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Wax On, Wax Off Young Daniel Son / Gameday Rangers at Flames

September 23, 2013, 10:56 AM ET [27 Comments]
Colin Dambrauskas
Calgary Flames Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Follow Colin on Twitter!: @ColinDJD

The Calgary Flames will take on the New York Rangers at home later this evening as both teams prepare to make their final player assessments and cuts before regular season.

Given the difference between the two teams, the Rangers have arguably all but decided upon their cuts and will be testing a few young guys for future roles, whereas the Flames still have many young faces fighting for spots this year; some more literal than others.

Over the weekend, Flames veteran tough-guy Brian McGrattan helped teach newcomer Keegan Kanzig a few things about fighting in the NHL. Given his resume, McGrattan was the perfect coach for the 6’7, 240lbs 18 year old who is looking to fight his way onto the Flames roster this year. With a young and inexperienced roster going into the season, guys like Kanzig know that there’s a potential spot for him in the lineup, and if he works hard enough at it he could earn himself a spot.

"I've seen a couple of his fights before and he has quite the reputation…That's why I approached him and I want to learn from the best. I'm focusing on every part of my game, making sure I'm good defensively and that I make a good first pass and contributing how I can all over the ice.

"But fighting is part of the game and it's something I'll have to do, so I want to be good at it."


The interesting part of all this, at least for me, is how things are really changing for the Flames. I like the way that the team is going about their rebuild as it’s rather pointless if you don’t have the right group of vets teaching and guiding the rookies. With newly appointed captain Mark Giordano and his two assistant captains Mike Cammalleri and Curtis Glencross, there will be plenty of opportunity to mold their young players as the season progresses.

"With Glencross, Cammalleri and Giordano, they all have the quality of being great communicators, and that's going to be a key because obviously this is a totally new culture," coach Bob Hartley said. "It's a new chapter in Flames history, and I think that with those three guys we're going to get some solid leadership from them. They're great individuals. They're good guys. They love to be around those [young] players."


As the thought of a rebuild tends to sit rather negatively with most fans, it appears that the Calgary Flames team have embraced the change of scene and are looking forward to the new culture which they have the ability to construct. With new draft selections making their way into the lineup over the next couple of years, there will be a high importance placed on teaching and developing all while remaining competitive. It will be equally important for the Flames staff, players, and fans to remain patient as said change is likely going to have its challenges.

"Overall, the whole team, they feel the change too and they want to make sure we are ready, and if we're not, the guys are going to yell on the ice," Baertschi said. "They want to help you and they want to make you better."

"Our organization, it's our fresh start and it feels like this year we've changed the direction we're going” said Giordano. “We're going in a new direction and it just feels, the attitude feels like it's changed and it feels great in camp.”


Back to tonight’s action between the Flames and Ranger, it should be a fun game to watch. As mentioned, both sides are dressing their fair share of rookies, though the Rangers appear to be dressing a few "last chance to prove yourself" rookies before the season kicks off. Below are the expected lineups for tonight’s contest.

Flames:
Glencross – Stajan – Stempniak
Galiardi – Monahan – Reinhart
Ferland – Backlund – Knight
Bouma – Horak – McGrattan

Russell – Wideman
Giordano – Brodie
Smith – O’Brien

Ramo

Rangers:

Nash – Richards – Kreider
Hrivik – Boyle – Kristo
Pyatt – Lindberg – Fast
Mashinter – Powe – Asham

Staal – DelZotto
Moore – Stralman
Falk – Bickel

Lundqvist

It appears that Mike Cammalleri may miss more games than expected with a hand injury as he was reported to be skating but nursing his hand. Given his difficulty with holding his stick, he will likely miss the remainder of the preseason.

That’s all for today folks, thanks for reading!
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