CALGARY – Jonathan Huberdeau will not open training camp with the Calgary Flames.
But Craig Conroy wants to set the record straight on why.
Three days after causing a bit of a stir by telling QR770 host Jock Wilson that the veteran winger “had a little bit of a setback, maybe two weeks ago, with his skating," the Flames GM wants to clarify.
“It was a poor choice of words on my part,” Conroy told Sportsnet.ca.
“It's not that there was a setback. It was more the hope in me that he was going to be ready for camp. What I meant was it was a setback that he won't probably be ready for the first day of camp. That's where I made my mistake.
“There’s an appropriate timeline for this, between seven and nine months, and obviously we were hoping for the earliest return possible. But everybody is different."
Huberdeau had hip resurfacing surgery in March with hopes that the major procedure to eliminate daily pain would see him recover in time for camp.
He’s close, and he’s skating regularly with teammates, but no timeline will be put on a return.
“We're gonna see how this kind of goes through camp and see how he's doing, and when he's 100 per cent he'll be ready to go,” said Conroy.
“He looked good today and he’s on the right path. We're probably going to have him just skate with the coaches on his own to start, just to be careful.”
Patrick Kane and John Klingberg continue to be the poster boys for recovering from the same procedure in their mid-30s, while players like Ed Jovanovski, Carl Hagelin, Ryan Kesler and Niklas Backstrom essentially had their careers end soon thereafter.
Huberdeau is 33 and has five years left on his contract, paying him $10.5 million annually.
Conroy, Huberdeau and his doctors are confident he will make a return to the game.
“Yes, he's feeling good and is without the pain that he used to have at all times, so that's the best part,” said Conroy.
“Now it's just for him to feel 100 per cent ready to go into physical contact, game-playing and all that. We believe it's just a matter of when, not if."
Flames invite Nylander to camp
The Flames have yet to make it official, but Alex Nylander will be joining the Flames on a no-strings-attached Professional Tryout contract (PTO).
The former eighth-overall pick spent last season in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies, where the 28-year-old put up 24 goals and 53 points in 65 games for the Calder Cup winners. The six-foot-one, 197-pound brother of Leafs star William Nylander was born in Calgary when his father Michael played for the Flames.
Despite his age, bringing him to camp is worth a shot, as the Flames need goals, and the Swedish World Junior star has scored almost 50 of them over the last two years in the minors.
Nylander has 25 goals in 126 NHL games, playing spot duty with five different clubs.
There are no plans to bring anyone else in on a PTO.
“Even with the Huby situation, I think we're going to go with the guys that are here, and give those younger guys an opportunity,” said Conroy.
New CBA camp rules
With training camp reduced to two weeks, the impetus is on the plethora of youngsters vying for jobs in Calgary to make a big impression quickly.
The number of exhibition games has been reduced to four, and a new rule prohibits veterans with over 100 games of NHL experience from playing more than twice.
“It doesn't bother me for the vets, but I feel for the young guys, because they're the ones battling to try to make the team,” said Conroy, whose rookies report late next week before main camp opens Sept. 16 for vets.
“I know when I was a guy trying to battle for a team we had a month-and-a-half to show what we could do. The year (Sam) Honzek made the team out of camp he played so well and led the preseason in scoring, playing five or six games.
“He wouldn't have that same opportunity now. But hey, they're the rules, we'll deal with it, and it's a learning process for us this 1st year.”
Flames land EBUG
Sorry to all the beer league goaltenders in town who held out hope they may be able to take a shot at being a full-time NHL EBUG (emergency back-up goalie): the Flames have found their man.
And they didn’t have to look too far.
The Flames will soon announce that 35-year-old Dusty Nickel has landed the coveted gig, which will include full-time employment and travel with the team under the new league rules.
The construction company owner has spent a handful of years as a reliable fill-in on practice days, and has been at the ready for every game, in case one of the teams playing needs a netminder.
He’s popular in the room and has been supportive of the Flames in every way, including being a regular purchaser of 50-50 tickets with the $100 he used to get paid per game.
“The Never Hungry League — it’s a pretty exciting thing,” said the former Calgary Canuck last year when asked if he’d like the gig.
“You’d have a lot of people lining up for that job. Per diem and food. What an experience to see a bit of the world that way. What a cool experience to be able to do that, to kind of be a bullpen catcher and be able to go on road trips and hang out with the guys. I think it would be an absolute blast.”
