It's right back to work for the Flames after Friday's overtime setback to the Jets - facing an Oilers squad that, like Calgary, is looking for its first win at the 2024 Young Stars Classic.
The Flames showed well against Winnipeg after a shaky start - holding Winnipeg's prospects to 19 shots on goal overall, all while battling back from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits.
"We're a young team, this is a real new experience for the bulk of the guys here," Calgary Wranglers head coach Trent Cull said following Friday's game. "A little bit of nerves, I would say for sure.
"I thought we settled in, had a good second period, and kind of got better as the game went on."
Sam Morton, Hunter Laing and Jaden Lipinski had the Calgary markers Friday evening, while defenceman Hunter Brzustewicz - who played for Vancouver at this tournament a season ago - chipped in with a second-period helper.
In Cull's estimation, the weekend serves as a bit of an eye-opener for the younger players among the group - remember, eight of the 25 players wearing Flames colours here have been part of the organization for less than three months - so this series of games serves as another step in their own development.
"Sometimes it's great for these guys to play against the best of the peers that they're playing against," he noted. "So all of a sudden, maybe there's some things that you thought you could get away with in the past, then you come here and you've got a bunch of good players."
And for that reason, he'll be leaning tonight on the players that he's worked with this past season at the AHL level - forwards Sam Morton, William Stromgren and Lucas Ciona, to name a few - to provide guidance and leadership to a talented crop of young stars.
Hoping too, that they'll stand out.
"The guys who had played for us with the Wranglers, that little bit of experience, it really showed, I thought," Cull said of Friday's game.
"Those guys kinda stuck out to me. It's good to have them around the group, that's for sure."
