Prospects learn to do it right on and off ice
Flames development camp centres on finding success in life, not just on the ice
The right way … Every day.
That was the theme of the Calgary Flames’ latest development camp, a slogan that was stamped on the back of team-issued T-shirts and a summary of why NHL organizations invest in hosting these summer sleepover parties for their prospects.
“You always hear about being a pro,” Flames general manager Brad Treliving explained. “Well, what does it mean? Doing it right every day. What does that mean?
“It’s about how you live. It’s what you put in your body. It’s how you look after yourself. Being a pro is a 365-day investment. For a lot of these guys, it’s their first time (at camp). So every time you step on the ice, every time you step in the gym, every time you eat or you sleep … It’s giving them that road map of doing it right every day.”
There was nobody tracking scoring chances, save percentages or zone starts during Sunday’s camp-capping scrimmage on the Olympic-sized sheet at WinSport’s Markin MacPhail Centre.
Truth is, the on-ice stuff doesn’t matter much.
Not now. Not in July, when it’s pushing 30 C outside and the Stanley Cup champions were last spotted doing snow-angels in a water fountain in Washington.
The Flames’ development camp itinerary included supervised warm-ups and workouts, nutrition and cooking classes and tips for interacting with reporters and avoiding embarrassment on social media.
The prospects tested their mettle on the obstacle course at the Calgary Police Service training facility and tested their aim during a paintball outing.
You can bet the wannabes — 22 of them already property of the Flames, 19 others auditioning as tryout invitees — were listening attentively during the opening-night address from Treliving.
But just in case, the message was splashed across the back of those red Ts, their go-to garb for much of this get-together.
“I think it’s pretty simple for me — it just reminds you that every day, you have to do everything you can,” said blue-line blue-chipper Juuso Valimaki, arguably the crown jewel of this crop of prospects. “In the big picture, the little things are the biggest ones, I think. Everybody kind of knows the basics and how to live and how to learn and how to be. It’s the little things to do right that will get you probably ahead of everybody else.”
Speedy forward Dillon Dube, who captained Team Canada to gold at the world juniors last winter and is preparing for his first professional campaign, echoed that sentiment: “To get to the next level, it’s what you do when people aren’t watching — that’s what is going to separate you.”
The summer-campers headed their separate ways after Sunday ’s friendly.
Only a few — Valimaki, Dube and right-winger Spencer Foo — have any realistic shot of cracking the Flames’ opening-night roster this fall.
Some are likely ticketed for the American Hockey League’s Stockton Heat or the ECHL’s Kansas City Mavericks.
Some will return to junior or to their college teams.
Some of the tryouts might never get a call from the 403 area-code again.
Whatever the case, the hope among the Saddledome brass is they ’re taking away more than just that T-shirt, armed with resources and skills that will help their quest to eventually reach and excel at hockey’s highest level.
“It’s the hardest thing to make it to the top,” said left-winger Demetrios Koumontzis, a fourth-round selection of the Flames in the 2018 NHL Draft and soon-to-be freshman with the NCAA’s Arizona State Sun Devils. “There are players that are good in front of people, but then there’s also behind-thecurtain and behind-the-scenes that not everybody gets to see with a player. I mean, there are 365 days in a year, and you have to be working every day the same way you do when you’re in front of the general manager of the team.
“I think that’s what separates the NHL players.”
Everybody kind of knows the basics and how to live and how to learn and how to be. It’s the little things to do right that will get you ... ahead.