Flames 2018 Preseason / Training Camp Thread (All Encompassing)

[viper0220]

Flames G Smith: 'Age is just a number'


"Now 36, Calgary Flames goaltender Mike Smith insists age is just a number entering his 13th NHL season.

He told the Calgary Sun on Thursday he believes he still has plenty left in the tank.

“I haven’t aged five years in one year, so I think I still feel young,” Smith said. “I still feel like I have a lot to give. I still feel like I’ve played some of my best hockey in the last three or four years. Hopefully that continues and I can stay healthy and be as consistent as possible."

“It was important for me to come in and have a really good start,” he said. “It’s another important year – the last year of my contract. I feel like I want to keep this thing going and be a stabilizing force back there. The consistency is something you always battle with as a goalie. As someone who likes to play a lot, you want to be as consistent as possible. Everyone in the league likes to have that; that’s something you scratch and claw for throughout your whole career…Then, the winning part of it. You want to be in the playoffs, that’s a team goal we’ll talk about more. But being a part of this organization, you want to get this team back in the playoffs."

https://www.tsn.ca/flames-g-smith-age-is-just-a-number-1.1169109

 

[viper0220]

Michael Frolik revamped his off-season training regimen this summer

The Fittest Flame didn't get that way by letting complacency creep into his off-season training.

He earned that title thanks to years of hard work and by discovering new ways to fine-tune his now 30-year-old chassis.

After switching things up and working out with a new trainer for the first time in "forever," Michael Frolik is entering his fourth year as a Flame on the heels of one of his most productive summers yet.

"I always used to go to Montreal to work out about a month before camp starts," said Frolik, who unseated perennial Fittest Flame Mark Giordano at training camp last season.


Voda, a 36-year-old Slovak native, spent the past eight years as the conditioning coach with KHL and Czech Elite League teams, and is beginning to gain notoriety as one of the preeminent fitness gurus in Europe.

Frolik discovered him through his connection with Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl, who he spent the past month-and-a-half training with on Czech soil.

Draisaitl's father, Peter, worked with Voda in 2013 when he was the head coach of Hradec Kralove in the Czech League, and has recommended his services ever since.

WORKING ON HIS FITNESS

 

[viper0220]

Viktor Svedberg will join the Flames on a PTO

 

[Lunatik]

Svedberg would be a nice add for Stockton if they can get him on an AHL deal

 

[Snazu]

Michael Frolik revamped his off-season training regimen this summer

Seeing that first video reminds me of this.

 

[Rubi]

Went down to the Corral this morning to watch the Flames practice but I couldn't get in to watch as its a closed practice.
Talked to a Flames guy and he said that both Corral practices are closed to the public.
Its not a secrecy thing... more of a liability issue. The Flames are renting the Corral because the ice hasn't been installed in the Dome yet so they can't have the general public wandering around the Corral while the the practice is going on. Once the Flames move back to the Dome the practices will be open. I'll try to get down to the Dome on Monday. Will take my camera with me. Hope to get some nice pics.

 

[Rubi]

Viktor Svedberg will join the Flames on a PTO

Another Heat defense depth player to fill Valimaki's spot when he makes the Flames this year..

 

[FlamerForLife]

Goaltenders
41 - Mike Smith
32 - Jon Gillies
70 - Nick Schneider
Defencemen
4 - Rasmus Andersson
5 - Mark Giordano
6 - Dalton Prout
7 - TJ Brodie
24 - Travis Hamonic
26 - Michael Stone
55 - Noah Hanifin
61 - Brett Kulak
Forwards
10 - Derek Ryan
11 - Mikael Backlund
13 - Johnny Gaudreau
16 - Anthony Peluso
18 - James Neal
19 - Matthew Tkachuk
20 - Curtis Lazar
21 - Garnet Hathaway
23 - Sean Monahan
27 - Austin Czarnik
28 - Elias Lindholm
45 - Morgan Klimchuk
67 - Michael Frolik
77 - Mark Jankowski
93 - Sam Bennett

Only notable omission for me is not taking Rittich but maybe it's just so he gets more game time staying behind.

 

[FlamerForLife]

 

[Lunatik]

Huh, no Foo? I am absolutely flabbergasted by that decision. You would think the NHL would want the only player of Asian decent on either the Flames or Bruins to be going to China.

 

[Calculon]

 

[FlamerForLife]

Huh, no Foo? I am absolutely flabbergasted by that decision. You would think the NHL would want the only player of Asian decent on either the Flames or Bruins to be going to China.

 

[Lunatik]

Foo himself said in an interview on Flames TV there is Asian ancestry on his dads side before them being in South America, so Haynes is absolutely incorrect in this case.

 

[Mobiandi]

Pretty weird they didn't take Rittich. He's a guy that's lost his waiver-exempt status, so he has the inside track on the back-up role. You'd think they would bring him along for the trip for the team-bonding even if he or Gillies don't necessarily play.

He's just gonna get shelled while he's in Calgary

 

[Lunatik]

Apparently Haynes is backpedaling now claiming that only meant that Foo doesn't speak Chinese

 

[Rubi]

Only notable omission for me is not taking Rittich but maybe it's just so he gets more game time staying behind.

Well there are a few surprises for me. I definitely thought out of Gillies and Rittich that if the Flames were only taking one of the two it would be Rittich.
I'm surprised that both Lazar and Hathaway are going. I expected to see Mangiapane there at least and perhaps Foo. We all know what Lazar and Hathaway can contribute and fully expect to see them both hit the waiver wire unless they play lights out in the preseason. I hope they give Mangiapane a legitimate shot at making team this year instead of the farce last year was when they basically stuck him with no talent plumbers, and limited ice time, for his 10 games with the Flames.

 

[Rubi]

Totally. Every time I look at Foo I say: "now there's an Inca if I ever saw one".
As for the name Foo... very common in South America. Open up any SA phone book and its loaded with Senior Foo's all over the continent. I hear they're descended from Inca royalty.

 

[Calculon]

If Smith is playing both games against the Bruins, then I understand why they left Rittich at home where he'll actually get the opportunity to play.

Plus the prospects and players fighting for jobs tend be a lot more hungry than the vets simply trying to find their legs. He'll play behind some competitive squads.

And I wonder if Foo might have asked to remain in Calgary to avoid dealing with the language issue.

 

[Volica]

If Smith is playing both games against the Bruins, then I understand why they left Rittich at home where he'll actually get the opportunity to play.

Plus the prospects and players fighting for jobs tend be a lot more hungry than the vets simply trying to find their legs. He'll play behind some competitive squads.

And I wonder if Foo might have asked to remain in Calgary to avoid dealing with the language issue.

Parsons and Rittich are going to get a tonne if games. I’m surprised no vets were left behind from the team. I think it’s the right move to let some of the older guys stay, maybe even by choice, to give the young guys some guidance.

I mean, it’s not a big deal regardless.

 

[Volica]

Huh, no Foo? I am absolutely flabbergasted by that decision. You would think the NHL would want the only player of Asian decent on either the Flames or Bruins to be going to China.

A lot of my friends who are of Chinese ancestry but don’t speak a lick of Mandarin or Cantonese find it hard when dealing with OG Chinese people; there’s a lot of downward, almost shaming, as to why they don’t speak the language.

I understand keeping Foo at home. Plus it gives him first line minutes in 4 games.

 

[Lunatik]

A lot of my friends who are of Chinese ancestry but don’t speak a lick of Mandarin or Cantonese find it hard when dealing with OG Chinese people; there’s a lot of downward, almost shaming, as to why they don’t speak the language.

I understand keeping Foo at home. Plus it gives him first line minutes in 4 games.

I totally get this kind of reasoning. I also like that he'll be playing more. It gist surprised me is all.

 

[InfinityIggy]

It’s almost as if they are interested in giving Foo the best opportunity to succeed instead of using him as a gimmick.

 

[Lunatik]

It’s almost as if they are interested in giving Foo the best opportunity to succeed instead of using him as a gimmick.

There are advantages to both, in China he would be playing with and against legitimate NHL players. Instead he plays more but against AHL level competition.

 

[InfinityIggy]

There are advantages to both, in China he would be playing with and against legitimate NHL players. Instead he plays more but against AHL level competition.

True, but if he stands out in the games against weaker competition then it’s a good indicator he is ready to take the next step. If he is up playing depth minutes with the big team, it’s easier for him to get lost in the shuffle.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Not super surprised to see them take most of what will be the NHL roster to China. They have 9 days there and 2 games, should provide a lot of opportunity to gel as a team with a lot of new faces. Pretty strong message to Andersson and Kulak that this is their moment to impress.