CALGARY – The Calgary Flames injected youth into their NHL season home-opener.
Defenceman Zayne Parekh, 19, and left-winger Samuel Honzek, 20, made their season debuts Saturday in Calgary’s 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues.
They joined 19-year-old winger Matvei Gridin in the Flames’ lineup for the first game of 2025-26 at the Saddledome after a pair of road games to start the season.
Parekh, the ninth overall pick by Calgary in the 2024 draft, and Honzek, a first-round selection in 2023, watched games in Edmonton and Vancouver from the press box before drawing in Saturday.
Parekh and Honzek, with one and five games of NHL experience respectively, held their own in a game tied 2-2 going into the third period.
Gridin, the 28th pick by Calgary after Parekh, was the more comfortable of the