Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
Tonight the new-look Calgary Flames begin their season with a clash against the Edmonton Oilers.
Both teams will feature much different lineups than the ones they finished with in April. Matthew Tkachuk, Troy Brouwer, Kris Versteeg, Alex Chiasson and Brian Elliott will all be making their Flames debuts while Adam Larsson, Kris Russell, Milan Lucic, Drake Caggiula and Jesse Puljujarvi will be playing their first games as Oilers.
With all these changes come higher expectations for both sides. A strong core, a new head coach, and vastly improved goaltending, leaves the Flames with no reason they shouldn't seriously contend for a playoff spot while the Oilers are optimistic they can finally take a big step forward after failing to do so for years and years.
Both teams begin what they hope is a long journey tonight in what should be a very entertaining game in the Oilers' new building.
Here is the lineup Glen Gulutzan will go with in his first game behind the Flames bench:
Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Kris Versteeg
Matthew Tkachuk - Sam Bennett - Troy Brouwer
Micheal Ferland - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik
Lance Bouma - Matt Stajan - Alex Chiasson
Mark Giordano - Dennis Wideman
T.J. Brodie - Deryk Engelland
Nicklas Grossman - Dougie Hamilton
Brian Elliott
And what they will go up against:
Milan Lucic - Connor McDavid - Jordan Eberle
Benoit Pouliot - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Anton Slepyshev
Patrick Maroon - Leon Draisaitl - Jesse Puljujarvi
Tyler Pitlick - Mark Letestu - Zack Kassian
Oscar Klefbom - Adam Larsson
Andrej Sekera - Kris Russell
Darnell Nurse - Brandon Davidson
Cam Talbot
A few notes:
1) Russell, who recently signed with the Oilers, will be thrown into the fire right away playing in Edmonton's top-4. I've long said I don't think he can handle those types of minutes but the Oilers are going to force the issue, anyway.
I wouldn't be surprised if Calgary's speedy young forwards cause him fits tonight. Or maybe even Brouwer.
2) Brian Elliott will be making his first meaningful start as a Flame tonight. The Oilers have a lot of firepower up front that will be tough to contain, even with Calgary's high-end defensemen, so he'll surely face his fair share of rubber tonight.
3) Rather than stacking pairings Gulutzan elected to go put a top-pairing caliber blue liner on each of his three units. This is also a perfect left-right split, which has proven to be more effective than playing guys on their off-sides. It'll be interesting to see how this works tonight and if it's something the Flames will stick with moving forward.
Tonight's game is schedule for 10 pm eastern, although it won't start for a while after as the Oilers will be holding a ceremony to open the new arena. This game can be seen on Sportsnet, Sporsnet One and TVA Sports 2.
Recent posts:
Flames sign Kris Versteeg
Flames, Gaudreau agree to long-term extension
Predicting the Pacific Division standings
Flames, Elliott working on contract extension
Pacific Division bold predictions
Hotstove: Pacific Division breakout players
Michael Ferland should score more next season