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<p>The Calgary Flames completed the rookie portion of training camp on Monday afternoon, finishing off their third and final game of the Young Stars Classic tournament in Penticton. The Flames played three times and won once, losing once in regulation and another time in overtime. They captured zero of a possible zero points.</p>
<p>But the main point of the tournament is to get the team&#8217;s youngsters some game action before main camp begins and they start battling their more experienced teammates in practice and more experienced opponents in the pre-season.</p>
<p>As we look back on the Penticton tournament, here are six players that we thought impressed (especially relative to what we expected to see from them.)</p>
<p><em>(For more on the impressive weekend Sam Morton had, Mike Gould delved into it elsewhere. While we had to draw the line somewhere for this list, definitely give stick-taps to Matvei Gridin, who showed some flashes of brilliance offensively.)</em></p>
<h1>Hunter Brzustewicz</h1>
<p>After a super Draft+1 season in the OHL, Brzustewicz is going pro this season. He played twice, both times paired with Artem Grushnikov. He ended up scoring a goal against Winnipeg, jumping into the rush while Morton cycled the puck and scoring as he pinched down into the slot. He was also the second assist on Andrew Basha&#8217;s power play goal against Edmonton (though for some reason he was credited with the goal).</p>
<p>So far, so good.</p>
<h1>Lucas Ciona</h1>
<p>Ciona had kind of an uneven season in 2023-24 as a first-year pro, playing in the Wranglers&#8217; bottom six and ending up as a healthy scratch near the end of the season. Ciona had two assists across three games – one on Jaden Lipinski&#8217;s shorthanded goal against Winnipeg, the other on Luka Misa&#8217;s empty-net goal against Edmonton – and a fight to his credit. The Lipinski assist was probably emblematic of how he looked over the weekend, as he used his speed and size really effectively on the forecheck. If he&#8217;s going to be an effective pro, this might be what it needs to look like.</p>
<h1>Samuel Honzek</h1>
<p>On Friday, Honzek was pretty ordinary against Winnipeg. He wasn&#8217;t bad, but he didn&#8217;t really move the needle. But his weekend built well, as he had a secondary assist against Edmonton with a head&#8217;s up play that sent William Strömgren and Morton in on an odd-man rush (they scored). And against Vancouver, he set up Gridin&#8217;s goal and scored off the rush off a pass from Gridin. For a player that had a tough season due to injuries in 2023-24, here&#8217;s hoping that he can maintain the momentum from these three games into main camp.</p>
<h1>Waltteri Ignatjew</h1>
<p>The Finnish-born goaltender played his first game and a half in North American hockey ever, going the distance against Edmonton and playing half of Monday&#8217;s game with Vancouver. Ignatjew – pronounced Ig-nat-ev – was quite solid, stopping 93.5% of the shots he faced.</p>
<p>He also almost scored an empty-netter, something he reportedly practised in Sweden according to his goalie coach last season.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="sv" dir="ltr">Jobbade på det ifjol men då var jumbotronen i vägen 🙈 <a href="https://t.co/HUzNIjDYdG">https://t.co/HUzNIjDYdG</a> <a href="https://t.co/VJkMSENOp5">pic.twitter.com/VJkMSENOp5</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Karl Malmquist (@MalmquistKarl) <a href="https://twitter.com/MalmquistKarl/status/1835187293436444949?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 15, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
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<h1>Zayne Parekh</h1>
<p>In junior last season, Parekh was a beast offensively and helped lead Saginaw to a Memorial Cup. He was the CHL&#8217;s top blueliner last season. He was drafted ninth overall. Of all the players on this list, expectations were high for him. And while his defensive game is obviously a work in progress and he was muscled off a couple pucks – once against Winnipeg and once against Vancouver – that led to goals against, the kid was constantly trying stuff and doing stuff and buzzing around. He had a nice goal against the Canucks and was easily one of the Flames&#8217; most noticeable players.</p>
<p>If he can fill out a bit physically and tidy up a bit of his details away from the puck, he could be a menace really soon.</p>
<h1>William Strömgren</h1>
<p>Strömgren was one of the Wranglers&#8217; most impressive players from about Jan. 1 onward last season. Could he carry that momentum forward through Penticton? Yes. Yes, he could. Along with Morton, he was one of the Flames&#8217; best performers against Winnipeg and Edmonton. He was credited with two assists over two games, but easily could&#8217;ve hit the scoresheet more than that.</p>
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Zayne Parekh skates in the neutral zone in the Calgary Flames vs. Edmonton Oilers game at the 2024 Young Stars Classic in Penticton, BC.

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The Calgary Flames completed the rookie portion of training camp on Monday afternoon, finishing off their third and final game of the Young Stars Classic tournament in Penticton. The Flames played three times and won once, losing once in regulation and another time in overtime. They captured zero of a possible zero points.

But the main point of the tournament is to get the team's youngsters some game action before main camp begins and they start battling their more experienced teammates in practice and more experienced opponents in the pre-season.

As we look back on the Penticton tournament, here are six players that we thought impressed (especially relative to what we expected to see from them.)

<em>(For more on the impressive weekend Sam Morton had, Mike Gould delved into it elsewhere. While we had to draw the line somewhere for this list, definitely give stick-taps to Matvei Gridin, who showed some flashes of brilliance offensively.)</em>
<h1>Hunter Brzustewicz</h1>
After a super Draft+1 season in the OHL, Brzustewicz is going pro this season. He played twice, both times paired with Artem Grushnikov. He ended up scoring a goal against Winnipeg, jumping into the rush while Morton cycled the puck and scoring as he pinched down into the slot. He was also the second assist on Andrew Basha's power play goal against Edmonton (though for some reason he was credited with the goal).

So far, so good.
<h1>Lucas Ciona</h1>
Ciona had kind of an uneven season in 2023-24 as a first-year pro, playing in the Wranglers' bottom six and ending up as a healthy scratch near the end of the season. Ciona had two assists across three games – one on Jaden Lipinski's shorthanded goal against Winnipeg, the other on Luka Misa's empty-net goal against Edmonton – and a fight to his credit. The Lipinski assist was probably emblematic of how he looked over the weekend, as he used his speed and size really effectively on the forecheck. If he's going to be an effective pro, this might be what it needs to look like.
<h1>Samuel Honzek</h1>
On Friday, Honzek was pretty ordinary against Winnipeg. He wasn't bad, but he didn't really move the needle. But his weekend built well, as he had a secondary assist against Edmonton with a head's up play that sent William Strömgren and Morton in on an odd-man rush (they scored). And against Vancouver, he set up Gridin's goal and scored off the rush off a pass from Gridin. For a player that had a tough season due to injuries in 2023-24, here's hoping that he can maintain the momentum from these three games into main camp.
<h1>Waltteri Ignatjew</h1>
The Finnish-born goaltender played his first game and a half in North American hockey ever, going the distance against Edmonton and playing half of Monday's game with Vancouver. Ignatjew – pronounced Ig-nat-ev – was quite solid, stopping 93.5% of the shots he faced.

He also almost scored an empty-netter, something he reportedly practised in Sweden according to his goalie coach last season.

https://twitter.com/MalmquistKarl/status/1835187293436444949
<h1>Zayne Parekh</h1>
In junior last season, Parekh was a beast offensively and helped lead Saginaw to a Memorial Cup. He was the CHL's top blueliner last season. He was drafted ninth overall. Of all the players on this list, expectations were high for him. And while his defensive game is obviously a work in progress and he was muscled off a couple pucks – once against Winnipeg and once against Vancouver – that led to goals against, the kid was constantly trying stuff and doing stuff and buzzing around. He had a nice goal against the Canucks and was easily one of the Flames' most noticeable players.

If he can fill out a bit physically and tidy up a bit of his details away from the puck, he could be a menace really soon.
<h1>William Strömgren</h1>
Strömgren was one of the Wranglers' most impressive players from about Jan. 1 onward last season. Could he carry that momentum forward through Penticton? Yes. Yes, he could. Along with Morton, he was one of the Flames' best performers against Winnipeg and Edmonton. He was credited with two assists over two games, but easily could've hit the scoresheet more than that.
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6 Calgary Flames prospects who impressed at the Young Stars Classic

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