00:00So undisputedly, the two areas of the most excitement, I would think, for Flames fans
00:06is the goaltending and what's on the blue line.
00:09So I'm excited about it, and I think there's a lot of things to watch
00:12as we get ready for another season of Calgary Flames hockey.
00:21So goaltending, it's not much of a conversation here.
00:24Dustin Wolf, I would presume around like 55 games again.
00:28And he is going to be frustrating to Team Tank at times
00:31because he is going to be so good that he's going to steal them some wins
00:34and get them a lot of opportunities here and keep them in a lot of these games.
00:39But he is very, very good.
00:41You just hope that there isn't a drastic fall-off
00:43because of some of the changes on the defensive side.
00:46And Cooley, I would expect you get a bit of a fall-off from him this season.
00:50I don't think he's going to have one of the best goals against averages in the sport
00:53coming out of the 26-27 season.
00:56But he's going to be a fine, solid backup.
00:58They're just...
00:59Aside from injury, there's not a whole lot of drama happening
01:02in the crease for the Flames right now.
01:04The blue line is where I'm very interested in.
01:06As Simone Nemitz gets brought in from the New Jersey Devils,
01:10pairing him up with Ball,
01:11this could be a very solid pair for the Flames for the next decade.
01:14Like, Nemitz got better the more ice time he got in New Jersey.
01:20I've said before that you can read too much into that sometimes
01:22because if he is playing more, generally the better players play more
01:27and he would be playing with better players.
01:29So that's going to elevate his game.
01:31But he at least didn't stand out in a negative way.
01:33Ball has just continued to exceed expectations.
01:35We talked about him earlier in the summer.
01:37I do wonder if we're just like,
01:39okay, now he's just going to be this guy.
01:40Like, is there another step forward for a dude
01:42who everyone had penciled in as a six defenseman?
01:46Almost said the thing that people do things with
01:48and I didn't want to do that.
01:49But everyone had him penciled in as like a number six defenseman
01:52or an extra guy out on the blue line.
01:54And he has worked his way up into,
01:56okay, well, yeah, he's in the top four,
01:57but he's going to be number four.
01:58And well, now he's number one on the Flames.
02:00And like, can he round his way into being like a legitimate,
02:04like number one, number two guy across the league,
02:07not just he happens to play on the Flames
02:08and be the number one dude.
02:09So I think that pair is going to be a very fascinating one to watch this year.
02:13And like, how do you not get excited
02:15about what you have seen from Zayn Parekh so far this year,
02:19whether it be in training camp or in the preseason games?
02:23Like he just, there's a dynamic nature to his game
02:26that is so exciting for people.
02:28I am really, really, really excited to see what this kid can be.
02:33Like he, just in the brief showings,
02:35and I get it's preseason,
02:36but he is really showing that there has been an upgrade
02:39in the skillset for him this year.
02:42And so like, I'm a few things that I want to see,
02:44like it sounds like,
02:46it looks like he's going to be paired with Middleton.
02:47Is that going to be an all season thing?
02:49Is that just a for now thing?
02:50I, I was wondering if like,
02:53we heard Conroy at the beginning of the year
02:54or after the Nemitz trade, sorry,
02:56say, yeah, he feels comfortable on the left side.
02:58So we're going to roll with him there.
03:00Do we get to see a lot of that?
03:02Or is he back on his right?
03:03There's a lot of different ways you can kind of go with Zayn Parekh.
03:07And I think all of them are very exciting.
03:09And then the big conversation is going to be around Hunter Bristevich.
03:13Does he make his way to the team this season?
03:16I would imagine so at some point,
03:18like he, he has to go now to the Wranglers
03:19and just make it so the Flames have to make room for him.
03:24Like John talked about this on Locked on Flames yesterday
03:27when he was doing the solo show.
03:28But yeah, like you, you have to be undeniable.
03:30Go in there and win that job
03:31and make it so that the Flames just have to put in the GM WhatsApp group.
03:35Best offers for White Cloud.
03:37Because we just, we got to open up space and get Bristevich in there.
03:39So does White Cloud play the whole season with the Flames?
03:43Or is he going to be on his way elsewhere?
03:46And Bristevich gets brought up here with the team.
03:49So I, I think that that's, again,
03:51there's so much excitement going on around this blue line.
03:54And that's not even mentioning like Carl's,
03:56who could be coming in at some point this year.
03:58Like I, Hanley, for those who are watching this now,
04:02preseason game tonight, Hanley's playing with the AHL guys.
04:06Not a great sign.
04:07I feel like Pahal like looked a little bit better in that preseason game.
04:10I would give him the job right now as the number seven guy.
04:13And I still think there's something there.
04:15I just, there's no one that you're putting him in there over right now.
04:18And if someone on the right side gets hurt,
04:19Bristevich is coming in there.
04:20So Pahal really, really needs an injury on the left side to,
04:24to be able to, to get an opportunity here once again with the Flames.
04:27But this is the area that's going to have a lot of the,
04:29the conversation around it this year.
04:31And the area that should give Flames fans right now,
04:33the more excitement about their team.
04:35So what are you guys looking for on the defensive side for the Flames?
04:39Let me know in the chat,
04:40or if you're watching this after the fact,
04:41hit me up in the comments and we can talk about it there.
04:45Also hit that share button.
04:46I know there's a lot of talk right now about like Flames podcasts and everything like
04:49that. And I am on one, like for more Flames talk for me,
04:52Locked on Flames, a daily Flames podcast, about half an hour.
04:54Still going to be Flames talk on this channel though.
04:56So yeah, share this with some of your Flames fans, friends,
04:59and we can keep those conversations going.
05:01You just have a few more people to talk Flames hockey with here.
