Friday September 25 - Vancouver Canucks at Calgary Flames - 6:00 p.m. - Sportsnet One, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 1-1-0 so far in preseason
Calgary Flames: 1-2-0 so far in preseason
The Vancouver Canucks will continue their question for scoring when they visit the Calgary Flames to kick off a home-and-home series on Friday night.
Here's a preliminary look at the rosters for both teams:
The Canucks have listed 19 skaters, so one of the forwards listed will be scratched at game time.
This roster marks the first time in preseason that we've seen mention of Carter Bancks and Wacey Hamilton in the mix—two members of last year's Utica Comets.
Hamilton's 25 and Bancks is 26: both are career AHLers. Bancks is a Calgary native who spent five seasons with the Flames organization and suited up for two NHL games with Calgary back in 2012-13.
For the most part, Vancouver's icing a pretty young lineup tonight. I suppose it's no surprise that tough guys Brandon Prust, Derek Dorsett and Andrey Pedan are all making the trip to Calgary; I wonder if they'll also play on Saturday back here in Vancouver?
My best guess is that tonight's first line will feature Brandon Sutter in the middle, flanked by Jake Virtanen and former Flame Sven Baertschi. Another ex-Flame, Blair Jones, will also be in the lineup.
The Flames have listed 24 skaters on their roster, which didn't match up with the bodies that were on the ice during their morning skate. So, there's still room for some tweaks there but it looks like Calgary will reward its home fans by icing its complete top line of Jiri Hudler, Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau—and the probable new top defense pairing of Mark Giordano and Dougie Hamilton.
Jonas Hiller and Karri Ramo are listed as Calgary's goaltenders tonight, after Joni Ortio shut out the Colorado Avalanche 1-0 in Denver on Thursday. Yes, Calgary's in the midst of playing three games in three different cities on three consecutive nights.
Jacob Markstrom and Richard Bachman are expected to share goaltending duties tonight for Vancouver, as they did at Kraft Hockeyville on Monday.
Also—the waiver period opens today, which allows teams to start sending waiver-eligible players down to their farm teams.
Last season, the Canucks slipped Markstrom through before anyone was paying close attention, and it looks like they're trying the same trick with Bachman today:
The Canucks reeled in Bachman as a free agent this summer by offering him a two-year, one-way contract worth $575,00 a season. He'd been on two-way deals with lower AHL salaries for the last two seasons. If any team was thinking of picking him up, his higher price tag might make them think twice.
Bachman's the only Canuck to go on waivers today.
Canucks Army has the full list of 41 others, including ex Canucks/Comets Brandon DeFazio, now with Boston, and Jeremy Welsh, now with St. Louis.
Brendan Gaunce will get another chance tonight to prove that the's the right choice to step in for the injured Chris Higgins once the regular season begins.
Players with the most to prove tonight? Virtanen, for starters. Hunter Shinkaruk and Frank Corrado also need to show well if they hope to stay in the mix of players with a shot at sticking with the big club.
Tonight's game is another designated overtime contest. Like Tuesday's game against the Sharks, we'll see a 3-on-3 session at the end of regulation tonight, no matter what the score.
This weekend's games against the Flames will be the first between the two teams since their fiery playoff battle last April. The Canucks will also open the regular season with two games against Calgary. I expect we'll see some of the emotion from both teams on the ice tonight and tomorrow, setting the stage for a rivalry that will grow even stronger in 2015-16.
The Canucks will have a tough battle tonight, with a young lineup playing against a stacked Calgary roster. Here's hoping that strong goaltending will spark the front lines to their first scoring outburst of the exhibition season.
Game time: 6:00. Enjoy!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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