Friends off. For tonight.
This evening’s matchup between the Flames and Canucks at Scotiabank Saddledome will have a little bit of extra flavour, after defenceman Nikita Zadorov swapped out his Calgary silks for Vancouver threads earlier this week. Get tickets
The Russian rearguard is slated to make his Canucks debut tonight after spending his last 177 NHL games with the Flames.
According to the NHL’s Public Relations department, Zadorov will become just the fourth player in the past three seasons to make a debut with a new team against one who he’d previously spent time with in the same season (trivia fans: Shayne Gostisbehere, Ben Chiarot and Michael Amadio are the other three).
A quirk, no doubt, but in the Flames dressing room, it’s all business.
“I’ve had this happen a few times in my career, it’s definitely a strange feeling, but it’s part of the business,” forward Blake Coleman said following morning skate. “Sad to see him go, you wish him the best, but as soon as the puck drops tonight, he’s a Vancouver Canuck, we’re Calgary Flames, we’re fighting for two points just like he will be.
“You put that stuff aside when the puck drops for 60 minutes.”
Whatever friendships were forged here, will be put aside according to Jonathan Huberdeau.
“First game for him, against us, it’s never easy, it’s part of the business for a guy to leave,” Huberdeau said. “But he’s not a friend anymore, he’s an enemy, so we’ve got to play him hard tonight.”
The Zadorov news, plus the added bonus of a national TV audience on Hockey Night in Canada, makes Saturday’s clash between these Pacific Division rivals even more of a must-see.
Flames Head Coach Ryan Huska offered a measured approach, with tonight’s game serving as a chance for Calgary to move above the .500 mark.
"It’s one of those weird situations, you don’t often see a guy that gets traded, and plays against his former team right away,” he said Saturday morning. "(Zadorov’s) got a lot of good friends on our team, he’s going to make some good friends on their team, but at the end of the day, these are important points for us, and that is our only focus here tonight.”
All seriousness aside, you get the sense the Flames are champing at the bit - pardon the Blasty reference - to give their former teammate a taste of the full-court press they’ve been giving opposing teams over the past number of weeks.
“Maybe, I might get the big boy a couple times,” Coleman chuckled. “We always joked about it; we had some good run-ins when he was in Chicago and I was in Tampa.
“It’s fun to compete against your friends.”
Huberdeau and Co. have had a front row seat to the types of punishing blows Zadorov is prone to deliver, so they’re well aware of what they’ll be facing tonight.
“He’s a good player, big body, likes to hit so we’ve got to keep our heads up tonight,” the Flames winger noted.
But at the end of the day, hockey is about relationships, and once the dust settles this evening, there’s an understanding that those relationships will carry on.
“He’s a good guy, I got close to him, we hung out a lot off the ice,” Huberdeau said of his ex-teammate. “He’s a friend, and I think he’s going to stay a friend for the rest of my life.”
