Calgary Hockey Magazine Fall 2023

FALL 2023

Feature Interview CALGARY FLAMES NEW HEAD COACH

RYAN HUSKA MOUNT ROYAL UNIVERSITY

Women’s Hockey Program

CALGARY FLAMES

BATTLE AT THE HERITAGE CLASSIC

table of

CONTENTS CALGARY HOCKEY MAGAZINE I FALL 2023

5

PUBLISHER’S LETTER

7

CHRIS SNOW REMEMBERING A LEGACY MOUNT ROYAL UNIVERSITY WOMEN’S HOCKEY PROGRAM

8 RYAN HUSKA NEW FLAMES HEAD COACH

10

12

ARENA LOCATOR MAP OF ALL ARENAS IN CALGARY

14 16 18

CALGARY FLAMES 2023 HERITAGE CLASSIC GOLD MEDAL WINNERS FEATURING TWO KIDS THAT WON GOLD AT ESSO MINOR HOCKEY WEEK 2023 REFEREE SIGNALS PRESENTED BY TWIN REFS CASSIDY & HALEY BRAND CALGARY HOCKEY MAGAZINE | 3

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President and Publisher: Rob Suggitt Graphic Designer: Kate Suggitt Contributing Writers: Jeremy Freeborn Copy Editing: Shari Narine Cover Photo Provided By: Calgary Flames Hockey Club Photography Credits: Adrian Shellard Photography Calgary Flames Hockey Club SC Parker Photography Sales Associate: Jeremy Freeborn Administration: Amber-Lea Grmek Calgary Hockey Magazine is published by Suggitt Publishers

PUBLISHER

Welcome to the first edition of the Calgary Hockey Magazine for the 2023-2024 season.

In this edition, we have a special feature (along with photos) of the Heritage Hockey Classic, which took place on October 29th. It was the first time the Flames and Oilers played each other in an outdoor game, the 38th outdoor game for the NHL. While the Flames came up short, it was still a great event for the Calgary Flames organization, and the players who participated.

The Calgary Flames made a big change in the offseason, parting ways with longtime head coach Darryl Sutter (who we featured in our Fall 2022 edition), and promoting his assistant coach, Ryan Huska, making him the 19th head coach in the history of the Flames organization.

We also have a special feature on the Mount Royal University, who won the USport Women’s Ice Hockey Championship earlier this year. And they did so in dramatic fashion, tying the score in the final two seconds of the championship game, and going on to beat the Concordia Stingers in overtime.

We are also pleased to include a few features on two minor hockey players who won a Gold Medal at Esso Minor Hockey Week. This season’s event takes place in January. If you have a special story to share, please let us know. It could be two or more siblings winning gold, maybe a four-time winner, or a player or team with a special performance.

Until then, we wish everyone the best, and look forward to catching up in January, when our Winter Edition is due out.

All Rights Reserved® - The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed within do not necessarily represent the opinions of the publisher. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, ie. electronic, mechanical, photocopied or otherwise recorded without the prior written permission of the publisher - www.suggitt.com Printed By DCM

ROB SUGGITT I Publisher Calgary Hockey Magazine

CALGARY HOCKEY MAGAZINE | 5

6 | CALGARY HOCKEY MAGAZINE

remembering CHRIS SNOW

“

“

We will never replace a person like Chris; we simply pay tribute to him by moving forward with the same passion that he brought to his life each day.

On September 30th, Chris Snow passed away, after a lengthy battle with ALS.

Snow was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) in 2019, and was originally given one year to live.

Snow went public with his diagnosis in January 2020, and the family created the Snowy Strong campaign shortly thereafter, to raise money to support research and new treatments for the disease.

Snow battled his illness with strength, courage, and dignity.

“Chris was my friend. He taught us all so much by how he confronted ALS with grace, positivity, and hope. Chris never complained or ever showed us that he had a bad day, and while there may have been many, he continued to perform his job to a very high standard,” Flames general manager Craig Conroy said in a statement.

“Through his journey Chris became a true inspiration for all who knew him and an incredible advocate for everyone affected by ALS. He fought with courage and determination for every day he had with Kelsie, Cohen and Willa, making countless memories with them over these past five years.

“We will never replace a person like Chris; we simply pay tribute to him by moving forward with the same passion that he brought to his life each day.”

And in a statement provided by the NHL, you get a better understanding of what Chris Snow meant to the game of hockey, not just in Calgary, but throughout the league.

“The Snows’ willingness to share the trials and triumphs of Chris’s lengthy ALS journey has inspired so many and profoundly increased awareness of the need to find a cure for this debilitating disease. The NHL sends its most sincere condolences to the Snow family, the Calgary Flames organization and all who were touched by this special person.”

Snow is survived by his wife Kelsie, his son Cohen, and his daughter Willa.

SPRING 2022

CHRIS SNOW

SNOWY STRONG FOR ALS CANADIAN WOMEN’S HOCKEY TEAM Wins Gold at Olympics

DINOS HEAD COACH

CARLA MACLEOD Calgary Canucks

Celebrate 50 Years

We met up with Chris Snow a few years ago, in the early part of 2022, when our senior writer (Jeremy Freeborn) was putting together an article on Snow's battles with ALS, and how bravely he (and his family) epitomized the meaning of “Snowy Strong.”

(We made it our cover story for the Spring Edition of the magazine.)

CALGARY HOCKEY MAGAZINE | 7

“

NEW FLAMES HEAD COACH

RYAN

HUSKA

SETS WELCOMING, HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT FOR PLAYERS AS A PRIORITY

BY JEREMY FREEBORN

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY CALGARY FLAMES HOCKEY CLUB With expectations not met last season, the Calgary Flames made one significant change heading into the 2023-24 season. On May 1, the Flames parted ways with Darryl Sutter, and on June 12, veteran Flames assistant coach Ryan Huska was named the 19th head coach in the history of the Flames organization.

It recent years the Flames have had little stability at the head coaching position. Huska is now the fifth Flames head coach in seven years, following Glen Gulutzan, Bill Peters, Geoff Ward, and Sutter.

But changes had to be made after last season’s expectations went unmet. Expectations were high for the Calgary Flames heading into the 2022-23 season. The franchise had lost two key players in Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau but there was an overall sense of optimism that newly acquired Flames Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri and MacKenzie Weegar would fill the void, and the Flames franchise would maintain success from the squad that shockingly won the 2021-22 Pacific Division regular season title.

But the Flames were unable to continue their success from the previous year. They had 93 points (18 fewer points than their 111 in 2021-22) and missed the Stanley Cup playoffs. They finished two points back of the eighth place Winnipeg Jets.

The argument could be made that this Flames team was rather close.

In fact, they had one more regular season point than the Florida Panthers organization that reached the 2023 Stanley Cup finals before losing in five games to the Vegas Golden Knights.

At the beginning of July, Huska took the time out of his busy schedule to speak to Calgary Hockey Magazine while the Flames prospects were participating in their summer development camp at Winsport.

8 | CALGARY HOCKEY MAGAZINE

Huska is not new to the Flames. He has been with the organization for the last nine seasons. He was the Adirondack Flames head coach in the American Hockey League in 2014-15. He then moved with the Flames’ top minor league affiliate from New York to California and was the Stockton Heat head coach from 2015 to 2018. Since 2018 Huska was the assistant coach of the Flames.

“There was a lot of excitement,” recalled Huska when he learned about his promotion. “That was the first reaction. I was talking with Don Maloney and Craig Conroy. When they said they would like me to be the next head coach, the first thing was the excitement.”

Before being a coach, Huska, a native of Cranbrook, British Columbia, played hockey as a forward with the Kamloops Blazers, and enjoyed a successful major junior hockey career. He was on the three Blazers teams that won a Memorial Cup in 1992, 1994 and 1995. In 312 games with Kamloops (regular season, Western Hockey League playoffs and Memorial Cup action), Huska had 93 goals and 117 assists for 210 points.

Huska’s finest WHL season came in 1994-95, as he had 27 goals and 40 assists, gathering 67 points in 66 games in the regular season, seven goals and eight assists for 15 points in 17 WHL playoff games, and two goals and five assists for seven points in four Memorial Cup games.

While with the Blazers, Huska played with familiar faces to Calgary hockey fans. Among his teammates were future Flames Hall of Fame superstar Jarome Iginla and Calgary native Nolan Baumgartner. In his first job with the Flames since retiring from the NHL in 2018, Iginla was hired on June 15 as the Flames special advisor to the general manager. The new Flames general manager is former Flames centre Craig Conroy, who played nine seasons for the Flames with Iginla from 2000 to 2004, and again from 2006 to 2011.

Huska is elated that Iginla has rejoined the Flames as well.

“

“There are few people you think of when you think of the Calgary Flames. You think of Lanny McDonald as one for sure, and then Jarome Iginla. He’s the guy, whether it is on the ice or off the ice, in the community. That is because of the quality of person that he is.

He was such a competitor that he endeared himself to the fans in Calgary. We all know what kind of a hockey player he was as well. It is really cool that he is part of this organization.”

During his time playing for the Blazers, Huska was picked in the third round, 76th overall in 1993 National Hockey League Entry Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks. When his WHL career was over, he played five seasons in the International Hockey League and American Hockey League with the Indianapolis Ice, Lowell Lock Monsters and Springfield Falcons from 1995 to 2000.

Huska played one game in NHL with the Blackhawks. On Jan. 5, 1998, he was on the ice for eight shifts in five minutes and 51 seconds.

Amazingly, the Blackhawks’ opponent was the Calgary Flames, and the game finished in a 1-1 tie.

“I remember sitting on the bench,” chuckled Huska. “I was trying to take it all in. I remember taking a look at the stats and the crowd. The other thing that was cool for me was playing against Jarome. It was a really neat experience to sit on the bench and watch him play from that position. That will always stand out for sure.”

When Huska retired from playing hockey in 2000, he continued with the game. He returned to Kelowna to go to school. While completing his degree in finance at Okanagan College, he helped out a Bantam A team.

He had a “blast working with the kids,” and soon realized how much of a passion he had for coaching. Then in 2002, an assistant coaching position opened with the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League. Huska was the Rockets assistant coach for the next five seasons until 2007, when he was named the franchise’s head coach.

Huska had immense success as the Rockets head coach. In seven seasons from 2007 to 2014, he coached in 504 WHL regular season games and had an exceptional record of 303 wins, 164 regulation losses, and 37 losses in extra time. In 2009, the Rockets reached the Memorial Cup final in Rimouski, Quebec, before losing 4-1 in the championship game to the Windsor Spitfires.

When Huska joined the Flames as assistant coach, he had the chance to learn a wide variety of coaching strategies.

“When I had the opportunity to come up with the Flames as an assistant, you learn so much from the people you had an opportunity to work with,” he said. “I feel very fortunate to have been around as long as I have with this organization and have had the chance to work with some really good people and build some great relationships here.”

While the head coaches Huska has had the opportunity to work with in Calgary have different strategies and coaching philosophies, there is one similarity that Peters, Ward and Sutter share.

“They are all really good people,” said Huska. “I always remember how they treated you and how you felt around them. They all looked at the game a little bit differently, but that is what made them special coaches.”

In the last two seasons, there have been several reports that a few Flames players wanted out of Calgary.

“This doesn’t concern me,” said Huska. “A lot of that is not really coming from within our room. That is some of the outside noise. We really like the people we have around, and I know when we get all the guys back, they are going to enjoy playing here this year and, we are going to have success.”

As for Huska’s goals this upcoming season, he states the following.

“We have a lot of them. I think our first goal we have as a staff is to make sure we create an environment where the players want to be here everyday, they are going to come to work and push themselves to get better. As always, you really want to push them to be their very best on a daily basis.”

It will now be interesting to see the type of head coach Huska can be at the NHL level. There is no doubt he has plenty of coaching experience that should help him in making challenging decisions that Flames fans will hope lead to victories!

when you look and feel this good.. you play better.

Huska has fond memories of his experience of coaching hockey at the highest junior level in Canada.

“It was really special. I had the chance to play in them (Memorial Cups) as a player, and when you flip it around and you see it in a different way, you have a little bit of a different understanding of what the players go through as they prepare to win one of those tournaments.

Being on the other side was really neat for me. That was dealing with the preparation and getting the young men ready to play. It was an awesome experience for me.”

In 2014, Huska went from being a head coach at the WHL level directly to the head coach at the AHL level. At this time, he had a dream of returning to the NHL at some point, but realized in order to accomplish this goal, the AHL was a necessary stepping-stone.

While in Adirondack and Stockton, Huska coached a mixture of Flames prospects who were trying to make it into the NHL, as well as veteran players who were either trying to return to the NHL or trying to prolong their professional careers.

OUR STORY

“

I think our first goal we have as a staff is to make sure we create an environment where the players want to be here everyday, they are going to come to work and push themselves to get better. As always, you really want to push them to be their very best on a daily basis.

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CALGARY HOCKEY MAGAZINE | 9

ARENA LOCATOR MAP

The Calgary Hockey Magazine is distributed to all of the listed Calgary arenas.

The magazine is also available at all Safeway, Sobeys, and Co-op locations.

10 | CALGARY HOCKEY MAGAZINE

1. Acadia Rec. Centre

10. Frank McCool Arena

19. Shouldice Arena

2. Bowness Sportsplex

11. Jack Setters Arena

20. Stew Hendry / Henry Viney Arena

240 - 90th Avenue SE

7904 - 43rd Avenue NW

3. Brentwood Sportsplex

1520 Northmount Drive NW

4. Cardel Recreation Centre South 333 Shawville Blvd SE #100

1900 Lake Bonavista Drive SE 2020 - 69th Avenue SE

12. Max Bell Centre

1001 Barlow Trail SE

13. Mount Pleasant Sportsplex 610 - 23rd Avenue NW

5. Don Hartman North East Sportsplex 5206 - 68th Street NE

14. Father David Bauer Olympic Arena

6. East Calgary Twin Arena Society 299 Erin Woods Drive SE

15. Optimist / George Blundun Arena

7. Ed Whalen / Joseph Kryczka Arenas

16. Rose Kohn / Jimmie Condon Arena

2000 Southland Drive SW

8. Ernie Starr Arena

4808 - 14th Avenue SE

9. Flames Community Arenas 2390 - 47th Avenue SW

2424 University Drive NW

5020 - 26th Avenue SW 502 Heritage Drive SW

17. Thorncliffe / Greenview 5600 Centre Street NW

18. Murray Copot Arena

6715 Centre Street NW

1515 Home Road NW 814 - 13 Avenue NE

21. Stu Peppard Arena

5300 - 19th Street SW

22. Trico Centre

11150 Bonaventure Drive SE

23. Village Square Arenas 2623 - 56th Street NE

24. Westside Regional Rec. Centre 2000 - 69th Street SW

25. Huntington Hills Arena 520 - 78 Avenue NW

26. Triwood Arena

2244 Chicoutimi Drive NW

27. Crowchild Twin Arenas 185 Scenic Acres Drive

28. Oakridge

9504 Oakfield Drive SW

CALGARY HOCKEY MAGAZINE | 11

MOUNT ROYAL

READY TO DEFEND U SPORTS

NATIONAL

CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE

BY JEREMY FREEBORN

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY ADRIAN SHELLARD PHOTOGRAPHY

History was made this past year when the Mount Royal University Cougars defeated the University of Montreal to win the U SPORTS national championship in women’s hockey. It was Mount Royal’s first ever national university sports championship in any team sport.

In 2009, Mount Royal College was granted university status by the Alberta government. The name of this elite post-secondary institution would now be Mount Royal University. Within three years (the 201213 school season), the Mount Royal University Cougars joined the Canada West Conference and U SPORTS (previously named Canadian Interuniversity Sport) for men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, hockey and soccer.

In 2022-23, the Cougars had a productive regular season. They posted a record of 19 wins, six regulation losses and three losses in extra time for 41 points. That was good enough for third place in the Canada West Conference, as they were nine points back of the first place University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, and only two points back of the second place University of Alberta Pandas.

12 | CALGARY HOCKEY MAGAZINE

In the Canada West playoffs, the Cougars beat Trinity Western University Spartans two games to one in best-of-three action in the quarterfinals, and took the Pandas two games to one in the semifinals.

However, the Cougars came up short losing to the Thunderbirds in the 2023 Canada West finals.

By reaching the finals, though, the Cougars qualified for the 2023 U SPORTS women’s hockey championship. Expectations were guarded because the Cougars were seeded eighth out of the eight teams in Montreal.

In the quarterfinals, the Cougars delivered their first upset beating the number one seeded University of Toronto Lady Blues 3-2. Breanne Trotter (Okotoks, AB) scored the game-winning goal with three minutes and 45 seconds left in the third period. Meanwhile, forwards Athena Hauck (Grande Prairie, AB) and Kiana McNinch (Turtleford, SK) led the team with two points as they both had two third period assists.

“

To win the national championship was unbelievable... It was something you would never expect to happen. We had an amazing group. Everybody from the players to the coaches were on board. It was incredible.

“To win the national championship was unbelievable,” she said. “It was something you would never expect to happen. We had an amazing group. Everybody from the players to the coaches were on board. It was incredible. Winning the national championship will stand out for the rest of my career.”

As she starts the 2023-24 season, Trotter is working on her foot speed.

She believes her slap shot is her greatest asset and is grateful for the time she had working directly with Breanne Jenner, the two-time Canadian Olympic gold medalist. After winning gold for Canada at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi and silver at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, Jenner was an assistant coach for the Cougars during the 2019 season.

“

In the semifinals, the Cougars beat host team University of Montreal Carabins 3-1. Alex Spence (Lloydminster, AB) led Mount Royal with two points with two assists. The Cougars goal scorers were McNinch, Morgan Ramsay (Rivers, MB) and Kaia Borbandy (Langdon, AB).

This season, Mount Royal will also be relying on their star goaltender Kaitlyn Ross (Redcliff, AB). Last season, Ross had a record of 22 wins, 11 losses, and nine shutouts with a goals against average of 1.41 and a save percentage of .935. In a span of seven consecutive Canada West playoff games, she only gave up five goals in 421 minutes and 11 seconds worth of action.

The championship would be considered the most memorable game in the history of Mount Royal University/College in any sport. The University of Concordia Stingers had the 3-2 lead on the Cougars with two seconds left in the third period when Trotter scored the game-tying goal from Tatum Amy (Birtle, MB) and Courtney Kollman (Calgary).

Then in overtime, Emma Bergesen of Stavanger, Norway scored the overtime winner from Kollman and Aliya Jomha (Edmonton) at 11:10.

“Her composure in the crease is something that inspires confidence within the group. Nothing seems to rattle her. She has the ability to focus on that next save and that next moment, no matter what just happened before,” he said. “Ross’s resiliency is incredible. She is someone we know has our back no matter what.”

Prior to the start of the 2023-24 hockey season, I had the privilege of catching up with Cougars head coach Scott Rivett and the national championship gold medal game MVP Trotter. They spoke with me following a preseason practice at the Flames Community Arena in southwest Calgary.

Rivett, of Lloydminster, is entering his 16th season coaching at the Canadian collegiate or university level. He spent four seasons at SAIT before his dozen seasons at Mount Royal. He is the most successful women’s hockey coach in the Alberta Collegiate Athletic Conference history with 107 wins.

As a freshman in 2020, Ross was a major reason why the Cougars reached the semifinals in PEI according to Rivett.

This is a slightly younger Cougars squad, said Rivett, and he recognizes that expectations may not be as high because there are eight graduating players not on the 2023-24 team. However, he believes Mount Royal University will be competitive. He also thinks Ross could be a difference maker again and make the Cougars contenders in many games throughout the season.

Defending a title is always a challenge. It will be mighty interesting to see how this Cougars squad performs.

To win a national championship at the university level has significant meaning.

“As coaches, ultimately you are trying to win the game’s biggest prize, and anytime when you have the opportunity to do that, it is a special feeling,” he said.

Rivett said the group had unfinished business from the 2020 nationals.

At that time, the Cougars advanced to the semifinals in Charlottetown, PEI. But the tournament was cancelled because of the coronavirus.

“We did not have a chance to finish what we started. Our group certainly had a chip on their shoulder. No question. We don’t normally get too many opportunities to win national championships, and we are grateful to be on the list,” he said.

Rivett reflected on the national championship as a whole and puts the victory into perspective.

“The margin for winning and losing at that level and that stage is so small. Whether we won or lost, honestly, I was so proud of the group and how we played, and how we competed all the way throughout the tournament,” he said. “We were there for each other. We were able to lean on our entire group to kind of drag us through different moments. Winning is the icing on the cake, but I was just so proud of how we played, not just at the national championship, but the Canada West playoffs too.”

Trotter’s journey to winning a national championship came with a degree of adversity. She missed the first half of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. When she returned to action, she was a difference maker. She had eight goals and three assists in 21 games.

Trotter scored two goals in Mount Royal’s dramatic win over Concordia.

CALGARY HOCKEY MAGAZINE | 13

“ CALGARY FLAMES at the

2023 HERITAGE CLASSIC

BY JEREMY FREEBORN On Sunday, October 29, 2023, for the third time in franchise history, the Calgary Flames participated in the Heritage Classic. At Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, in the Battle of Alberta, one of the heated rivalries in the National Hockey League, the Calgary Flames took on the Edmonton Oilers.

The first time the Flames played outdoors in the NHL’s marquee event came on February 20, 2011, as the Calgary Flames beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 in front of 41,022 joyful fans at McMahon Stadium. What we saw that night was the brilliant goaltending of Miikka Kiprusoff, who made 39 saves for the shutout. The second time came on October 26, 2019, as the Flames lost 2-1 to the Winnipeg Jets at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Heading into the 2023 National Hockey League Heritage Classic, the overall mood around the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers was significantly low. Both teams were booed off the ice in their previous games, which were shutout losses.

The Flames lost 3-0 to the St. Louis Blues, while the Oilers lost by that same score to the New York Rangers. Edmonton got off to their worst start in franchise history, winning only one game in their first seven games, for an overall record of 1-5-1.

The Flames were better at 2-4-1.

It is a testament to Alberta sports fans on this warm October night that they came out in full force. A total of 55,411 attended the game. They were not all Oilers fans, as thousands of faithful Calgary Flames fans made the trip to Edmonton. The flaming C could be seen on regular pans of the crowd during the Sportsnet broadcast. Yes, the Oilers came away with a 5-2 win, but there were some significant positives for the Flames that came from the contest.

14 | CALGARY HOCKEY MAGAZINE

The Flames had strong games from defenseman MacKenzie Weegar of Ottawa, Ontario and newcomer A.J. Greer of Joliette, Quebec. Weegar was the top defenseman at the 2023 World Men’s Hockey Championship in Tampere, Finland (won

by Canada by a score of 5-2 over Germany) this past May. In the Heritage Classic, he set up Nazem Kadri in the first period, and Greer in the second period. For Greer, it was his first goal in a Flames uniform as he scored a power play marker at 11:28 of the middle frame. Greer was claimed off waivers from the Boston Bruins on October 9.

The solid play of Greer and Weegar was recognized by Kadri.

“They did play well tonight,” agreed Kadri. “In stretches, a lot of other guys played well as well. That’s how hockey is, especially when you play against dangerous players. When you have five-to-10-minute lapses, you end up having a goal against. Those guys just have to continue to simplify, and play their game.”

Greer’s goal also had significance because Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom of Gavle, Sweden picked up an assist.

Markstrom became the fourth goaltender in NHL history to record an assist in an outdoor game. He followed Marc-Andre Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins on January 1, 2011 (Fleury set up Evgeni Malkin in a 3-1 Pittsburgh loss to the Washington Capitals), Petr Mrazek of the Detroit Red Wings on February 27, 2016 (Mrazek set up Darren Helm in a 5-3 Detroit Red Wings win over the Colorado Avalanche), and Frederik Andersen of the Carolina Hurricanes on February 18, 2023 (Andersen set up Teuvo Teravainen in a 4-1 Hurricanes win over the Capitals).

“

It’s always exciting to get a special game like this. It looked like it was a sold out arena with jets flying over and Nickelback here. Everything that went on before the game, it was a really cool atmosphere.

It was special.

“

One might have thought that the Flames could have had a slight advantage over the Oilers on Sunday because of their Saturday practice times. The Flames practiced Saturday evening, while the Oilers practiced earlier in the afternoon. However, Markstrom was unable to stop three key goals from Oilers defensemen, as Brett Kulak, Evan Bouchard and Vincent Desharnais all scored. For Desharnais, it was his first NHL regular season goal.

When asked if he needed to coach differently and make adjustments because the game was outdoors, Flames head coach Ryan Huska offered the following response.

“There weren’t a lot of adjustments to the way the game was played,” stated Huska. “I mean we had our practice (the night before), where we got the guys used to the difference in depth in regards to the size of the stadium. During the game, there wasn’t a lot of adjustments. I thought the ice was good tonight, and the boards were lively at times, and players became aware of that fairly quickly.”

The Heritage Classic was not all just about the game. Canadian country music star Brett Kissel sang O Canada, The Beaches performed in a pre-game concert and Nickelback of Hanna, Alberta (same hometown as Calgary Flames legend Lanny McDonald), performed in the second intermission.

What was also fascinating was the pre-game apparel. The Flames arrived to Commonwealth Stadium on Sunday with denim overalls, cowboy hats and boots. The Oilers meanwhile dressed as oil rig workers with hard hats.

During the game, the Oilers and Flames honoured the heritage of hockey in their respective cities with unique jerseys. The Flames honoured the Calgary Stampeders hockey team of the 1950s and 1960s, while the Oilers honoured the Edmonton Mercurys team that won a gold medal for Canada at the 1952 Olympic Winter Games in Oslo.

Flames captain Mikael Backlund describes how special the Heritage Classic was overall for the Flames players.

“It was great,” explained Backlund. “It’s always exciting to get a special game like this. It looked like it was a sold out arena with jets flying over and Nickelback here. Everything that went on before the game, it was a really cool atmosphere. It was special. It’s just too bad we couldn’t win.”

As the new captain of the Flames, Backlund has the following message, when things may not be going their way.

“It is belief,” stated Backlund. “It is that we are a good team. We have good players, and we are going to turn things around. We have to stick with it, and fight even harder.”

It is early in the season, and the Flames have plenty of time to turn things around. One could argue that the Flames were clearly the best team in the second period in the Heritage Classic. However, more is expected, and in order for them to be effective, they need to play more complete games in order to make the post season, after narrowly missing out last year.

CALGARY HOCKEY MAGAZINE | 15

Fe a tur i n gGOLD M E

FROM ESSO MINOR H

Nishaan Aojula

Current Team: PHL (Premier Hockey League) Number of Years Played: 8 Usual Position: Right Wing Favourite Hockey Team: Edmonton Oilers Favourite Hockey Player: Connor McDavid Role Model: My Dad Other Hobbies / Interest: Sketching Favourite Hockey Memory: Winning gold at ESSO minor hockey week 2023!

16 | CALGARY HOCKEY MAGAZINE

M EDAL WINNERS

R HOCKEY WEEK

2023

Tessa Robson

Current Team: Springbank Rockies U11 Green Number of Years Played: 2 Usual Position: Goaltender Favourite Hockey Team: Edmonton Oilers Favourite Hockey Player: Connor McDavid Role Model: My Goalie Coach, Dan Other Hobbies / Interest: Soccer Favourite Hockey Memory: Making 3 game saving saves at the championship game!

CALGARY HOCKEY MAGAZINE | 17

PENALTY PENALTY CALL CALL SIGNALS SIGNALS

BOARDING

BODY CHECKING

BUTT ENDING

CHARGING

CHECKING FROM BEHIND

CHECKING TO THE HEAD

CROSS CHECKING

HOOKING

INTERFERENCE

KNEEING

MISCONDUCT

SPEARING

TRIPPING

UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT

SLASHING

5018 | CALGARY HOCKEY MAGAZINE

HIGH STICKING

HOLDING

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the most delicious destination in the Canadian Rockies

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