it’ll take for Seattle to have a successful franchise. And while it may not be on par with what Vegas is accomplishing, Leiweke sees no reason why Seattle won’t have a chance to be a contender from the start.”I won’t be foolish enough to say we’re going to make it to the Stanley Cup (Final) in

CALGARY Womens Henrik Zetterberg Jersey , Alberta — Intense rivalries often bring out the best in athletes.That’s what fans will be hoping for when the Calgary Flames (10-8-1) host the first installment of the Battle of Alberta against the Edmonton Oilers (9-8-1) at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday night.“Obviously it’s exciting playing against those guys,” said Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau. “It’s a good tradition playing against those guys. They get excited for those games and so do we. It’s going to be a lot of fun and we’re really looking forward to it.”Article continues below ...Gaudreau will be looking to snap out of a personal four-game scoreless streak, while also helping the Flames rebound from their second straight setback, a 3-2 loss to the visiting Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.“I think our line has had a lot of good chances here in the past two, three games, and they’re just not dropping in right now for us,” said Gaudreau, who is tied with linemates Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm at 19 points for second in scoring on the Flames (behind Matthew Tkachuk’s 21 points). “We’ve got to roll with the punches here and they’ll start coming.”While the Flames lost to Montreal on Thursday, the Oilers skated to a convincing 6-2 win over the Canadiens two nights earlier in Edmonton.Now, after a short rest and a couple days of practice, the Oilers are ready for their first game against a Pacific Division foe this season.“The Battle of Alberta definitely gets you wound up and gets you going,” said Oilers coach Todd McLellan. “Any time you play a rival — it doesn’t matter if it’s Alberta or in Ontario or in another league or another sport — the fans get excited about it and the players get excited about it. Both teams are improving and pushing for a playoff spot.“I know it’s very early in the year, but these games become vitally important as they add up throughout the season. Our group will be excited about going there.”Since the Oilers also play at home on Sunday against the Vegas Golden Knights (8-10-1), McLellan has opted to start backup goalie Mikko Koskinen against the Flames before bouncing right back with netminder Cam Talbot the next night.“Two games Jimmy Howard Jersey , we’re at home and we’re on the road,” McLellan said. “One team went to the Stanley Cup Finals last year and the other team is a rival. We just decided that we would play Mikko on the road to experience the rivalry and Talbs at home in the back-to-back.”Although Flames bench boss Bill Peters announced on Friday that goaltender David Rittich will get the start against the Oilers, he added that he won’t be afraid to go back to Mike Smith, who let in the game-winning goal through his legs in the third period on Thursday to Montreal forward Artturi Lehkonen.“We’re going to keep putting him in there when the time is right and away you go,” said Peters of Smith. “He’ll get another chance and when you get the chance, seize the opportunity.”Rittich made 21 saves for his first NHL shutout against the Kings in Los Angeles in his last start last Saturday.“I feel good, but it’s another game and you have to be prepared for it,” said Rittich, who has a 5-1-0 record to go with a 1.91 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage. “What happened last game, it happened. Everyone in our locker room has to be prepared for another game. It’s going to be a great atmosphere here and we want to win.”In a one-for-one deal that was announced on Friday, the Oilers acquired Ryan Spooner from the New York Rangers in exchange for fellow forward Ryan Strome. SEATTLE (AP) From his office about 1,000 miles away from T-Mobile Arena, Tod Leiweke has watched the Stanley Cup playoffs with a growing appreciation for what is taking place in Las Vegas.He was keeping an eye on the Golden Knights even before he became president of Seattle Hockey Partners LLC, the group looking to bring an expansion NHL franchise to the Pacific Northwest. Once he took charge of Seattle’s efforts Jonathan Ericsson Jersey , Leiweke’s interest intensified, just as Vegas began its run to the upcoming Stanley Cup Final.”They’re playing the game with great joy and they’re having fun and it’s just inspirational to watch,” Leiweke said. ”We’re absolutely loving it and living vicariously through them.”The Golden Knights’ success in their inaugural season has been unprecedented as Vegas prepares for Game 1 on Monday night against the Washington Capitals. It’s also seemed to have heightened the expectations for the next wave of NHL expansion.Seattle is on deck. If the NHL awards the city a franchise, it could be on the ice as early as the 2020 season. It would require a $650 million expansion fee and a renovated arena. There’s also talk of future growth, with Houston mentioned regularly as a possible destination for the league.NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has met with new Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, who is certainly more open to acquiring an NHL franchise for Houston than former owner Les Alexander. Seattle is certainly further ahead in the process by showing interest, but Houston has the arena and a potential owner already in place for the near future.For now all the focus is on what’s happening in Seattle. And if Leiweke is feeling any additional pressure for his potential franchise given Vegas’ success on and off the ice, he’s not showing it.”Well, to tell you the truth, I guess someone could interpret it that way that there’s all of a sudden this unusual pressure on us but in fact all they’re doing is helping us,” Leiweke said. ”They’re showing us how successful this league could be, the brilliance of the game, they’re showing us what happens when a team comes together and plays inspired hockey. We don’t at all see it as anything other than just a great thing for the National Hockey League. Those that come before us will set the table for us. When I think about what they’ve done my endorphins go off and I have such admiration and we’re truly inspired by it.”The indications about six weeks ago, when Leiweke was hired Womens Justin Abdelkader Jersey , led those involved in the expansion process to believe some type of conditional approval would be granted by the NHL Board of Governors during their June meeting, to be followed by full approval in September. The staggered approach was to make certain construction on the arena would begin in late October as scheduled.That has changed. Bettman told The Associated Press this week that the Seattle expansion won’t be formally addressed next month.”What we have said to the people – David Bonderman’s group – is we’re on your timetable. There’s information that needs to be gathered after information is submitted. We have to finish doing our due diligence and our homework. We need to have the timetable understanding as to when the building’s going to get done. We can move as fast or as slowly as you want. There’s no rush,” Bettman told the AP. ”We’re in the middle of the process. They’re doing their homework, and they’re proceeding on two fronts because they’ve got to renovate a building and they’ve got to pursue the team and they’re doing both very nicely. They’re working with the city, they hired Tod Leiweke.”Is it going to be on the June agenda? No. After that, could it be September? Could it be the annual meeting in December? It’s possible.”Leiweke was hoping to have a true rooting interest in the finals, but the Tampa Bay Lightning were ousted in the Eastern Conference finals by the Capitals. Leiweke was the CEO of the Lightning from 2010-15 and was part of the group that turned around the organization, both with its on-ice success and in the stands, rejuvenating a fan base that had slumped following Tampa Bay’s title run in 2004.The experience in Tampa Bay gave Leiweke an understanding of what it’ll take for Seattle to have a successful franchise. And while it may not be on par with what Vegas is accomplishing, Leiweke sees no reason why Seattle won’t have a chance to be a contender from the start.”I won’t be foolish enough to say we’re going to make it to the Stanley Cup (Final) in our first year but I believe that we can absolutely build a team that is long-term competitive here,” Leiweke said. ”So when we think about this we don’t say look, we’re resetting a goal and our goal is to make the Stanley Cup in year one. But our goal is to replicate a good part of what they’ve done by building an incredibly competitive program where those players are proud to pull on that sweater.”—AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.—More Stanley Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/StanleyCupFinals