The Calgary Flames hit the ice at the Saddledome for practice on Sunday, as they prepare for the final three games of their exhibition calendar. The club split itself into two groups – one primarily NHLers, one primarily AHLers – and used some fresh combinations, too.
Group 1
Jonathan Huberdeau – Elias Lindholm – Andrew Mangiapane
Yegor Sharangovich – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato
Adam Ruzicka – Nazem Kadri – Dillon Dube
Blake Coleman – Dryden Hunt – Walker Duehr
(Kevin Rooney was skating with the Coleman/Hunt/Duehr group before line rushes, but crashed into the end-boards, left the ice in a lot of discomfort, and didn’t return.)
MacKenzie Weegar – Rasmus Andersson
Noah Hanifin – Chris Tanev
Nikita Zadorov – Jordan Oesterle
Ilya Solovyov – Nick DeSimone
Jacob Markstrom
Dan Vladar
As you can see, this group has all the established NHLers in it. Plus some AHL faces that have been making pushes like Hunt, Rooney and Solovyov. (DeSimone played extensively with Solovyov down the stretch for the Wranglers, so them being paired together might be another opportunity to showcase Solovyov potentially in a game.)
The top two forward lines are a bit swapped around, with Sharangovich moving to play with Backlund and Coronato and Mangiapane joining the Huberdeau/Lindholm duo.) And the top three defensive pairings are shuffled around a bit, with Andersson and Weegar (and Hanifin and Tanev) reunited and Oesterle and Zadorov are pieced together as the third pair.
Group 2
Samuel Honzek – Connor Zary – Emilio Pettersen
Clark Bishop – Cole Schwindt – Adam Klapka
Lucas Ciona – Ben Jones – Martin Pospisil
Jonathan Aspirot – Dennis Gilbert
Jeremie Poirier – Colton Poolman
Yan Kuznetsov – Brady Lyle
Dustin Wolf
Oscar Dansk
The good news: hey, Dennis Gilbert is practicing! Beyond that, completely logical lines and pairings for the fringe players.
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