Training Camp Notebook - 27.09.24

Flames Training Camp continued at a frenetic pace Friday, with one big return, and one notable departure among the day's news items.

We get you up to speed on the big storylines of the day in the latest edition of the Training Camp Notebook!

Humbled, But Happy

Zayne Parekh is headed back to Saginaw.

The Flames first-rounder was returned to the OHL Friday afternoon after appearing in two pre-season games, and learning plenty of lessons on and off the ice over his September stint in Alberta.

“It’s a very humbling league, but it was good,” Parekh said of his camp experience. “I really enjoyed my time, thought I got more comfortable as I went, and I thought I got better too.

‘(I’m) really happy with the time here.”

It’s been a busy year for Parekh: a long playoff run, Memorial Cup championship, then everything associated with the NHL Draft took up a big portion of the 18-year-old’s summer.

Now he’ll get the chance to run it all back with the Spirit, with whom he was also named the Canadian Hockey League’s top defenceman last spring.

And he’ll return to Michigan with a far greater understanding of what becoming a pro hockey player will entail.

“When you play against such high-caliber players and you practice with pros, you kind of see their habits, and the things they do daily,” he said. “You understand how good these players are, and how far away you are.”

Part of that required learning will come with age, gaining strength and speed as he continues to ascend into adulthood.

The on-ice stuff, as we’ve seen over the past few weeks, comes naturally.

“I gapped well, I thought my skating was really good, it took me a little bit to adjust to the less time you have, compared to junior,” he said. “The first practice wasn’t great, but every day after that I got a little bit better.

“Pretty happy with how I progressed, but another year of development, and the mindset of making this team, will be fun.”

On The Bahl

Kevin Bahl’s presence in the first on-ice session Friday was a sight for sore eyes.

The 6’6” Flames defenceman took his first twirl with his teammates after being held out of drills for the past week as he recovers from an ailment.

“It was unfortunate, the timing, just before camp or whatever,” Bahl said of the knock he picked up. “It is what it is.”

That said, Bahl commented Friday that he’s hoping to draw into the lineup during the pre-season, with four contests remaining in the exhibition schedule beginning with Saturday night’s rematch with Vancouver at the Scotiabank Saddledome. TICKETS

But now, the time is right for Bahl to settle into his new digs, and develop some chemistry with his new teammates, after being acquired from New Jersey in June.

In the Garden State, Bahl played with Yegor Sharangovich, and the defender kept a keen eye on Sharangovich’s first season in the C of Red; a 31-goal, 59-point campaign that marked not only a career mark, but the most successful NHL season ever by a Belarusian-born skater.

Bahl’s a defensive defenceman, he brings a different skill set to the roster.

But he is keen to follow in Sharangovich’s wake; finding a new level, with a new team out West.

“From him being in Jersey, seeing what happened at the end there in that playoff run and everything, and then him coming here and just really settling in, and fitting in,” he noted. “Me, looking at that, I’m really excited.”

Goals In Mind

Sam Honzek has his eyes on an NHL roster spot.

And so far, he’s done everything he can to turn heads, and help the Flames collect seven of a possible eight points to start the pre-season, collecting a goal and five assists through three showings in exhibition action.

And while Shalamar’s The Second Time Around may not be stuck in the 19-year-old’s head, it’s plain to see Honzek has brought a different energy to this, his second main camp as a member of the Flames organization.

“For me, it’s a big difference compared to last year, (I’m) more confident,” Honzek said Friday. “I came to camp to do something, with one goal and that’s to make the team, or show really what I’m best in, which I couldn’t do last year.

“Now it’s a new start, fresh start for everyone, I really want to finish the goal (that) I set.”

Much has been made, too, of Honzek’s partnership with fellow forward Martin Pospisil. The pair trained together back in Slovakia, and because of that partnership Honzek has arrived in Calgary ready - both in terms of fitness and state of mind.

“Pospy has, I would say, a big role in it, because every time we worked out he would say ‘You’re making the team, you’re making the team’,” Honzek said.
“That’s what he was telling me, it’s kind of like I heard it every day, almost. It was good to hear.

“Now I’m here, and everything (is going) well so far.”

Honzek and Pospisil teamed up for a highlight-reel goal in Abbotsford Wednesday night. In the blink of an eye, their partnership was displayed in a flash of on-ice symmetry.

Long may it last.

“(Pospisil) taught me lots of things during the summer, we got to know each other as basically (new friends),” said Honzek. “We (have only known) each other one year, and then I kind of dedicated my life to him, training with him in his home city.

“It’s been great, he taught me a lot, whether it’s in the gym or on the ice.”