CALGARY – One day after suiting up for his first game in almost three months, Tyson Barrie stands outside the Flames dressing room wearing a smile.
It’s the same gap-toothed grin he wore throughout a stretch of 31 games in which he was a healthy scratch.
But on this day, he is particularly happy to be able to chat about a return to NHL action Tuesday that saw the 33-year-old defenceman ring one off the crossbar and send a low bullet in through traffic that Blake Coleman was able to deflect in on the power play.
Those were the moments the Flames envisioned Barrie being part of when they invited him to camp on a PTO the Victoria native made good on.
Since then, the Flames have only used him in ten games.
“Obviously, I would have loved to have it go a little differently, but sometimes you can’t control it — maybe now is my opportunity I’m getting,” smiled the 14-year veteran.
“And you never know how it can shake out. I feel like, throughout the season, there’s probably about five different seasons in one, so if you can have a couple good parts of the season, it can go a long way. So maybe this is a chance for me to get in and establish myself and see where it goes.”
But maybe not, which is why the personable veteran is cautious about his optimism, knowing he’s felt like he’s on the verge of staying in the lineup several times before.
“Oh, yeah, and then I was right back out,” he chuckled.
“So that’s why I’m being cautious, and just a day at a time.
“It’s tough to really put expectations on how something’s supposed to shake out when you just don’t know. I know I was a late addition to the plans here, and they kind of had a defensive core they were comfortable with, so I came in and made a case for myself.”
The dream now is to continue giving him chances to prove he can help the Flames address their greatest deficiency: offence.
A power play wiz throughout a career that has seen him accrue more points than all but nine active defencemen, his showing Tuesday in a tight loss to Washington was impressive. It came on the heels of a weekend conditioning stint with the Wranglers that saw him score once, and add two assists while helping the AHL’s club go 5-for-7 on the power play.
“I’m really glad I went down and was able to play,” said Barrie, who had gone 12 years between AHL stints.
“I think it makes a big difference just getting some timing and some confidence, and then it just makes it easier to step in and play, because it was a long time off. “I’m happy with the way the game went, but I’ve been around long enough, it’s just one game. You’ve gotta string them together, and hopefully the opportunity keeps coming, and you never know.”
As one of the better defensive teams in the league, the rebuilding Flames have been content with their blue line mix of seven players, largely excluding Barrie. An upper-body injury to Kevin Bahl that will keep him out week-to-week, combined with a penchant to find more offence, opened the door for the patient, 508-point veteran to re-join the lineup.
“It’s a long time, right? So there are challenges,” admitted the family man, who has two young children at home.
“But I think having a good perspective, a good outlook and a good support system around helps. Even though I wasn’t playing, the guys on the team made me feel like a part of it the whole way, so that definitely gives you a little extra incentive to want to get in there and help out.”
That healthy perspective of his has plenty to do with the big picture.
“For me, life is good,” he said.
“I’ve got a beautiful family and had a great career to this date. I’m proud of it, and I want to keep going, but at the end of the day, I’m lucky to be in the position I’m in, so it definitely makes it easy.”
Having him around has been easy too, as the coaching staff hasn’t had to worry about his attitude or felt pressure to force him into the lineup.
“It’s really easy for a player who has sat out a stretch like he did, to come in and show your teammates, or show the staff bad body language, or even voice your displeasure with the situation,” said Ryan Huska.
“But there’s been zero of that. And even in conversations with his teammates, a lot of them would talk about him, how they really enjoy being around him, the quality person that he is, and all of them know the type of player that he is and what he’s done in the past.
“So I think he’s been the ultimate pro with how he’s handled this whole thing, and he’s kept himself ready.”
It harkens back to recent years when the wildly popular Michael Stone played a similar, maintenance-free, fill-in role for the Flames, without complaint.
“I haven’t been around the longest at this level, but you do get frustrated sometimes when guys aren’t that way, because it’s the greatest league in the world to play in,” added Huska.
“You have to have that appreciation when you come to the rink every day, no matter what the situation is. You come to work, you come to enjoy your time and be very thankful for what you have here. And it frustrates me when a younger player may be like, ‘Oh yeah, I deserve this or I deserve that.’
“But when you see the guys that get it, and have been around for a long period of time, they recognize what a great teammate is. You have a lot of appreciation for people like that.”
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