Matchsticks and Gasoline, a Calgary Flames community

"He wasn’t anywhere near as good as he had to be for us to win, but he’s a young player. We forget that. This is his first year. I get frustrated with him. I expect more, because I’ve seen him give more."

-Playfair on Backlund, who scored one goal and eight assists in thirteen playoff games.

With a regulation goal, two assists and a shootout-winning score to his credit in the preseason so far, Fleury is doing his best to earn a regular spot on the Flames' roster.

He's also said he'd be willing to play in the American Hockey League.

"Sure, why not? I just want to play hockey," Fleury said Monday. "I don't care where it is. It doesn't matter to me. I was in Steinbach, Manitoba, last year, so Abbotsford is probably a little nicer than Steinbach."

"As annoying as this chain of events is," Burke said recently, "it hasn't changed our opinion one bit of Chilliwack . . . I'm pretty sure people there don't care about the Calgary Flames, or the Calgary Flames' farm team. I don't remember people asking me on the street, 'Hey, how did the Calgary Flames' farm team do last night?' "