A NEW JOURNEY

It's goodbye, for now, to the town he's called home for the better part of a decade.
After all, former Flame Matt Stajan is now a Calgarian for life.
Stajan, a veteran of more than 1,000 NHL games, is heading to Europe for the next leg of his hockey career, joining EHC Red Bull München for the 2018-19 DEL season in Germany.
"I've had a great career in the NHL and playing for two teams that I grew up watching," the 34-year-old said Wednesday. "Growing up in Toronto, I was a huge Leafs fan. And then coming here to Calgary, this became home."

Stajan learned early on as a member of the Maple Leafs that he could make a difference in the community and give back to those that helped make his NHL dream a reality.
When he was traded to the Flames as part of a blockbuster deal in 2010, he and wife, Katie, committed to bringing that same, benevolent mindset to their new address.
What they didn't expect was how the city itself would give back to them.
"We still have a home here and going forward, that's how it's going to be," he said. "This city has been incredible every step of the way. From start to finish, through good times and tough times, we always felt the support and were always trying to give back as much as we could."
Of all the moments he enjoyed as a Flame, one in particular stands out for both the player and the legion of supporters that turned the Toronto product into our city's adopted son: his penalty-shot goal on March 28, 2014, in Edmonton, only weeks after the passing of his son, Emerson, who died shortly after his birth.
Stajan put a slippery backhand past Oilers goalie Viktor Fasth, turned the corner toward to the benches, pointed to the heavens and let out a roar in honour of his late son.
It was emotional.
Raw.
Human.
Stajan, the most recent recipient of the annual Peter Maher 'Good Guy' Award, was just that: a pro's pro that embodied the qualities all Calgarians could get behind.

In all, he appeared in 572 games, scored 59 regular-season goals and once more in the playoffs - an exhilarating series-clinching marker in the Flames' Round 1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks in 2015 - and had 190 of his 413 career points with the Flaming C on his chest.
"I'll cherish those memories," Stajan said. "There's always that hope that you'd get one more shot (in the NHL), but as the summer goes and you see how things played out, we weren't in the mindset where we wanted to chase a job and do the whole PTO thing."
Stajan is still wrestling with the German language and sheepishly admits his three-year-old son, Elliott, is far more advanced, mastering the phrase 'good morning' in only a few lessons.
"We're learning as we go," Stajan said with a smile. "A couple words a day.
"It's all part of the experience."
That, more than anything else, is what the move is all about.
Stajan is joining a EHC Red Bull München team that is a three-time defending champion and has a number of familiar faces already on the roster, including longtime Leafs teammate John Mitchell.
While he expects the adjustment to be a bit easier because of that, the nerves that accompany a new job - in a new city a long way from home - can certainly be justified.
"No regrets," Stajan said. "We're excited.
"Me and my wife have always wanted to experience living Europe if we could. In hockey, you get opportunities [like that], and that's where we are right now.
"It's the perfect fit."