Flames add depth to the blue line as Stone returns

It can be a challenge for the coach, but this is the sort of problem that every team craves — too many Nhl-calibre defencemen.

With the return of Michael Stone from a minor-league conditioning stint, the Calgary Flames now have nine healthy options on a bloated blue line.

“So make the most of it when you get in there,” Stone reasoned. “That's how you come into training camp each year — you have a lot of bodies, everyone wants to play at this level and there's only six spots a night.”

Stone, who was sidelined for 15 weeks due to a blood clot before his three-game rust-reducer with the American Hockey League's Stockton Heat, didn't dress for Tuesday's tilt against the New Jersey Devils.

Instead, he was a healthy scratch.

Ditto for fellow defencemen Oliver Kylington and Dalton Prout.

“I've sat and watched the games. I get fired up just like anybody else would and want to be on the ice,” Stone said after Tuesday's morning skate at the Saddledome. “I think when I get that opportunity, the adrenalin will be there and I'll be ready to go.

“I understand where we're at this point of the season. I understand it's playoff hockey and I'm prepared for that.”

Ah yes, playoff hockey, the reason that NHL general managers are always trying to stockpile capable back-enders. Flames GM Brad Treliving was up to just that on deadline day, landing Oscar Fantenberg in a swap with the Los Angeles Kings.

Around these parts, many folks still remember the name Brennan Evans.

He was ninth on the Flames' defensive depth chart during that fairtytale-type spring of 2004

and was pressed into action for a pair of second-round showdowns against the star-studded Detroit Red Wings due to injuries to Denis Gauthier, Toni Lydman and Rhett Warrener.

Before that emergency introduction, Evans had never skated on the biggest stage.

He never would again. Who is ninth on Calgary's depth chart now?

It could be Prout, a hard-nosed sort with a total of 257 nights of NHL know-how.

It could be the smooth-skating Kylington, who was summoned from the minors when Stone was diagnosed with that blood clot and hasn't been back to Stockton since.

It could be top prospect Juuso Valimaki, the trade-deadline untouchable who currently is out of sight — he has been toiling with the Heat since recovering from a high-ankle sprain — but certainly not out of mind.

“(Valimaki) is playing outstanding and we like the fact that he is down there playing and playing in all situations, said

Flames coach Bill Peters. “So really, we think we're 10 deep, if we need 'em, as we go forward. And at some point, that will be in the conversation, too — ‘What do we do with Vali? Do we get him up here at some point?' I know they're pushing in Stockton to get into the playoffs, and he's a big part of that.”

Besides, nine is enough. The bevy of blueliners will complicate Peters' practice plans. He told reporters Tuesday the coaching staff would need to be creative, mentioning that a spare rearguard could be asked to do drills as a forward or perhaps work solo with a skills coach instead of skating with the full squad.

Not ideal.

And yet, a nice problem to have.

“We know on any given night, guys can jump in and out of the lineup and that the guys that come in can be effective. They're all NHL players,” said Flames captain Mark Giordano.