Frolik rare bright spot for struggling Flames
At the time, it wasn’t exactly the pick me up Glen Gulutzan needed.
But several years later, now head coach of the Calgary Flames and with underrated right-winger Michael Frolik on his side, he understands at least part of the point one of the NHL’s all-time greats was trying to make.
“The first time, really, I talked about Fro was with Jaromir Jagr,” Gulutzan recalled, sharing a story of a humiliating 8-1 defeat as skipper of the Dallas Stars in March 2013. “We had lost ... I don’t even want to say (the score) ... really bad to Chicago and Jags was in late lifting weights when I was in Dallas. I hear all the clinking at seven o’clock at night or whatever it was and there’s Jags lifting weights. And I’m like, ‘How about last night’s game?’ I was a little down about it.
“Jags goes, ‘Coach, are you down about last night’s game?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah.’ And he goes, ‘Oh, Chicago is just better than us and I wouldn’t worry about that.’ He goes, ‘Michael Frolik playing on the fourth line in Chicago? He could play on our first line here.’
“So that was my first introduction to Michael Frolik, when Jags told me that. That’s a true story.”
This is true, too — through the first quarter of their regular-season schedule, Frolik has been the Flames’ best forward. Their best player, period. Gulutzan’s group has been consistently, frustratingly, inconsistent this fall, but the 28-year-old speedster has been on a short list of Steady Eddies through 21 games — eight wins, a dozen losses and one overtime setback — so far.
Frolik currently leads the Flames in each of the big three offensive categories: In goals with six; in assists with eight, tied with defender Dougie Hamilton; and in points with 14, three more than sidelined superstar Johnny Gaudreau.
Through two stops on a marathon six-game jaunt that continues with Wednesday’s clash against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena (5 p.m. MT, Sportsnet West/Sportsnet 960 The Fan), the trio of Frolik, centre Mikael Backlund and rookie left-winger Matthew Tkachuk has been Calgary’s best. By far.
In Sunday’s 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings, Frolik set up Backlund’s tiebreaking tally with a spin-o-rama feed.
They hooked up again the next night in Buffalo with Frolik providing a perfect saucer pass on an odd-man rush before things turned sideways for the Flames in a 4-2 loss to the Sabres. (Frolik was on the ice for one of Buffalo’s three power-play markers in rapid succession, feeling somewhat helpless after busting his stick.)
“Our line, the chemistry kind of clicked. I think with Chucky and Backs, it’s been working lately,” Frolik said. “You just want to stick with it and do what we’re doing and even still, try to get better. Obviously, hockey sometimes it’s like that, it’s up and down. I think right now it’s kind of going for us, but you don’t want to ever get satisfied.”
From the same city as shoo-in Hall of Famer Jagr (if he ever retires), Frolik piled up points at such an impressive clip as a youngster he was nicknamed Baby Jagr, the ultimate compliment in the Czech Republic.
He provided a good amount of offensive oomph in three winters with the Florida Panthers — none better than his 45 points as a rookie in 2008-09 — and then back-toback 42-point campaigns with the Winnipeg Jets.
During a two-season-plus stint in between with the Blackhawks, including a Stanley Cup celebration just months after that onesided shellacking of the Gulutzancoached Stars in 2013, he was cast as more of a shutdown sort and penalty kill specialist.
In Calgary, where GM Brad Treliving described him as “a Swiss Army knife” after signing Frolik to a five-year, US$21.5-million deal, No. 67 is asked to do both.
It’s early still, but he’s on pace to crack the 50-point plateau for the first time in his nine seasons of NHL service.
His longest offensive “drought” so far is two games.
Every other Flames skater has endured a funk of at least three contests, many much longer than that.
“You kind of get the same thing from him every game. That consistency is what the league is about and he’s got that down pat,” Gulutzan said. “He’s just a great pro. He does the same thing every day and he’s getting rewarded for it.”
ICE CHIPS
With Flames RW Kris Versteeg ready to rock after missing nine games with a groin injury, C/RW Linden Vey has been reassigned to Stockton of the American Hockey League.