LOS ANGELES — One, two, three, four.
Get your rookies on the (frozen) floor.
That’s right. The Flames could have as many as four NHL debutants in the lineup this evening when they tie a bow on the 2024-25 campaign against the Kings.
Amid all the excitement and emotion for Hunter Brzustewicz, Sam Morton, Zayne Parekh and Aydar Suniev, there remains one burning question.
How are they going to handle the rookie lap?
See, it’s a tradition nowadays that new NHL players – and even goalies – get to take a quick twirl before their teammates during the pre-game warmup.
But four guys? That’s a bit unconventional.
A rarity.
So why not have some fun with it?
“It’s awesome, I don’t think I’ve seen a four-guy rookie lap,” Parekh said through an ear-to-ear grin Thursday morning. “The boys are talking about getting us a face-off play or something going on the lap, so we’ll see what happens.”
That idea resonated with Suniev, although the forward played a bit coy when asked by the media just what the plan is.
“We’ll see. Gotta do a face-off play or something,” he said, grinning.
But Brzustewicz had an even better idea, even if the first part of his response might have tipped the quartet’s hand as to what might actually happen.
“I think we’re just taking one lap at a time, maybe high-five each other on the way back,” he said. “But I always wanted to do like a little ‘Flying V’ or something.
“Maybe a couple drop passes.”
We’ll have to wait until around 6 p.m. local time to see just what takes place.
And we can always hold out hope that the new Flames have the same type of choreography as the mid-2000s Stampeders receiving corps did for their touchdown celebrations.
Sadly, there’s no running track at Crypto.com Arena like at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium, where the Stamps famously ran the 4×100 metre relay after scoring against their provincial rivals.
And rookie laps haven’t always been a thing, either.
Calgary bench boss Ryan Huska reminisced on his first NHL contest during his morning avail, politely suggesting that a solo spotlight might not have been up his alley back in the day.
“At that time, there was no such thing, right? I don’t know if I would have or not, that’s kinda not me,” he said. “So probably not, I don’t think I would have liked that.
“I remember sitting on the bench clear as day, I can still can remember that feeling, for sure. And that’s where I spent most of the game.”
Whether it’s all at once, or one at a time, Brzustewicz, Morton, Parekh and Suniev will experience a life-long memory in just a few short hours.
A ‘Welcome To The Show’ moment.
And what better place to do it than in the shadow of that iconic Hollywood sign.
