Heat head coach rises early to catch Flames
MacLean starts day by viewing game in China before coaching one in Vancouver
No, Dillon Dube did not get out of bed at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Andrew Mangiapane, focused on preparing for the Calgary Flames’ second pre-season contest in Vancouver, slept in, too.
But an interested Cail MacLean flipped on his television to catch the Flames and the Boston Bruins, playing in the finale of the O.R.G. China Games, before he made the trek to the Scotiabank Saddledome to direct the morning skate.
The new Stockton Heat head coach was curious to see how it all came together on the ice amid all of the distractions, the hoopla, and the excitement surrounding the unique opportunity for both the players and coaches.
“The whole dynamic of taking groups of players over there and putting them into such different time zones and different routines and then trying to put them on ice surfaces that are different sized,” MacLean said on Wednesday at the Scotiabank Saddledome. “All of a sudden, you’re looking at the evaluation process and thinking about things from a coaches’ point of view, knowing how important those games are. At the same time, you have to understand that those games present a lot of different challenges on many levels.
“You watch with much interest but also take things with a grain of salt.”
Yes, Jake Christiansen has been to Rogers Arena.
A few times.
The West Vancouver native and Flames training camp hopeful lived out another portion of his childhood dream Wednesday, to play for an NHL team in front of his parents at the rink he grew up going to. This trip home was, no doubt, set to be memorable.
But before suiting up for his first NHL pre-season game, his best memory of the rink to date was during Game 2 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final when he was the flagbearer as a 10-year-old member of the Hollyburn Huskies.
“It was pretty cool,” said the 19-year-old Everett Silvertips defenceman on an amateur tryout with the Flames. “I remember I tried to set up a GoPro to my foot but it just ended up taking photos instead. It was really cool, surreal. All the lights were on me. Everyone was in there and it was packed.
“It was so loud. Probably the craziest environment I’ve ever been in my life.”
His family’s home is only 20 minutes away from Rogers Arena, a stone’s throw away from where he was trying to show what he can do at the NHL level in his first exhibition game.
And he has nothing to lose, especially after earning a chance at Calgary ’s camp following a lengthy Western Hockey League playoff run which saw the Silvertips lose out to the Swift Current Broncos.
A chance in a lifetime, Christiansen figures.
“I have to thank them for giving me this opportunity,” he said. “I’m just excited and trying to run with it here. I’m just taking it dayby-day and just trying to act like a sponge, taking this opportunity and trying to do something with it.
“I’ve loved it.”
On Wednesday, David Rittich was given another opportunity to seize an opportunity.
As the starting netminder in the Flames’ second pre-season clash at Rogers Arena against the Vancouver Canucks, the 26-yearold continued his quest to prove he’s worthy of the No. 2 position behind Mike Smith this 2018-19 NHL campaign.
With the Flames’ veteran-laden squad returning from China in the wee hours of Thursday morning, jet-lagged and groggy, there’s a good chance he could get into more exhibition action with another six friendlies left on the team’s docket.
Rittich went all the way in Monday’s 7-4 pre-season loss to the Edmonton Oilers, allowing six goals on 27 shots. Not his best performance, but tough to gauge considering it was his first one of the exhibition season.
“It’s reps,” explained MacLean, who has been manning the Flames’ bench with Flames’ boss Bill Peters manning the team in China.
“It’s such valuable time to have live bullets, when you talk about playing these exhibition games. With David Rittich, (on Wednesday) we want to make sure he gets the repetitions in, regardless of the direction the game is going we want to make sure we do what’s right for the particular goaltenders to get them ready.
“If the case arises where he needs to play the whole thing, we’ll do that.”