Klinkhammer rediscovers scoring touch during short stint with Oilers farm team
DALLAS Rob Klinkhammer took the demotion in stride, made the best of the situation and quickly found himself back with the Edmonton Oilers.
Klinkhammer was in the lineup Thursday against the Dallas Stars after a short stint in the AHL with the Bakersfield Condors.
The winger scored three goals and added an assist in three games with Bakersfield, prompting a quick recall.
“It was good, I kind of just looked at it as an opportunity to work on my game; I didn’t want to go down there and sulk,” Klinkhammer said. “I went down there with a positive attitude and tried to jump in right away. The played me in all situations, I got a lot of minutes, which was nice, and I got to work on my game a little bit. I got a little puck luck, banged a couple in and it’s good to be back.”
Klinkhammer scored twice for the Condors and had an assist in a 5-3 win over the San Jose Barracuda on Monday. The next day, he was on a plane to meet up with the Oilers in Dallas for the third of a three-game road trip.
“This is a really tough league to score in, obviously, so just going back to Bakersfield, getting back in the flow and realizing that I can score some goals and remembering what it’s like, was good,” Klinkhammer said. “It was a good thing for me and I think I needed a little spark in my game. Sometimes, you need a boot in the butt. I looked at it as an opportunity and I’m glad to be back.”
Klinkhammer, 29, had one goal in 13 games for the Oilers going into Thursday’s contest.
He missed 28 games with an ankle sprain, which has him playing catch-up this season.
“It was tough, it still is tough, I’m still dealing with it,” Klinkhammer said. “The doc is telling me it’s not going to be gone until the end of the season, so unfortunately, it’s one of those things that lingers all year. At the same time, it’s a tough league, guys are dealing with those kinds of things all year, everyone is nicked up or dinged up. You just have to fight through it and you have to play your game. It’s the NHL, no one is going to feel sorry for you, you still have to do your job.”
Klinkhammer sustained the injury three weeks into the season, catching a rut on the ice in a game against the Montreal Canadiens.
He returned after missing 21 games and promptly re-injured the ankle in his first game back.
His ankle still hasn’t completely healed, which at times weighs on Klinkhammer.
“It does, a little bit, for sure, but I just try not to think about it,” he said. “Obviously, when you’re in some battles or some compromising situations you can definitely feel it and it grabs you. But you can’t think about it. When you start thinking your game slows down and things go too fast to do that. You have to play instinctually and not worry about it.”
The Oilers sent Klinkhammer to Bakersfield in order to make room for Nail Yakupov and Zack Kassian in the lineup. Kassian was acquired by the Oilers in a trade from the Canadiens on Dec. 28 and was sent to Bakersfield to get his game legs back after missing the first three months of the year.
He was called up on Jan. 13. Yakupov returned after missing 21 games with a similar ankle injury.
When Ryan Nugent-Hopkins went down with a hand injury blocking a shot on Monday, a roster spot opened up and Klinkhammer was recalled.
“I wasn’t sure if I was going to be the first guy back, I had no idea,” Klinkhammer said. “But I was checking in on the boys and seeing how the games were going. But you never know if you’re the first guy back. I saw Nuge get hurt and I didn’t think I was going to get called up. He’s a centreman and I’m not, but it was a welcome surprise.”