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The Calgary Flames took on the Ottawa Senators last night in Saskatoon Saskatchewan for their third game in just three days. Despite a 4-2 loss to the Sens, the Flames came out of the game with some positives, and well, memories.
After David Jones took a big hit from Sens rookie Michael Sdao, Matt Stajan immediately stood up for his line mate by dropping the gloves with Sdao to express his discontent. Not known for being a fighter, Stajan did his best to hold his own against Sdao who had three inches and 30lbs on him. It was a quick scrap but Jones says it’s moments like those that teams come together.
“It was perfectly clean, but I appreciate Staj coming in there,” Jones said. “I think that’s how a team has gotta be. A guy gets hit, and you’ve got guys coming to your rescue. He knows I’d do the same for him.” CalgarySun
Flames heavyweight McGrattan also took exception to the hit by dropping the gloves with Sdao later on in the game…perhaps he felt that Stajan wasn’t overly effective at sending him a message the first time. Either way, the game was very scrappy and chirpy with four fights for the night as both sides tried to make impressions for their respective coaches and GMs. The Flames came out with a loss, but felt that they played well together and grew a little more as a young team.
David Jones and Corban Knight would score their first goals of the preseason to get the Flames within 2, but the Flames could not outscore the Senators who ultimately put the game away with three unanswered goals.
Reto Berra had another strong performance stopping 31 shots for the night. Flames coach Bob Hartley expressed his content with Berra’s game saying that there wasn’t much the tender could have done about the goals that he let in.
“He got beat by some great shots…I don’t think that we can fault him on any goals.”
Berra appears to be making a strong case for the starting position this year; a position that still remains open despite the feeling that Karri Ramo will be the one to occupy it. So far this preseason, the slight advantage goes to Berra, though it’s still quite early and there are plenty of games to play.
Another player who stood out last night, aside from Matt Stajan and his heavyweight tilt, was Pat Sieloff. The defender is finally getting his chance to put his game on display given that they are no longer playing against teammates. The 6’1 200lbs defender, who just signed a three year entry level deal, is looking to make an impression with his physical game. Sieloff, known for his big hits, was running his mouth all game getting into his opponents faces and also dropped his mitts.
As we are all aware, this team might not be the most offensively gifted this upcoming season, but they are looking to be a tough team to play against and Sieloff is letting his coaches know that he’s ready to be a part of that mentality.
The Flames will take on the New York Islanders tonight for another split squad game at 7pm ET. One game will be held in Regina Saskatchewan whereas the other will be held at the Saddledome. As expressed during yesterday’s blog, the team that suited up in Saskatoon will be playing in Regina and those remaining will suit up in front of a home crowd in Calgary as listed below.
Glencross - Galiardi - Stempniak
Byron - Street - Jackman
Elson - Granlund - Gordon
Bouma - Horak - McKelvie
Wideman - Smith
Billins - Giordano
Russell - Ramage
MacDonald
Brossoit
New York Islanders Projected lines for Calgary:
Forwards:
Baiey-Nielsen-Okposo
Grabner-Regin-Clutterbuck
Perrson-Wetmore-Bruton
Kabanov-Clark-Johnson
Defense:
MacDonald-Donovan
Reinhart-Pulock
De Haan-Carkner
Goalies:
Poulin
Nilsson
That’s all for today folks, thanks for reading!
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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