The odds of Leland Irving getting his first NHL start just went up considerably.

Another Flames rookie is up and in the line-up. The Flames have not seen this many 25 and under players (six) on the roster since a doey eyed Jarome Iginla was wearing a Dallas Stars jersey on draft day. Just a quick recap On IR - David Moss, Anton Babchuk, Mark Giordano and now Henrik Karlsson. 25 and under on the roster - Blake Comeau, Mikael Backlund, Roman Horak, Chris Butler, T.J. Brodie and now Leland Irving. I honestly can't recall a time when the Flames had this much youth - yeah no rebuild happening here - move along...

Jay Feaster may not be able to confirm or deny Sarich's request to be traded but Sarich's camp came out with a firm denial. Illustrating a frustration with not playing and stating that he "wants to be out there." Rhett Warrener of Sportsnet has a bit of egg on his face at this moment, as the source of this leaked "trade request". Silly mainstream media, back and forth on these rumors. Where does this stuff come from, someone on the grassy knoll in their underwear and it certainly isn't us. Wasn't Feaster a blogger with the Hockey News before he was hired by the Flames. ; )

Preview of Battle of Alberta tonight

The new thought Flames management is continuing to illustrate a retreat from the naive optimism they had starting the season. PL3 also known as PIERRE-LUC LETOURNEAU-LEBLOND, a boxer who occasionally plays hockey has been put on waivers. A pick-up most questioned from the get go, even though the price was only a 5th round pick. Not a complicated move here, the Flames obviously want Paul Byron back up on the roster.

A move that will likely surprise few at this point. T.J. Brodie is being called up to replace Anton Babchuk. This is good news for Flames fans as Babchuk has been underwhelming so far this season and Brodie is being given his chance on NHL ice for an evaluation. Anton Babchuk has a broken hand that was suffered in last nights game against the Wild. Personally, can not recall the play that occurred on, as Babchuk did not leave the game. A post game x-ray likely revealed it. Lucky break for Brodie, bad luck for Babchuk. Remains to be seen what will happen with the Flames but Babchuk has hardly been stellar so far this season.

It appears someone has finally knocked some sense in to Jay Feaster where near useless pugilists are concerned. Now if only Leblond could go with him...

WOW - Nothing like a journalist suggesting Flames moves who is not even watching Flames hockey. Garrioch is lost in the dark on this article. Jokinen is off to a great start and Hagman has been strong as well. According to this sage from the Ottawa Sun they are on the block to get traded by Feaster? I guess if a tank is the new direction that makes sense. Glencross minus Joker is not even rational speculation at this point, it is absurd.

I did this ... just because. Thought you guys might be interested. Not sure if it's 100% right, but the search and replace function is a pretty awesome tool. It doesn't take into account regional games (CBC), flex games (NBC/VS), and TBD games (TSN2), because I would have to do more work, and I'm not interested in doing more work.

I usually don't put these type of things up because they are not strictly hockey related. So I'll tuck it off to the side and not put it on the front page. It can be rather controversial but I've seen a few articles now on SBNation about sexual orientation, military respect and so forth they don't strike me as particularly hockey related either. So I figured why not, it is the off-season. Why not put up something that I think is a real issue. I'll let the reader connect the dots for what this may or may not mean to sports markets, including hockey. This was on my local news last night. You'll recognize the T-shirt of a young fan. I also want to add that until you live in the United States you should be wary about jumping to conclusions. There are many differences. One myth is that Americans are lazy. Although those people that sit around and do nothing exist, they are no different in % to Canadians who do it. In reality in America many working-class Americans work 2-3 jobs as the college student in the video comments. That is inconceivable to most Canadians but it is true. I doubt she is getting Stars season tickets this upcoming season and if anything this Stampede in Dallas may give Calgarians a bit of pause in their yearly festive rodeo. Appreciate what you have...