‘An inspiration’: Former coach happy with Kirkland’s success with Flames

Article content material

Dallas Eakins hustled from the rink to the hospital, wishing he might have been there sooner.

A number of hours earlier, simply earlier than the usual pre-game conferences, Eakins had obtained a jarring name with information that one in every of his Anaheim Geese gamers had been concerned in a severe automobile accident on his commute to the Honda Middle.

Justin Kirkland was imagined to be within the residence lineup that night for what turned out to be a lopsided loss to the Boston Bruins. As a substitute, he was being handled for head trauma, facial fractures and different accidents. When he regained consciousness, his coach was already there, nonetheless decked out in his game-night go well with.

Article content material

“ him, I truthfully couldn’t imagine he was alive,” Eakins mentioned, recalling his preliminary response when he walked into that hospital room, becoming a member of Madison Kirkland at her husband’s aspect. “He was beat up. He seemed completely horrible.

“It actually seemed like a gang had taken a baseball bat to him, proper from the highest of his head … It seemed like a gaggle of 10 had simply pounded him.”

Kirkland has been one of many NHL’s feel-good tales this fall. Now 28, the journeyman centre is benefiting from a call-up alternative with the Calgary Flames.

Over the previous few weeks, he has scored his first NHL objective, collected his first big-league help, earned highlight-of-the-night consideration with a silky shootout transfer and embraced his ‘Costco’ nickname by joking that he’d love a free membership as a part of an endorsement deal.

If he’s within the lineup on Monday because the Flames go to the Vegas Golden Knights, Kirkland will likely be logging his eighth NHL outing of the season, which might mark a brand new profession excessive. He was driving to Sport 8 with the Geese when he was almost killed on a California interstate on Jan. 8, 2023.

Article content material

Article content material

As Eakins repeated a number of instances throughout a telephone interview from Germany, the place he’s now pulling double responsibility as the top coach and common supervisor for Adler Mannheim of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga: “He’s an inspiration.”

It’s actually not a favorite matter — who enjoys speaking in regards to the worst day of their life? — however Kirkland is usually requested to recount the hazy particulars of his hospital keep. He realizes his restoration and return from that scary crash is a part of what makes him such a compelling story, why it appears that evidently supporters of all groups are rooting for his continued success.

Kirkland describes Eakins as “an ideal man” and though they labored collectively for just one season, his former skipper in Anaheim stays one in every of his largest followers. When Kirkland notched his first NHL objective, burying a backhand within the Battle of Alberta, Eakins was fast to textual content each Justin and Madison — a ‘Yeahhh child!’ adopted by a string of fist-bump and coronary heart emojis.

Article content material

“The factor I see now that I like, and I equate this again to non-public issues, to tragedies which have occurred in my life … ” mentioned Eakins, who was himself a journeyman professional participant — together with 20 appearances on behalf of the Flames from 2000-02 — and had head-coaching stints in each Edmonton and Anaheim. “I’d want these issues on nobody, however I’m so grateful they occurred to me. Or possibly it’s adversities in my skilled life. I don’t want on anybody some issues which have occurred to me professionally, however I’m extraordinarily grateful for them. As a result of I do know what they do. They callous your mind. They provide you a brand new sense of what’s laborious.

“So now once I see Justin and Madison, they’ve a distinct outlook. It’s not like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve been despatched to the minors. Oh, it’s so tragic.’ No, you begin laughing at adversity like that. It’s like, ‘Carry it on. That’s high-quality. I’m 28 and I’m going to the minors and I’m going to go work as a result of this can be a nice day. I may not even be imagined to be right here proper now, so at the moment is a good day.’ And now he will get referred to as up, he scores that objective, he appears to be enjoying properly from the million miles away that I’m. And what I see in Justin is that I’m unsure you can throw something on the child that can rattle him. And please, somebody inform him he can’t play within the NHL. As a result of I put my cash on him now. I guess on him. Like, simply inform him that he can’t do it. Inform him: ‘You’ll be able to’t do that. It’s going to be too laborious.’ He’s going to giggle in your face and it’s due to that day, going to that sport towards Boston. It was a scary, nearly actually life-altering second in a nasty means that turned a really life-altering second in an incredible means.

Article content material

“As a lot as you don’t wish to undergo that, I’ve a suspicion that Justin and Madison are extraordinarily grateful for that day. As a result of what might have been a really tragic day has actually paid off to a life-altering mindset.”

With Yegor Sharangovich returning for Saturday’s 5-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, and with rookie Sam Honzek near being activated, the Flames might quickly be sending one ahead again to the AHL’s Wranglers.

Kirkland, with 4 factors and a plus-5 score in seven video games to date, is making a case he ought to stick on the roster. (He had his finest night time on the dot Saturday, successful six of eight attracts, however his general success charge of 43.8 per cent requires some enchancment.)

Eakins, as he retains tabs on Kirkland from afar, has been fascinated with that decision he obtained as he ready for that conflict between the Geese and Bruins in January 2023, in regards to the knot in his abdomen as he awaited additional particulars.

He’s additionally been fascinated with a name that by no means occurred.

Practically half of Mannheim’s regulars have previous NHL expertise. This summer season, as Eakins scoured the checklist of potential free-agent targets, it did cross his thoughts …

Article content material

Kirkland, who performed a pair of video games final winter with the since-relocated Arizona Coyotes, wound up returning to the Flames’ group on a one-year, two-way contract.

“I’m the final supervisor and coach of a vacation spot place in Europe. In the event you’re going to come back play in Europe, this can be a place you’ll wish to get to for plenty of causes,” Eakins mentioned. “And rolling into this previous summer season, I’m taking a look at guys who’re searching for work and I’ve by no means informed Justin this, however I used to be sitting there considering, ‘ what? There’s a man proper there. I do know he could be an unbelievable match right here and man, it could be a privilege to have him and Madison right here. These are the type of folks that we wish to construct our group on.’

“However it’s most likely the one time since I’ve been in control of right here that I did one thing that wasn’t the perfect for the group and what I did, or what I didn’t do, is I didn’t attain out to him. As a result of I do know he respects me and I respect the hell out of him, and I didn’t need him for one second to suppose that I assumed he didn’t have an opportunity nonetheless within the NHL. I didn’t wish to put any doubt in his head with, ‘Hey, it’s me calling you. I’m providing you this. You would possibly wish to contemplate.’

“I didn’t attain out as a result of I needed him to maintain plugging and preventing it out over there. What’s to do proper by our group over right here is to seize individuals like him, to ensure you go laborious after them. I didn’t as a result of personally I needed him to maintain scraping and clawing over there. I’m glad I didn’t name him, and I’m glad that he nonetheless has his head down and he’s nonetheless swinging.”

wgilbertson@postmedia.com

Article content material