Nazem Kadri is looking good in his pre-season debut with Flames

CALGARY — The last game Nazem Kadri played in ended with him hoisting a large trophy over his head.

His debut with the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night ended with an assist and a warm, Darryl Sutter-like welcome.

“It looked like it would be his first game in a long time,” was all the Flames coach had to offer.

Kadri certainly knew what he was getting himself into when he signed a seven-year, $49 million deal to join The Jolly Rancher and his merry men.

The reality is Kadri had a couple of good chances, struck several good trades with linemates Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman, entrenched the power play and was welcomed by a fan base that will surely forgive him for declining a trade here years ago.

Pleased with a 4-0 win over a much younger Edmonton Oilers lineup, Kadri said it was good to “shake off the cobwebs” as “nobody’s expected to be in mid-season shape in September.”

With four team-strength shots on target, including a great backhand that was narrowly stopped, Kadri looked good to start with as a good chunk of his 15 minutes included a power-play task playing from high position.

“I’ve played mid-bumper there for a while, so I know how to play it pretty well,” Kadri said.

“It’s strategic to be effective there but I have great players around me and all I have to do is get open and they seem to be finding me.”

Part of his assimilation will be playing in an airtight system where being responsible at both ends of the ice is important – something Kadri and the Flames did well in both of last season’s home games and shut out opponents in both to have .

On Wednesday, Jacob Markstrom made his first start since last spring’s nightmarish series against Edmonton, beating out the same Oilers that had branded him through five playoff games.

The Vezina Trophy finalist stopped all 12 shots he faced before giving way to Dustin Wolf for a convincing win that saw all three of the Flames’ shiny new stars find the scorers list, including MacKenzie Weegar and Jonathan Huberdeau

“I didn’t even realize it, but I’m glad all the new guys were able to help,” said Weegar, who took a pass from Kadri late in day three, ran in from the front and rocketed past Stuart Skinner.

“It’s a new team, so it’s a good feeling even if you get one in the exhibition.”

Sutter said Weeger continued to grope his way through his new surroundings.

“I think he’s a really good student of the game, a really trainable player, and he’s learning how we play,” Sutter said.

“Good player. He’s making progress.”

Weegar’s goal prompted the playing of Mark Morrison’s “Return of the Mack,” followed by shouts of “Weegar, Weegar” from a group in the crowd.

Huberdeau’s goal ended up in an empty goal after he first made a sick move against Jason Demers.

A couple of Spin-O-Rama passes from Huberdeau certainly gave viewers a sense of the creativity to be expected this season from the man who topped the league in assists last year.

STONE COLD SORERS

The top two scorers in Wednesday’s game are also the Flames’ top scorers this preseason.

Both Michael Stone and Brett Sutter have scored twice in two games, but neither will expect to be in contention for an opening night spot with the big club.

Stone, who scored the overtime win in Monday’s split-squad game in Vancouver, is a fan favorite because he always finds a way to contribute whenever he’s called up as the team’s seventh defender.

This year’s invitation as PTO came as a surprise to some as the team has 10 blue liners on one-way deals. He has repeatedly proven he’s good enough to play his way into a contract but it’s already a crowded blue line.

Right-hander Stone is behind Rasmus Andersson, Chris Tanev and Oliver Kylington on the right, not to mention Nicolas Meloche, who is likely to start the season with the third pairing if Kylington (personal reasons) doesn’t return to camp soon.

However, all Stone does is never fail to impress.

On Wednesday he had one goal, one assist, four shots on target and played alongside Ilya Solovyov with plus-2.

“It’s not a new position for me, so I’ll just play it as I know it,” he shrugged.

Sutter, who was originally drafted by the Flames in 2005, is 35 and is scheduled to be sent down as early as Monday to continue a streak of more than 1,000 AHL games as a wrangler.

Coach Darryl’s son, Brett, shares a funny story about his return to the inquest last week, just 12 years after he was last with the organization.

“During the fitness tests, it was pretty funny that all the people doing fitness tests would pull out my last score so they could try to read what you did,” laughed Sutter.

“They say are you still pushing the same numbers as in 2010?

“I’m like, ‘No way, are you kidding me? It’s been a long time.'”

RELAY A MESSAGE

Forward
Huberdeau-Lindholm-Toffoli
Backlund-Kadri-Coleman
Lucic Rooney Lewis
Sutter Bishop McLain

defense
Hanifin-Andersson
Zadorov-Weegar
Solovyov stone

goalkeeper
Markstrom
wolf