The Calgary Flames begin their pre-season calendar with the annual split squad games. This year, they open up with a pair against the Vancouver Canucks. They’ll host the Canucks at the Saddledome at 7 p.m. MT (streamed on the Flames site inside the local area) and head to Victoria to face the Canucks at 8 p.m. MT (broadcast on Sportsnet TV). Sportsnet 960 The Fan will be carrying the Calgary game on their air waves.

Projected lines:

Gaudreau – Monahan – Lindholm
Bennett – Backlund – Frolik
Lucic – Ryan – Pelletier
Rinaldo – Gawdin – Smith-Pelly

Giordano – Brodie
Hanifin – Hamonic
MacDonald – Hamilton

Rittich
Talbot

It’s largely a star-studded roster for Calgary, as expected, with both NHL goalies, four of six NHL defenders, and eight of 12 NHL forwards.

Projected lines, via Brandon Batchelor:

Jake Kielly and Richard Bachman are expected to share the net, with Bachman starting. There’s a distinct Calgary flavour to this group: Virtanen is an ex-Hitman, Woo is a current Hitman, Bancks, Fantenberg and Baertschi are ex-Flames, Graovac was formerly a Flames farmhand, while Schaller attended a Flames development camp prior to his pro career kicking off.

Lines via Pat Steinberg:

As noted above, Artyom Zagidulin starts in goal for the Flames and will split duties with Tyler Parsons.

Lines via Brandon Batchelor:

DiPietro and McIntyre will split the net.

In Calgary: It’s our first look at Milan Lucic in a snazzy red sweater. But a bigger focus should be on the fourth line, as Rinaldo, Gawdin and Smith-Pelly are all very much in the mix for roster spots. Gawdin was superb during prospect camp and looks to keep that momentum rolling, while Smith-Pelly looks to cement himself in a fourth line role moving forward.

In Victoria: Zagidulin was superb in prospect camp, but the quality of the opposition will be ramped up here. Can he maintain his high level of play? Similarly, here’s a chance for Dillon Dube to continue his fine work from last week against better opposition.