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First Round Picks Show Up for Game Three – Prospect Notes |
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The Calgary Flames drew to 1-1-1 in the 2024 Penticton Young Stars Classic after falling 4-3 to an older Vancouver Canucks roster. The Canucks swept the tournament 3-0-0 after sending Arshdeep Bains for his eighth or ninth victory lap at this event.
Kidding, but it wouldn't be a surprise if this had been his third. Likewise, you have to wonder if Aatu Raty, Elias Pettersson (the defenceman), and Akito Hirose felt that they didn't entirely need to be there.
A few notes on the Flames at this year's Penticton meetup.
First Round, Last Impression
Ninth overall pick in 2024, Zayne Parekh, brought a much stronger game than his previous two outings. His first period marker was naturally the highlight of the tournament for the 18-year-old from Nobleton, Ontario, but he simply showed more urgency in the final game.
Zayne put a shot hard off the post mere minutes before scoring his goal. Courtesy of Robert Munich, check out this nice little sequence along the offensive blue line.
Similar to Parekh, 2024 first round pick Matvei Gridin needed some time to get comfortable. The six-foot-one forward finally brought out his big shot this afternoon to open the scoring.
Gridin finished the day with two points. He recorded an assist on a goal by Samuel Honzek, who unlike the other two Flames first round picks prior to today, put up some strong production this tournament - he finished tied with Sam Morton for first on the team with three points in three games.
As one of the younger players selected in the 2023 NHL Entry draft, Honzek has plenty of runway to kick his development into gear. Last year was more of a write-off due to injuries, but you need only look to William Strömgren if you want an example of a bigger, more raw prospect hitting their tipping point and suddenly looking like an early-career threat to steal a roster spot.
Additional Notes
Perhaps it was because he was playing against his former organization, but Joni Jurmo brought far more poise with the puck than he had previously. The 22-year-old who has been playing in the Liiga since 18 had a few nice carries over 60 minutes.
Henry Mews piled up penalties on Monday. Three by the end of the second by my count.
Eric Jamieson continues to look like a future NHLer. Just very solid. The Calgary product already has the frame at six-foot-three and 205 lbs; now he needs to haunt a weight room for a few years.
Jamieson has a 15-year-old brother, Luke, currently attending Edge School. He plays forward and is currently waiting for that growth spurt at five-foot-seven.
24-year-old Waltteri Ignatjew looked solid. He should have no problem working in tandem with Devin Cooley on the Wranglers.
This usually isn’t a place for negativity, but the Young Stars tournament does a dreadful job of posting stats. My beer league gets an easy-to-find box score out in 30 minutes. By my count this tournament, Morton and Honzek had three points a piece. Brzustewicz, Strömgren, Gridin, Lipinski, Misa and Ciona had two points each. Basha, Parekh, Mews, Morin, Laing, and Battaglia had one point per.
Morton, Strömgren, and Brzustewicz had the strongest performances of the group and were given the final game off.
Looking Forward
With the prospects tournament in the past, we now get to the hard stuff. A brief, three-practice training camp and then preseason kicks off on Sunday against the Seattle Kraken.
We're about to witness an absolute battle royale for around four forward spots at the bottom of the roster. Vladar and Wolf will duel for starter. MacKenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson are the only true locks for a top-four role. Buckle up.
Stats kept internally.
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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