Calgary Flames goaltending coach Jason LaBarbera glanced at his phone, reading a two-word text message that told him all he needed to know.
The Flames had just traded away their go-to goaltender. Dan Vladar, as the news broke, was sizing up his first true opportunity to prove he can be a No. 1 netminder at the NHL level.
“He texted me right away and I think it just said, ‘Let’s go,’” LaBarbera said, dishing on Vladar’s reaction after Jacob Markstrom was traded to the New Jersey Devils in mid-June. “He was obviously sad about losing a teammate. They were goalie partners for three years, so you build a great friendship. And they’re both great guys, so you’re sad about that part.
“But then selfishly, for yourself, you recognize the situation you’re in and the opportunity that you’re going to have. That’s what you work for, right?
“I’ve been in his shoes where you look at it and think, ‘I’m going to have a chance to play more than I have in the past and get more responsibility’ which is a big thing. You’re always excited about opportunities when you get ’em. And then it’s on you to take advantage of it.”
Let’s go.
That could be Vladar’s message on Wednesday night as he leads the Flames down the tunnel and onto the ice at Rogers Arena in Vancouver for Game 1 of 82.
The 27-year-old will be between the pipes for the first opening-night assignment of his big-league career.
The Flames aren’t likely to be a team that taps one goalie for 60 starts. Most are expecting a puck-stopping platoon, a relatively even split in workload between Vladar and rookie Dustin Wolf, although head coach Ryan Huska isn’t sold on a straight-up time-share.
“You talk about any player … At the end of the year, or if you’re having conversations with them during the season, oftentimes you hear about ‘just a little bit of opportunity,’ or, ‘If I had a little more ice time, I know I could show you that I could do the job,’” Huska said at the outset of training camp. “That’s a common theme for every player because they always all want a little bit more. And in net now, that’s what our guys have is opportunity. It’s up to one of them to step up and grab that job, and I guess I’m excited to see who rises.”
Vladar, as the incumbent backup and the more experienced option, always seemed like the frontrunner for the Night 1 nod. As the curtain raises on a new campaign, his resume shows a 37-23-10 record and 3.09 goals-against average in 75 career appearances at the top level.
Most of the talk during training camp has focused on Vladar’s recovery from surgery on his right hip — as LaBarbera observed, “I can just see his mind is clear with it and that’s a big hurdle to overcome when you’re like, ‘Oh, it doesn’t hurt anymore’” — but that’s not the only reason that this Czech was feeling optimistic that he was ready to make his case for more time in the crease.
As Vladar pointed out, he has been fortunate to learn from a couple of the best in the backstop biz. He spent the past three winters as Markstrom’s sidekick at the Saddledome. Before that, he was briefly an understudy to Tuukka Rask in Boston. (The Bruins were willing to move Vladar after Jeremy Swayman, who just signed a doozy of a long-term deal, emerged as their top prospect at the position.)
“I saw how those guys were acting and I saw what they were doing, and I think that’s a thing that can help me a lot,” Vladar said. “And obviously just the hunger I have inside myself to don’t waste the opportunity and just take everything from it.”
So what has he learned from those masked mentors?
Let’s start with Rask, who retired as the Bruins all-time wins leader. His hardware collection includes a Stanley Cup ring and replica of the Vezina Trophy.
“The first thing that comes up in my mind with Tuukka is he was calm all the time,” Vladar replied. “You never saw a lot of emotions coming from him. He had a great game, he had a bad game, he was still acting the same. That’s the thing that I took from him the most.”
And how about from Markstrom, who was a Vezina finalist in 2021-22 — the first Flames netminder on that list since some guy they called ‘Kipper’ — but was angling to be swapped to a contender and will now try to lead the Devils back to the playoffs in the Eastern Conference?
“Marky, it’s just that he was really positive,” Vladar said. “From Tuukka, you never heard anything. But Marky, he was just always positive. It didn’t matter if he played really well or if it wasn’t going his way or if we were winning or losing or whatever, he was always positive. That’s what I liked about him.
“And he was super supportive to me and he was not afraid to share his opinion and all the hints, all the spots that he knew that guys were shooting. He was great about that — sharing his experience.”
Starting Wednesday, as he carved up the visiting crease in Vancouver after receiving the opening-night nod, Vladar will be trying to put all that he has learned to good use.
Let’s go.