The Calgary Flames and Salt Lake Golden Eagles opened 1988-89 training camp Thursday with 66 players in the Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta. The players were to work on conditioning until Saturday, when they will be split into four teams and immediately begin scrimmaging.
Camp will last until about Sept. 25, when those assigned to the Eagles will begin to head for Salt Lake City to get ready for an Oct. 7 season opener in Milwaukee. It will be the Eagles' 20th season. Paul Baxter will be back for a second season as coach, and Bobby Francis will again be his assistant.The Flames have released all three of last year's Eagle goaltenders, including record-setting Marc D'Amour, who made 62 regular-season and 19 playoff-game appearances in setting the franchise mark. Also uninvited back are Grant Blair and Rick Kosti.
The Flames were to have 65 players in camp - five goalies, 19 defensemen and 41 forwards - but at the last minute, they invited forward Brent Sapergia to join them. Sapergia has twice played for the Eagles and was on last season's Turner Cup championship team.
EAGLE NOTES - It's thought that D'Amour may end up playing with the independent Indianapolis Ice of the IHL this season . . . The Golden Eagles have announced the largest ticket purchase in their history: Dan's Foods has bought 40,000 tickets, 1,000 for each of 40 games . . . The younger brother of Peter Lappin, who scored four goals and two assists as the Eagles won the final game of the Turner Cup playoff in May, has just been named to the U.S. National Junior hockey team. Mike Lappin, 19, of Boston University, will be a forward on the select 18-man team that will compete in the World Junior Championship in Anchorage, Alaska, in December.