The 2017-18 season has been completed by the Calgary Flames and, unfortunately, they’re not going to be in action when the Stanley Cup playoffs open on Wednesday night. As a result, players, management and the assembled media gathered at the Saddledome today for final meetings and media availabilities. We’ll be collecting the major news items of the day after the jump.
At time of this writing, the biggest news is that Mikael Backlund will take time out from his spring to head to Europe as part of Team Sweden’s entry at the World Hockey Championship. Backlund’s represented Sweden a lot in his hockey career – his previous experience includes two Under-18s, two World Juniors, four World Championships and a World Cup – but he’s never captured an international gold medal.