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As training camp opens across the league today, team’s prepare themselves for their off ice medical testing and fitness to get back out on the ice together. The Calgary Flames brass have been holding several meetings throughout the past week or two with newly hired Director of Hockey Operations Brian Burke who is also preparing himself for the season.
The Flames have a lot of new faces throughout its organization over the past two or three years and I have to say; it’s quite remarkable what they've done. Jay Feaster and the rest of the Flames management team have taken what was one of the eldest and most bare teams in terms of prospects just three years ago, to one of the youngest teams in the NHL which also sits among the top 10 teams in terms of prospect depth. Not bad eh?
With that being said, the Flames enter this training camp with not a lot of top end talent and several spots to be filled from young players. Here’s a rough look at what we can expect from each position in terms of players fighting for spots.
Between the pipes, we expect that Karri Ramo will be the starter. As the team has not had the chance to assess his talent with a bunch of NHLers, he will be fighting with another tender brought in from overseas in Reto Berra, in addition to a young guy in Joni Ortio who made quite the impression during the Flames prospect tournament.
The only returning goalie with experience this year will be Joey MacDonald is who surely a lock for the backup position, so the three mentioned goalies will be fighting for the number one role.
On defense, the Flames have several strong returning players from previous years and will also have recently extended TJ Brodie who will be looking to make an impact and earn that next big contract over the next two seasons.
Outside of the returnees, the Flames will have guys like Wotherspoon, Ramage, and Sieloff trying to crack the lineup. Of the three, I think Ramage has a strong chance of playing more than the other two at this time; however Sieloff’s hard nose type of game is certainly going to catch the eye of Mr. Burke. The only challenge for Sieloff throughout camp will be to display more than just a hard hitting style as he likely won’t be looking to complete any big open ice hits while playing with fellow teammates.
In terms of offense, there are a lot of spots that can be filled and many names who are looking to be “that guy”. After a strong prospect camp, Granlund, Ferland, and Reinhart will get strong looks and if they continue their play into training camp they could earn themselves a spot. Despite having weaker camps, Baeartschi is already a shoe-in for the roster, and Corban Knight is thought to have a strong case for himself as well. Knight will also need to have a solid training camp and preseason if he’s going to play with the big boys himself, as he wasn’t anything spectacular playing with the prospects.
While there will be other prospects joining camp, these are the likely candidates vying for spots this year. It would be tough to make a case for Sean Monahan at this point because, in my opinion, he didn’t have a very strong showing throughout the rookies tournament and would be in his best interest to develop his game further in juniors and getting experience at the WJC.
I know many of you are hoping to see him play this year, but the Flames are in no rush with Sean and they can afford to take their time with his development. He will certainly play his nine games with Calgary and then be sent back down the juniors. Expect to see some high intensity from the young star however who will be taking every chance he can to make it tough on the management team to send him packing.
Outside of the abovementioned, the only other roster spot which will likely need to be filled this year will be that of Mike Cammalleri who is expected to be traded sometime this year. Given his high cap hit with only one year remaining on his contract, I don’t expect the Flames to try moving the forward until closer to the trade deadline as he will likely be moved as a rental. With the amount of prospects trying to make the team however, someone could get a second chance to prove themselves at the NHL level when if the transaction is completed, provided no new player is introduced into the Flames roster of course.
Although, would Mike consider staying and being a part of this rebuild?
“I would consider (staying), for sure,” Cammalleri was saying as the Flames officially checked in for the season on Tuesday at the annual Celebrity Charity Golf Classic at the Country Hills Golf Club. “I have a big role on this team. (Head coach) Bob (Hartley) has put a lot of trust in me and if you can be part of something, it could be a really rewarding experience. I really like the core group of guys here that I think will be here. I get along very well with them.
“I’m close friends with guys I trust on and off the ice. You don’t find that every day in this league. I love this city . . . it’s a great place to live. There are a lot of reasons why I would (stay).” Calgary Herald
Whether or not Mike stays is left to be seen and there is a lot of changes and line rotations expected this year so we will all have to wait for the time being. If there is one thing I can say with certainty, however, is that we should all expect the Flames to be a much busier team carrying forward with the addition of Brian Burke to the Flames brass.
With respect to the training camp – the team will report today for medical and fitness testing at the University of Calgary, and on Thursday and Friday the on ice training will commence as the entire camp will be hitting the ice at WinSport Facility to open their first full training camp with head coach Bob Hartley.
That’s all for today folks, thanks for reading!
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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