John Beecher has had tonight’s date circled for a few weeks now.
The Flames centre is set to line up across from his former Bruins mates tonight for the first time since being claimed off waivers in mid-November, as Calgary continues its five-game homestand against Boston inside the Scotiabank Saddledome. GET TICKETS
There were a few hellos bench-side at Monday’s optional morning skate, and the Elmira, N.Y. product went out for dinner with some ex-teammates Sunday.
But once the puck drops, Beecher is adamant that it’s going to be all business.
“You’ve got people in the other locker-room who, you know, are lifelong buddies of mine,” he said Monday morning. “I’ve got a ton of great friendships and relationships over there, but at the end of the day, when that puck drops, they're not on my team anymore.
“You just gotta do whatever it takes to win, there's no friendships out there.”
Since arriving in Calgary, Beecher has taken pride in a penalty-killing role, checking with energy and efficiency while short-handed.
Flames Head Coach Ryan Huska is hopeful his forward will get an extra jolt tonight - facing his former team - and that his short-handed work can translate to positive results at even strength.
“I would like to see if you can take what he has done on the penalty-kill for us and transfer that over to his 5-on-5 play, then I think we're onto something,” Huska explained Monday. “So there's a sense of urgency when we're down a man, that I feel like he plays with and has done a really good job with, that same urgency should be brought to the table 5-on-5.
“The biggest thing for him for me is that he uses the speed to his advantage that he does have, because it's something that we don't have a lot of in our lineup, somebody that can skate like that, and I'd like to see him use it more often.”
Beecher admitted Monday his quick exit from Boston was a bit jarring. The former first-round pick spent six years in the organization, and the lead-up to tonight’s contest offered him his first real chance to show gratitude, and to say thanks to the group that helped him launch his NHL career.
“I kind of just went home, not really knowing if I was, you know, gonna be, you know, down the AHL or if I was gonna be, you know, out here in Calgary,” he said of his time on waivers. “I mean, it's definitely tough.
“You don't really get to say too many goodbyes just because it's such a weird situation to go through. You just kind of send some texts and some messages, but, you know, it's nice to kind of see some people, give some hugs and kind of catch up.”
But with many of the formalities out of the way, Beecher’s keen on getting right to game time.
And trying to help the Flames stay hot beneath the Saddle.
“Anytime you get a chance to go out and play an NHL game, it's fun,” he said. “To be able to go out and do it against my old team is gonna be pretty cool.”
