It’s been a long off-season for the Calgary Flames but finally — finally — they’re back.
Training camp opens Thursday with fitness testing and medicals at the Canadian Sport Institute at WinSport.
The first on-ice sessions begin Friday at 9 a.m. at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Not skating? Pivot Sean Monahan, who suffered a back injury which kept him out of the World Cup of Hockey despite claims a week ago that he was feeling back to normal.
Also not skating: centre Daniel Pribyl and defenceman Ladislav Smid.
Not in attendance due to their presence at the World Cup of Hockey: (contract-less) Johnny Gaudreau (Team North America), Mikael Backlund (Sweden), Michael Frolik (Czech), and Jyrki Jokipakka (Finland).