CALGARY -- Calgary Flames general manager Jay Feaster expects players to fly off the shelves when unrestricted free agency opens Friday. As part of the new collective bargaining agreement, NHL general managers were able to enter into talks with players Wednesday instead of having to wait until noon ET on Friday when the bell rings to open the UFA market. With cap space and a desperate need for centres, Calgary could be one of those teams out of the gates quickly Friday. "I think thats the effect here of this 48-hour period," Feaster said Wednesday. "Some guys will have agreements in principle here over the next day or two. Once youre able to sign and register the contract on the fifth, it will happen very quickly. "Weve had conversations already. Its been a busy day in terms of first thing this morning starting to talk with agents and getting a sense of players weve targeted. Are they thinking of re-signing with their old teams, or are they going to look at other offers and if so, what kind of a term are they thinking about? You just have those conversations and keep having them right through July 5." Feaster introduced new Flames acquired via recent trades. Winger David Jones and defenceman Shane OBrien were obtained from Colorado in exchange for winger Alex Tanguay and defenceman Cory Sarich. Forward T.J. Galiardi came from San Jose for a fourth-round draft pick in 2015. The Flames dealt a fourth-round pick to Florida prior to this years draft for centre Corbin Knight. Calgary hasnt made the playoffs in four seasons. The Flames are re-building. Calgary had three picks in the first round of Sundays NHL draft in Newark, N.J. Two of them came from trading captain Jarome Iginla to Pittsburgh and defenceman Jay Bouwmeester to St. Louis this past season. "Weve acknowledged were in a re-build, but the re-build doesnt have to take forever when you get a group of guys who are committed to the program," Feaster said. "Any time you have a building that is full every night the way the Saddledome is, any time you have an ownership group that is willing to commit the money and spend to the salary cap, any time youre in that kind of hockey market and a market where the game matters, I think its an easy sell." As a group, the four new Flames players represent Feasters goal of making the Flames younger and bigger. "Its a direction we want to go," the GM said. Jones and OBrien help Feaster address the need for a shooting winger and more bulk on his third defensive pairing, but Calgarys most pressing need is at centre on the first, second and third lines. "It also doesnt mean that were prepared to overpay whether its term on a contract or dollars on a contract," Feaster cautioned. "I think any time you go to the free agency market, they dont call it free-agency frenzy for nothing. The terms starts to run up and the dollars start to run up. "We have our list of centres weve identified and weve started that process and the ones we want to have conversations with. We also think there are still some opportunities to acquire centres by trade." Stephen Weiss, Mike Ribeiro, Derek Roy, Valtteri Filppula, Patrik Elias, Damien Brunner, Tyler Bozak and Dan Briere are among the centres scheduled to enter unrestricted free agency Friday. Teams up against a salary cap that will drop from $70.2 million to $64.3 million next season will need to shift bodies. According to capgeek.com, the Flames currently have almost $17.5 million in cap space to work with for 2013-14. That doesnt count the $5.8 million goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff would count against the cap. The Flames await a decision from the 36-year-old Finn on whether hell retire or return to the NHL for the final year of his contract. Either scenario is beneficial for Calgary, so theyre not pressing him for a decision. The Flames either get the extra cap space or they get an asset they can trade and cap room. Kiprusoff spent the last nine seasons with the Flames and helped them reach the Stanley Cup final in 2004. He won the Vezina Trophy as the leagues top goaltender in 2006. But Kiprusoffs return to the Flames seems unlikely with Joey MacDonald and Swiss netminder Reto Berra already under contract. Feaster said he expects to announce the signing of Finnish goaltender Karri Ramo on Friday. Custom Basketball Jerseys Store . A forerunning sled crashed into the worker Thursday at the Sanki Sliding Center. The unidentified worker broke both legs and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. Los Angeles Clippers Jerseys Custom . 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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama is in familiar territory and not just because of a quick return trip to Atlanta.For the third time in six seasons the top-ranked Crimson Tide head into the playoffs -- or previously into the BCS national championship game -- with a coordinator preparing to leave for a head coaching job. This time, offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin is leaving to take over at Florida Atlantic after `Bamas season ends.Alabama (13-0) faces No. 4 Washington (12-1) in a semifinal game on Dec. 31 at the Georgia Dome.It wasnt an issue before: Jim McElwain left after the 2011 season to take over at Colorado State. Alabama beat LSU 21-0 in the title game.Kirby Smarts imminent departure for Georgia didnt impede a championship run last season.Now, its Kiffins turn to pull double duty and prepare for at least one more game while starting to work on recruiting and assembling a staff at Florida Atlantic.Hes done a great job here molding our offensive players to what they can do to have the best chance to be successful, and I think thats always something that is very telling about the quality of a coach, Tide coach Nick Saban said Monday.Saban said FAU has selected someone thats going to do a great job for them but he declined to take questions about Kiffins hiring, which hadnt been formally announced by Florida Atlantic. He spoke at a news conference Monday with Peach Bowl officials.Alabama starts practice on Friday before returning to Atlanta, where they beat Florida 54-16 in the Southeastern Conference championship game on Dec. 3. The Tide is well acquainted with the Georgia Dome.The Crimson Tide has won seven strraight games at the Georgia Dome and eight of nine overall under Saban.dddddddddddd That includes a 4-0 record in Kickoff Classics and 4-1 in SEC title games.It also was the site of Sabans first really big win at `Bama. The Tide upset No. 9 Clemson 34-10 to start the 2008 season en route to a surprising 12-0 regular season.Saban still feels that win was a launching pad in helping restore the program to national prominence.We were a relatively unknown program when we played Clemson, he said. They were ranked in the Top 10 if I recall correctly, and we had a pretty dominant performance in that game. And I actually think that game probably did as much to launch this program forward as any game or anything that we ever did. We took a little bit of a risk in playing a game like that against a very, very good team and a good program that was highly ranked.We were happy to have the opportunity to do it.Game notes Cornerback Marlon Humphrey has been doing rehab on a right leg injury that sidelined him from the SEC championship game. Saban is hoping Humphrey will be able to fully participate in practice. With the type of injury he has, Im not sure well know for sure what his status will be until we start practicing again, Saban said. But were hopeful that this is the type of injury that just rest will be very beneficial to him and that he will be able to participate fully when we get back to practice.---More AP college football: http://collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 . ' ' '