Game Day Notebook - 09.10.25

VANCOUVER — The Flames are right back in action Thursday evening, facing the Canucks at Rogers Arena at 8 p.m. MT.

To get you set for the second game of the regular season, we present this Game Day Notebook!

Feel The Energy

For the second night in a row, the Flames will play the role of guest in another team's home-opener.

And for the second consecutive evening, their goal is to play spoiler.

On nights like these, there's a palpable energy in the building, a sense of excitement at the dawn of a new season.

"I think the players feed off it, I really do," head coach Ryan Huska said during his pre-game availability Thursday. "There's some intensity in the building, and I do think visiting teams can feed off that for sure.

"Certain players, like Nazem Kadri for one, for example, he tends to feed off crowds in games like this. There's emotion in the building, and really, that's a lot of nights what the game's all about. If you're physically engaged and you're emotionally attached to a game, then you're going to be a better player."

For Connor Zary, who stunned the Rogers Arena crowd with an overtime winner in this fixture a year ago, the key is to hit the ice with a sense of purpose, right from the drop of the puck.

"We've got to start a lot better than we did yesterday, and that's what we know we need to do," he said. "Come out here and kind of just embrace the grind of what we're doing, have no excuses and kind of just go play our game right at the start."

Nose For The Net

Connor Zary has made a habit of scoring in his season debuts.

Last night's powerplay tally in Edmonton marked the third consecutive season in which Zary has lit the lamp in his first NHL contest of the campaign.

He scored on his debut in 2023 against the Stars, then tucked home that dramatic overtime winner here in Vancouver one year ago today.

But there's a commonality to all three of those markers: they came in the environs of the blue paint.

"It's definitely something I pride myself on, trying to get to the net," the forward said Thursday. "Obviously, the puck's got to get there eventually to get in the back of the net.

"So, any time you get in there, get under guys and get close to the goalie and create havoc and find those loose pucks, that's part of my game and something I pride myself in being good at."

If last night's game in Edmonton was any indication, it's that pucks on net are always a good thing.

And having a net-front presence will only help Calgary's goal of coming home with a 2-0 record, according to the head coach.

"We were not generating as much as we would have liked to last year, one of the big reasons for it was not (being) hungry enough, hard enough in front of goaltenders," Ryan Huska explained Thursday. "And with Demko tonight, if he's going to see pucks that are coming at him, if he's going to not have to deal with second and third, opportunities from our guys being hungry to get there, then it's an easy night.

"So if we want to generate more, we have to get there. And I don't think it's any secret that teams that go to the net hard are the ones that score the most goals, so we expect that out of our players tonight."

Line Of Defence

Joel Hanley played in his first NHL season-opener Wednesday night in this, his 11th NHL campaign.

Along with MacKenzie Weegar, his pairing became a dependable duo as the 2024-25 campaign progressed, and Hanley's role grew from extra blueliner to top-four mainstay.

With that extra ice-time came extra confidence, and extra belief, the end result of which was a two-year contract extension that Hanley inked in July.

Wednesday night in Edmonton, the pairing held the Oilers off the scoresheet at even strength and for Hanley, the bond between he and Weegar is only growing.

"It's been fun," Hanley said with a grin Thursday. "(Weegar's) obviously a great player, you guys know what he's about."

"I think we've grown so far, and hopefully we can continue to do that."

A night after facing the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, Hanley and Weegar will again be tasked with dealing with a division rival looking to start its season on the front foot.

For head coach Ryan Huska, that means everyone will have to play - and think - fast.

"I felt in the preseason, the games that we saw against (Vancouver) were, throughout their lineup, (they) were playing a very fast game," he said. "That still means they're fore-checking hard, but they added a little different dimension when they were leaving players behind our defence, were taking off as soon as they anticipated change of possession.

"So they seemed like a group that's free and loose right now, so we're going to have to make sure that we're ready to bring our best tonight."