The Calgary Flames will play their final game before the holidays tonight vs. the Montreal Canadiens. Travis Hamonic will be out with a lower-body injury.
The Calgary Flames will play one more game before spending some time with their families. They’ll return six days from now. Unfortunately for Travis Hamonic, he suffered a lower-body injury in the game two nights ago vs. the St. Louis Blues. He’s been placed on IR and the Flames have recalled Rasmus Andersson from Stockton.
But he won’t get in the lineup tonight. Instead, Matt Bartkowski will be in. Brace yourselves, Flames fans.
Something I don’t quite understand is why they would recall Andersson in only to have him sit. Stockton plays tonight and instead, he’ll be sitting out. And the freeze doesn’t apply to recalling players from the AHL or placing players on IR. But that’s just something we’ll have to live with for now.
Calgary Flames
Michael Stone instead will be beside TJ Brodie for the team’s second defence pairing where they’ll be reunited on a pairing again.
Via Calgary Flames:
"“You get in more of a rhythm,” Stone says of the additional workload. “It’s been a bit of a change for me this year with my minutes. So to get a game like that …“I enjoy it. I get a little more of a feel of the game, more into it.“You never want to see a teammate (hurt), it’s never an ideal situation, but we’ve got enough guys back there to carry the load. When it happens so early, you’ve got to maybe pick your battles on certain shifts and whatnot, make simple plays, change quick and just manage the time.“I think we did a good job of that last night.”"
Let’s hope tonight that the Montreal Canadiens are somewhat off because of this little event that happened yesterday…
#Habs Shaw and Morrow have a little scuffle pic.twitter.com/A3qiEHSIlr
— Jermain Franklin (@TSNJFranklin) December 21, 2017
Freddie Hamilton will also draw in tonight in replacement of Curtis Lazar, who, to be honest, I even forgot was playing the other night until like the third period.
Let’s hope the Flames come out with a big two points before their break. A win tonight will put them in a playoff spot. Temporarily. Since it changes multiple times a day.
Some links surrounding the Flames
Game Day: Here’s how the Flames and Canadiens match up (Calgary Sun).
Reunited (Calgary Flames).
Backlund stirs debate amongst Canadian-heavy lineup (Calgary Sun).
Some links surrounding hockey and the NHL
Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews may return to action on Saturday (FanSided).
CANADIAN WOMEN’S HOCKEY TEAM NAMED FOR 2018 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES (Hockey Canada).
Top 10 drafted players to watch at World Juniors (NHL.com).
5 things we learned in the NHL: Hitchcock earns milestone win (Sportsnet).
Next: Is Versteeg's absence why Gaudreau's hit a slump?
That’s all in today’s Flames Daily!