The last few months have been, at times, a drag for those that cheer for (or write about) the Calgary Flames. Other than the Milan Lucic trade in mid-July and the Michael Stone buyout in August, not a heck of a lot has happened.
Well, welcome to September: everything is about to happen at once.

The golf tournament

The 39th annual Flames golf tournament runs today and tomorrow. It’s one of the bigger fundraisers for the Flames Foundation of the year and will feature basically all the movers and shakers of the local sports community.

Rookie camp

The Flames will formally announce the schedule and roster for the rookie camp later this week, but medicals will be Thursday with the on-ice component beginning Friday.
There will be a pair of games: the Flames’ kids face the Edmonton Oilers’ kids on Saturday in Red Deer and the following Tuesday at the Saddledome. If you’re up for it, tickets for the game at the ‘Dome are just five bucks.
It’ll be a pretty young group, with a lot of first-time attendees like Eetu Tuulola and Martin Pospisil.

Heritage Classic jersey reveal

The Winnipeg Jets are most likely going to reveal their Heritage Classic jersey at their fan fest on Sept. 14. If the Jets unveil theirs on that date, it’s extremely likely that the Flames follow suit. Spoiler: it will be a jersey with a Flaming C on it.

Training camp

Main camp kicks off in a week. Medicals will be next Thursday with the on-ice component starting next Friday. Here’s a general idea of the pre-season schedule as well as dates to expect some cuts:
  • Mon., Sept. 16: split squad games with Vancouver (in Calgary and Victoria)
  • We’ll see some junior prospects and try-out bodies trimmed after the split squad games.
  • Wed., Sept. 18: home game against San Jose
  • Fri., Sept. 20: away game in Edmonton
  • With Stockton’s camp opening likely on Sept. 23, most likely some of the AHL depth bodies will be cut after the Sept. 20 game so they have enough time to make it to Stockton to open camp.
  • Sun., Sept. 22: away game in Winnipeg
  • Tues., Sept. 24: home game against Winnipeg
  • With only a couple games left to make decisions, expect a pretty big trim-down after one of the Winnipeg games to get the group down to a fairly manageable number.
  • Thu., Sept. 26: away game in San Jose
  • Sat., Sept. 28: home game against Edmonton
The Flames need to have a cap compliant roster of between 20 and 23 players by Oct. 1 at 3 p.m. MT.