Zary’s debut provides hope for Flames’ looming rebuild

CALGARY – These are the type of nights Calgary Flames fans insist they’re prepared for moving forward:

The rookie punctuating his third NHL shift with a primal scream and jubilant goal celebration.

The team’s opening dominance fuelled by boundless energy, and a 22-shot third period that demonstrated a never-give-up attitude everyone can appreciate.

As the Flames’ hopeless start put a halt on all contract negotiations and inches them closer and closer to starting a significant rebuild, those are the type of things youthful exuberance and hard work can produce.  

However, what fans can also expect plenty of in a rebuild are collapses like the one midway through Wednesday night’s second frame, in which these fragile Flames turned a 2-1 lead into a 4-2 deficit.

Sure, a 4-3 loss by the Flames to a Cup-contending Dallas Stars squad featured significant progress in terms of effort, entertainment and player development.

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But it also produced the team’s sixth-straight loss – paving an even clearer path towards significant trades involving core pieces.

But on this night, it was Connor Zary who stole the local show, giving fans increased hope that a youth movement in Calgary has plenty of potential.

Capping an opening five minutes in which the Flames dictated the play, Zary was the beneficiary of a fortuitous bounce off a point shot that hit him as he drove the net. Looking down for the puck as he skated into the blue paint behind goalie Jake Oettinger, it bounced onto the ice in front of him where he swatted it in to open the scoring.

A crowd that included his parents, brother, grandmother and girlfriend sprung to its feet as the 22-year-old Saskatoon native lived out a dream.

“After (putting it in) I don’t remember anything,” the 24th-overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft  beamed afterwards.

“I just remember kind of looking around, happy as can be, screaming.

“It was pretty cool. Just kind of hugging the guys and all the guys coming over to tap me was special.”

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He wasn’t done there.

By night’s end he had six shots on goal, created several good chances on the second power-play unit, drew a penalty late in the third period and was getting pucks to the net in the final two minutes of a one-goal game the coach felt comfortable playing him in.

That, and he helped linemate Nazem Kadri generate eight shots.

Oh, and then there was the dangle around Jani Hakanpaa that saw him sneak in alone for a great chance thwarted by a future Vezina winner.

Quite a debut for the kid who used his anger at being one of the last cuts from camp to notch 10 points in his first six AHL games this year.  

“One of the main messages when I got sent down was to be kind of pissed about it, but pissed off in the right way,” said the former Kamloops Blazers captain, who has 100 points in 140 AHL games.

“Being able to work my way back up here and get this opportunity to play out here in front of my friends and family, mom, dad, grandma, brother… It’s been amazing and a pretty special moment, especially being able to get that goal.”

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Pretty special for Flames fans to witness it too.

Last week the fans embraced the wonderful story surrounding Ilya Solovyov’s NHL debut and earlier this season Matt Coronato had his first NHL goal.

These are the sort of developments this city has been begging for, as the veteran team stuck in the NHL’s mushy middle for decades is a tired tale.

One worth re-writing soon, as the team’s third-worst start in franchise history (2-7-1) leads management ever-closer to deciding it’s time for an overhaul.

Like injured fan favourite Jakob Pelletier, Zary has been a good soldier on the farm, biding his time until he could put his six-foot, 179-pound frame in a position like this.

“I felt like I was able to showcase myself a little bit,” said Zary, who admitted it took a couple shifts to catch his breath.

“Just the biggest game of my life – something I’ve dreamed of my whole entire life and something I worked so hard for, and I was just kind of a little caught up in the moment, thinking about my parents and my grandparents and everything they’ve done for me.”

They couldn’t be prouder of the way he played and has conducted himself as a pro – a journey that started with a fractured ankle suffered in an exhibition game two years back.

“I thought Connor was excellent tonight – he played with confidence, he played with courage, and he was one of our better forwards tonight for sure,” said coach Ryan Huska, whose squad had to play without Dillon Dube (injury) and Nikita Zadorov (family reasons).

“He had an impact tonight when he was on the ice.

“When he was on the ice he skated, he wanted the puck and he made plays and didn’t do it in an unreliable way.

“I thought for his first night he had a very good night.”

The first of many – an exciting proposition in a town prepared for plenty of growing pains.

More from Sportsnet

Flames lose sixth in a row after falling short against Stars

Calgary Flames call up top AHL scorer Connor Zary amid scoring slump

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