MOUNTAINS TO CLIMB
Everest conqueror’s speech gives Flames players plenty to think about
Each June, when a squad reaches — cue the cliche — the NHL’s mountaintop, every guy on the roster enjoys a spin of the ice with the Stanley Cup hoisted high above their heads.
When an expedition approaches the summit of Mount Everest, it might only be one or two climbers who actually stand on the peak.
That’s what the Calgary Flames learned from adventurer and motivational speaker Jamie Clarke during Monday’s team-building session at a downtown restaurant.
“It was one of the best speeches I’ve ever heard, to be honest,” said Flames captain Mark Giordano. “You take away the team aspect of it and how much preparation and how much works goes into it. And I took away that at the top of the mountain, when the guys get to go to the top, it’s only two out of the group that get to actually touch the summit.
“I mean, that’s a buy-in, when you know that you’re not going to be the one with the glory at the end to actually touch the top of the mountain, but you put all the time and the weeks into climbing up there. Really, climbing that mountain is all about a group of people coming together and having their separate roles and buying in.
“It was a pretty moving speech, I’ll tell you that.”
Born, bred and still based in Calgary, Clarke has trekked four times up Mount Everest, twice reaching the highest point on the planet.
That’s about a nine-week hike, not to mention several years of planning. If all goes well, you might stand at the summit for eight or nine minutes before retreating.
Clarke provided words of wisdom and encouragement to Team Canada prior to the world juniors last winter, has spoken to the national sledge hockey team and has addressed one other troupe of NHLers, but Monday’s audience was extra special for a guy who has been a season-ticket holder at the Saddledome since shortly before the Flames’ run to the Stanley Cup final in 2004.
“One of the messages I was trying to get across to the group is if you have high-performance individuals, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to have a high-performance team,” said Clarke, who is also author of two books, CEO of an outdoor apparel company and has climbed each of the Seven Summits — the highest mountain on each continent. “So what does it take? That chemistry that we speak of, almost in cliché these days, how do we tap into that? The DNA of that chemistry is ultimately an unselfishness. So how do you conjure up that unselfish play by a group of high performers who are compensated very well, who come to the ice with confidence and accomplishment, yet have them buy in deeply — not just on the surface — to a system of play that is put in place by the coaches and to go out there and play that system unselfishly and turn into not just highperformance individuals, but a high-performance team? “There’s no other way to win.” Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan first heard Clarke speak at a Hockey Canada camp during the summer.
With Monday’s team-builder — cocktails, dinner and then food for thought — booked well in advance, he had a photo of Mount Everest added to the decor in the lounge area where the players scarf down breakfast or lunch.
He asked them to bring their significant others along, too. The coaches and hockey-ops staff were also in attendance.
“What really struck me from listening to him in June is it took them three attempts to get to the top,” Gulutzan said. “It wasn’t just, ‘Hey, we climbed Everest, and this is how we did it.’ There’s failure along the way and the grind and the teamwork. I thought, when I listened to him the first time, it kind of echoed where we were. You’re not always going to get to where you want. We kind of set up a base camp (last season) and got maybe a little higher, but we want to keep going.
“And then we put up a photo of Everest in our room. I think the guys thought it was Banff for the last month, but it’s there for a reason. We have a little thing we’re going to try to do with that.”
The Flames’ climb is just getting started. Thursday’s home clash against the Carolina Hurricanes (7 p.m., Sportsnet Flames/Sportsnet 960 The Fan) marks the seventh game on their 82-game regularseason slate.
And then, for the 16 teams fortunate enough to earn an invite to the Stanley Cup dance, the fun really starts.
“(Clarke) put in perspective what the mind can do,” said Flames centre Mikael Backlund of Monday’s message.
“He was talking about being prepared, being focused, and every little mistake can matter,” added right-winger Michael Frolik, one of four Flames with his name already engraved on the Stanley Cup (Troy Brouwer, Kris Versteeg and just-signed Jaromir Jagr are the others).
“Over there, every bad decision, any little thing, it can cost a life. Obviously, it’s not like that in hockey but in that same way, every little detail can matter. I think it’s the same with a run in the playoffs, too. When you go all the way, every little play, every little thing can matter.”
Clarke will be in Section 213, Row 1, cheering them on. He’d love to see Johnny Gaudreau and Mark Giordano and every one of their Flames teammates spin around the Saddledome ice, Lord Stanley’s mug over their heads.
With an Everest attempt, you don’t get that sort of victory lap.
“It’s a matter of attrition,” Clarke said. “The expeditions run nine weeks. It’s hard on the mountain. You get beaten up. People are injured, they’re sick. You have to put all of your effort in. On a well-functioning team, you’ll have a group of 10 or 12 people, sometimes more, who are doing everything they have available to get someone on their team to the summit.”
When you explain it that way, it’s no wonder Gulutzan wanted his group to hear from the local adventurer.
“These guys are sacrificing themselves and their lives are on the line, and they know they might not going to the top, but they’re trying to get the expedition — the team — to the top,” Gulutzan marvelled. “It shows that everybody has a role, right? I mean, not everybody is going to score the game-winner in the Stanley Cup, but everybody has a role to play in reaching that point. In the playoffs, sometimes you have a guy who goes two rounds and gets injured and doesn’t come back. But yet, he is instrumental in winning the Cup, even though he’s not on the ice for the last couple of games.”
ICE CHIPS
After missing Saturday’s victory in Vancouver due to a groin injury, Flames RW Micheal Ferland was a full participant in Tuesday’s practice at the Corral.