NASHVILLE – A simple mention of the place lights up James Neal’s eyes.
“Nashville,” smiles the 31-year-old Flames forward, “is home for me.
“That’s where I live.”
For a man who has bounced through five NHL stops over a 10-year span it says a lot about this booming Tennessee town that Neal chose to set down roots here.
It is here, where his Flames face the Predators Tuesday, the native of Whitby, Ont., not only decided to start building a life that may one day include raising a family, but where he also helped shape a honkytonk hockey movement.
Neal certainly didn’t want his three-year stay with the Nashville Predators to end, especially after a run that saw 100,000 locals gather on Lower Broadway in front of the rink to see their magical ride end in Game 6 of the Cup final to his former Pittsburgh club.
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Soon thereafter, the man who’d been so accustomed to picking up and moving on had to do it again, thanks to the expansion draft that saw Vegas pick up the remaining year on his contract.
Little did he, or anyone else, know the magnificent journey the Preds went on would be topped by a gang of Golden Knights he’d score game-winning goals for in each of his first three games.
And yet, after building yet another brilliant team and fan base, there he was this summer, soliciting offers from around the league to relocate once again.
This time it was his choice.
He chose Calgary, where the promise of a talented crew, with an opening on its top line, prompted him to sign a five-year, $28.75-million contract on July 2.
Upon arrival he insisted that while he was hoping to play alongside Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan (who wouldn’t?) he was open to playing wherever the Flames saw fit.
However, this can’t be what he imagined.
Let’s first make it abundantly clear it’s just two games into the Flames season and plenty of things can and will change in terms of Flames line combos.
But, Elias Lindholm’s performance on the top trio Saturday night underscored why he might just be the perfect fixture there.
Not just his goal 12 seconds in, his game-winner later on, or the assist he added in between. His ability to take faceoffs when Monahan is on his weak side (Lindholm was 12 of 14 Saturday) adds an important dimension Neal can’t bring.
Neal hasn’t been given any time on Mikael Backlund’s second line either, bumped down the depth chart by Michael Frolik in Game 1 and Austin Czarnik in Game 2.
In both outings the perennial 20-goal scorer has been given a third-line assignment alongside Derek Ryan and raw rookie Dillon Dube.
It has the makings of being a formidable depth offering, although in practice Monday Dube was moved to the middle and flanked by Neal and Sam Bennett.
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Either way, it highlights the type of growing pains that come with moving to a new team.
“Change is hard,” says Neal of playing in his third city in three years.
“It’s always difficult to go to a new team and make new friends. It doesn’t get easier. If anything when you get older it gets tougher. I think when you’re younger and on your own you can buzz around the city.”
Pausing, he offers himself a reminder that’s clearly served him well.
“But you can’t dwell on things,” says Neal, alluding to the business side of a league that has prompted his nomadic path.
“You have to take it as a business but you also have to look at the positives of everything and move forward. If you dwell on what happened it will do you no good. It will just hurt yourself.
“So you just have to get the right mindset and enjoy where you are and do the best you can for your new team and new teammates. I’m looking forward to building something special here.”
Building something special is exactly what he’s specialized in the last few years.
“I think that no one thought Nashville could be topped,” says Neal of the Predators’ playoff run in 2017 that turned the Stanley Cup final into spectacle.
“Then when we did that in Vegas the bar just got raised that much higher. Two unbelievable years and something I’ll never forget. When you win the city comes alive. It’s an amazing feeling.”
Did he envision that possibility for Music City?
“When I first got there, no — I wasn’t sure about hockey,” he says of joining the club in 2014.
“But when you build something and start winning, it’s crazy what happens to the city. It kind of turned the city into a hockey town. And left it that way.”
And that’s when he left.
“It’s definitely hard when you build something special there for 3 1/2 years and get to the Stanley Cup final and lose, and then a week later you’re sent away, onto the next team and changing again,” says Neal.
“I wasn’t angry about it. I figured I’d be moving on. I wasn’t signing an extension there so I figured it was likely I’d be exposed. With the younger guys they had and guys under contract they really didn’t want to give that up.
“It’s a business and I’ve been a part of that. Change is hard.”
Neal was brought into Calgary as much for his leadership, swagger and experience as he was to add scoring depth.
So far the former 40-goal scorer has one assist, while finding his feet in so many other ways.
“Everywhere I’ve left I’ve found a great home,” he says.
“I found a great home here in Calgary, I’m excited about this year and to be part of Calgary.
