Defenceman Siemens adds abrasiveness to mix
Former Avalanche blueliner looks to resurrect hockey career with Flames
The good ol’ hockey game has changed a tad since he was a firstround draft pick way back in 2011.
It’s especially so for a guy like Duncan Siemens, who has never shied away from the rough-andtumble of the National Hockey League.
So the veteran defencemen has come to the Calgary Flames looking to tweak his style of play a little in order to make the most of a second chance of sorts.
He’s here looking to crack the lineup on a professional tryout contract, bringing with him a new attitude and a few changes to his game.
“The best part about this game is I’m blessed with another opportunity,” said Siemens, an 11th overall pick by the Colorado Avalanche in 2011.
“You ask yourself, ‘What can I change to be better?’ Everyday you have to find a way to make yourself better. It’s something I’ve had to do my whole career.”
His whole career, to this point, has been with the Avalanche, mostly spent in the minor leagues.
In fact, the 25-year-old has only suited up for 25 NHL contests spread out over three seasons.
But five of those came last spring in the Avs’ first-round playoff battle with the Nashville Predators, during which Siemens was praised for his work on the blue line.
Then came the off-season, when, suddenly, a new plan of attack was needed.
“They figured I’d been there since I was drafted, so they figured it be best if I go somewhere else,” Siemens said of the Avalanche. “I guess I didn’t fit into their plans.”
“This is a big business, and they decided to go a different route,” Siemens said. “I just tried to ride the wave. I felt coming here to Calgary would be one of the best opportunities, so I’ve just been trying to roll with it.”
Since joining the Flames rookie camp, he’s played in two preseason contests, including Friday night’s tilt against the host Winnipeg Jets.
The blueliner is hoping it all leads to a spot when the lineup that went to China join the rookies and PTOs on Sunday, as he tries to put behind the disappointment of being turned away by the team that used a high draft choice on him seven years ago.
“It is what it is. It’s a business,” Siemens said. “It happens to almost everybody at some point in your career. You’ve just got to go with it. You’ve got to use it as motivation, put a little chip on your shoulder. At the end of the day, it didn’t affect anything I did over the summer. I was going to train hard and try to improve wherever I ended up.
“It just so happened that it’s here. And I look forward to the challenge here.”
That challenge is to make the team as a PTO player with a penchant for taking care of his own end.
But the Edmonton native knows he needs to add improved puckhandling and offensive abilities to his repertoire in order to turn eyeballs his way on the Flames brass.
“Coming in, obviously, everything’s new, brand new group of guys, brand new coaching staff, brand new systems,” said Siemens, a veteran — and a leader, he hopes — among prospects at camp. “I feel I’m getting more and more comfortable with what they ’re expecting on the ice and what they want to see.
“I’m definitely a take-care-ofmy-own-end guy, but in order to play in today’s game, you’ve got to be able to contribute (offensively) a little bit.
“I’ve just gotten more comfortable with the puck. That’s been one of my biggest struggles,” Siemens said. “Anytime you can be more comfortable with the puck in awkward situations and be able to make those plays a little bit quicker, especially at this level, the more effective you can be. That’s a huge area I’m trying to improve on and something that I’ll continue to try and improve on each and every day. As long as I’m playing this game, it’s something I have to work on.”
He just hopes the Flames give him a long enough look to make the work pay off.
“I just feel that on their backend, they don’t have a lot of abrasiveness,” said the 6-foot-3, 210-pounder of the Flames. “I think I have some qualities that would help the hockey club, and I just figured I could fit in with what they do have. If I can play my game, I can add a different element that they don’t have a ton of.
“Obviously some of the things haven’t gone the way I’d like them to be and haven’t gone quite the way I mapped them out from Day 1. But that’s all part of the process, and you just have to stick with it.”
LATEST CUTS
Goalie Mason McDonald headlined the seven players under contract sent packing Friday by the Flames to the American Hockey League’s Stockton Heat. The others were defencemen Josh Healey, Michael Paliotta and Andrew O’Brien and forwards Yasin Ehliz, Zach Fischer and Mike McMurtry.
Three players were released from their professional tryouts with the Flames and asked to attend the AHL Heat’s camp: forwards Scott Sabourin, Jordan Ernst and Justin Auger.
McDonald, who holds an NHL contract along with Healey and Ehliz, is likely tabbed for the ECHL’s Kansas City Mavericks.
The Flames now have 51 players left in camp: six goalies, 17 blueliners and 28 forwards.