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The Calgary Flames have assigned six players to the Abbotsford Heat of the AHL as they continue to skim down their own roster; Chad Billins, John Ramage, Tyler Wotherspoon, Steve Begin, Markus Granlund and Josh Jooris.
The most recent cuts brings the Flames down to 32 players who remain on their roster, and they will be looking to cut another 8-10 shortly.
The Calgary Flames will take on the Phoenix Coyotes this evening for their last preseason game which is typically a last chance for teams to look at a few rookies before final cuts.
However, it appears that the Flames likely are icing a regular season lineup tonight without of course Mike Cammalleri and Jiri Hudler who remain injured.
With respect to who starts between the pipes, it’s likely that the Flames take one final look at Reto Berra before sending him down to the AHL to join their affiliate group in Abbotsford. Berra who has had a very strong camp and preseason this year appears to be slatted for the starting position in the AHL, regardless of his performance tonight. With a little more experience and also strong play, Karri Ramo looks to be the lock going into the regular season as the starter, with Joey MacDonald as the backup.
This shouldn’t be a knock on Berra’s play either, as he has been quite impressive. I feel that only concern for the Flames is his adjusting to the NA ice surface, rules, and players. It’s not a bad idea for Berra, at this point in his career, to play a few months as a starter with the Heat and be available for the coaching staff in Calgary incase injuries present themselves. I get the impression that there will be a lot of talk with respect to goaltending this year, and further that Berra will fight his way back into a Flames jersey sooner than some may think. What that means for MacDonald is left to be seen, as it appears that both Ramo and Berra may outplay him for a spot on the Flames roster.
With respect to tonight’s game, it appears that the Desert Dogs will also be icing a fairly veteran team with only a few rookies as they have recently demoted Tim Kennedy, Brandon McMillan and Brandon Yip to the AHL. It will be a good final test for Berra to test his abilities, if he does get the starting nod. Below are the expected line combinations for tonight for both teams, and I apologize if the Coyotes roster is not accurate as I did my best to find the projected lines and fell short.
Flames:
Glencross - Monahan - Stempniak
Backlund - Galiardi - D Jones
Baertschi - Stajan - Street
Bouma - Knight - Jackman
Brodie - Giordano
Russel - Wideman
O'Brien- Butler
Berra
Coyotes
Boedker - Ribeiro - Doan
Domi - Hanzal - Vrbata
Lessio - Vermette - Samuelsson
Bissonnette - Moss -Szwarz
Yandle - Morris
Summers - Murphy
Klesla - Michalek
Smith
With the Flames top 6 all but determined, this last game and perhaps a few games into the regular season if needed, will be the final chance for guys like Corban Knight and Ben Street to make an impression and claim a spot in the bottom six. The Flames will have several options for callus when injuries come about, and these two guys in particular are going to want to be the first guys called if not already on the team.
The only rookie not dressing tonight who has just turned pro and is likely to play more than just a handful of NHL games this year, is Pat Sieloff. I get the impression that the coaching staff would like to get a good close look at guys like Butler and Russell before deciding where Sieloff will play. Given his style of play I would imagine that he would complement someone like Dennis Wideman quite nicely. With respect to Butler, I anticipate the team looking to either move the 26 year old defender who has been having a tough time finding his role with this club.
With all the talk about the Flames possibly being in discussion with the Leafs about acquiring JM Liles in addition to a prospect, I would imagine that the likes of Butler and Smith are either waived or moved to make room for any types of improvements, whether they be via trade or rookie call-ups. I have a feeling that Liles ends up back in Colorado to be honest, but we will see how that unfolds. Either way, I think the Butler days are over in Calgary as the team strengthens their depth, and he is slowly replaced.
That’s all for today folks, thanks for reading!
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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