[MissTeeks]

Youth rekindling 'Battle of Alberta' rivalry

https://www.nhl.com/flames/news/yout...ry/c-282576566

Gretzky and Kurri and Messier and Coffey, draped in blue and orange. Nieuwendyk and Fleury and
Roberts and MacInnis, racing in red and yellow.
Hunter versus Semenko.
McSorley versus Peplinski.
The glory days.
The height of the Battle of Alberta.
When Lord Stanley's Cup resided in the province for six of seven straight seasons.
When the buzz was at its loudest.
Before it softened.
Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan and Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk representing the Calgary Flames.
Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl and Jesse Puljujarvi defending the Edmonton Oilers.
The rivalry is building back. The young guns will attest.

"It could for sure," Monahan said. "There's a lot of skill and there's a lot of skilled guys at a young age that want to make a difference. That's what makes teams grow. You play them so many times, and there's that history behind these two teams. I think that's going to pick up, for sure.
"I think this is going to be a pretty long time where these teams are going to be good, and battling against each other for a while."

Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse can attest, too. At 21 and entering his second season in Edmonton, Nurse is among the group expected to help push the neighbors to the north.
One of the ones, from both sides, tasked with returning the rivalry to what it once was. "You look at the rosters, there's a lot of young players on each team that are going to play against each other for a long time," Nurse said. "It's definitely going to be a rivalry that picks up steam and is going to be a great battle for a lot of years to come.
"You play the team so much. They're in the same division, and we play each other so often over the course of a year. You're going to build up a dislike for each other. Towards the end of the year (last season) it was starting to get there. "As the years go on and each team gets better, it's going to be a rivalry that really takes shape."

"The one thing you want for the Battle of Alberta to get back to where it was is you need the teams to get back into the playoffs," Calgary captain Mark Giordano said. "I think both teams are optimistic with their young players. "It'll be exciting." The lore isn't lost on the next wave.
"We know the history of the Battle of Alberta," Bennett, 20, said. "As soon as you put on the Flaming C, you're naturally going to despise the Oilers. I think that's just part of the territory.
"Both teams seem to be trending in the right direction with the young guys. You definitely look through the lineups. It's a lot of young guys…guys I've played against before. "I think definitely we're anticipating playing these guys for a long time."

Tkachuk ready for NHL debut on Wednesday

https://www.nhl.com/flames/news/exci...ay/c-282575636

The difference? Imagine flooring the family mid-size four-door down Deerfoot, then hanging on for dear life on a Nevada straightaway inside a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, which can go from 0-60 MPH in 2.4 seconds.
"Oh, it'll seem faster,'' cautions Calgary Flames' assistant GM Craig Conroy, from experience.
"Because it is faster.
"Wayfaster.
"This'll be a big jump for him. An eye-opener, for sure. But at least the first few days, it's going to be such an adrenalin high. Opening night of the season in Edmonton, then opening night here and then the next night in Vancouver.
"That's why those nine games are great because they are kind of an audition but the first few, as I've said, you're kind of being swept up in the emotion, the newness, all that.
"It's as you hit four, five, six, seven that you can really start to judge a young guy's NHL readiness. But even, say, from the first game to Christmas there's a huge difference in the games.
"The level just keeps elevating."

Now, opening up against those nefarious Edmonton Oilers, can he raise the ante, push the envelope?
"We're playing against a good young hockey team,'' said Tkachuk, afforded a refreshing bit of nearly-alone time Tuesday post-practice with the furor surrounding Gaudreau's return. "Everything gets amped up. They're going to have their guys going, the building's going to be jumping.
"So we've got to be ready."
He'sgot to be ready.

"When you go through this process,'' said GM Brad Treliving, "you're trying to determine what's right for him and what's right for us. And he's proven to this point that he deserves to be here.
"So far, it's been right for him and it's been right for us.
"But we'll be asking that question every day.
"As I've told him, the questions get harder, the competition's going to get harder. It's night and day, from the games he's played in the last few weeks to what he'll experience Wednesday.
"We're going to go have patience with him."

Gaudreau not concerned about heightened expectations

https://www.nhl.com/flames/news/gaud...ns/c-282571824

Tuesday after flying all night to get here, Johnny Gaudreau got a better Welcome Back than Kotter. The throng around him post-practice reminded you of trying to spot the Mona Lisa over the cascade of gawkers in the Louvre; he looked like Merry or Pippin hidden behind a forest of Ents.
Small man. Huge upside.
"To whom much is given, much is expected,'' acknowledged the general manager of the current era, Brad Treliving, penned in by the obligatory media horde awaiting a Johnny sighting.
"So there are certainly things that go along with that in terms of responsibility. He's ready for that.
"But the contract cannot be a noose."

"(Gaudreau's) contract,'' said Monahan on Tuesday, "means one thing: It shows the organization has that confidence in you and commitment to you.
"You have an opportunity to sign a long-term like that, it's pretty special. You're going to have pressure on you but I think if you don't feel pressure on you on a daily basis, you're not going to be at your best.
"He's in a good spot. I think I'm in a good spot."

For Gaudreau's part, the focus of all the fuss doesn't sound overly concerned by inflated projections.
"The team believes in me and believes in me for the next six years," said Gaudreau. "I'm going to have to perform the way I always have. I'm not worried about it too much. If I just play my game like always I think the results will happen."

Which is why his GM and others in the organization are advising him to think of this as business as usual, despite the big bump in tax bracket.
"We don't,'' said assistant GM Conroy, "need him to be Mony or Brouwer or Backs."
Or Ovie or Sid or Stammer for that matter.
"My expectations," Conroy went on, "are no different for him today than they were last season or the year before that: Creativity. Points. Being an offensive threat that other teams have to game-plan for.
"He's someone who creates so many chances for so many guys, on the power play, 5-on-5, and in my opinion he's the best 3-on-3 player in the league.
"And he's super competitive. Bob (Hartley) used to tell me: 'When the game's on the line, Johnny's ready. He's looking at you like 'Put me out there. NOW.'
"That's what you need. That's his mindset. That's part of what makes him special."