Flames announce roster for ORG NHL China Games
By Ryan Pike
5 years agoThe Calgary Flames are heading to China to kick off their preseason, and now we know which players will be wearing the Flaming C on the other side of the Pacific. The club has officially announced the 26 players that will be headed to Shenzhen and Beijing for a pair of exhibition contests with the Boston Bruins on Sept. 15 and 19.
The Flames’ China roster
The locals are sending a predictably veteran-laden group to China for 10 days.
- Goalies (3): Jon Gillies, Nick Schneider and Mike Smith
- Defensemen (8): Rasmus Andersson, TJ Brodie, Mark Giordano, Travis Hamonic, Noah Hanifin, Brett Kulak, Dalton Prout and Michael Stone
- Forwards (15): Mikael Backlund, Sam Bennett, Austin Czarnik, Michael Frolik, Johnny Gaudreau, Garnet Hathaway, Mark Jankowski, Morgan Klimchuk, Curtis Lazar, Elias Lindholm, Sean Monahan, James Neal, Anthony Peluso, Derek Ryan and Matthew Tkachuk
Arguably the lone “hey, why is he going?” name is Schneider, formerly of the Calgary Hitmen and presumably there to soak in some experience and learn under Smith a bit. Klimchuk and Peluso are the outsider forwards making the trek, but both are relatively experienced and could potentially make a push for NHL jobs.
On the other side of things, notable veterans names sticking around Canada include David Rittich and tweener forwards Kerby Rychel, Alan Quine, Buddy Robinson and Tyler Graovac.
The Bruins’ China roster
Boston announced their roster on their official site back on Sept. 4. It’s more or less their expected opening night roster, minus Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Noel Acciari, Torey Krug, Danton Heinen, Sean Kuraly, and Anders Bjork. (Adam McQuaid was supposed to go before his trade to the New York Rangers, and David Krejci was replaced by Colby Cave due to visa issues.)
- Goalies (2): Jaroslav Halak and Tuukka Rask
- Defensemen (7): Brandon Carlo, Matt Grzelcyk, Charlie McAvoy, Kevan Miller, John Moore, Urho Vaakanainen and Jakub Zboril
- Forwards (14): David Backes, Martin Bakos, Colby Cave, Peter Cehlarik, Jake DeBrusk, Ryan Donato, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, Trent Frederic, Brad Marchand, Joakim Nordstrom, David Pastrnak, Jack Studnicka, Jordan Szwarz and Chris Wagner
The schedule
The Flames and the Bruins play in Shenzhen on Saturday, Sept. 15 at 12:30 a.m. MT, with the game being broadcast on Sportsnet (with simulcast radio coverage on Sportsnet 960 The Fan).
The teams meet again in Beijing on Wed., Sept. 19 at 5:30 a.m. MT, again with the game being available on TV (Sportsnet) and radio (Sportsnet 960 The Fan).
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