"Mikael Backlund no longer has the scariest-looking eye in the Calgary Flames camp. Not by a longshot. That honour now belongs to fellow prospect John Armstrong. "I just have to wait until it opens again," smiled the 22-year-old centre on Wednesday, emerging for the first time since being struck in the face with a puck during Tuesday's 3-2 exhibition win over a visiting Vancouver Canucks split squad. Backlund had the honour of ugly eye after taking an errant stick during an opening-day drill that left a slight cut along one side of his nose and leading into some colours of the rainbow. Armstrong easily topped that with two stitches covering a small cut above a swollen right eye that was a deep crimson in colour. Streaks of green and purple darted to the corners of the eye. Oddly enough, both players were wearing face shields when they were injured. "I didn't see it coming at all," said Armstrong of the third-period incident in which a puck shot by Calgary defenceman Josh Meyers was deflected up and into the eye area by a Vancouver defender's stick." http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports... with season just underway/3570982/story.html
