Flames and Canucks set to tangle in Fraser Valley
After Tuesday’s 4-1 win over the Kraken, the Flames head west to Abbotsford, B.C. for the first of two preseason tilts with the Canucks.
Puck drop is set for 8 p.m MT. Tonight’s game will be streamed live on CalgaryFlames.com and the Flames App within the Flames broadcast region (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories and Nunavut).
A look back at all the big plays from Tuesday’s win
At 25, Martin Pospisil isn’t used to being one of ‘the old guys.’
But perhaps his summer training with Sam Honzek back home in Slovakia has helped him prepare for that role of mentorship, of leadership, that he’s bound to assume this evening at the Abbotsford Centre.
Pospisil is one of a handful of veteran skaters making the trip west to face the Canucks, and he’s ready to embrace that role once the puck drops in the Fraser Valley this evening.
“I just help the younger guys and you know, try to play as a leader and lead the team, you know,” Pospisil said after a quick morning skate Wednesday at WinSport. “I’ve been with this organization for a couple years, so we just want to win the game and prepare for the season.”
And with that preparation comes a ramp-up in pace of play, one that surely will become more apparent next week when camp numbers are further trimmed, but a pick-up in speed that Pospisil has noticed nonetheless, ahead of his second exhibition outing of the fall.
“I think we’ve had lots of good practices and also, I think it was a very good game (Sunday) in Edmonton,” he said. “You know, it’s going to be just the second game, but you just try to get better each game and each practice, and just get ready for that first game in October.”
A lot’s been made too, of the potential for Pospisil to centre a high-energy line this winter.
He’s spent time with both Adam Klapka and Ryan Lomberg on his wings in camp, and while neither of those two linemates will accompany him tonight, Pospisil is looking forward to the opportunity to play down the middle of the rink a bit more.
“I like to play centre but for me, it doesn’t really matter, but I play if I play left wing, right wing or centre, I just want to help the team to win,” he said. “If the coaches see me as a centre, I will play centre, if they see me as a winger, I will play wing.
“I just want to help the team win.”
“Looked closer to what we expect our team to play like”
Tonight’s game marks the first opportunity for fans in the Lower Mainland to see their team in action at their home away from home, so to speak.
The Canucks opened the preseason Sunday in Seattle with a 5-3 loss to the Kraken and after spending training camp in Penticton, they’ve returned back to the Coast to continue preparations for the regular season.
But the big story in Vancouver this summer centred around Brock Boeser. The pending unrestricted free agent opted to stay with the club that drafted him back in 2015, inking a seven-year, $50.75-million dollar deal that will keep him in Lotusland until the summer of 2032.
Expect a smattering of vets in the home side’s lineup this evening: Vancouver has promoted tonight’s Abbotsford contest with the likes of goaltender Thatcher Demko, defender Tyler Myers and forwards Nils Hoglander and Conor Garland who, like Boeser, pledged his long-term future to the Canucks with a six-year, $36-million dollar extension July 1.
There was plenty to like from Rory Kerins’ game Tuesday against Seattle, and he’s expected to get another look tonight in the Fraser Valley.
Kerins’ second-period goal stood up as Tuesday’s winner and it had all the elements: confident puck-carrying, recovery from a miscue, and a silky-smooth finish in tight space in front of the Kraken net.
He was instrumental in Yegor Sharangovich’s ice-breaker in the first period, too. It was Kerins who dug the puck out of the right wing corner and re-loaded the point before Hunter Brzustewicz’s low shot was tipped home.
Promising signs for a young player that, so far this fall, is showing he’s a year stronger, a year wiser, and ready to try and win a job on the opening night roster.
“We were playing pretty direct as a line”
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