It's been a brisk few days around the 'Dome, and around the NHL. Training camps opened up midweek, the Flames hit the ice as a group for the first time on Thursday morning and now, they'll face live opposition for the first time.
Gone are the days of split-squad games and marathon preseason schedules. This year, Calgary will play just two contests on home ice, then two away from home before opening up the regular season against this same Seattle squad Oct. 1 in the final Scotiabank Saddledome Home-Opener.
For those looking to prove themselves, or win a spot with the big club, that means fewer opportunities to shine in game action. New regulations mean veterans with 100 or more games of NHL experience are limited to two preseason outings, too.
But when asked about how he'll deploy his lineup over the next 240 minutes of hockey, Head Coach Ryan Huska intimated that overall chemistry - getting his group in sync before the regular season - is paramount.
"You’re going to see very much what you’re seeing on the ice right now," Huska said Friday. "Each group’s going to play a home game, each group’s going to play a road game. We have to get the group together for the most part, there might be the odd tweak in there of course.
"We’re going to play the teams that are very similar to what you’re seeing on the ice, subject to those rules that have to be adhered to."
Over the course of the past three days, the majority of the NHL returnees have been in one group together, while those who spent the 2025-26 campaign with the AHL's Wranglers have been part of a second batch of players.
Again, per Huska, it's all in the name of building cohesion.
Made necessary by the lack of prep time on the preseason calendar.
"Really, it’s a 10-day camp," he said. "They get a mandatory day off in there and we have four games, so there isn’t a lot of time.
"We have to try to give them every opportunity to build some chemistry, and that’s why we’re going to keep all of our lines together."
