On the outside of the Winsport Arena, it was the second day of the 2024 Calgary Stampede. But inside the arena, a packed house was treated to a pretty entertaining scrimmage to conclude the 2024 edition of Calgary Flames development camp.
Donned in white jerseys, Team MacNeil beat Team Crisp by a 12-6 score, with MacNeil’s Luke Misa scoring three goals to lead his team to victory.
The rosters
Team MacNeil looked like this to start:
Misa – Lipinski – Strömgren
Battaglia – King – Laing
Ciona – Silye – Suniev
Battaglia – King – Laing
Ciona – Silye – Suniev
Jurmo – Brzustewicz
Hurtig – Mews
I.Parekh – Hennen
Hurtig – Mews
I.Parekh – Hennen
Tung
Radomsky
Murphy
Radomsky
Murphy
Team Crisp looked like this to start:
Honzek – Morton – Coronato
Basha – Bohlsen – Janicke
McNamara/Bell – Littler – Gridin
Basha – Bohlsen – Janicke
McNamara/Bell – Littler – Gridin
Grushnikov – Z.Parekh
Morin – Topp
Jamieson – Murr
Morin – Topp
Jamieson – Murr
Pelletier
Yegorov
McCallum
Yegorov
McCallum
The rundown
The scrimmage was split into two 25-minute run-time halves. They played 10 minutes of five-on-five, 10 minutes of four-on-five, then five minutes of three-on-three, followed by a shootout. Goaltenders changed on the fly.
The first half was quite evenly played and the score reflected it at 4-4. Team MacNeil got goals from Misa (x2), William Strömgren and Hayden Hennen, while Team Crisp got markers from Zayne Parekh, Sam Morton, Cade Littler and Kaden Bolhsen. Team MacNeil took a 5-4 lead after winning the first half shootout 2-1 (and being awarded a goal).
The second half saw Team MacNeil pull away, with goals from Jacob Battaglia, Carter King, Axel Hurtig, Misa, Hennen and Joni Jurmo. Team Crisp answered with goals from Morton and Matt Coronato to trail 11-6. MacNeil rubbed some salt in the wound with a 3-2 win in the second half shootout, giving themselves a 12-6 win.
Who looked good?
A disclaimer: it’s July and a lot of guys haven’t really gotten into their training programs too intensively. Heck, if you’re a high-end draft prospect from this class, you might not have gotten into your program at all.
That said, Strömgren looked good whenever he was on the ice. He did a great job using his size to open up space, and he created a lot of chances by holding onto the puck and waiting for space to open for his teammates. (It’s worth noting that Strömgren’s team won last year’s Snowy Cup, too.) We also thought that Coronato, Hurtig, Morton and Suniev looked quite effective. And a lot of the 2024 picks showed well, particularly Parekh, Battaglia, Misa and Basha.
And let’s give a thought to the goalies: this was not an environment designed to make goaltenders shine. But we thought Yegor Yegorov had some nice moments, and none of the six goalies really looked like they were out of place.
Up next
2024’s development camp has concluded! Everyone will go their separate ways until the fall, when the players that aren’t based in college or Europe will likely reconvene in mid September to prepare to represent the Flames in the Young Stars Classic tournament in Penticton, B.C.