Oct. 7 — All that excitement, all that anticipation … Thud. The Flames start on a sour note, a 5-1 thumping from the Vancouver Canucks at the Saddledome. “Truthfully, they embarrassed us in our home-opener,” fumes since-departed Flames defenceman Kris Russell. “We’ve gotta realize it was a bit of a joke the way we came out. If we want to be anywhere near the team we were last year, we can’t even be coming close to the effort we put in tonight.”
Oct. 10 — Three nights after the Canucks spoil their home-opener, the Flames return the favour at Rogers Arena.