Former Flames captain Mark Giordano gets standing ovation in return to Calgary (VIDEO)

Former Calgary Flames captain Mark Giordano was feeling the love on Saturday night.

Returning to Calgary for the first time as a member of the Seattle Kraken after getting plucked by them in last summer’s expansion draft, Giordano received a standing ovation from Flames fans.

A standing ovation for Gio ❤️ pic.twitter.com/YaFBbWbdcX

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) February 20, 2022

Giordano spent 15 seasons with the Flames after signing as an undrafted free agent, and is the team’s all-time leader in games played amongst defencemen.

Giordano had 143 goals, 366 assists for a total of 509 in 949 games for the Flames in his career, while winning the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenceman in 2018-19. He also served as the captain from 2013-14 until last season, taking over the role from Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla. Calgary has yet to name a captain this season in his absence.

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For the warm welcome back and the beautiful tribute –

thank you, Calgary. 💙 pic.twitter.com/I4Qk6BAP6g

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) February 20, 2022

“No question he’s got very strong ties,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “You’d have to ask him about the emotions, but I’m sure there were some emotions running pretty high.”

This season, he’s still putting up strong numbers in an average of 21:32 of ice time while putting up four goals and 17 assists in 45 games. On Saturday, “Gio” led the Kraken with 21:11 of ice time.

Calgary got the last laugh, though, winning the game 2-1 by way of Elias Lindholm’s third-period goal.