GLAD TO BE BACK

Johnny Gaudreau will return to the ice tonight for the Flames when they host the Edmonton Oilers.
And his dad will be watching.

Guy Gaudreau suffered a cardiac event last weekend and his son rushed home to New Jersey from Los Angeles, where the Flames were finishing up a two-game road swing through California, to be with his family.
Thankfully his father is doing much better, so Gaudreau rejoined the club yesterday and was on a line with Nicholas Shore and recent call-up Spencer Foo at Saturday's morning skate ahead of tonight's tilt (8 p.m., TV: HNIC, Radio: Sportsnet960 The FAN).
"He's doing really well," said Gaudreau of his dad. "Very excited to watch my brother (Matthew Gaudreau, who is Worcester Railers in the ECHL) and me play tonight. He told my mom this morning that he's going to take a three or four-hour nap this afternoon so he can stay up late, cause it's a late one tonight. He's doing really well right now. A scary couple of days there. We're very, very fortunate."
Gaudreau said he was thankful for the outpouring of support he received during the difficult time.
"It's great to be back," said Gaudreau. "It's good to see the guys. There was a lot of text messages, tweets from fans, friends, family, people from Calgary and from New Jersey and across the country just supporting our family.
"We have a pretty tight group in here, it's a pretty close family in here," he added of his teammates. "And it was great to get the support from them."

With just two goals in their last four games, Gaudreau's return to the fold is welcome news for a Flames team that hopes to break out of their scoring funk tonight against their oldest rival.
"It's always fun playing against these guys," said Gaudreau. "The crowd is into it, both cities are into it, the players are into it. It's a fun time playing these games. It's unfortunate we're both not in the playoffs but it's still always fun getting up and playing these types of games."
And you can count Gaudreau among those excited to see Foo's NHL debut tonight.
"I'm sure he's excited," said Gaudreau. "I remember my first game like it was yesterday. I was just coming out of college and he's had a full year down there in the (AHL) so he's learned a few things. I'm looking forward to seeing him tonight because he's a smart player, he sees the ice well and it's going to be a lot of fun for him."