Flames hoping for two points under the tree
Whatever Garnet Hathaway’s family is planning this Christmas at home in Maine, he hopes he’s included.
Because this year, the Calgary Flames forward is not going home for the holidays.
“I’ll be FaceTiming them on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day,” Hathaway said with a chuckle. “Hopefully, I’ll be in the board games or Monopoly (through FaceTime). My whole family is texting about where they’re going to be. I’m the youngest of five kids, so everyone is getting together. When I was in Stockton, we had a couple more days off down there and I thought I could get a flight home. I did that last year. I’ll hopefully try to get out of the hotel for a bit.”
Truth be told, Hathaway wouldn’t change a thing.
The 25-year-old was only recalled by the Flames from the American Hockey League last month and he could be still trying to get noticed with the Stockton Heat. So it’s a small price to pay for living out your childhood dream and playing in the NHL.
But no one tells you how isolating the job can be — especially around Christmas.
“It’s weird,” said Hathaway, who hails from Kennebunkport, Maine.
“I’ve been fortunate enough throughout my career and college to be so close to home. But I don’t have a family of my own yet. You always hear about the (glamorous) side (of the NHL). A lot of people don’t know that part of the job. When I was in college (at Brown University), I didn’t really think about it.”
For players that don’t have immediate family in the vicinity, they often rely on teammates for support.
Flames netminder Chad Johnson and his wife Alex came to the rescue for Hathaway and invited the 25-year-old for turkey dinner.
It’s the first time in a long time that Johnson and his wife won’t have to travel anywhere.
“We’ll spend Christmas Eve at my parents and then we’ll head to my in-laws for Christmas Day,” said the Calgarian. “It’ll be nice to be home and not have to get on a plane and travel. I’m fortunate that I get to see both families this year and not feel rushed to get back to wherever I’m playing.”
It’ll be a change from last year, when Johnson and his wife had to leave on Christmas Day at 6 a.m. to return to Buffalo.
“I’m usually out east and it’s harder to fly to Calgary from there,” he said. “I had to fly to Hamilton from Buffalo and then to Calgary.
“Some places don’t have direct flights and you never know with traffic. It’ll be nice.”
Following Friday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary’s last contest before the NHL Players’ Association-mandated three days off, the players and coaching staff will have the opportunity to get away from the rink and enjoy a much-needed holiday.
It’s only three days, but because of the NHL’s condensed schedule this year due to the World Cup, the time off is welcomed.
“It’s been tough for the whole team,” said Alex Chiasson, who is planning to head to Penticton.
“So far this year, we’ve travelled probably as much as I did the whole year in Ottawa. It’ll be nice to get away for three days and get away and recharge. It’ll be good for everyone.”
The Flames (17-16-2) are coming off a 4-1 road loss to the San Jose Sharks, a decision no one was happy about.
Following Wednesday’s day off, they were back on the ice Thursday, while the Canucks were in Vancouver getting ready to square off against the Winnipeg Jets. In other words, no excuses. “We didn’t address (the break) at all today,” said Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan. “We addressed it with the video we played today, with our players and our message to the media.
“We addressed today as a business day and our practices need to be better.”
And in the bigger picture, the Flames know the value in snagging a victory on Friday.
“Sometimes you take these games a little more lightly and at the end they come back and they haunt you,” Chiasson said.
“Those two points you could get before and now you have to get them at the end of the year … it’s important we’re above .500 before the Christmas break.”
It’s also important from a moral standpoint, according to Johnson.
“You want to feel good going into the break,” he said.
“It’s not the halfway point, but it’s a good time to get everything together. It’s sort of been looseygoosey and we haven’t really been as sharp as we’ve wanted to be.
“You don’t want to sit through Christmas break being like, ‘OK, we haven’t been playing well.’ You want to go into it feeling good about your game.”