Glass eager to start for Blackhawks in native Calgary (Dec 31, 2017)
CALGARY, Alberta -- Starting as an NHL goaltender in his hometown is something that Jeff Glass thought might never happen.
Glass's dream will become a reality when he and his Chicago Blackhawks (18-14-5) take on the Calgary Flames (18-16-4) at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Sunday night.
"It will be good, it's exciting," said Glass, who made 42 saves in his NHL debut on Friday to backstop the Blackhawks to a 4-3 overtime win in Edmonton over the Oilers. "It's something I've always dreamed of. I never thought it would actually come true."
The 32-year-old Calgary native was recalled from the AHL's Rockford IceHogs on Wednesday and got the start against Edmonton. Anton Forsberg played Chicago's previous two games in net after starting goalie Corey Crawford went down with an upper-body injury in a 4-1 road loss to the New Jersey Devils on Dec. 23.
Chicago coach Joel Quenneville was happy to give Glass the chance to play in front of friends and family in his hometown against the Flames.
"There are certain times when you can say that are you going back to your hometown or it's a team you played with at an earlier date," Quenneville said. "I think those are two times when you reflect back and it's a proud moment and it's one of those games you always want to be successful in and you want to play well, and you want to win. Coming off that great win, he's got to be pretty excited about getting this next opportunity as well.?
Right winger Tommy Wingels said that everyone on the Blackhawks is rooting for Glass to succeed after he finally achieved his goal of playing in the NHL.
"He has been around and played for many years, so I think he looks at it as let's enjoy this moment," Wingels said. "I can tell he is soaking up every minute of it and he's enjoying it and he certainly deserves to be here."
Meanwhile, the Flames are looking to rebound from a 2-1 road loss they suffered to the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.
"It's the same old story," said Calgary coach Glen Gulutzan, who was disappointed the Flames went 0-for-3 with the man advantage while allowing Anaheim forward Rickard Rakell to score the game-winning goal on a power play early in the third period. "If we're not going to win the specialty-teams game then we aren't going to go far.
"You're not going anywhere. And until that straightens out or until we get more confidence, or whatever it is, under our belt then we're going to toil around. I don't think it's completely a lack of confidence. I think it's a lack of execution. So, we have to bear down. We need to generate.?
In a radio interview on Sportsnet 960 The Fan, Flames right winger Micheal Ferland said the Flames just must review what's been going wrong during their three-game losing streak and try to be better.
Among those things are a power play that is 2-for-9 during this three-game losing streak and 3-for-29 during the last eight games, contributing to Calgary going 2-4-2.
"I think we just got to start playing with confidence knowing that were a good team," said Ferland, who scored Calgary's lone goal against Anaheim.
The Flames made a minor trade on Saturday, acquiring defenseman Dalton Prout from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for goaltender Eddie Lack, who started the year in Calgary before being sent down to the AHL's Stockton Heat.
Prout, who had no points and 13 penalty minutes in four games with the Devils this season, will report directly to Stockton.
