Ross Aitken

@PGAChampionship Now do - Garrick Higgo

What time are you getting to the course? ⏰⛳️ #PGAChamp

@RingOfFireCGY Cooley > Wolf and it’s not even close.

#Flames Post Game Thoughts 1. That might have been Matvei Gridin's best game as a Flame. He was dynamic making plays all over the ice. 2. That must have felt good for Ryan Strome. Scores against his former team and gets the win on top of that. 3. Devin Cooley is unreal.

@Clarkian1900 I could attach 100+ names…… but 4th round or lower picks- Plays 100+ NHL games ~1 in 10 Plays meaningful career (300+) ~1 in 20 Star player ~1 in 50 (or worse) Love high draft picks. Low picks not so much.

@CGYRealtor You mean a late round pick like Ethan Wyttenbach, Eric Jamieson or Dustin Wolf?

Connor Zary is signed for 2 more seasons at $3.775 mln/season. He will be 25 in September. His numbers in 3 NHL seasons: 2023-24 63Gms 14G 20A 34Pts +12 2024-25 54Gms 13G 14A 27Pts -7 2025-26 67Gms 11G 13A 24Pts -11 With younger LWs coming up, should he be traded in the summer?

@DarrenWHaynes @Scottos_ Whitecould > Andersson

@Scottos_ If they tumble out of the playoffs, things get real interesting real quick, for sure, but I’ll believe that when I see it. Either way, that pick is looking like it will end up a lot higher than anyone might have thought a few months ago.

If NHL season ended tonight, Vegas would enter postseason with second-worst record of all the playoff teams. In that scenario, unless Vegas wins two rounds, their 2026 first-round pick owned by Calgary would be 17th, one spot higher than where Flames drafted Cole Reschny in 2025.

@RingOfFireCGY Markstrom's time is Calgary will always be defined by his horrendous play in the 2022 Battle of Alberta. We had a legit cup contender, and he goes 5.12 GAA against Edmonton. Yet another very good-looking Conroy trade.

#Flames Post Game Thoughts 1. The Markstrom trade looks better every day. He was awful tonight and has been a major disappointment in New jersey. Meanwhile the Flames have Cole Reschny and Kevin Bahl. 2. Congrats to Mikael Backlund for picking up his 600th point. What a career.

@McMav @RingOfFireCGY Conroy is the GM. He’s done a great job. Drafting and maximizing trade value has undoubtedly been better than those before him. Have some faith buddy. Tons of draft capital, a full rebuild that you always wanted, a new rink, an owner ready and will to spend 100% of the cap. 🤷🏻

@CGYRealtor @RingOfFireCGY Which one of these guys in the photo is Jarome Iginla? Conroy is surrounded by old boys club dinosaurs that still believe that Darryl Sutter Hockey is the path forward in today’s NHL Dave Nonis, Don Maloney, Brad Paschal, Mike Burke, Ryan Huska, Dave Lowry time to turn the page

The boysssssss 😎

@McMav @RingOfFireCGY Craig Conroy- 15 years NHL experience, 15 years an NHL executive, 3rd year GM. Passed up other opportunities elsewhere and has been very loyal to the franchise. Dave Nonis- 35 years NHL executive Jarome Iginla- Hockey Hall of Fame. Excellent recent draft and trade record. 🤷🏻

@RingOfFireCGY Dinosaurs 🦕

@WesGilbertson Wes, always enjoy reading your work; you're a pro. All the best in your next adventure.

My final #Flames file for Postmedia was a newsletter from earlier today. In case you're not subscribed, I am also sharing it here — a list of reasons that I'm excited to follow the future of the Flames. Thanks again for following along!

@Clarkian1900 Markstrom was a total dud in that playoff series.

It still annoys me the 2021-22 Flames had peak Gaudreau, Tkachuk, Lindholm, Toffoli, Andersson, Hanifin, Tanev and Markstrom, and couldn’t get past the Oilers in the second round.

@DarrenWHaynes Had he played like this last season, Calgary would have made the playoffs, no question. There will be a good package for him in the new year!

The pass that went in off Mikael Backlund, the perfect set-up of Nazem Kadri’s one-timer, and the pass that sprung Matt Coronato on the GWG gives Rasmus Andersson 13 primary assists on the season. In 81 games last season, he only had seven. What an impactful season he’s having.

@Fan960Steinberg Is Hunter Brzustewicz injured ?

Here are Calgary’s groups for tonight’s split squad preseason opener against the Oilers. Both games go at 6 pm. #Flames

.@frank_seravalli @DavidAmber @FriedgeHNIC … best t-shirt in #Flames history. Being reproduced to support the 30th anniversary of @KidSportCalgary. Buy one and tell your friends … trying to raise $10,000 for KidSport. Let’s go!!! ⚽️🏈🏀🚴‍♀️🏒⛸️ cofdead403.ca/product-page/h…

@EricFrancis @greywolfgolf Congrats Eric !

Sorry for the personal note, but asking for a friend… Is there anything better than a hole-in-one on the first day of a boys trip? ⁦@greywolfgolf⁩ Meet you in the clubhouse. 😉

@Fan960Wills Hard to believe Wolf didn't get a chance when Knight was around USA Hockey.

🐺📈

@DarrenWHaynes Spot on again, Haynes. Half of Flames Twitter bro's should be traded for future considerations — and let’s be honest, the so-called experts wouldn’t fetch much in return. 😏

I don’t understand why so many Flames fans seem willing to trade away Connor Zary. He’s 23. He’s developed into a dynamic player. He can play C. He’s coming off two bad injuries I’d chalk up as fluke so don’t overthink that. He has already become one of the faces of the team. 🤷‍♂️

@McMav @Clarkian1900 Agreed, but is Sam Bennett crazy good? He's going to knock down HUGE dough. Idiotic miss from Darryl Sutter.

@Clarkian1900 None of them

@wincolumnCGY The kid needs to put on 30 pounds and not lose any speed. The Connor Murphy hit set him back two years.

There maybe a concern with Sam Honzek's development. #Flames

@DarrenWHaynes Darren, bang on, and I agree. Flames Twitter bros won’t like this well-researched and rational take, but it’s the truth.

Many want to liken Zayne Parekh’s situation in joining the Flames to Cale Makar’s situation when he stepped into the line-up for the Avs in the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs. Firstly, dare to dream. If Parekh ends up anywhere close to Makar, what a cornerstone player he will be. Secondly, let’s set the record straight on two things: 1. Age Matters - Makar was 20.5 years old when he played his first NHL game. Parekh just turned 19 on Feb. 15. That 16 months of difference is not insignificant. 2. Level of Competition Matters - Makar joined Colorado after playing two seasons of NCAA hockey. Parekh is coming out of junior hockey. For context, in Makar’s final game with Massachusetts when they lost in the Frozen Four final, Minnesota-Duluth’s average age was 20.9. In Parekh’s final game with Saginaw when they got ousted from the OHL playoffs, Erie’s average age was 18.0. That’s a three-year difference in average age and it’s over that time that boys literally become men. So again, Makar’s readiness based on the strength and age of players he went up against all season would have been higher. More Historical Context The reality is going straight from the CHL to the NHL the year after you’re drafted is not something that happens very often for defencemen — and let me emphasize the position as it matters. Forwards will make that jump more often as they’re typically ready sooner. Defencemen take longer to develop. It’s a harder position. In the last 20 years, defencemen who made the jump for the full NHL season like Jakob Chychrun (2016-17), Aaron Ekblad (2014-15), Seth Jones (2013-14), Cam Fowler (2010-11), Dmitry Kulikov (2009-10), Zach Bogosian (2008-09), Drew Doughty (2008-09), and Luke Schenn (2008-09) all generally did so on bad teams. Only Fowler with Anaheim joined a team that went on to make the playoffs. Others that played another year of junior while also getting in a handful of NHL games made those NHL appearances at the start of the season before getting reassigned back to the CHL in October or early November. That was the case for Evan Bouchard (2018-19), Mikhail Sergachev (2016-17), Nikita Zadorov (2013-14), and Alex Pietrangelo (2008-09). Of course, there are others over that span that like Makar joined their NHL team immediately after their NCAA season concluded like Owen Power (2021-22), Quinn Hughes (2018-19), Charlie McAvoy (2016-17) and Noah Hanifin (2015-16), but we’ve already discussed how different that situation is. There are also those guys that made the immediate jump to the NHL, but did so after playing multiple seasons against men in Europe like Rasmus Dahlin (2018-19), Rasmus Ristolainen (2013-14), Adam Larsson (2011-12), and Victor Hedman (2009-10). This isn’t intended to be an opinion piece on whether or not Parekh should be inserted into the line-up of a team in the middle of a playoff race. The same Parekh whose first actual practice with the Flames is only happening today. For real, he hasn’t actually had a practice yet, just a couple game-day skates. But hopefully this provides some greater historical context into how infrequently such a jump has actually happened. Now should Parekh be an exception given how staggeringly ‘exceptional’ his 2024-25 junior season was statistically? Maybe, but with the Flames turning in one of their most complete efforts on Friday night to defeat Minnesota, don’t expect Parekh to play on Sunday night either. That’s just the reality, like it or not.

Bank of Canada reduces policy rate by 25 basis points to 3%, announces end of quantitative tightening bit.ly/3Cw5EGv #economy #cdnecon