The 2024–25 season is officially here. The Calgary Flames will kick off their new campaign tonight against the Vancouver Canucks, and a topic of conversation all summer was who would be in between the pipes when the season began. That question has been answered. Dan Vladar will be the team’s starter tonight in Vancouver.
Vladar’s experience wins him the starter’s job
There were a ton of questions this offseason when it came to Vladar and what he would look like come the start of the season. Coming off surgery that ended his season early last year, many thought there was no way that Vladar would have the net over Dustin Wolf.
Well, Ryan Huska and his coaching staff have made their decision to go with Vladar, and I would bet that Vladar having a few NHL seasons under his belt was part of that decision. This will be Vladar’s fourth season with the Flames and for the first time, he will get the call on opening night.
Will it be the first of many starts?
Vladar has a career-high of 27 starts and that came in the 2022–23 season, I would have to guess that without a clear number-one goalie on the roster, he will smash that this season splitting time with the aforementioned Wolf.
There will be a battle in the cage this season as Vladar will try to rebound from his tough season a year ago and Wolf will try to establish himself as a full-time NHL goaltender. We will see how it goes, but night one goes to Vladar.
Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire
