REVERE THE BEARD
Sam Bennett, sporting Joe Thornton-esque facial hair, gears up for bounce-back season
The puck hasn’t even dropped on the 2017-18 National Hockey League campaign and Sam Bennett is already blocking out the naysayers.
“(Kris Versteeg) said it was ugly, straight up,” reported the 21-year-old, whose new facial hair (which he’s been growing since July) has become the topic of conversation at Calgary Flames training camp. He shrugged. “Oh well.” New year. New beard. New Bennett? While the correlation seems obvious as the centreman enters the season with a fresh slate, a newly signed two-year contract and with a focus on making a statement, Bennett wasn’t buying it.
“No,” he dismissed. “It’s got nothing to do with my beard. Obviously, I’m coming into this year a year older and more experienced. I’m definitely a lot more confident this year. Like I said before, I still have a lot to prove in this league. There’s still a lot I want to do. It’s just a matter of taking advantage of my opportunity. Wherever I get that opportunity, I’ve gotta seize it right away.
“That’s how I’m going to have success.” That beard though . . . “I don’t recognize him on the ice,” said Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan, deadpanning his reaction. “I don’t know if it’s him or Joe Thornton.”
As much as it pains Flames fans to admit, Thornton, the big lug and veteran centre from the San Jose Sharks, might actually be a good role model for Bennett who is still trying to hone his craft at the face-off circle in the NHL.
The team still appears to be committing to the former OHL Kingston Frontenacs superstar at centre, and it’ll been an area of focus for him during the NHL preseason which begins Monday for the club in splitsquad games against the Edmonton Oilers at both the Saddledome (7 p.m.) and Rogers Place (7 p.m.).
Bennett has been centring a line with Kris Versteeg and Spencer Foo, a trio which could, potentially, be the team’s third line (although Foo still needs to prove he belongs at the NHL level).
Statistically, 2016-17 was Bennett’s worst season to date, and some critics have already written him off. But keep in mind, Bennett is technically a year behind his fellow 2014 NHL draft-class peers due to shoulder surgery during his rookie season.
He had 13 goals and 13 assists in 81 games last season which is a slight dip from his first full season in the NHL when he scored 18 goals and 18 assists in 77 games. Yet during the postseason — 15 games total — he has five goals and an assist and was one of the Flames’ best players during the 2015 and 2017 playoffs.
“I don’t have any targets other than team goals,” he said. “Those come as the team gets more successful . . . of course I want to be a top goal-scorer and a top point-getter on our team. I definitely think I have the tools. It’s just a matter of putting those in game situations and taking advantage of my opportunities.
“As our team has success, the better we do, the better opportunities I’m going to have and the better my point totals will be.”
But, still, numbers aren’t the No. 1 focus for Bennett this year.
“It’s no secret that I haven’t been the most consistent player, and that’s frustrating for me,” he said. “I want to be consistent. I want to play every game like I did in the playoffs. The goal I’ve had is to be more consistent like that.”
That, he figures, comes with experience and a little more time spent in the NHL, which has also translated into a more comfortable version of himself.
On the physical side, Bennett placed a greater emphasis on skating this summer and bumped up his ice-times from two to four times a week from June through August. He reported over the weekend that he’s gained about 10 pounds of muscle while maintaining the same body fat and weighed in at 200 lb.
Other than the beard, Gulutzan has noticed other differences in Bennett.
“There’s Sam leading the drills,” the coach said. “He’s first to do the breakouts and first at the line to do all the drills. That’s just the natural part of it. I see a difference in him already. His conditioning was real good, and his excitement and enthusiasm is evident on the ice. And now some of that leadership is coming out so it’s good to see.” As for the beard? “It’s awful,” teammate Matthew Tkachuk told the media at the Flames Charity Classic last week.
“He looks like the guy from Goon 2.”