Small gripe: It's truly amazing how few available images there are of the current roster against the Blue Jackets.
David Jones' constant bad fortune became Josh Jooris' good fortune yesterday as he received the recall to replace the injured Jones. With Lance Bouma's facial laceration and Brian McGrattan lacking a true opponent on the Jacket's roster, the Flames will likely be putting Jooris into the lineup tonight for his first ever NHL game. It's amazing what can change in a short time. Jooris came into camp as just another guy in the system, a player that even the team's most knowledgable fans had ranked in the 30s of the prospect base. He zoomed past perennial favorites Sven Baertschi and Markus Granlund to become the most NHL ready prospect not named Gaudreau (possibly even more ready than Gaudreau). Of course, had the injury happened to a top 6 forward rather than a bottom 6, you would likely see one of those other two players named called up over Jooris…or maybe not. Only Flames management can tell you how they truly see Jooris who does have offensive upside, scoring .75 points per game over his college career at Union, and 27 points in 73 games during his first professional season. From a couple of weeks ago:
Quote:
Derek Wills @Fan960Wills Oct 1
#Flames HC Bob Hartley, who's always a great quote, tells us Josh Jooris "Has 50 pounds of dynamite in his body". He's been very impressive.
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The Flames will need Jooris' "dynamite" tonight as they play their league leading 6th game, and 5th on this opening road trip, during which they have fared better on the scoreboard than their play would suggest. Being horribly outshot by the Blackhawks the other night and stealing 2 points with the help of Jonas Hiller did not seem to phase them too much. A win is a win as far as they're concerned, but it would be nice to see them outplay their opponent and earn a win. Ramo is the likely candidate to play tonight as Hiller stated his legs were quite tired by the end of the last game. No word on Engelland yet so it's possible Diaz plays again.
The Blue Jackets are not the 'Hawks, but aren't a slouch team either. Bobrovsky in net and Johanssen up front are two key players that add to a very solid defensive core and a lot of "lunchpail" players that will match Calgary's work ethic. They sport a 100% PK through 3 games and own one of the league's best face-off percentages. Curtis McElhinney could possibly get the start tonight against a weaker Calgary offensive club, but don't be shocked to see Bobrovsky in net to start the back to back games for the Jackets. They're still stinging from a 4-2 loss to the Dallas Stars, and have had a couple off days to stew over it and get their rest, and watching the Flames shock the 'Hawks will make them hesitate at putting the backup in. The Flames will likely have to weather another 1st period storm to come away with the win.
Lineups are guesses at this point, and I will be on a plane most of today, so I will let others fill in the gaps once more information is made available.
Flames
Glencross-Backlund-Byron
Hudler-Monahan-Setoguchi
Gaudreau-Colborne-Raymond
Bollig-Stajan-Jooris
Giordano-Brodie
Russell-Wideman
Smid-Diaz
Ramo
Blue Jackets
Foligno-Johansen-Atkinson
Hartnell-Anisimov-Wennberg
Calvert-Letestu-Skille
Tropp-Chaput-Boll
Johnson-Savard
Erixon-Wisniewski
Tyutin-Prout
Bobrovsky
Go Flames Go!