHL
Three notable early-season NHL trades from the past 10 years (Sportsnet).
Golden Knights top list of NHL surprises (Toronto Star).
Holtby keeps adapting with latest Capitals goaltending coach (NHL.com).
TSN Hockey’s Top 10 Storylines of the Week (TSN).
Next: Flames need to stay out of the penalty box
That’s all in today’s Flames Daily! Let’s hope the Flames kick off their home stance on a positive note. I’d hate if they went into November being under 0.500.