CALGARY — Jonathan Castagna has a nickname, a souvenir puck and an NHL assist to his name after one game in the big leagues.
He also has a pretty good story about the first penalty he took.
Welcome to the NHL, George.
Yes, George. As in George Costanza, the neurotic Seinfeld character. Apparently, the 21-year-old Calgary Flames centre has never watched the show, which made the nickname even funnier to his new teammates.
“We call him George — you can probably understand why,” chuckled coach Ryan Huska.
“When we first started calling him George he said he never watched Seinfeld, if you can believe that. But that is his nickname now.”
Somewhere, Jerry Seinfeld is probably wondering what’s the deal with a Flames rookie who has never seen his namesake.
Castagna, meanwhile, has bigger things to worry about than catching up on reruns. Like turning Thursday’s NHL debut into the beginning of a career.
And on a night when the Flames lost 7-3 to the Colorado Avalanche, falling to 0-4, their rookie centre provided something the scoreboard couldn’t: a reason to smile.
Forget the 23 goals Calgary has allowed while scoring just six through four games. Forget the defensive breakdowns and the mounting evidence that this season is going to require a healthy supply of patience.
For a few minutes Thursday, the story belonged to a kid taking his rookie lap, his mother crying in the owners’ box, and a young man struggling to find words when he saw her reaction.
That’s what this season — and the next handful — should be about.
Opportunity.
Castagna’s father, Al, mother, Joyce, and girlfriend, Lexi, made the trip from Toronto to watch him take his first steps in the NHL. They saw him win his first faceoff against veteran Nicolas Roy on his opening shift, help set up Adam Klapka’s spectacular toe-drag goal and collect his first NHL point. His reaction was priceless.
The puck he used to set up Klapka was wrapped in tape and presented to him.
“Yeah, that was crazy,” Castagna said of the assist.
“Really happy that he did that. Obviously, I didn’t have to do much for it, so to get that off my back is really cool. Kudos to him. That was unbelievable.”
He also jumped early on a shift, costing his team a too-many-men penalty in the first period.
“I guess I just blacked out and didn’t hear Husk say the other names, so completely on me,” Castagna admitted.
“And I’m really glad they bailed me out for that.”
George had himself a night.
But the moment that will stick with people came during his first-intermission interview with Sportsnet’s Brendan Parker, when Castagna was shown his mother's tears as he circled the ice for his rookie lap.
He was nearly speechless.
“It was definitely hard to see,” said the six-foot-2, 198-pound centre with Famiglia tattooed on the back of one of his sizeable biceps.
“I apologize for the lack of words there, but really grateful that they can make it out. Means a lot to me, and to share this moment with them, I’ll never forget it.”
Castagna was acquired from the Utah Mammoth in the MacKenzie Weegar trade after it became clear he wasn't going to sign there. Calgary offered a fresh start and a chance to play. The 21-year-old Cornell product earned his call-up from the Wranglers this week after scoring twice in his first AHL game of the season.
Voted the ECAC’s best defensive player last season after posting the highest faceoff percentage in the NCAA, he has the size, defensive instincts and pedigree to make himself an interesting piece of Calgary’s future.
Whether he becomes an everyday NHLer, never mind a pillar of the franchise, remains to be seen. One game doesn't make a career.
But getting the chance to find out is the point.
Castagna is the sixth young player to make his Flames debut since last season began, the fourth-most in the NHL over that span. Calgary now has six players under 23 in its lineup, including fellow call-up Aydar Suniev, who played alongside Castagna and Klapka.
Those opportunities came in part because the Flames sent veterans Connor Zary and Brayden Pachal down, opening roster spots for two more youngsters.
That’s what a rebuild is supposed to look like: making room, giving prospects responsibility and finding out which ones can handle the next level.
“He did a really nice job on Klapka’s goal, winning a wall battle,” said Huska, who saw the young man go 3-for-6 in faceoffs through nine minutes of ice time.
“I thought he worked really hard when he was on the ice. I thought he handled himself well.”
He also wanted the rookie to appreciate the challenge of playing against perhaps the NHL’s best team, the Colorado Avalanche.
“You see some of the people they have, the way they play the game. That’s what you aspire to be,” Huska said.
The Avalanche certainly provided a sobering lesson. Calgary hung around for the first half of the game before the wheels came off.
But while the Flames search for their next generation of difference-makers, there will be nights when the stories of hope matter more than the final score.
“Before the game, everyone was telling me to soak it in,” Castagna said.
“You can only do it once.”
He’s right.
The Flames may not know yet who their future pillars will be. Some are already in Calgary. Others are still playing junior, college or minor-league hockey, waiting for their turn.
On Thursday, George gave fans a glimpse of what those moments can look like.
