Stockton call-up relishing latest recall

Garnet Hathaway doesn’t know how long he’ll be here and he doesn’t know for how long the Calgary Flames will need him.

But what the 25-year-old winger does know from experience, the best approach to a recall from the American Hockey League is to enjoy the moment — every moment.

“Honestly, you never know,” Hathaway said following a hard morning skate Tuesday with players tagged to sit out at Washington’s Verizon Center. “Anyone that’s been called up or sent down, they know any time you get sent down, there’s always a chance you’ll never be back. So to get that call it’s always special. There’s always that unknown feeling. And it’s just something you have to live with and go day-by-day with it.”

In the wake of the two-game suspension to Flames rookie Matthew Tkachuk, handed down on Monday by the National Hockey League’s department of player safety, and the absence of winger Micheal Ferland, who is still in Calgary being observed for a possible mumps diagnosis, the team needed an extra forward, so they recalled Hathaway from the AHL’s Stockton Heat.

In 26 NHL games this season, Hathaway bashed and crashed his way to score one goal and four assists along with 44 penalty minutes. He had been sent back to Stockton on Feb. 21, exactly a month ago, to get some more playing time.

Including Tuesday’s game at Washington, the Flames have only 10 games remaining in the regular season.

It would seem logical that Calgary could keep Hathaway right through the 2017 NHL playoffs to serve as a Black Ace, but Hathaway isn’t getting ahead of himself.

“You can’t go into this thinking, ‘It’s only going to be a couple of days’ and you can’t go into it thinking, ‘It’s going to be the rest of the season,’ ” he said. “(Tuesday) was Step 1. The guys were great. Every one of them came up to me and said, ‘Hey, how are you? Glad to have you back.’ ”

The next few days are all-too important for the big club, which embarked on a three-game road trip starting Tuesday at Washington. The swing continues at Nashville on Thursday and at St. Louis on Saturday as the Flames fight to claim a playoff spot as the regular season winds down. “It’s a tight race, and it’s always fun around this time of the year,” Hathaway said. “I’ve talked to a few guys up here, and it’s going really well for them.

“Happy to be part of it.”