More than a few were irked when Mark Jankowski wasn’t among the 23 named to the opening day roster of the Calgary Flames. Jankowski himself was one of them.
And the 23-year-old, now recalled and likely on the eve of the second NHL game of his career, channeled that energy the only way he saw fit.
“Definitely when I got the news I was frustrated, and absolutely I was pissed off,” Jankowski started. “I wanted to be here like anyone would. I felt like I had a good training camp. But the biggest thing for me is I wanted to get back here as soon as possible. I knew if I sulked and didn’t play as well down there it would delay the process a little bit.
“I just wanted to force their hand as quick as possible.”
Turns out, Jankowski spent all of six games with Stockton of the American Hockey League before earning his first recall as a result of a lower-body injury sustained by Jaromir Jagr on Saturday.
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Five goals. Three assists. Eight points.
Not bad.
“I think the message was to just go down there and don’t sulk,” said Jankowski, who led Calgary along with Sean Monahan with three goals in five September skates.
“I had a pretty good preseason, but I went down, and you have to go down the right way and go down and dominate and I felt I was trying to do that every shift, trying to just be the best player on the ice every time I could. That was the message, and they said, ‘force our hand to bring you back up.’”
Jankowski will likely get three auditions to show that he shouldn’t go back down.
Jagr is expected to miss a week, giving Jankowski little time to test his mettle by playing down the middle between Sam Bennett and Curtis Lazar.
It’ll give the No. 21 pick in the 2012 NHL Draft a chance to suit up for a second time after making his debut in Brooklyn nearly 11 months ago. He’s coming back a better player in this go-round.
“I think for my progression as a coach, and for all you guys that watched two years ago, I watched him in training camp and he should’ve been in the American league,” Flames coach Glen Gulutzan said. “I watched him this year and there was no fear in his game. That was a big difference from one year to the next. The year in the minors has really helped him.
“He’s here for a reason. We want him to be the player he was through training camp and in the American league and that’s the freedom part. The other part is recognize now that there’s other big boys here and you have to be tight and hard defensively.”
Oh, Jankowski’s aware.
“I know at this level you have to play a great 200-foot game because if you make one mistake it’s usually in the back of your net with the skill of the players in this league,” said Jankowski, who had 27 goals and 56 points in 64 games as a first-year pro in the AHL last year. “Just being able to play that 200-foot game and being used in all situations is great for my confidence.”
So too was that preseason that saw him last through the duration of camp before facing assignment.
“I think I had a pretty good preseason here, so I know I can play at this level. Obviously regular season is a lot different than preseason, but even coming in here today and practicing I feel a lot more comfortable and a lot more confident.
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To some, that should’ve been opening night on Oct. 4. Instead it will come nearly three weeks later.
“A couple people tagged me and some tweets and stuff,” Jankowski admitted. “You try to not focus on the outside stuff.
“To feel like they’re on my side and have the city behind me, it’s a great feeling.”