After a four-year pause, the Young Stars Classic has returned to the Okanagan.
Held in Penticton, BC, the round-robin tournament features prospects from Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Winnipeg facing off at the South Okanagan Events Centre (SOEC). Heading into it's ninth year, it is the official start of the teams' prospect training camps.
"It's exciting," Calgary Wranglers head coach Mitch Love said after the team's first practice. "In talking to the guys over the last couple of days, they're really excited about coming to Penticton and being in this tournament. The last few years, we've been playing the Oilers so I think they're excited to have other competition like the Canucks and the Jets.
"The work starts now and you've got to get after it right here at this tournament."

The Flames first match-up will be against the host Canucks, starting at 8:30 p.m. MT and being streamed on CalgaryFlames.com and the Flames' app.
Given this is the first game action these players have had in months, Love predicts the first game to be a bit choppy as both teams find their footing but also made note that he fully expects his club's work ethic is be at its highest level.
"I think one thing that any athlete can control is their competitiveness and their work ethic," he said. "It's based around our guys and having the mindset of coming to the rink and wanting to outcompete our opponents. I'm sure the same thing can be said for everybody, it's the old cliche, that's hockey. But that's what we want to see out of our guys, the effort level, work ethic, being a good teammate for each other here. It's their first evaluation piece but at the end of the day, we want to see some competitiveness and work ethic out of our group."

Morning Skate Notes

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The Flames kept their lines and pairings the same from Thursday's skate. Up front, the Flames ran the following trios at their morning skate:
Jakob Pelletier - Cole Schwindt - Walker Duehr
Mathias Emilio Pettersen - Connor Zary - Adam Klapka
Jack Beck - Rory Kerins - Lucas Ciona
Cole Huckins / Evan Boucher - Ilya Nikolaev - Lucas Feuk / Cooper Walker
On defence, they ran with the following pairings:
Ilya Solovyov - Jeremie Poirier
Cole Jordan - Yan Kuznetsov
Simon Lavigne - Chris Sedoff
Jake Lee - Rhett Rhinehart
Dustin Wolf has been confirmed as the starter for this evening's tilt.

The Opponent

The Canucks will have plenty of members of the 2021-22 Abbotsford Canucks in Penticton, with the likes of forwards Carson Focht, Danila Klimovich, Tristen Nielsen, and Chase Wouters, defencemen Alex Kannok Leipert and Jet Woo, and goaltender Arturs Silovs on their roster.
Out of that group, Klimovich and Wouters led them in scoring in the AHL with eight goals and 18 points. On the blueline, Woo led the way with eight points through 42 skates.In net, Silovs dressed for 10 games for Abbotsford, posting a 3.10 GAA and a .888 save percentage.
Vancover will be bringing two members of their 2022 NHL Draft class in forward Kirill Kudryavstev and goaltender Ty Young. Kudryavstev, the club's seventh-round pick, put up 39 points in 68 games with the Soo Greyhounds in 2021-22. Young, Vancouver's fifth-round selection this past summer, split his season between the WHL and AJHL, posting a 6-9-3 record with a 3.50 GAA and a .899 save percentage with the Prince George Cougars and a 4-10-3 record with a 3.44 GAA and a .921 save percentage with the Calgary Canucks.
During their practice on Thursday, the Canucks ran the following lines and pairings:
Forwards
Tristen Nielsen - Nils Åman - Danila Klimovich
Connor Lockhart - Michael Regish - Simon Pinard
Max Namestnikov - Carson Focht - Marc Gatcomb
Linus Karlsson - Chas Wouters - Arshdeep Bains / Cole Shepard
Justin Gill - Evan Konyen
Defence
Quinn Schmiemann - Jett Woo
Chad Nychuk - Matt Anderson
Jackson Van de Leest - Alex Kannok Leipert
Kirill Kudryavtsuv - Dylan MacPherson

Player To Watch

Jakob Pelletier's first professional season was one to remember.
The Flames' 2019 first-round pick was one of the AHL's top rookies, sitting third in scoring with 62 points in 66 regular season games and second in points-per-game with a 0.94 average. His plus-22 rating was tied for first among all rookie forwards and his 196 shots ranked fourth among all first-year players in the league. Among his Stockton teammates, he was second only to Matthew Phillips in scoring and his eight game-winning goals led all Heat skaters.
In the Calder Cup Playoffs, he showed no signs of nervousness and helped lead the Heat to the Western Conference Final. He put up seven points through 13 appearances, scoring four goals and putting 28 shots on net.

Not bad for a 21-year-old.
Now, he's looking to take his game to the next level. The Young Stars Classic will act as a springboard into the 2022-23 campaign for Pelletier, a year where he's looking to make a run at a roster spot with the Flames. Expect to see the Quebec, QC native to come out firing on all cylinders in his first game action of the season.

Next Up

The Flames are back in action on Saturday night when they take on the Edmonton Oilers at 8:30 p.m. MT.