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In this edition of Calgary Flames News & Rumors, Ryan Lomberg was finally able to get his Stanley Cup ring as the Florida Panthers were in town on Saturday night. In other news, both Dan Vladar and Andrei Kuzmenko are out of the lineup due to injuries. Last but not least, Flames prospect Zayne Parekh came up short in his quest to play for Canada at the upcoming World Junior Championship. The Flames won’t be without a representative in the tournament, however, as another blue line prospect was able to earn a spot on Team Sweden’s roster.
Lomberg Gets His Ring
After a lengthy wait, Lomberg was finally able to receive his Stanley Cup ring this past week. The 30-year-old, who won the Cup earlier this year in his fourth and final season with the Panthers, suited up for eight games during the playoff run, registering 10 penalty minutes.
Lomberg received the ring the day before the Flames and Panthers went head-to-head. He was able to meet up with his former teammates while receiving the incredible gift, and was smiling ear to ear the entire time.
“The boys from the Panthers took me out, gave me the ring. We just caught up on some old times, so it was a great night,” Lomberg told Flames media the next morning.
Vladar and Kuzmenko Out With Injuries
Following an ugly Thursday night outing in which the Flames fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning 8-3, it was announced that both Vladar and Kuzmenko were day-to-day with injuries. Both are being classified as lower-body ailments.
Vladar was roughed up on Thursday, as he allowed all eight goals in the loss to the Lightning. While the evening hurt his numbers, he’s put together a relatively solid season in general. Devin Cooley was recalled from the Calgary Wranglers and will remain with the Flames until Vladar is deemed healthy.
As for Kuzmenko, he’s having a season to forget, having found the back of the net just once through 28 games. He’s been far from the big offensive contributor the Flames were expecting heading into the season, and has even sat out a few games as a healthy scratch.
Parekh Fails to Crack Team Canada
Just a week after MacKenzie Weegar was left off Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster, Parekh suffered the same fate with Canada’s 2025 World Junior Championship team. The ninth overall pick from the 2024 Draft wound up getting a late invite to camp following an injury to Harrison Brunicke, but was unable to impress the coaching staff enough to earn a spot.
Parekh’s snub comes as a surprise to many, as the 18-year-old defenceman is having another monstrous year in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Through 26 games with the Saginaw Spirit, he’s recorded 10 goals and 35 points, after putting up 96 points the season prior. His defensive play has been questioned at times, and may have played a part in the decision to leave him off Canada’s blue line.
It’s not all bad news for the Flames, however, as Axel Hurtig, who was selected in the seventh round of the 2023 Draft, will be playing for Team Sweden. The 19-year-old defenceman is currently playing for the Calgary Hitmen in the Western Hockey League (WHL). Through 28 games, he’s scored two goals and seven points.
Looking Ahead for the Flames
The Flames were able to pick up a 3-0 win over the Panthers on Saturday night, helping improve their season record to 15-11-5. They’ll have three games this week, the first of which is tomorrow night versus the Boston Bruins. They’ll be back in action on Thursday against the Ottawa Senators, before ending their week with a Saturday afternoon game against Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks.
More must-reads:
- Red Wings set to finally honor franchise legend Sergei Fedorov
- Blue Jackets sign former first-round pick to professional tryout
- The '2024 NFL rushing TD leaders' quiz
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Avalanche signing quality scoring option late in free agency
The Colorado Avalanche are zeroing in on a one-year deal with unrestricted free-agent forward Victor Olofsson, according to a report from PuckPedia. Olofsson represented one of the few remaining quality scoring options on the free-agent market. It’ll be a second straight one-year contract for Olofsson. He joined the Vegas Golden Knights last summer on his first trip through unrestricted free agency, reuniting with his former linemate with the Buffalo Sabres, Jack Eichel. He didn’t spend much of his time on the top line with Eichel, but he had a much better season than he did a year prior, scoring 15 goals and 29 points in 56 games, averaging 14:30 of ice time per night. Still, it would’ve been difficult for Olofsson to have a worse season than his final year with the Sabres. In his last year with the club during the 2023-24 campaign, Olofsson mustered seven goals and 15 points in 51 games. It was objectively the worst season of his professional career, including his time in the Swedish Hockey League from 2013 to 2018. It obfuscated the successful run he had with the Sabres earlier in his career. From 2019 to 2023, Olofsson was one of the better secondary scorers in the league, managing 81 goals and 163 points in 257 games with the Sabres. Furthermore, given that 56 of those points came on Buffalo’s power play, Olofsson was a notable offensive weapon with a man advantage. The Avalanche have been stockpiling depth assets for the better part of two years now, and it’s easy to understand why. Colorado has dealt with considerable injury issues throughout the last few seasons, necessitating their need for more NHL-ready options. Last season, the Avalanche used 49 different players throughout the regular season, but they still finished the season as one of the better teams. This means that Olofsson could have more access to playing time than he might otherwise expect. He’s certainly a better option for the Avalanche to use regularly than their recent acquisition, Daniil Gushchin, and is objectively a better option than Ivan Ivan.
Packers HC bothered by rookie's 'unacceptable' behavior during preseason game
Green Bay Packers right tackle Anthony Belton had a forgettable first half against the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday when he committed five penalties in the first half. The rookie was called for a false start, two illegal formation penalties, a face mask and unnecessary roughness. Packers head coach Matt LaFleur was peeved by the unnecessary roughness penalty, which the second-round pick was called for when he pushed Colts cornerback Johnathan Edwards from behind after the play. Per Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, LaFleur "let Belton have it" at halftime. Following the game, LaFleur explained to the media why that behavior bothers him — it hurts the team. “That’s the one that really bothers me because that is — I mean, they all bother me — but you can’t be getting personal fouls because that really hurts the team, puts you in a really tough position,” LaFleur said. “That is completely unacceptable in my mind. I appreciate the effort that he plays with and I thought he did a really nice job…I love the effort. It’s just, you got to be smart in those situations.” Belton's penalties were costly for the Packers. One of the illegal formation flags took away what would have been a touchdown pass from quarterback Taylor Elgersma to tight end Ben Sims. The 15-yard penalty on the unnecessary roughness call turned a manageable 3rd-and-5 into a 3rd-and-20. Saturday's preseason game is a learning experience for the 2023 third-team All-ACC offensive lineman. The Packers can't have Belton on the field if he's going to commit that many penalties, and the unnecessary roughness mistake would have been easy to avoid.
Former Green Bay Packers RB to miss entire 2025 NFL season due to injury
The Green Bay Packers are dealing with some concerning injuries to significant members of their roster. As their fans are well aware, the Packers have seen multiple wide receivers projected to be at the top of the depth cart go down during training camp with various injuries. Christian Watson, of course, has not been practicing all offseason as he is recovering from a torn ACL suffered in Week 18 against the Chicago Bears. In addition to him, the Packers also played their previous preseason game without Romeo Doubs (back), Jayden Reed (foot) and Dontayvion Wicks (calf). And while Doubs returned to practice this week, Reed and Wicks remain out. Elsewhere around the NFL, other teams are dealing with injuries of their own, and some involve players that are former Packers. Former Green Bay Packers running back Patrick Taylor is out for the 2025-26 NFL season One of these players is former Packers running back Patrick Taylor, who played in Green Bay from 2021-2023. An undrafted free agent who often filled in as Green Bay’s third running back, he accumulated 261 rushing yards and a touchdown in his three seasons with the Packers. He found himself out of a job when the Packers revamped their running back room before the 2024 NFL season. Taylor ended up with the San Francisco 49ers last season and had the best year of his career with 183 rushing yards and a touchdown while appearing in 13 games. He will not be playing any games this season as San Francisco just put him on season-ending injured reserve: NFL teams can only have so many players on an injured reserve list. Interestingly, Taylor’s injury led to the 49ers to release another former Packer, wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown, who was placed on injured reserve last week. In order to release an injured player, teams and that player must come to an injury settlement, which St. Brown received. He is now free to sign with any team in the NFL should he be able to pass a physical.
Jeff Teague Says Warriors' Dynasty Run Would Not Happen Without Kevin Durant
The Warriors historically won three championships in five straight visits to the NBA Finals between 2015 to 2019. After the Cavaliers pulled off a historic upset in 2016, the Warriors added Kevin Durant to their roster. Jeff Teague, the former NBA champion, now claims that the Cavaliers essentially forced the Warriors to add more firepower to their team just because the Cavaliers were much better constructed as a roster than the Warriors. On the latest episode of the Club 520 podcast, Jeff Teague spoke his mind on the Warriors and Cavaliers' historic rivalry. He started by giving the Warriors their flowers with Kevin Durant. “They are probably the greatest team of all time. They got two bona fide Hall of Famers, top 20 on everybody's list, probably in basketball history. Arguably one of the greatest scorers." "Got the best three-point shooter and then the second greatest three-point shooter on some people's list in Klay Thompson. Then you got an all-defensive world player in Draymond Green. Probably make the Top 10 in defensive players of all time.” “Then you got a top 25 defender in Andre Iguodala. Yeah. Then you got a top 50 sixth man of the year in Sean Livingston. He ain't never won sixth man of the year, but you know what I mean…. That KD team was crazy.” Teague's co-hosts followed up to claim that the Warriors were forced to make the move for Kevin Durant after they realized that they could not beat the Cavaliers again without him. 2016's NBA Finals were essentially a glimpse of what the team could have accomplished if not for Kevin Durant. “Yeah, but n****s don't understand the Cavs team was better than the Warriors team. Yeah. Without KD, they're better, bro. Think about it. You got two No. 1 picks on your team [Kyrie Irving and LeBron James]. Steph and Klay, they’re nobody y'all Bron and Kyrie were supposed to be this. Steph and Klay weren't supposed to be this," said Teague. The former NBA champion then goes on to explain how the Cavaliers had a lot more talent on their first team in 2016. Kyrie Irving and LeBron James were both No. 1 picks. Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson were both top-five picks in their respective drafts. J.R. Smith was a high-level first-round pick as well. I do not concur with this analysis, as the Warriors were coming off a historic 2016 season where they recorded the most wins by any team in a single regular season (73-9). Therefore, they were not desperate to add more talent to their team. It was just a brainchild of Jerry West and Stephen Curry, who wanted to capitalize on Durant becoming a free agent after the 2016 season. Even without Durant, the Finals series might not have become as one-sided as it did eventually, as the Warriors would still have a fighting chance. Let's not forget, the Warriors took a 3-1 lead in the 2016 Finals with their old roster. One more win would have completely changed the narrative and history of this team.
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