"That,'' says the Rock-'Em Sock-'Em right winger, "is a good analogy. This is the year I really want to take a stride further and make the team full-time."
Since signing with the Calgary Flames as an undrafted free agent, Hathaway has gone from zero NHL starts his first season pro to 14 and then to 24 in 2016-2017.
A freshly-minted one-year, two-way contract in place, Hathaway is in Providence, R.I., at present, close to his old digs at Brown University and a short hop from Foxboro, Mass., where he's working out, prepping for the opening of the Flames' training camp alongside a queue of NHLers such as Brian Boyle, Keith Yandle, Charlie Coyle, Kevin Hayes and Kyle Palmieri, to name but a few.
"A very competitive environment,'' he reports. "A great place to train for the summer."
With the aim, naturally, to being a regular NHLer, a Day One-r, to get off that AHL/NHL elevator at the top floor and put down big-league roots.
In his longer stint at the top level last year he didn't disappoint, scoring his first NHL goal, against the Detroit Red Wings at The Joe, never compromising on all-in/all-out effort as well as displaying a willingness to rub the right folks the wrong way.