Flames rookies tiptoe past Oilers in overtime at the Centrium

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“I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous and anxious to come out and play in front of everybody. All in all, I had a good experience,” says Nielsen, who had 50 or 60 friends and family in attendance.

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“(Growing up), I wouldn’t go anywhere near an Oilers jersey. My uncle tried to get me into a Mike Comrie jersey when I was six or seven and I didn’t even take a sniff of it. I was definitely excited when I found out I got traded to Calgary; it’s definitely a dream come true.”

Nielsen admits he had a down year with the AHL’s Stockton Heat last season, but says he’s willing to do whatever it takes to prove he deserves an opportunity with the Flames main squad.

Former Red Deer Rebel Luke Philp fires the puck at the Oilers goaltender on Sept. 7 at the Westerner Park Centrium. (Rob Wallator)

Meantime, another young man familiar with the confines of the Centrium was back on the ice he helped the Red Deer Rebels vie for a Memorial Cup on in 2016.

Canmore’s Luke Philp, now 23, is coming off a tremendous campaign with the University of Alberta in which he was named U Sports player of the year. He also won the Canada West scoring title for a second year, and then signed an entry level contract with the Flames in March.

“I owe a lot to that program. We had great teams every year, a great coaching staff, your teammates make you better and I continued to improve as a player up there,” says Philp who notched 103 points in 78 games over three seasons in U Sports. “We had six guys sign contracts last year from that team, so that kind of speaks for itself.”

Philp will likely take his game to Stockton for the upcoming season where he believes his confidence will continue to grow, and hopefully lead to an opportunity at some point in Calgary.