Special night ahead for Calgary Flames prospect Andrew Basha

Andrew Basha was born and raised in Calgary and grew up cheering for the Calgary Flames.

That's why it was a dream come true when the Flames selected the 18-year-old in the second round of this year's NHL entry draft.

On Monday night, Basha will live out another dream, as he makes his pre-season debut with the Flames at home as they take on the Edmonton Oilers.

Basha knows it's going to be a great experience.

"It's incredible to be the first time playing in the Dome with the Flames sweater on. It will be surreal for me," he said.

"Fortunate to have lots of family and friends in the building, so just excited to get going."

Will see time on power play

Basha will play on a line with Sam Morton and William Stromgren for Monday night's game.

He will also see time on the power play.

Head coach Ryan Huska says he's earned a look.

"We have him on a power play unit that's got some pretty good players on it," he said.

"You could see this morning, he had the tendency to want to pass all of the time instead of shoot, which I totally understand. It's pretty exciting for him and the thing we like about Bash is he's done a really good job right from Day 1 of our prospect camp."

Not really nervous

Basha is pretty grounded for an 18-year-old and says he's not really nervous about the game despite having a big cheering section.

"I don't want to look back on this and say I overthought everything and went into it thinking I had all of this pressure," he said.

"I'm still 18 years old and I don't really think there's much pressure for me. I think it's just going out and having fun and treating it like I was with any other team."

Will just play his game

Huska isn't surprised Basha is so cool, calm and collected, even if this is such a big game for him.

"For a Calgary kid, this would be ridiculously cool to be able to play in here with some of the guys that he's grown up watching play," Huska said.

"I think that's what it's all about but it's getting him to understand that he's a really good player and that's why he's here.

"We want him to just play his game and enjoy it."

The Flames will send another squad to Edmonton on Monday night, so it's two games in one night for Calgary and Edmonton.