This unlocks a WHOLE new element for the Flames... | Calgary Flames News

Calgary Flames hockey is truly back and well after a typical performance at the Dome last night. Though the team may have gotten pummeled, there was one bright spot who brings physicality, competitiveness, and a whole new element for the future of the Calgary Flames. We're going to get to all that more in this video, but first I want to welcome you to Flames Digest. I'm Mark Riveth. If you're new around here and you love the Flames, make sure you subscribe so you can stay up to date on all the latest news, updates, reports, and rumors revolving around your Calgary Flames. We would love to welcome you to the Flames Digest family, and though the Flames lost, there was absolutely one monster in last night's game, and at least someone played well, which might be, you know, honestly a little bit harsh because there were a few players who played pretty good. But in case you missed it, yeah, the Flames, they didn't do too hot. They lost 6-1 last night in the Next Gen Showcase, which was not what any of us wanted to see. You know, it was nice to finally have Flames hockey back. We're so pumped about the future, and we get absolutely destroyed. I mean, the one saving grace in all this is that essentially all of our top prospects play in the NCAA, and they're unable to attend. They all have their own camps. They have their own seasons underway. I actually saw quite a few people on Twitter, like Flames fans, upset that, you know, those guys don't attend the NHL training camps, and the NHL and NCAA have to figure something out. I don't know. Not that huge of a deal to me. But, yeah, it was a 6-1 loss for the one goal that the Flames did score. It was Sunyev. So, after Isaac Howard made it 4-0 Oilers, Adar Sunyev followed a bouncing puck through some Oilers players off the rush and chipped the puck into the Edmonton net to make it 4-1. A good little description there from Ryan Pike painting the picture there for us, since, you know, due to copyright, I can't show the highlight. It was a pretty nice goal, though, which was great to see. A lot of people did expect, you know, Sunyev, as well as Gritton, to kind of be the two main guys. And to be quite honest with you, Gritton was the best Flame last night, at least the best Flames board, for sure. We're going to get into who was the best Flame, of course. Gritton looked good. No, the result didn't go our way. Sunyev got a good one. Some guys, honestly, didn't look too great. But there were a lot of fill-ins, as we know, which is, you know, kind of to be expected. Again, this game doesn't matter. It kind of stung to lose in the Dome like that, you know, kicking off the final year in the Dome. And, no, this game doesn't matter at all. Still would have been nice to win, but at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter. What does matter, though, is the main man himself. So, Eric Francis did a great write-up of last night's game. Feel free to go give this thing a whole read. Go watch the highlights if you haven't yet. I mean, there's not that many for Calgary, a lot of highlights for Edmonton, I suppose. But feel free to go read the whole article. I'm not going to take a look at the whole thing, but we are going to focus on the main man. So, the prospect game takeaways. Flames' Maceo Phillips steals the show. And he honestly did. He did it early, and he looked fantastic, the type of energy that the Flames are looking for heading into their, you know, very unknown future, I suppose. So, Eric Francis here writes, absolute specimen. I put it as he was an absolute monster. That's why the chapter of this video is monster, but absolute specimen. That's how Flames' director of player development, Ray Edwards, not Murray Edwards, described Maceo Phillips mere hours before the young defenseman used his 6'6", 230-pound frame to steal the show. Down 1-0 late in the first period of Monday's Next-Gen Prospects game against the Oilers, Phillips adeptly recognized Weston Cameron was being a little too reckless with his 6'4 body and called on the visitor to fight. And I know a lot of people want fight and gone out of hockey. This one's more for the hockey purists. That's the type of player that Maceo Phillips seems to be. Just a pure hockey player, you know, kind of old school a little bit with his physicality, ready to drop the gloves. I know a lot of people love to absolutely see that. So after a few early exchanges, seven straight rights by Phillips buckled the Oiler, prompting 9,000 dome dwellers to rise in unison. That's so poetic there. As a punctuation mark, Phillips immediately skated straight towards the Flames' bench for an animated flyby that included a series of fist pumps. I know there's tiny little photos in there, but if you haven't seen it, again, it was a wicked celebration afterwards. It's got everyone riled up, you know, he's doing the classic waving his arms up, trying to get everyone going, and did it right in front of the Flames' bench, which was really, really cool to see. To continue, it was a Costco-sized example of why the 19-year Minnesotan is one of the organization's most intriguing prospects, which is a good word for it. It was pretty electric tonight, the juices are flowing, and I'm just trying to get a spark for the boys feeding off the crowd, said Phillips, who made a similar splash a year earlier when he fought Conor Clattenburg. That's something that's part of my game, and I just want to do whatever the team needs from me, and they absolutely got what they needed out of Macio Phillips. On a team that will spend the next few years adding high-end skill that will need to be protected, Phillips is the type of nuclear deterrent who could come in handy, much like three of his idols, Darnell Nurse, Nikita Zadorov, and Keandre Miller. That's quite the trio of players to look up to, for sure. Flames legend, Zadorov, right there. Nurse is hilarious, just because of how his career has gone, but it does make sense why he looks up to him, for sure. A tough defenseman, all these guys can throw the body around and obviously have a little bit of skill as well we can throw in. He says there's so many things that he brings to the table that we don't have a ton of, and most guys don't have a ton of, so it's exciting that way, said Edwards, whose club picked the towering prospect in the third round back in 2025, and that seemingly is a very good pick. Again, we often talk about the prospects, and it's all about the skill, the scoring that they can bring. This brings a whole new element for the Flames, in that they also have these big, big guys who can throw the body around and be that physical presence that you need. The Zadorov, if you will, from that 2022 team, always necessary to have those on a successful team. There aren't a ton of 230-pounders, and while I know Nurse isn't 230 pounds, I see similarities in their game, physicality, and the way he skates. Like Darnell, he's a tough defender, that is me, obviously another quote from Edwards there. An unheard of 187 penalty minutes in 44 games as an 18-year-old rookie with Green Bay in the USHL last season speaks to his rugged nature, again, great description there. Yeah, I would say I'm a physically dominant defenseman, I take pride in being hard to play against, and I can contribute offensively at the right times as well, said Phillips, who is known for his polite, cheerful demeanor off the ice. And to be quite honest, he does seem like a really polite, cheerful guy. It's just on the ice, different beast. I think being mean is important with hockey. You've got to bear down, play hard, and be hard on the ice. I'm kind of the complete opposite off the ice, keeping it light and positive, always happy and stuff, but I think once you step on the ice, you don't have any friends. You're competing to win, and I don't love anything more than winning. If that just isn't exactly what you want to hear about a professional athlete, is that they're light, positive, happy, upbeat, off the ice, and then just an absolute demon on the ice, or the gridiron, the diamond, the pitch, whatever you want to call it, that is what you want to hear, obviously, specifically for a hockey player as well, especially for a Calgary Flame. Last couple quotes here. So Maceo Phillips, what did he say? He said, that's something that's part of my game, but I also love a lot of other things to offer too. Maceo Phillips speaks on his tilt and overall thoughts on tonight's Next Gen Showcase. And look at his face! He's a young guy, he just looks like a little sweetheart, you know, but on the ice, he clearly showed last night he's got a physical element to his game, which is what he's saying, but that is part of his game, but he has a lot of other things to offer too. Like he said, he can pitch in offensively at the right times. Pretty good skater as well. Another couple people that Eric Francis highlighted, as well as Phillips, I feel like I gave such a bad conclusion there for Phillips. He's awesome. So happy to have him in the system. And I like that we have that physical element in the pipeline as well as all of that scoring and skill. Now I can get into these two fellas, because that will wrap up the article for me. So Matt Bay Gritton and Sunyav are two guys who Francis decided to point out as well. So starting with Gritton, he said, as the Flames' leading scorer the last quarter of the season, Gritton was a bit of a surprise inclusion in the rookie camp slash game, as he's expected to start the season on the Flames' top line. His line with Gross and Sunyav was indeed the best Monday, making several great passing plays to give all three prime scoring chances. They were the best line that was quite expected. I actually thought that Gritton looked really patient with the puck, which is good. You know, obviously as a young guy in his NHL career, it kind of seemed like you're wanting the puck away as much as possible. Gritton, a little bit guilty of that. I thought it looked way more composed last night, which was really nice to see. Francis also points out Sunyav, he said, the tremendous hands that made the 21-year-old a third-round draft pick in 2023 were on display in tight when he walked in and roofed the Flames' only goal. He had several good scoring chances, getting off good shots every time, which is great to see. The goal was awesome. I also personally want to give a big shout out to Harrington. I thought he looked really, really good as well. Castagne was kind of the main man of yesterday's video, and I don't think he played bad. He just didn't wow me as much as maybe I thought he was going to. But still, no hate towards any of the prospects that played last night. I know it didn't go our way. Again, it doesn't matter too much, but would have been nice to win. Doesn't matter in the long run. So glad we have Phillips, Gritton, Sunyav, all of these other guys in the system, of course. Now let's get into the comment of the day to wrap up this video, as we love to do here on the channel. It comes from yesterday's video, of course, that we were just talking about, and this is a great one here from Bleb World. What a funny name that is. It's like Deuce World. He said, I think Castagne has the chance to make the opening night roster since Huberto won't be starting. He can easily take the 4C, he's fast, and can really shoot the puck. And again, like I just said, he didn't wow me as much as possible, but it still is, you know, possible, I just said that word, that he can crack the lineup. I don't know if it'll be specifically him, but there are a lot of names we can throw in the mix there of who could potentially be our 4C. Knowing Huska, it'll probably be, you know, Pospisil or someone like that that will be our 4C when the season begins, but there's a lot of opportunity for other guys to maybe, you know, take their chance at training camp, preseason, and maybe, just maybe slot into the actual starting lineup for that first game there. First game of 84. We're so, so close. Thank you so much for watching this video. Please subscribe if you like what you saw here today, and have a wonderful rest of your day.