FLAMES CAN’T CATCH STARS
Dallas outshines Calgary in 2-1 loss at home
Calgary Flames fans don’t want to read this, but they’ve likely seen the last of Mark Jankowski for a while.
Jaromir Jagr returned to the ice with the team Friday morning and is likely to come off injured reserve in time for Sunday’s home game against the Washington Capitals.
That means the happiest person in Canada Friday morning will almost certainly be one of the saddest Sunday as the 23-year-old centre, who waited for five years to debut in front of the C of Red, is heading back to the Stockton Heat.
Unless, of course, another injury crops up before then.
Although he had very little impact in the three games he played for the big club since his highly anticipated promotion last week, the demotion isn’t necessarily a reflection of the way he’s played.
No, he hasn’t been able to make much of an impact here, averaging just over 10 minutes of ice time in three tough games as a third-line centre who had just one shot on goal, no hits and no points.
As was the case after training camp, it’s a numbers game and given the fact he doesn’t have to clear waivers first, he’s the easy choice to be sent down regardless of how he played.
It may not the best choice for a team that has had just one player outside the top two lines — Kris Versteeg — score this year.
The six-foot-four, 202-pound American Hockey League star brought much-needed enthusiasm and some jump to the lineup and he obviously has a much bigger upside than several of the veterans currently occupying space on the fourth line and press box. Plus, his addition came with the added bonus of moving Sam Bennett to the wing where he belongs.
Still, the move represents the path of least resistance for GM Brad Treliving, who simply needs to make a paper transaction if Jankowski is odd man out. And he could be recalled at any time.
Fact is it’s not the worst thing for Jankowski to go back down to the AHL, where he was one of the league’s leading scorers with five goals and eight points in six outings.
He’ll get all the ice time he can handle on the league’s top scoring line with Garnet Hathaway and Andrew Mangiapane until another injury or shakeup prompts his recall.
Instead of spot duty, he can play more than 20 minutes a night and work on his special teams play, which is where the Flames happen to need the most help now.
Flames fans will almost certainly see lots of Jankowski this season.
Thing is they want to see him now.
A fan favourite in town by virtue of his patience, size, pre-season success and upside, Jankowski is certainly a more appetizing player for fans than anyone else in the bottom six, save for Versteeg.
Jankowski said before Friday’s 2-1 loss no one has spoken to him about what will happen when Jagr returns to the lineup and you can bet he didn’t want to think that far ahead anyway.
He just wanted to soak up his first home date as a member of the Flames, which ended up being marred by a late loss that punctuated a sloppy game decided again by a power-play goal.
As part of head coach Glen Gulutzan’s surly availability before the game, he said Jankowski “looks like an NHL player to me.
“He’s been able to hold pucks, he’s gone to the net and he’s played good defensively,” said Gulutzan, who always seems to consciously avoid overhyping him as fans do.
“Very few guys step up to home plate and hit a home run their first at-bat. But I like what I see. There’s certainly NHL subtleties. He’s an NHL player. And now he’s got to get comfortable in an everyday league.”
He just might have to do it in the minors, for now, if that makes sense. Unless there is an injury to someone else that crops up before Sunday.
Long term, it might actually help Jankowski to jump back and forth between the two leagues, but that’s a hard sell for locals who believe he’s earned the right to stay here for much longer than a week.
He deserves better.
But for a guy who waited so long for his first taste, another setback will hardly be surprising or anything he can’t bounce back from.