MOMS ALONG FOR RIDE ON VEGAS ROAD TRIP
Players, management bring mothers along for team’s two-game road trip
There could be a slight whiff of leftover wine in the Calgary Flames’ morning meeting Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Not because the skating stars were out boozing.
Because, for the first time in franchise history, the Flames have invited their moms along on a road trip.
“When I was in Chicago, we had a Moms Trip — we went to L.A. — and they had an absolute blast, so I’m assuming it’s going to be the same thing,” said Flames readyto-return-to-action right-winger Troy Brouwer, whose proud mama Kathy is a veteran of these rare field trips. “I think the moms were actually a little bit more wild than the dads were.
“The moms are there to enjoy themselves. They’re going to be more wild than any of the players are going to be.”
There will be plenty of jokes cracked, but this isn’t a ploy by Calgary’s higher-ups to bring babysitters for their first visit to Las Vegas, where the expansion Golden Knights have been almost unbeatable in their own rink.
After another ho-hum home- stand, the Flames could really use two points from Wednesday’s crucial clash at T-Mobile Arena (8:30 p.m. MT, Sportsnet Flames/ Sportsnet 960 The Fan).
For that reason, the boys should be on their best behaviour. But their plus-ones? No promises.
“My mom is not a huge drinker,” Brouwer said prior to Tuesday’s jetaway. “So I’m excited to try to pump a few drinks into her, see if she’ll get a little noisy.”
A grand total of 29 moms are making the trip, including 21 with sons on the playing payroll and eight more accompanying coaches or other staff.
After Tuesday’s charter flight, they checked into a casino resort on The Strip, enjoyed a group dinner and then all attended a showing of Michael Jackson ONE, Cirque du Soleil’s tribute to the King of Pop.
Wanting to ensure the moms feel like part of the team, Flames bench boss Glen Gulutzan has invited them to the pre-game meeting in Sin City, just before their sons hit the ice for morning skate.
And when the puck drops, you’ll probably be able to pick them out of the crowd. Same goes for the second stop on this two-game tagalong — Thursday’s date with the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena.
“I’m excited to see how everybody is around their mom,” grinned Flames centre Matt Stajan, whose mother Nada was manager of his minor hockey team for several seasons. “We’ll see how everybody is in the dressing room with the boys, and it’s definitely going to be some different personalities when we get around the moms.”
It’s a safe bet there will be less swearing on the plane and on the bus. Even the most established veterans will be middle-of-the-line foranymeals.
And Flames sparkplug Ryan Lomberg, he of three fights in seven NHL appearances so far, joked his gloves might be sewn on while Lori is in attendance.
“She obviously doesn’t like me getting punched in the face,” he reasoned.
Moms will always worry about their boys. For the next few days, though, the feeling is mutual.
At least, that was Gulutzan’s experience on his first Moms Trip — as an assistant coach for the Vancouver Canucks in 2015-16.
“(The players) tense up, for sure, because you’re not sure what mom is going to say,” Gulutzan said with a chuckle. “A couple of guys in Vancouver were really nervous having their moms there. They did not know how this would play out.
“I’ll you what … I’m going to throw my mom (Mavis) under the bus here. She went on that trip with Vancouver, and I haven’t seen my mom have a glass of wine in 30 years. You know, she’s a smalltown lady from Saskatchewan. But I came back to my room, and she’s getting all dolled up and going to meet the girls for a glass of wine. I nearly fell over. I hadn’t seen that in my life.
“Those ladies had a lot of fun … And I thought it was great energy for our guys. We won both games. We were good.”
The Flames have been good on the road all winter, with a 17-7-5 record in enemy territory. In Vegas and Arizona, there’s extra incentive to add to that win total.
“These games are so big, regardless, but when your parents are there, you want to make the trip even more special,” Stajan said. “The mood on the plane after a game, it’s always a bit better if you win. It is even if your moms aren’t there. We want to make this a good trip and a memorable one.”
The moms are there to enjoy themselves. They’re going to be more wild than any of the players are going to be.
During Glen Gulutzan’s six-season stint in Sin City, the out-of-town team rarely seemed to lack oomph for the second half of a weekend doubleheader.
Gulutzan was behind the bench when the Las Vegas Wranglers joined the East Coast Hockey League, and opposing coaches wised up quick to the best way to keep their boys away from the bars, blackjack tables and other shenanigans along the Strip.
“We would usually play Friday-Saturday against the same team, and the carrot that got dangled was: ‘If you win Saturday night, we’ll stay over. But if you come into Vegas and you don’t play very well, then we’re just leaving Saturday right after the game,’” Gulutzan said. “So most teams would have their bags packed and bring them to the rink, yet the hotel rooms were on hold. If they won, they would get to go back and have a night in Vegas. And if not, they got on the bus and drove.
“So Saturday night became a lot tougher to win, because of the incentive.”
Now head coach of the Calgary Flames, Gulutzan is headed back to his old stomping grounds for Wednesday’s showdown against the Vegas Golden Knights.
The expansion Golden Knights have been the NHL’s surprise story, sizzling to the top of the Pacific Division standings.
Their 22-5-2 record on home ice at T-Mobile Arena has prompted a lot of chatter about the “Vegas flu,” with folks wondering whether hangovers might be hindering the opposition.
Gulutzan, who guided the Wranglers to five playoff berths, two division titles and one Kelly Cup final appearance between 200309, isn’t necessarily buying it.
He said any coach who can’t trust his players to behave themselves the night before a game would lose sleep in a lot of big-league cities. There’s a bit of fun to be found in Chicago, New York, Montreal, Nashville … the list goes on.
Gulutzan also insisted there is no ulterior motive behind the scheduling of the Flames’ first “moms trip” — 29 proud mamas, including his, will accompany the team on a two-game desert double that wraps with Thursday’s clash with the Arizona Coyotes.
Their special guests are free to have a few drinks.
Gulutzan isn’t worried about their sons getting tipsy.
“These guys are so disciplined,” he said. “I kind of chuckle, to be honest with you, when I see some teams trying to control it. My thought process is that if I have to control everything by putting up fences, then I’ve got the wrong people.”
With the Wranglers, he didn’t once assign a curfew.
“In the six years I was there, the question I was asked the most is, ‘How do you control the guys in Vegas?’” Gulutzan said.
“You know what? It was easy. I just brought in the right people, first of all. And if I happened to make a mistake, well, I was the chief cook and bottle-washer, so if you couldn’t handle Vegas, then I’d just move you out of Vegas.”