Wild at Flames Discussion Thread

(Hey there everybody, I know you all want to talk hockey and tonight we’re going to do just that and more at SB Nation’s Bruins blog Stanley Cup of Chowder in order to show support for and solidarity with all of our friends and fellow hockey fans affected by the terrible events in Boston earlier today. Comments here will be closed when the game starts.)

The youthful rejuvenation continues for the Flames tonight as they take on the Minnesota Wild at home.

Ben Hanowski, one of the two NCAA forwards acquired in the deal that sent Jarome Iginla to the Pittsburgh Penguins, is a Minnesota native and will make his Calgary debut on Saddledome ice this evening. He’s already gaining something of a cult following locally for reasons other than his play on the ice:

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p>Ben Hanowski wears 58 and has unmistakable hair. <a href=”https://twitter.com/search/%23Flames”>#Flames</a></p>— Pat Steinberg (@Fan960Steinberg) <a href=”https://twitter.com/Fan960Steinberg/status/323833934926467072″>April 15, 2013</a></blockquote>

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<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p>Meet the newest <a href=”https://twitter.com/search/%23Flames”>#Flames</a> youngster on @<a href=”https://twitter.com/ctvsportsyyc”>ctvsportsyyc</a>his name is Ben Hanowski and you can’t miss him with all that hair, he’ll play tonight</p>— Glenn Campbell (@CTVGCampbell) <a href=”https://twitter.com/CTVGCampbell/status/323931912026611713″>April 15, 2013</a></blockquote>

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Just in case you haven't seen it, here is a picture of the aforementioned "flow" that has everybody talking. Hanowski is reportedly growing it out for charity.

The 22-year-old former St. Cloud State captain just wrapped up a run to the Frozen Four, where his team lost to the Quinnipiac Bobcats (who then lost to Kenneth Agostino and the Yale Bulldogs in the final), with 17 goals and 31 points in 37 games this season. His teammate Drew LeBlanc beat out John Gaudreau for the Hobey Baker trophy and was promptly signed by the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Flames are on something of a run as of late, winning three of their past four games and two against Northwest division rivals. While it’s certainly nice to see kids like Sven Baertschi, Max Reinhart, and Roman Horak getting big minutes and a chance to contribute on special teams, some Flames fans are uncomfortable with the thought of the team falling out of the bottom five in the league and decreasing their chances of securing a top pick in this summer’s entry draft.

The seventh place Minnesota Wild will certainly be looking to put the Flames back in their place tonight, as they are just 3-6-1 in their past ten games and two points up on the Dallas Stars for the final playoff spot in the Western conference.

Possible Lines and Pairings (via the Fan 960):

Flames:

Cammalleri-Horak-Hanowski

Baertschi-Backlund-Stempniak

Glencross-Reinhart-Jackman

Hudler-Begin-Cervenka

Wideman-Giordano

Brodie-Sarich

Butler-Carson

Joey MacDonald gets the start in net again for the Flames. I understand going with the hot hand in net but it would be nice to see Kipper play a game at home since it could be his last one, but Bob Hartley says Miikka is not feeling100%.

Wild:

Parise-Koivu-Pominville

Setoguchi-Cullen-Zucker

Clutterbuck-Mitchell-Rupp

Coyle-Brodziack-Bouchard

Suter-Brodin

Spurgeon-Clark

Gilbert-Stoner

Backstrom

Go Flames. Don't forget to stop by Stanley Cup of Chowder for tonight's thread!

by Hayley Mutch