Giordano returns to Calgary for first time with Kraken in preseason game

CALGARY -- Mark Giordano scored a goal in his return to Calgary with the Seattle Kraken, a 4-3 shootout win against the Calgary Flames in a preseason game at Scotiabank Saddledome on Wednesday.

Giordano, who had played his entire 15-season career with the Flames after signing as an undrafted free agent in 2004, was claimed by the Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft on July 21.
The 37-year-old defenseman gave Seattle a 1-0 lead at 3:00 of the first period.
"It's been good," Giordano told Root Sports Northwest during the first intermission. "Surprisingly I felt pretty calm. I think just maybe before the game a little bit of nerves seeing the guys in warmup and stuff like that. But felt pretty calm, feel good, glad I did this in [an] exhibition."
Giordano, who had been Calgary's captain since the start of the 2013-14 season, scored 509 points (143 goals, 366 assists) in 949 regular-season games with the Flames, including 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists) in 56 games last season, and has scored seven points (one goal, six assists) in 23 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
He led Calgary in ice time per game in seven of the past eight seasons, including last season, when he averaged 22:57.
"I've developed so many relationships. I grew up as an adult here," Giordano said. "The thing that I would want them to remember me as, playing well or playing poorly, I gave it my all every shift and every night and I'll continue to do that. That's one thing I hope they remember me as.
"I have so many different memories of this city and good times on and off the ice. It's a special place, obviously, for my family and I. A lot of great people. I've developed relationships in this city, for sure."

Giordano said he enjoyed getting physical with his former teammates, including forward Elias Lindholm.
"I love it," he said. "It was great. I think my first shift was awful, I made a couple bad plays and then 'Lindy' gave me a nice bump there, got the cobwebs out."
Giordano won the Norris Trophy voted as the best defenseman in the NHL in 2018-19, when he scored an NHL career-high 74 points (17 goals, 57 assists).
He also won the 2019-20 Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award, presented to the player who exemplifies great leadership qualities on and off the ice and who plays a leading role in his community growing the game of hockey.
"The community work that he does and the charity work, just his face around the community ... he does a lot for the city," said Kraken forward Jordan Eberle, who lives in Calgary in the offseason. "It was great to see the reception that they gave him and it was awesome to see him get the first goal. I know the city means a lot to him."
Seattle will visit Calgary for the first time in the regular season Dec. 23.
"It was nice to see him in between the anthems and during the anthems, the fans giving him the 'Gio' chants and the quick little Jumbotron presentation," said Flames forward Milan Lucic, Giordano's teammate the past two seasons. "But I think it'll go up a notch on Dec. 23 when he has his real comeback to Calgary."