GIORDANO UNEASY AS HE TURNS 35
Flames captain turns 35 and feels team has talent to win, writes
It was Mark Giordano’s 35th birthday on Wednesday and nothing makes a guy feel his age more than talking about video games.
The story of the day — at least in Vancouver — was all about Fortnite, a multi-player online video game, and whether or not it was played too much among teams, affecting team bonding and communication.
“I’m so out of the loop now,” the Calgary Flames captain said with a chuckle when asked about the subject.
Perhaps what is more important and at the forefront of Giordano’s mind as the new NHL season kicked off Wednesday is he’s another year older.
That and he’s only played eight NHL playoff games over his 13-year NHL career, four of them as captain of the Flames. Time is running out.
“For me, when you come in as a young guy, you try to establish yourself in the league and grow as a player and all that,” said the 6-foot-1, 200-pound heartbeat of the team who played his 756th NHL game Wednesday in Vancouver, a 5-2 Flames loss. “But as you get older, and I’ve been around for a long time, winning becomes so much more important and you see that window closing, right?”
The window, according to the six-year, US$40.5-million contract he signed in 2016, will technically end after the 2021-22 campaign.
The club is three years into his long-term deal. In his tenure as Flames captain — he took over from Jarome Iginla after the lockout season in 2013 — the team has qualified for the postseason twice.
Although he was a big reason the Flames got there in 2015, Giordano didn’t participate due to a torn biceps tendon.
In 2016, they were bounced out of the mix after four games thanks to the Anaheim Ducks.
After a disappointing 84-point season that saw them finish 20th in 2017-18, Flames general manager Brad Treliving took a hard look at his roster and made major changes in the off-season.
While the Flames fell flat in Game 1, the glass will never be as full as it is at the beginning of October, which coincides with Giordano’s birthday every year.
“You have this optimism at the start of the year and I really believe this year, though, that we have a really good team, a really deep team that can do some damage,” Giordano said. “For me, it feels like, OK, the time is now to win and we’ve got to get going and get into playoffs and make some noise. Because everyone says it, all the older guys used to say it when I was young, it really goes by quick.
“It really flies by.”
At this time of the year, every team has intentions of winning the Stanley Cup but for Giordano and the Flames, the reality is the door will only be open for a few more years with this current core group intact and him leading the way.
Treliving locked up players like Johnny Gaudreau (through 2021-22), Sean Monahan (through 2022-23), James Neal (through 2022-23), Mikael Backlund (through 2023-24), Elias Lindholm (through 2023-24) and Noah Hanifin (through 2023-24). And don’t forget about Matthew Tkachuk, a restricted free agent at the end of this season who is expected to get a long-term deal. Those are prime years.
The time is now and Giordano knows it.
“As you get older, for sure, you want to play as long as you can and I’m going to do that,” said Giordano who was, again, atop the Flames’ fitness testing this year.
“But every year that goes by, you know there are less and less games and less of an opportunity. I feel like we have a great mix of young guys who are pushing our team and really our superstars are our youngest players.
“But then we have me, Smitty (Mike Smith), a guy like Neal who comes in who is a veteran guy and has been around for a while. We’ve got a good mix this year. I think we really have a solid lineup.”
ICE CHIPS: The Flames Foundation earned a major assist Thursday, announcing a $1 million donation to the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation. The gift is earmarked for enhanced programs and respite care at Rotary Flames House, the only pediatric hospice in this province.