Howard Loves the Slots 2019-12-14 Not long after the Flames returned home to Calgary from their season opener in Colorado, Jimmy Howard was told to turn in his parka for shorts as he was heading to Vegas. After the Flames finished their game against Colorado and in quick fashion GM Steve and GM Doug struck a deal where Howard was sent to Vegas for minor league goalie Jonas Johansson and a conditional 3rd round. When asked for a comment GM Steve had this to say. “This was a tough deal to make considering we signed Howard out of free agency a couple of years back. He came in and stabilized our net while we began the burn down of the roster during the rebuild. Howard is a true professional and I would like to thank him for his service to the community and to the team. With the addition of Anders Nilsson we felt moving forward paying two goalies starters money wasn’t the best use of resources so we reached out to Vegas to see if they would be interested in giving Howard a shot at chasing a cup”. “As for the 6ft 5 Jonas Johansson we have the upmost confidence he will come in and will challenge Evan Fitzpatrick and Connor Ingram for the net in Stockton. He has shown that he has the raw tools to get the job done and with Troy Mann’s leadership and guidance we strongly feel that Jonas can be strong and reliable option in net for the organization moving forward.” “In closing we wish Jimmy Howard all the best of luck in Vegas and welcome to the Flames organization Jonas Johansson.”