Jokipakka prepping to face former teammates
A man of few words, it’s hard to imagine that Calgary Flames rearguard Jyrki Jokipakka will be talking trash in his first meeting with his former team.
“It’s going to be fun to play against them, exciting,” Jokipakka said of Thursday’s date with the Dallas Stars at the Saddledome. “But I just focus on what we do, on what our own team is doing. I’m not trying to focus on what they’re doing.”
Jokipakka’s focus — and mailing address — changed in a blink in February, when the soft-spoken defenceman was swapped from Dallas to Calgary in a trade-deadline deal. Kris Russell was the centrepiece of that transaction, with the Flames also acquiring junior forward Brett Pollock and a draft choice in exchange for the recordsetting shot-blocker.
Russell is now employed by the Edmonton Oilers, while the 25-year-old Jokipakka is trying to establish himself as a full-timer under Calgary’s new coaching staff.
He’s been a healthy scratch three times this fall, with one goal and four points in the 11 contests that he has logged.
“He’s still progressing. He’s a young defenceman,” said Flames skipper Glen Gulutzan. “I think he’s handled being in and out of the lineup well. He’s come back in and played some good games. Like any of our young guys, the consistency and the physicality of the game, we want him to keep pushing in those areas. But I think he’s done a good job with his role.”
Asked for an assessment of his own performances so far, Jokipakka is quick to point out “I know I can play better,” but he’s hoping to build on the confidence he gained while skating for Team Finland at the World Cup of Hockey.
“It was a great experience,” Jokipakka said of the September showdown. “There were all the best players, so I saw where is my level … I felt like I could play against those guys.” With back-to-back practice days for the first time this season, the Flames split video of Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks into two separate sessions. On Tuesday, they focused on five-on-five action, almost all positive clips. Gulutzan has already warned his skating staff that Wednesday’s reel is loaded with special-teams footage. With Calgary’s power play and penalty-kill units both ranking among the NHL’s worst, that won’t be a pleasant review ... The Flames dangled D Nicklas Grossman on the waiver-wire Tuesday.