The grins came easy for Dillon Dube during yesterday’s Calgary Flames practice in preparation for tonight’s home opener.

He’s clearly feeling the euphoria of his NHL honeymoon, but when that puck drops you know it will be all business for the NHL rookie.

“You take it minute-by-minute,” says Dube. “I’ll be fine. I need to start getting comfortable with myself and around the atmosphere of this league because every single game is going to be crazy.”  “This is next level. Every single game is going to be hyped up no matter where you go. So you have to get used to that and you have to stop getting overwhelmed by stuff around you. It’s time to get used to it and feel like you belong.”

Still, tonight is special. Dube will be walking through the tunnel onto the Flames home ice for the first time as a full-fledged NHLer in front of thousands of fans and potentially over a million viewers on Hockey Night in Canada. More importantly, it will be the first NHL game his whole family can attend.\

“It’s going to be cool. It’s going to be fun,” says Dube. “When I was younger I saw guys do that who I wanted to be. It’s special because my hometown and my family can come. This will feels like the actual home opener for them because all of them can come.”

Dube has been matched up with veterans James Neal and Derek Ryan in his rookie season and it’s a good fit.

“It gives me a lot of confidence being out there with them knowing that they’ve played and can make plays. I think we can be a good line. We have to push the pace every game.”

The opening game saw that line generate scoring opportunities, including a first period breakaway by Dube to generate the first of two shots on goal.

He also was on the receiving end of a questionable open-ice hit just seconds into the game from Vancouver defenceman Erik Gudbranson.

Moments after Gudbranson’s penalty expired, Dube teammate Travis Hamonic attempted to settle the score and has ended up on the injured reserve with a facial fracture. 

“It’s unfortunate what happened, but talking to [Hamonic] he said he wanted to do it. It’s just the kind of guy he is. He’s been in the league for a long time and he has always been the guy who sticks up for his teammates. That’s why he’s so respected here.  He put himself out there for me and I thank him for that. It meant a lot to me and I think it just shows how tight we are. Heading into the second game, it gives us a lot of confidence in knowing we’re a tight group already.”

Dube says he took a lot from that first game and it will come in handy in the rematch with the Canucks only days later.

“It felt good when I got the puck. I felt like I wanted it. I didn’t feel like the game was coming too fast. I think those two exhibition games really prepared me for that. I felt confident so I’m looking forward to carrying that momentum into the next one."

“It’s good for us to come back to them and know the game plan so we can just focus on playing. We know the systems they’re going to run, we know what they’re going to do, so we’re just going to go out there and play.  This will be the home opener for us and a fresh start. I think it’s good for us to get on track and find our way to play the way we need to.”

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