'Very Surreal For Me'

Andrew Basha has played plenty of games in the Scotiabank Saddledome before.

Tonight’s going to hit a bit different.

The 18-year-old Calgarian will draw into the Flames lineup as they open the home portion of their preseason schedule, as part of a split-squad series with the Oilers (7 p.m. MT, CalgaryFlames.com / Flames App).

In three visits to the 'Dome with the Medicine Hat Tigers last season, Basha collected a goal and two assists.

But tonight, he’ll pull on an NHL sweater - in his hometown - as he makes his pre-season debut.

“It’s incredible, for it to kinda be the first time, playing in the 'Dome and with a Flames sweater on will be very surreal for me,” he said after Monday’s morning skate. “(I’m) fortunate to have lots of family and friends in the building, just excited to get going.”

Basha took reps on the powerplay Monday morning, just over a week after he wired home a man-advantage marker at the Young Stars Classic (against Edmonton, no less).

But with NHL veterans like Nazem Kadri, Yegor Sharangovich and MacKenzie Weegar sharing that space with him in the pregame skate, Flames head coach Ryan Huska noticed Basha was reticent to keep all the shooting opportunities to himself.

“You could see this morning, he had a tendency to want to pass all the time instead of shoot, which I totally understand,” Huska said with a smile. “But it’s pretty exciting for him, and the thing that we like about Bash is that he’s done a really good job right from Day 1 of our prospect camp, and he’s continued to get better every day.

“We’re looking forward to seeing him in the lineup tonight, and seeing what he can do.”

You might expect there to be nerves, but just as he is in front of cameras in the Flames dressing room, Basha’s more likely to be cool, calm and collected on the ice tonight.

It’s just his persona.

“I’m not a guy that gets too nervous, I don’t want to look back on this and say I overthought everything, and went into it thinking that I have all this pressure, I’m still 18 years old,” he said. “I don’t really think there’s much pressure, for me I think it’s just going out, having fun and treating it like I was with any other team.

“Maybe there is a little bit of extra spotlight just cause I’m from here, but at the end of the day it’s privilege to have that, just gonna go out there and have fun.”

At the end of the day, the end result tonight might not live on in Flames lore, but it’s certain to resonate with Basha and his family.

An NHL game. At home, wearing the Flaming C.

“For a Calgary kid, this would be ridiculously cool, to be able to play in here with some of the guys that he’s grown up watching play,” Huska said. “It’s getting him to understand that he’s a really good player too, and that’s why he’s there.

“So we just want him to play his game, and enjoy it.”