DEVELOPMENT CAMP PRIMER

The Flames 2018 development camp gets underway Thursday and will feature 41 players hitting the ice at WinSport over a three-day stretch.
After Thursday's fitness testing sessions, the players will take part in on-ice and off-ice training on Friday and Saturday. To close out the camp on Sunday, the two groups will face off in a scrimmage, which starts at 9:30 a.m. MT.

The Basics

• 22 of the 41 players in attendance are Flames prospects, either being drafted by the club, signing entry-level deals with the organization or being acquired via a trade in recent years. A breakdown of prospects by draft or signings: 2018 draftees (Martin Pospisil, Demetrios Koumontzis, Milos Roman, Mathias Emilio Pettersen, Dmitry Zavgorodniy ), 2017 draftees (Juuso Valimaki, Adam Ruzicka, Zach Fischer, D'Artagnan Joly, Filip Sveningsson), 2016 draftees (Tyler Parsons, Dillon Dube, Linus Lindstrom, Eetu Tuulola, Matthew Phillips), 2014 draftee (Mason McDonald), free agent signings/acquired by trade (Glenn Gawdin, Nick Schenider, Yasin Ehliz, Brett Pollock, Spencer Foo, Josh Healey).
• 19 of the players attending this year's camp are free-agent invites. There are six players from the NCAA (Matthew Galaja - Cornell, Erik Brown - RIT, Callum Cusinato - St. Lawerence, Ben Freeman - Connecticut, Bobby McMann - Colgate, Luke Morgan - Michigan), four from the OHL (Justin Fazio - Sarnia, Merrick Rippon - Mississauga/Ottawa, Jordan Ernst - Sarnia, Michael Little - Mississauga), six from the WHL (Jake Christiansen - Everett, Dalton Hamaliuk - Spokane, Joel Lakusta - Prince George, Igor Merezhko - Lethbridge, Brayden Pachal - Prince Albert, Egor Zamula - Calgary), one from the BCHL (Jimmy Lambert - Vernon), one from the CCHL (David Jankowski), and one from the MHL (Bogdon Zhilyakov).

Calgary Connections

• Adam Ruzicka, the 109th-overall pick in 2017, will have a couple of familiar faces in camp with him: Sarnia goaltender Justin Fazio and forward Jordan Ernst have accepted invites to participate in this year's camp. Fazio, 21, put together a 37-11-3 record with a 2.85 GAA and a .918 save percentage in his final year in junior hockey. Ernst, also 21, closed out his OHL career with 27 goals and 54 points in 68 regular-season games.
• Zach Fischer, drafted 140th overall last summer, will also have a 2017-18 teammate join him at camp in defenceman Dalton Hamaliuk. The rearguard skated in 71 regular season games, putting up four goals and 16 points.
• Forward David Jankowski, younger brother of Mark, will be at camp. Like his older brother, David played high-level Canadian high school hockey in his draft-eligible season and will be heading to the NCAA this fall, committed to St. Lawrence. With the Hawkesbury Hawks, David scored 38 goals and 90 points in 2017-18. Mark, in the 2011-12 season, racked up 53 goals and 94 points in 57 games.
• Defenceman Egor Zamula was traded to the Calgary Hitmen mid-way through the 2017-18 campaign and finished off the season with two goals and 11 points with his new club. The Russian blueliner was taken 60th overall by the Regina Pats in the 2017 CHL Import Draft.

The Pro Game

• 11 Flames prospects played at least one game of pro hockey in 2017-18.
• Winger Spencer Foo, who signed with the Flames last summer as a free agent out of Union College, put up 20 goals and 39 points in 62 games with the Stockton Heat. He also made his NHL debut late in the season, scoring two goals in four skates.
• Defenceman Josh Healey, signed as a free agent out of Ohio State last summer, had four assists in 50 games in Stockton.
• Goaltenders Tyler Parsons and Mason McDonald split time between Kansas City in the ECHL and Stockton in the AHL last year. Parsons was Calgary's second round-pick in 2016 and McDonald was a second-round selection in 2014. Nick Schneider, a free-agent signing in 2016, appeared in one game in Stockton after his season with the Calgary Hitmen ended.
• Forward Dillon Dube skated in six games in Stockton after Kelowna was knocked out of the WHL playoffs. The 2016 second-round pick put up four assists during his cup of coffee in Northern California.
• 2016 fourth-round pick Linus Lindstrom spent the 2017-18 with Skelleftea in the SHL. The forward had three goals and four points in 41 regular-season games and put up four assists in 16 playoff skates.
• 2017 seventh-round pick Filip Sveningsson earned a promotion to HV71's SHL club, playing 11 pro games last season.
• German forward Yasin Ehliz played for the Nurnberg Ice Tigers in 2017-18, scoring 10 goals and 31 points in 46 games. He signed with the Flames as a free-agent earlier this year.
• Brett Pollock, acquired in the Kris Russell trade with Dallas, had 10 goals and 20 points in 46 regular-season games in the AHL.
• Eetu Tuulola spent the 2017-18 season with HIK in Finland's SM-Liiga league. The forward, who was drafted in the sixth round of the 2016 draft, scored 16 goals and 26 points in 51 games.

Schedule Notes

• All on-ice sessions will be held at WinSport and are open to the public. On Friday, Group A starts skating at 9 a.m. and Group B will begin at 10:30 a.m. On Friday, Group B starts practice at 9 a.m. and Group A will take the 10:30 a.m. slot. Sunday will feature a scrimmage between the groups, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
• Please note that parking can be limited at WinSport so allow time to locate parking at a nearby lot.
• Groups can change each day and without notice. CalgaryFlames.com will keep an updated group list here: www.calgaryflames.com/DevelopmentCampGroups