I love that place,” Kirkland beamed, not hesitating even a blink when asked to identify his favourite item from the snack aisles. “For me, it would be the s’mores. A little chocolate, wafer, marshmallow … They’re like a cookie almost. When I have those, they don’t last too long.”
“There are still a lot of little things on a daily basis that I sit back at and I go, ‘This is pretty cool,’ ” said Kirkland, who had previously totalled eight NHL appearances across eight professional campaigns. “And that’s just extra motivation for me to keep pushing to try to solidify myself and continue to prove I belong here.”
“I feel like a player like Justin has maybe the one of hardest jobs, because he doesn’t have the luxury to have an off-day,” said Flames coach Ryan Huska earlier this month. “Because people continually look at him and it’s, ‘Well, maybe he’s not quite an NHL player yet’ or ‘Maybe he’s just had a really good stretch.’
“So I think it’s important that he keeps making sure that his preparation is good and he understands that he has to be an everyday guy. There’s no room for him to take his foot off the gas until he’s proven himself for a full season. It’s a hard job for someone like Justin who is really trying to solidify himself in the lineup, but I do think he’s done a very good job with that.”
Like a reach-out from Costco, a place so popular that they count 10 million members across Canada.
And maybe an endorsement deal, too.