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Calgary Flames Game day vs San Jose Sharks

October 19, 2013, 1:52 PM ET [29 Comments]
Colin Dambrauskas
Calgary Flames Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Calgary Flames will take to the ice tonight against the hosting San Jose Sharks for their second of a five game road trip.

As mentioned in the previous blog, it was believed that Karri Ramo would be getting the start tonight which has now been confirmed. Having only played one game so far for the Flames this regular season, Ramo will get his chance to earn the starting role for Calgary as held by Joey MacDonald so far.

In Ramo’s only start this season, he faced an offensive team in Washington who were able to muster up 39 shots on goal. While the Flames would lose the game in a shootout, Ramo had an overall solid game. To this point many fans were beginning to get rather upset at the decisions made by head coach Bob Hartley to start MacDonald in back to back games as he did, though Hartley felt that the veteran provided his team with the best chance to win.

“Mac gave us a good run,” head coach Bob Hartley said after Friday’s practice at the Sharks practice facility. “Karri’s always working hard and he deserves a start. It’s nothing against what Mac gave us, but we feel we have two goalies capable of winning us some games, so it’s Karri’s turn.”

“I don’t like to have goalies not playing for a long time,” Hartley said. “The good thing about Karri is the way that he works. He’s always one of the first guys at the rink in the morning, in the gym, on the ice. He always works with Clint (Malarchuk, the goalie coach) before practice, does practice, stays on the ice after. He’s ready. There’s two goalies, and whenever you get the call, be ready.”


Moving forward, Ramo and the Flames will look to extend their current 3-1-2 record against a much stronger 6-0-1 team in the Sharks. San Jose last played against the Stars on Thursday night where they gave up their first loss of the season. Without Dan Boyle in the lineup who remains day to day, the Sharks will hope to secure two points against the Flames as they have yet to lose in regulation so far this season.

The players to keep an eye on with respect to the Sharks will be Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski, and Patrick Marleau. Pavelski and Marleau have been doing very well to start this season off as they two currently combine for 17pts and see a lot of time on the specialty teams.

For the Flames, tonight will evidently be a big night for Karri Ramo who is excited to get his second start of the year, despite having to play against such a strong opponent on the road.

"Always when you play, it's exciting," Ramo told the team's official website. "I just have to make sure that I keep doing my own thing."


Rookies Sean Monahan and Sven Baertschi will look to extend their own points streaks for the Flames as the two have been doing quite well themselves. With six points in six games so far this year, centerman Sean Monahan needs to continue to impress his coaches as he battles every night for a permanent roster spot. Basertschi, after responding to some comments from Brian Burke about his lack of play, has come out rather strong with three points and a plus-2 for the season.

Tonight will be a game to test all Flames players, though they will likely need to rely on the leadership of a few guys such as Giordano, Glencross, Stempniak, and Hudler who has a point in each game so far. It will be a tough test for the rookies and those still trying to make their marks at the NHL level, and should be an entertaining game given how both teams have been playing.

Of those excited, TJ Galiardi will get the first chance to face his former team tonight and is looking forward to it.

“We had so many good leaders, older guys,” he explains. “A few of them took me under their wing, Jumbo especially. It was good to watch those guys and see how they were getting it done for so long. It’s one of those organizations that just knows how to win. It’s coming to the rink every day with your work boots on and knowing you’re going to win, having that swagger.”

“[It was] awesome — I loved it. There’s so much to do within an hour or two . . . it was a good place, but I’m happy to be in Calgary.”


Lines for tonight:

Curtis Glencross - Mikael Backlund - Lee Stempniak
TJ Galiardi - Joe Colborne - Lance Bouma
Sven Baertschi - Sean Monahan - Jiri Hudler
Tim Jackman - Ben Street - Brian McGrattan

Mark Giordano - TJ Brodie
Kris Russell - Dennis Wideman
Shane O'Brien - Chris Butler

Karri Ramo


Prediction: 4-2 Sharks.

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