Flames shuffle lines, Travis Hamonic absent at Friday’s practice

The Calgary Flames hit the practice ice on Friday afternoon at the Stampede Corral as they began preparations for their Saturday night game with the Vancouver Canucks. The skate saw a single absence and a few line shuffles.

Defenseman Travis Hamonic was absent from the practice. He blocked a shot with his hand during Thursday’s win in Winnipeg but finished the game.

Lines at practice were as follows:

Alan Quine’s departure shuffles Sam Bennett back to the third line, while Austin Czarnik slides in alongside Matthew Tkachuk and Mikael Backlund. If Hamonic is good to go tomorrow, presumably the bottom two pairings remain status quo – Hamonic with Noah Hanifin and Rasmus Andersson with Oliver Kylington.

Johnny Gaudreau was a regular participant and seemed no worse for wear after Dustin Byfuglien’s slash late in Thursday’s game.

Mike Smith was in the “starter’s net,” but often that hasn’t been an indicator of much this season.

For what it’s worth, Michael Stone and Andrew Mangiapane have stalls in the Flames locker room. Juuso Valimaki’s gear is now back in the locker room, but located on a folding chair (rather than a stall), while there’s an open stall – presumably for a 13th forward. There’s no guarantee that the Flames recall somebody as an insurance policy for tomorrow’s game, but given their history it seems a pretty safe bet.