Gaudreau eager to stick with Flames
The name has been talked about around the city since 2011.
But finally, after four years of summer development camps, John Gaudreau’s next trip will be for this fall’s Calgary Flames training camp.
“It’s a little different,” said skilled winger following Wednesday’s final scrimmage at WinSport arena, signalling the final day of the annual prospects grind. “I’m coming into my first actual training camp this September. I think I had a good camp this week, but there’s definitely some room for improvement.
“It’s been a crazy two months, here ... a whirlwind. But a great experience.”
After signing with the club when Boston College was knocked out of the Frozen Four, Gaudreau officially began his professional hockey career — which, of course, began with freight train speed.
He picked up his Hobey Baker as the top collegiate hockey player from the NCAA Frozen Four awards in Philadelphia. From there, he and fellow prospect Bill Arnold immediately flew to Vancouver where he played in the Flames final regular season game. Shortly after that, he met up with the U.S. world championship team overseas in Belarus. Then, he flew to Calgary for his fourth development camp.
All of which explains why he passed on a trip to the ESPY Awards on July 16 in Los Angeles where he is up for the Best Male College Athlete along with Doug McDermott (Creighton Basketball), David Taylor (Penn State Wrestling), Lyle Thompson (Albany Lacrosse), and Jameis Winston (Florida State Football).
Instead, he is planning on spending some time with his family in Salem, N.J. — and is in desperate need of a vacation.
“It’s been crazy,” said Gaudreau, the Flames’ fourth-round pick from 2011. “I just need a break here. I was pretty tired about two or three weeks ago. I kind of took the week off of working out and skating.
“It’s good to be back on the ice now. Definitely it was what I needed.”
“That month and half was pretty crazy. A ton of emotions going through my head.”
Still, in two scrimmages, Gaudreau was one of the most noticeable prospects on the ice.
On Wednesday, he completely fooled rookie goalie Mason McDonald when he turned a Kenny Agostino feed into a breakaway pass, head-faked a half-dozen times, and scored.
“It was a great experience, a great week,” said the generously listed five-foot-nine, 160-pound winger. “It was fun to get out here again. It’s always fun to come out here and play a little hockey during Stampede week against some of the guys I’ll be playing with some day.”
This week was also Flames general manager Brad Treliving’s first opportunity to meet the kid and watch him in action. And? “Hey, he’s a talented guy,” Treliving said. “You can see some of the other kids had fear in their eyes when he was coming down. I’d hate to play against him in this sort of atmosphere.”
But, just like the other prospects, he delivered the same post-camp speech to Gaudreau, who is a prime candidate to crack the 2014-15 roster.
“Same sort of thing, he’s got his message and plan for the next two weeks,” Treliving said. “It was nice to get to know him. He’s a great young guy.
“He’s excited. I said, ‘Forget about all the other stuff around you. Now, you’ve gotta get ready and come in.’ ” Gaudreau gets it. “You have to make sure you have the right attitude coming in,” said Gaudreau, who turns 21 on Aug. 13. “You don’t want to come in, thinking you’re not going to make the team. Everyone is fighting for a spot. And I’ve got a lot of work to do for the rest of the summer.”
Other things worth noting from Wednesday’s scrimmage:
Morgan Klimchuk scored twice (with John Gilmour chipping in with assists on both) ... Dawson Leedahl, Ryan Culkin, Brett Kulak, Bill Arnold, Hunter Smith, Gaudreau, Brandon Vuic, and Casey Bailey also scored ... There was a little bit of a physical mis-match when fourth-overall pick Sam Bennett was driving to the net, trying to get past six-foot-seven, 245-pound Keegan Kanzig ... Kenny Agostino showed some jump and setup Kulak for his slapshot goal ... Flames rookies break for the summer and resume game action and hit the ice for the YoungStars Tournament in Penticton, B.C., on Sept. 12.