"Fire and Fury". Is that the latest best-seller, or Glen Gulutzan's new attitude? Will yesterday's fireworks at practice bring out some raise the heat in the 'Dome? Will the Flames barbecue some Duck tonight? I sure hope so!
we set the table (
www.calgarysun.com)
Quote:
The speculation was rampant … Perhaps legendary right-winger Jaromir Jagr needed surgery? Maybe he had requested a release after just three months with the Flames? Was the 45-year-old finally set to retire? No. No. No. Although head coach Glen Gulutzan had promised an update Friday on Jagr, there was no big news — he’s still ‘day-to-day’ with a nagging lower-body injury. It’s believed to be a bothersome knee that has limited Jagr to only five appearances in the past month.
Saturday marks the Ducks’ first visit to the Saddledome since last spring, when they put the finishing touches on a sweep in Game 4 of a first-round playoff set. The Flames crew did snap their historic losing streak at Honda Center this fall, but the Quack Pack remain dominant in this rivalry, with a 21-4-1 record against the Flames over the past four campaigns, including two post-season ousters. The Ducks are currently three points ahead in the Pacific Division standings, too.
The Flames are just hitting the halfway mark of their 82-game regular-season slate — this date with the Ducks is No. 41 — but Micheal Ferland has already established a career-best with 16 snipes so far, the latest sparking the comeback in Thursday’s 4-3 win against the Los Angeles Kings at the Saddledome. The first-line thumper scored 15 last season, nothing to sneeze at but apparently just a hint of bigger things to come from the 25-year-old right-winger.
When these two squads squared off last week at Honda Center, Ducks forward Rickard Rakell scored early in the third to lift the hosts to a 2-1 victory … The Ducks captain, Ryan Getzlaf, was blanked in Thursday’s 2-1 shootout loss to the Oilers in Edmonton but has still piled up seven points — six of ’em assists — in four contests since the Christmas break … Don’t forget, tickets are still available to Sunday’s SuperSkills event at the Saddledome.
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lineups (
www.dailyfaceoff.com)
FLAMES
Gaudreau - Monahan - Ferland
Tkachuk - Backlund - Brouwer
Bennett - Jankowski - Hathaway
Mangiapane - Stajan - Lazar
Giordano - Hamilton
Brodie - Hamonic
Kulak - Stone
Smith
DUCKS
Vermette - Getzlaf - Rakell
Cogliano - Kesler - Silfverberg
Ritchie - Henrique -Kase
Wagner - Grant - Shaw
Lindholm - Manson
Fowler - Bieksa
Beauchemin- Montour
Gibson
...and you knew this was coming. With his love of the gruesome and inspired by Barys Astana, That Darn Puppet grabs his sacrificial tools and goes looking for a "volunteer":
Go Flames
Flames vs Ducks, 8:00 PM, MST. Hockey Night in Canada, Fan 960
