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All off-season Calgary Flames' players and management talked about how they are happy but not satisfied with last season and are looking to build upon the success they had.
Well, they begin that quest tonight and they'll have some reinforcements as off-season acquisitions Dougie Hamilton and Michael Frolik have been brought into the fold and will debut tonight.
At the other end of the spectrum the Vancouver Canucks have a sour taste in their mouth after being bounced by the Flames in the playoffs last year and will be looking to get a bit of revenge with a win tonight.
Puck drop is at 10 eastern on Sportsnet and TVA Sports 2.
Let's take a look at the projected lineups.
For Vancouver (via DailyFaceoff.com):
Sedin - Sedin - Sutter
Baertschi - Horvat - Vrbata
Burrows - McCann - Hansen
Prust - Cracknell - Dorsett
Edler - Tanev
Hamhuis - Bartkowski
Hutton - Sbisa
Miller
Bachman
For Calgary:
Gaudreau - Monahan - Hudler
Bouma - Backlund - Frolik
Ferland - Bennett - Jooris
Bollig - Stajan - Jones
Giordano - Hamilton
Russell - Wideman
Kulak - Engelland
Ramo
Hiller
What to watch:
- I think the Mark Giordano - Dougie Hamilton pairing has potential to be one of the very best in the league and I look forward to seeing how they look together against tough competition in a meaningful game. The Sedins' best days are behind them but they both had more than 70 points last season so it's not exactly a piece of cake to shut them down. It'll be a very fun matchup to watch.
- The Bouma - Backlund - Frolik line will be able to contribute offensively but to me they have the makeup of a line that will do the heavy lifting and face opposing team's best offensive players. Bob Hartley has last change tonight so I wouldn't be surprised if that line is used regularly against Vancouver's top unit.
- The Prust - Cracknell - Dorsett line is made up of possession anchors who can't do much more than rough players up in the corner and fight. I do like Calgary's 4th line more than Vancouver's but I think Hartley would be smart to take advantage of last change and get one of his top-3 units out against that line more often than not.
- I feel like Ferland should be a talking point every time Calgary faces Vancouver. He was causing all kinds of havoc against them in the playoffs.
- The Flames seem to want Ramo to be their no. 1 goaltender and as such he'll get the start tonight. If Ramo wants to take the job and run with it he'll need to play well because the Flames have no shortage of options in goal.
Recent posts:
Raymond clears waivers, Byron claimed by Canadiens
On Giordano-Hamilton, Andersson & more
Ranking the NHL's top-5 defensemen
Ranking the NHL's top-5 wingers
Ranking the NHL's top-5 centers
Predicting the Pacific Division standings
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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