Foo motivated after his first goals in NHL
Competition tough for wing jobs, writes
That keepsake puck — a framed memento from Spencer Foo’s first National Hockey League marker — is not displayed as prominently as you might think.
“It’s back home. It’s in the basement right now,” Foo reported after Friday’s on-ice sessions at the Calgary Flames development camp. “We’ll see where it’s going to end up.”
Funny he should put it that way. Now that Flames general manager Brad Treliving has bolstered his cast of right-handed forward options, many figure the 24-year-old Foo will be buried on the lower level this upcoming season, stuck toiling mostly for the American Hockey League’s Stockton Heat.
But we’ll see where he’s going to end up.
Foo impressed during a fourgame audition with the Flames at the tail-end of his first professional campaign, scoring twice last April in an effort to prove he’s ready for prime time, full-time.
Since he headed home for the summer, though, he has several times been bumped down the depth chart — first by the trade acquisition of Elias Lindholm and then by the signings of James Neal and Austin Czarnik in the opening 24 hours of free-agency.
All of those guys, like Foo, are potential options on right wing.
Lindholm and Neal are expected to step into the top-six.
Czarnik joins Troy Brouwer, Garnet Hathaway, Curtis Lazar and Foo in the competition for depth roles. (You could also include the versatile Michael Frolik, a left-hander who has worked for much of his three campaigns in Calgary on his offwing.)
“For sure, it makes it more of a challenge,” Foo said. “But my goal was never to come in and be a bubble player, be a 13th forward. I want to come in and make an impact.
“So at the end of the day, whatever (other) players are here, it doesn’t matter. I want to solidify my own spot.”
Of the 41 campers in attendance for the Flames’ annual development do at WinSport’s Markin MacPhail Centre, speedy forward Dillon Dube and stud defenceman Juuso Valimaki are arguably the only others with a realistic shot of cracking the opening-night roster at the Saddledome.
Treliving is making it tough on them, and it’s nothing personal.
“If you’ve got a good team, it should be hard to make the team, and I think our team is getting there,” Treliving told reporters Friday at WinSport. “I don’t think these guys are rubbing their eyes and kicking stones. They’re motivated to come in and play.”