Calgary Flames Announce Opening Night Roster and Taxi Squad
The Calgary Flames are all set for the 2020-21 NHL season.
A three-month season delay, about a week and a half on-ice, two intersquad scrimmages and the season opener is finally among us. The Calgary Flames have completed their 2021 Training Camp and are ready for the modified season.
It's here!
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) January 12, 2021
Check out the #Flames 2020-21 opening night roster: https://t.co/T26tRszYoT pic.twitter.com/hAJ0jyFUXu
The Calgary Flames organization announced their opening night roster on Tuesday afternoon for their Playoff Qualifier rematch against the Winnipeg Jets. Here is a look at the guys that will be debuting the new reverse retro jerseys on Thursday night.
Forwards
Defensemen
Christopher Tanev
Goalies
At first glance, the most exciting part of this news is the long awaited debut of Jusso Valimaki on the Flames blueline. Valimaki is a top-rated prospect that has been battling lower-body injuries the last two seasons. He has made a commitment to recovery and bulking up to be NHL ready and he has finally made it. Even in the intersquad scrimmages he quickly worked his way up to be paired with the likes of Rasmus Andersson.
Other new additions cracking the lineup include Joakim Nordstrom, Josh Leivo, Dominik Simon, Nikita Nesterov, Christopher Tanev, and Jacob Markstrom. Following free agency, the joke of the internet seemed to be that the Flames were practically the new Vancouver Canucks with how many players they acquired from their rivals to the west. Two former Canucks cracked the Opening Night roster and one made it to the Taxi Squad so it doesn’t seem like as much of a roster takeover as some seem to think.
Derek Ryan, Oliver Kylington and Zac Rinaldo were placed on waivers on Monday and all cleared according to reports from NHL insider, Elliotte Friedman. With the announcement of the roster, the team also confirmed their Taxi Squad players and these three were among the six selections. Also in the taxi squad is defensemen Connor Mackey, forward Buddy Robinson, and Goaltender Louis Domingue.
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The Flames open the 2021 season on Thursday, January 14th in Winnipeg to face the Jets for the first time since their qualifying series last summer. Puck drop is at 6:00pm (MT).