From his perch in a sun-soaked grandstand, Adam Klapka screamed his lungs out for three minutes and 24.07 seconds, the exact clocking for his Czech countryman in a golden performance in the 1,000-metre kayak sprint final at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
But as Josef Dostal pumped a fist in celebration and then stepped to the top of the medal podium, Klapka wasn’t thinking so much about the race that he’d just witnessed.
“I’m an athlete too, so I know how hard they’ve worked to get to there,” Klapka said. “When someone won the gold medal, no matter what country he was, I felt like I was standing next to him and with him the whole way, because I know how much hard work it was.
“That’s the main thing about how athletes see the other athletes … It’s how they work.”
Klapka, whose summer was highlighted by his spectator experience at the biggest spectacle in sports, is now back at work with the Calgary Flames.
The 24-year-old right-winger logged six appearances at the NHL level in 2023-24. In the season finale, he buried his first big-league goal.
Klapka is on a lengthy list of candidates for duties on Calgary’s fourth line. Ryan Lomberg is a lock on one wing, but who will earn the opening-night gig on the opposite flank?
Jakob Pelletier is determined to get back on track after injuries derailed what was supposed to be his first full season in ‘The Show.’ Pelletier, 23, now requires waivers to be assigned to the minors and with his pedigree as a first-round draft pick and the speed and energy he can provide, it seems unlikely that the Flames will risk a claim.
Dryden Hunt has experience on his side and has been stellar in his two exhibition outings so far, while Walker Duehr has plenty to prove after he was frequently healthy-scratched in 2023-24.
Flames coach Ryan Huska reiterated earlier this week that he doesn’t view Matt Coronato as a fourth-line type but didn’t completely rule it out as an option, especially if it’s because the 21-year-old is also among the power-play personnel. The same might be true for Sam Honzek, who entered Saturday’s action as the NHL’s pre-season points leader. (The best guess is Honzek, 19, starts his pro climb in the minors.)
While Klapka was the leading scorer last winter for the AHL’s Wranglers, finishing with 21 goals and 25 assists in 65 minor-league games, his potential differentiator is his behemoth frame and the advantage he should have as the biggest dude on the ice. He is listed at 6-foot-8 and 235 lb.
“When Adam came up the first time last year, he didn’t really know what we were looking for out of him, I guess, and maybe tried to over-handle the puck a little bit too much and got himself into some trouble,” Huska said prior to Saturday’s exhibition clash against the Vancouver Canucks, with Klapka among those in the home lineup at the Saddledome. “But the second time he came up, he was very direct with his play. So that’s the messaging from us to him is that’s what we’re looking for. We’re not looking for anything offensive out of you. We want you to be a bigger body that is hard to play against, that hurries defencemen into making mistakes on the other side. And when you’re doing that the right way, he has a good skill-set where he’ll be able to chip in when it’s there for him.
“But we want him to be a guy that is really hard to play against, and we want him to be that guy consistently.”
Klapka certainly understands that a heavy, hard brand is his recipe to become a regular in the Flames’ lineup. As he put it: “ I like to score goals but obviously in NHL, I have to be a little more defence too. I know my role on the team.”
While he moves well for a big man, Klapka still worked to improve his skating over the summer months. He also focused on stability, completing many of his gym exercises on just one leg at a time.
It’s not like he was lacking motivation after getting his first nibble of NHL action last winter, but his trip to Paris 2024 only added fuel to the fire.
In addition to kayaking, he was able to score tickets to track and field and women’s golf.
“It was a good experience,” Klapka beamed. “I’ve never been to an Olympics, so it was good to see it. And obviously there is the Winter Olympics soon, so it was good inspiration to see how this works and hope that one day you can be there too.
“I have that in my mind a head a little bit, but I just want to establish my position here with the Flames organization first. But Olympics is a long-term goal. We’ll see what happens.”
ICE CHIPS: Nazem Kadri skipped Saturday’s practice session, although Huska confirmed his top centre is “fine” after a collision in Friday’s practice. As Huska put it: “No issue at all there” … Martin Pospisil and Jake Bean both missed a third straight skate due to lower-body injuries, while Coronato was back on his blades after a pair of absences … The Flames continued to trim their training camp roster by assigning forwards Parker Bell, Lucas Ciona, Jaden Lipinski and William Stromgren and defencemen Joni Jurmo and Jeremie Poirier to the AHL’s Wranglers. They also placed two players — blue-liner Jonathan Aspirot and centre Clark Bishop — on waivers. As long as they clear, they’ll also be joining the Wranglers.