Healey can be an ‘impactful presence’
College free agent signs with Stockton squad
With the Edmonton Oilers on the brink of their first playoff berth in more than a decade, not many of their long-suffering supporters are fleeing the fan club now.
Josh Healey just showed himself out.
Born and bred in Edmonton, the 22-year-old defenceman officially switched allegiances this past weekend, signing with the Calgary Flames as a college free agent.
“I won’t lie, I was an Oilers fan growing up,” Healey said. “But definitely now in my eyes, there’s only one team in Alberta, and that’s Calgary.”
If Healey does eventually earn a job on the Flames’ blueline brigade, you can be assured that he’ll soon be among the most despised enemies in his own hometown.
In four collegiate seasons with the Ohio State Buckeyes, the 6-foot-1, 205-pound thumper was known as one of the NCAA’s biggest hitters.
You can find footage of some of his open-ice cranks on YouTube. You can find his name several times on the Big Ten Conference suspension blotter.
TSN’s ace insider, Bob McKenzie, reported last month that one scout suggested Healey “hits too hard for college hockey.” Whoa.
“It’s just something that I’ve always loved to do,” Healey said. “A lot of guys love scoring goals or making a sick play, but for me, I just love throwing the body.
“A lot of guys that I grew up with say I’m the hardest guy to play against, which is something that is a credit to me and I really pride myself on that.”
The Flames scouts loved that snarl.
Healey’s two-year contract doesn’t kick in until the 201718 campaign, but he’ll join the American Hockey League’s Stockton Heat on Tuesday on an amateur tryout.
“He can be an impactful, physical presence,” Flames general manager Brad Treliving said of Healey, who notched four goals and 25 points in 35 outings as a senior at Ohio State.
Treliving has probably emptied the ink from his favourite pen over the past week and change. He signed both of Calgary’s second-round selections from the 2016 NHL Draft — London Knights netminder Tyler Parsons and Kelowna Rockets speed-demon Dillon Dube — to entry-level pacts and rewarded minor-league sparkplug Ryan Lomberg with a two-way contract.
With the Boston University Terriers falling short in their quest to return to the NCAA’s Frozen Four, he’ll also be chatting with the representative for 20-year-old defenceman Brandon Hickey, who is eligible to return for one more winter at the collegiate level but might be ready to go pro.
Just a few weeks away from polishing off his finance degree, Healey was busy Monday trying to rearrange assignments and exams, assuring his professors that he’d continue to hit the books while also hitting AHL opponents during his late-season look-see with the Flames’ farm club.