[calgARI]

What an enjoyable hockey game. After all this time of watching the news and riding the roller coaster of this off season, it was great to just watch a game. And the Calgary Flames played well and they played hard. Not sharp in certain respects, the way we would expect, given that it's early in the season and with the various changes. But they were considerably better than I thought they would be.

Kadri is a special player. Brings so much energy and is so engaged across all areas. Plays with incredible tempo.

Huberdeau sees the game in a way that no one else does.

Felt Toffoli was quite engaged in the ways he was when first acquired.

Lindholm and the other two may not have gelled all that well, but I can see that working out well.

Dube on the receiving end of a lot of physical play. Great pace and edge to his game. He has come a long long way under Sutter.

Mangiapane with Kadri/Dube has a lot of potential as guys who can all play with pace and willingness to play in high traffic. Quite a bit different than the first line.

Weeger plays a simple and smart and constructive game. Very engaged.

Andersson poised to take more steps forward, including as a leader. Surprised his name doesn't come up more for leadership roles.

Thought Backlund was not dialed in on the second Colorado goal, but then played really well from there on out, especially on the kill.

This is a very intriguing hockey team. I feel like there is considerably higher mental upside with this core relative to the previous core. They don't strike me as a group that will become as distracted or prone to becoming lost as the previous group. That, combined with some important growth from other players, makes for a hockey team that could be really good. I am very interested to see how they match with Edmonton and don't have a great idea on what to expect there.