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The Flames have a crease conundrum

Joni Ortio

Joni Ortio

AP

Any team in need of a goalie may want to call the Calgary Flames. They’ve got three of them in Jonas Hiller, Karri Ramo, and Joni Ortio, the latter of whom is no longer exempt from waivers.

Hiller and Ramo are both pending unrestricted free agents, which has led to speculation that one of them could be moved. But the risk in that would be gambling on the inexperienced Ortio as the back-up.

Ortio conceded yesterday that the situation was “unusual,” the 24-year-old telling the Calgary Herald that his goal is simply to be the “No. 1 goalie” at training camp.

“We can probably affect the decisions – well, for sure, we can – but it’s not up to us to make that (ultimate) call,” said Ortio. “We just play hockey.”

The Flames could always roll the dice that Ortio isn’t claimed on waivers -- like the Canucks did last year when they sent Jacob Markstrom to the AHL -- but losing him for nothing would be a sour outcome.

Related: Ortio wants to steal the No. 1 goalie job in Calgary