When a hockey team is down late in a game and needing a goal, you don’t usually expect to see a fourth-liner out on the ice.
Opposing goalies might prefer to see another top-line sniper and have Adam Klapka planted on the bench with the rest of the checkers, though.
Late in Tuesday night’s loss to the San Jose Sharks, there Klapka was — planting himself in front of the net as the Calgary Flames threw the kitchen sink at their opponents in an effort to tie things up in the dying minutes.
The Sharks would wind up scoring an empty-netter to secure a 6-3 win, but the fact that the Flames even had a chance was due, in part, to Klapka’s efforts in front of the net on Nazem Kadri’s third-period marker.
The job in those situations isn’t simple, but it’s pretty straightforward: The Flames just want Klapka parking himself in front of the net and creating as much chaos as possible.
“I mean, I have to use my size in front of the goalie,” Klapka explained. “When they shoot the puck and the puck is lying there, all the guys are going to focus on me and they’ll leave other guys open to make something happen.
“I love it. I know I’m not going to be sitting on the hashmarks to shoot pucks or make plays. That’s how it is right now. That’s what I can bring to the team right now, just stay in front of goalies.”
All of that is a lot easier to explain than it is to actually do, of course. Even for a towering 6-foot-8 winger who weighs in at 235 pounds, it’s still not easy to position yourself in front of an opposition goaltender when you’ve got big, athletic defencemen trying to clear you out.
But it’s a skill Klapka has been working on and it’s earning him playing time.
“He’s done a good job of going to the net hard,” Flames head coach Ryan Huska explained a few weeks ago. “He’s got really good hands for a big man around the net-front. It there’s a rebound he can reach forever to grab it.
“He knows what his job and his role is in those situations. It’s just to get your big body in front of the net and cause problems. He does that better than anyone on your team.”
It has taken work to get to this point for Klapka. Countless hours spent tipping pucks and working on screens in practice. Time in the gym spent on strength and conditioning so that he’s able to fight for his space against NHL defenders.
It’s work he enjoys doing, though, and having Klapka working in front of the net has the added benefit of helping out the Flames goalies, too.
“I love it,” Devin Cooley said. “If you can see around him, you can basically see around anyone in the league. Every time we’re doing screens or tips, I hope he’s standing there because it makes it really hard, especially for me because I’m tall.
“Against almost any team in the league, I can look over, that’s an option for me. With Klapka, I can’t. I have to fight and battle and it’s hard and it’s challenging, but it’s the best thing ever for practice.
“He’s a big dude, it’s not easy.”
Dustin Wolf feels the same way.
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“He’s a big, big body out there and it makes it hard,” Wolf said. “Especially at morning skate, him and (Mikael Backlund) do tipping drills at the end of morning skate and he’s solid at it. He’s effective at it, and you hope to see that translate into games because he’s a big body and you can’t see (past him).
“If you can tip well, you’re going to make a lot of money in this league.”
So far this season, it hasn’t completely translated into big offensive numbers from Klapka. But while he’s only scored two goals and added four assists this season, it’s telling that the Flames’ coaching staff still has him out on the ice late in games when the Flames need to score.
The question is whether there’s more to come, though. Last season, Klapka played down the stretch alongside Nazem Kadri on what was ostensibly the Flames’ top line. That was a productive stretch, but it hasn’t happened this year and he’s been used as a fourth-liner for the most part.
His late-game presence suggests the coaches trust him, though, and it’s going to be fascinating to see if his role continues to evolve.
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