Bahl Out Week-To-Week
It wasn't the news anyone wanted to hear.
Flames head coach Ryan Huska announced Wednesday that defenceman Kevin Bahl will be out of the lineup on a week-to-week basis with an upper-body injury, an ailment sustained when he was checked into the end boards Saturday by Minnesota Wild forward Jakub Lauko.
Bahl, acquired from New Jersey this past off-season, had yet to miss a game in Flames silks prior to the injury.
And in his first season in Calgary, he'd been a mainstay on the Flames' top pair, providing the yin to Rasmus Andersson's yang.
Huska explained his 6-foot-6 defender will be missed.
"The size and the reach, like he’s very good at kinda being in the way," he said. "His stick is very good and he disrupts a lot, like sometimes you think he’s beat, but ‘ope, here comes that long stick!’
As a Flame, Bahl's already set a career best this season in points with 14, all while skating nearly four minutes more per game than he did a year ago with the Devils.
"He’s been a very good defender for us," said Huska. "And no doubt, we’ll miss him while he’s out.
"But opportunity again, other guys have to raise their level collectively to make up for his absence."