LAS VEGAS \u2014 Sam Honzek knows he won\u2019t be back in Flames silks in game action for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n
But just getting back on the ice at the Scotiabank Saddledome with some of his teammates this past week was a big step forward.<\/p>\n
Honzek was on the ice with a half-dozen or so teammates before the Flames took off on this mammoth six-game, 14-day road trip through the Western Conference. And while he\u2019s not here in Vegas with the team, he\u2019s working every day to come back in the fall better than ever before.<\/p>\n
The 21-year-old was finding a groove this fall, playing on a line with veterans Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman, before a fluke collision during a game Nov. 15 ended his season.<\/p>\n
But for a guy that\u2019s battled injuries in the past, this latest setback isn\u2019t wiping the ear-to-ear grin off his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s been pretty much two weeks on (the ice) with myself and Staj (Skills Consultant Matt Stajan), it was kind of lucky that I could get out with the group,\u201d\u00a0Honzek said of his session with his Flames mates. \u201cIt was great to just have fun there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Had he kept going this past fall, Honzek was certainly a possibility for the Slovak Olympic team at the Winter Games in Milan this past February. But at his young age – and with practically his whole career in front of him – further international opportunities are sure to follow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For now, he\u2019s focused on building toward a 2026-27 campaign that he hopes will be his best yet.<\/p>\n
Obviously it’s hard to know that I won’t probably be playing until the season is done,\u201d Honzek recalled of the moment he knew his upper-body injury was a long-term one. \u201cIt’s gonna be a fresh start for me. I’ll be feeling good on the summer and then I’ll have basically a whole four months to just work.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing in next year, I\u2019ll be ready to compete and pick up where I left off.\u201d<\/p>\n
And even if it was only for one day, one practice, Honzek\u2019s Head Coach figures just having some colleagues to share the ice with was important.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it’s more mental for him than anything, everything’s good,\u201d Ryan Huska commented. \u201cHe\u2019s at the point where he’d be very close to being ready to get into some contact. To get him out on the ice with those guys, I think it\u2019s important as well because it puts him in a better mind frame.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s been a long year. Hard on a young guy like that, but I think he’s handled it really well. So whenever we can get him on the ice with the guys, we\u2019re going to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Honzek says he plans on spending a couple months back home in Slovakia before returning back to Calgary in the summer to continue his 2026-27 prep under the watchful eyes of the Flames\u2019 strength and conditioning staff.<\/p>\n
But after a winter on the sidelines, just skating, passing pucks, and enjoying being on the ice with teammates last week clearly means the world to Honzek.<\/p>\n
Injuries aside, the young winger is still a big part of this year\u2019s team.<\/p>\n
And an even bigger part of this team\u2019s future plans.<\/p>\n
“It’s definitely different,\u201d Honzek said of training with teammates versus skating alone. \u201cI would say more fun, right? Like, you have guys around smiling, enjoying playing hockey, and that’s what it’s all about.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really happy I could be out there, it literally made my day.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS \u2014 Sam Honzek knows he won\u2019t be back in Flames silks in game action for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":535649,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[895,26,5294,896,5,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-535648","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-calgary-flames","8":"tag-calgary","9":"tag-calgary-flames","10":"tag-calgaryflames","11":"tag-flames","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116332206881100731","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/535649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}