[Puppet Guy]

Winter vacation kicks off for most of us tonight, and what's winter without a classic hockey match-up? Tonight at the 'Dome, the Flames say bienvenue to Les Habitants. I know for sure that Chateau Puppet will be a hoppin' venue.

Some Flames news (www.calgarysun.com)

There’s good news and bad news with Travis Hamonic’s tweaked groin. The good news is the Flames believed he prevented further injury to it by not playing through the pain during Wednesday’s 2-1 win over St. Louis. Instead, he left after the first period. The bad news? The 27-year-old will be out of the lineup on Friday. “We could have pushed Hammer but we would have been pushing someone into a dangerous situation,” said Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan. “And we’re not going to do that — not with the break coming. It was real good by Hammer to get off the ice; it probably saved us a couple of weeks.”

With Travis Hamonic nursing his injury, it means seventh defenceman Matt Bartkowski will get the call. And it’s been a while. Since the play of Brett Kulak has forced the hand of the coaching staff, the 29-year-old has played only one game in the last 20. “I just have to play the way they want me to play,” Bartkowski said. “I just need to play my game. It’s always difficult to not play when you’re healthy. But, you just try and stay ready as best you can. I feel good to go.”

Gulutzan had no update on RW Jaromir Jagr who missed Wednesday’s game with a groin injury. It’s the same nagging problem that has kept the 45-year-old out of 13 games this season, which has limited him to 19 contests in a Calgary Flames jersey. Jagr is officially day-to-day, putting his ascent in the NHL record books on hold — again. The next time Jagr plays, he will equal Ron Francis for third on the NHL’s all-time games-played charts with 1,731 appearances.

...And this could be interesting:

A scuffle broke out during the Montreal Canadiens practice on Thursday at the Scotiabank Saddledome as Andrew Shaw and Joe Morrow traded words and shoves and had to be separated by teammates after a drill … The Canadiens are 15-15-4 and 6-3-1 in their last 10 games.

some news about the visitors (www.montrealgazette.com):

The Canadiens spent a significant portion of their practice Thursday on the power play, which ranks 19th in the NHL with a success rate of 18.5 per cent. Montreal moved up a notch or two after going 2-for-3 on goals by Daniel Carr and Jeff Petry in Tuesday’s 7-5 win over Vancouver. The problem in that game was that the Canucks also went 2-for-3 with the extra man as the Canadiens continue to struggle on the penalty-kill. The PK was once a source of pride for the Canadiens, but they currently rank 25th in the NHL with a success rate of 77.7 per cent.

The Canadiens recalled defenceman Brett Lernout from the Laval Rocket Wednesday night and he arrived in Calgary in time for an early afternoon practice. The 6-foot-4, 213-pounder is a defensive defenceman and provides some depth while Sea Weber is out with a foot injury. Julien said he hasn’t decided whether to dress Lernout for either of the two games in Alberta. He’s also waiting for medical clearance on Artturi Lehkonen, who has missed 16 games with a lower-body injury.

Lineups, which naturally are not written in stone (www.dailyfaceoff.com)

FLAMES

Gaudreau - Monahan - Ferland
Tkachuk - Backlund - Frolik
Bennett - Jankowski - Hathaway
Brouwer - Stajan - F Hamilton

Giordano - D Hamilton
Brodie - Stone
Kulak - Bartkowski

Rittich (unconfirmed)

CANADIENS

Pacioretty - Drouin - Byron
Galchenyuk - Danault - Shaw
Hudon - Plekanec - Gallagher
Deslauriers - Froese - Carr

Alzner - Petry
Benn - Schlemko
Morrow - Jerabek

Price (unconfirmed)

Well, the Habs' legend does precede itself, doesn't it? Tales of their success are very prominent in hockey history. On this cold snowy day in Calgary, That Darn Puppet and his pals put their own spin on the famed "Flying Frenchmen":

Spoiler!

Go Flames