Thomas Godoj Thread » faced before giving way to Bachman

CALGARY -- It may only be a limited showing for now, but the Calgary Flames 2013 first-round picks Sean Monahan and Emile Poirier took centre stage at the repaired Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday night and left a positive impression. Their pre-season debut did not come in a victory, the Oilers won 3-2 on a late goal from Martin Marincin, but Poirier with one nice goal and nearly a second and Monahan with a gritty night in the face-off circle gave Flames fans a reason to be excited about the future. "Those guys are only going to get better, theyre so young and so fresh, its an exciting team for our team," said veteran Flames defenceman Mark Giordano. Trailing 2-0 headed to the third period, the Flames finally got on the scoreboard when Poirier had a puck carom out to him at the face-off circle and he buried a shot behind Richard Bachman to cut the lead in half at 2:43. With the scored tied 2-2, Poirier nearly put the Flames in front hitting the goal post. "It took one or two shifts to get up to the speed and physicality of the game, for sure," said Poirier, selected 22nd overall with the pick the Flames got from St. Louis in the Jay Bouwmeester trade. "I learned the pace of the game, the speed and the physicality. Its good to see where you stand." Mike Cammalleri, a qualified observer with 606 NHL games and 210 goals on his resume, liked what he saw from Poirier. "I saw him finding pucks out there. He seemed to be in the right spot at the right time and thats not always necessarily lucky. If it happens more often than not, its usually because the player has a knack for that and he showed that kind of hockey sense tonight," Cammalleri said. "He was able to bury a nice goal. He created another chance where he hit a post, showing nice patience to get to the middle and make that play." While Poirier is expected to return to Gatineau, Que., and another year of junior hockey, the situation is less clear with Monahan. Through development camp in the summer, the teams rookie camp and now the first few days of main camp, Monahan has looked very good and the decision on whether he stays with the Flames may not happen until the regular season as he can play up to nine games before his entry level contract kicks in. "I feel fine out there. I think I can fit in well but I think I could have been a lot better today," Monahan said.. But this is the first one, I was a little bit nervous and its a different kind of atmosphere so Im going to get used to that quickly and Im going to learn quickly." A position of need for the Flames is centre as theyve been dreadful in recent years in the face-off dot. Thats an area that Monahan specializes in and he showed it tonight, in particular when he battled head to head with noted face-off specialist Boyd Gordon of the Oilers. "Face-offs are something I take a lot of pride in since I was a young player and its something thats always been stressed in me from my Dad and my Grandpa and its something thats a big part of my game," Monahan said. Giordano liked how Monahan got right in there and competed and wasnt shy. "He has a lot of skill obviously," Giordano said. "Sean impressed me tonight. Hes battling, getting right in there against Gordon whos one of the best in the league. He took a few from him and he wasnt afraid to get in there before the puck was dropped and butts heads with them a little bit, which is nice to see." Now its up to them to build on this first outing. "I always felt when I played in those rookie tournaments, I always felt the first couple games, you felt really, really, really good and after that, it was up to you to sustain that," said Giordano. "The pace is a bit quicker but youve always got that extra camp under your belt. They carried over, they played well and they look like theyre confident players, which is really what you want to see out of your young guys." Edmonton also got goals from Ryan Jones and newcomer David Perron. Cammalleri also scored for Calgary, which beat the Oilers 6-5 in a split-squad shootout later Saturday in Edmonton. The Flames started veteran Joey MacDonald and in his half of work he stopped 10-of-11 shots. Finn Joni Ortio, 22, played the second half and was beaten twice on 10 shots. Jason Labarbera, acquired in the summer to be Devan Dubnyks back-up was perfect on 12 shots faced before giving way to Bachman halfway through the second period. Notes: Calgarys third first-round pick this summer was Morgan Klimchuk but hes out with an abdominal injury ... Throughout the game, special recognition was paid to the thousands of contractors that helped get the Scotiabank Saddledome game-ready after the June flood. Contractors involved in the repairs were given tickets to the game. ... Playing left wing with Sam Gagner and Jordan Eberle was Ryan Hamilton, 28, who has spent the past seven seasons in the AHL with the exception of 12 games he got into for the Maple Leafs the past two years. ... The only fight was between Calgarys Blair Jones and Edmontons Travis Ewanyk. ... Edmonton was 1 for 3 on the power play while Calgary was 0 for 3. Air Max 270 Baratas . Completely. Two days after releasing Peyton Manning, the longtime face of the franchise, the Colts announced they were cutting four fan favourites: running back Joseph Addai, linebacker Gary Brackett, safety Melvin Bullitt and tight end Dallas Clark. Air Max 270 Rebajas . LOUIS -- Joe Thornton and the San Jose Sharks won the matchup of unbeaten teams. http://www.airmax270baratas.es/. Ive said it before, Ive worked with top pros and I could have made my own program. Air Max 270 Baratas España . - After sewage backups, toilet overflows and foul smells surfaced the past two years, nothing at the Oakland Coliseum surprises the home team anymore. Air Max 270 Comprar Online . After missing 20 games as a rookie a year ago, Valanciunas - like the Raptors as a whole - has been fortunate to be in good health this season. As he spoke about it, the Raptors sophomore centre scanned the room for wood to knock on. "It is disappointing because we lost today so thats the worst part of the day," said Valanciunas, who left Tuesdays game with a lower-back sprain in the third quarter, missing the rest of Torontos 118-113 overtime defeat at the hands of the Hawks.CLEVELAND -- The Cavaliers have cleared a path for LeBron James to return to Cleveland. Theyve made their moves. Theyre just waiting for him to make his. The Cavs created enough salary-cap space to offer the superstar free agent a maximum contract on Wednesday agreeing to trade guard Jarrett Jack, swingman Sergey Karasev and centre Tyler Zeller in a three-team deal with Brooklyn and Boston, a person familiar with the deals told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because teams are not permitted to discuss trades until the leagues moratorium ends Thursday. The manoeuvring is designed to open room under the salary cap so they can re-sign the Akron-born James, the four-time league MVP and most sought-after player on the market. With open roster spots, Cleveland isnt done. Not long after making the trade with the Celtics and Nets, the Cavs had exploratory discussions with the Minnesota Timberwolves about a possible trade for three-time All-Star Kevin Love -- if James does return to Cleveland, said a person with knowledge of the inquiry. The Timberwolves would be looking for No. 1 overall draft pick Andrew Wiggins to be part of any potential package from Cleveland in order to consider parting with Love if the talks were to become more serious, the person said, speaking with the AP on condition of anonymity because neither team publicly announced the conversation. Whatever the Cavs next move is -- with or without James -- they could package together their other assets, including future first-round picks, to make a run at other All-Star players. Meanwhile, James had his meeting in Las Vegas with Miami president Pat Riley. James, his agent Rich Paul, Riley and Heat executive Andy Elisburg were at the meeting, a person with direct knowledge of the discussions told The AP. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because neither side publicly announced who would be attending the meeting or when it would take place. James has not made a decision and will not make any announcements before Thursday, the person said. With nothing finalized, LeBronathon 2014 will last at least one more day with the NBA --- and fans in Miami and Cleveland -- on edge.dddddddddddd And as he takes fans on another summer thrill ride, James has one more offer to consider in deciding where to play next season: Ohios Cedar Point amusement park is promising to rename one of its roller coasters "King James" if he returns home to play for the Cavs. A park spokesman says its a legitimate offer that originated with the CEO. Cedar Point sent out a tweet with the proposal on Wednesday, telling James, who has visited the park in Sandusky, Ohio, many times, the ball was "in his court." In the three-team trade the Cavs pulled off earlier Wednesday, Cleveland will receive guard Marcus Thornton from the Nets and send him, Zeller and a future first-round pick to the Celtics. Also, the Cavs are trading Jack and Karasev to the Nets. Jack, who signed with Cleveland as a free agent last season, was scheduled to make $6.3 million, Zeller will make $1.6 million and Karasev $1.4 million. In trading those salaries, the Cavs have enough to give James a maximum, $20.7 million contract -- if he decides to sign with Cleveland. James played his first seven seasons with the Cavs before leaving as a free agent in 2010, and its apparent the team is doing everything it can to bring him back. Under NBA rules, teams must abide by a salary cap set by the league. If the combined salaries of the teams roster surpasses the cap, teams are forced to a pay additional taxes. Last season, the salary cap was approximately $59 million, and the league announced Wednesday that it will increase 7.5 per cent to an all-time high of $63.065 million for the 2014-15 season. The tax level -- the point at which a team is penalized for exceeding the salary cap -- for next season has increased by 7.1 per cent to $76.829 million. ESPN first reported details of the three-team trade. Jacks first season with Cleveland didnt go as he or the Cavs had hoped. He signed a four-year, $25 million deal last July after playing in Golden State. The Cavs counted on him being a leader for their young team, but it didnt work out as Cleveland finished 33-49, missed the playoffs and fired coach Mike Brown. ' ' '