CALGARY – Dan Vladar has been hanging around with Jaromir Jagr again, which is news Flames fans should be excited about.
“I was practicing with Jagr’s team, Kladno, and I feel great since then,” said the Flames goaltender, whose relationship with Jagr goes back many years.
“All the limitations are gone.
“I feel pain-free, which is the first big step for me. When I first stepped on the ice, I was nervous, but it’s completely better.
“Just getting my strength back and I hope to be 100% next week.”
It’s great news for the Flames, who shut him down early last March so he could have much-needed hip surgery in plenty of time for him to recover for next week’s training camp.
Speaking publicly for the first time since going under the knife, Vladar said the decision to have the surgery was a relief after battling through years of pain.
“It was frustrating because I could only watch, but I think for my future, my career, it was the right decision,” said the 27-year-old from Prague, Czechia.
“I was super happy and relieved.”
Asked how long he’d been compromised by hip pain, discomfort and limited mobility, the well-liked netminder smiled.
“Oh my god, I always had my right side tighter, but the last two seasons were painful a lot,” he said.
“I couldn’t focus on anything else. I was just trying to battle through it, and then I’m happy we made the decision.”
Vladar had the procedure done in New York and “couldn’t do anything” for six weeks.
From there, his rehab went swimmingly back home.
“I just hope now I’m going to have no limitations, and then I can just focus only on getting better,” he said.
All his energy will now be on trying to secure an opening night assignment and establishing himself as the team’s main starter moving forward.
After trading Jacob Markstrom to New Jersey this summer, GM Craig Conroy has insisted the battle for the starter’s net is wide open between Vladar, Dustin Wolf and free agent signing Devin Cooley.
All three know it, but with 75 NHL games under his belt (compared to 18 for Wolf and six for Cooley) he is the slight favourite to go from being Markstrom’s backup to snagging the most starts.
“That’s what I was working for since I got here and I just hope I did everything right and I’m ready for this opportunity,” said Vladar, who was 8-9-2 with a 3.62 GAA last season with an .882 save percentage in 20 games last season.
“I’m trying to not put too much pressure on myself. I’m excited for more playing time, hopefully, and if I get my chance I’ll do my best.
“But if I don’t, I’m going to work 100% in practice.”
With just one more year remaining on his one-way, $2.2 million contract, his play will go a long way towards dictating his future.
If he’s able to prove he’s starter material, the Flames will have to decide whether they’ll re-sign the 6-foot-5 netminder, or trade him at the deadline.
Both Wolf and Cooley were signed this summer to two-year deals that are two-way contracts this season.
The following season, both are on one-way deals, making it all the clearer that to remain a Flame, Vladar is going to have to play lights out.
Wolf is clearly tabbed as the franchise’s goalie of the future after a record-breaking junior career saw him dominate the last three years in the minors.
The diminutive 23-year-old won his last four starts of the season last spring as part of a 7-7-1 record that saw him post a 3.16 GAA and .893 save percentage.
Cooley, a tall and lanky fellow Californian, is a 27-year-old University of Denver product who made his 6 NHL appearances last year, posting a 4.98 GAA and .870 save percentage in San Jose.
All of their jobs will be made tougher by the fact the Flames lost shot-blocking veterans Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev last year, and will be going with a younger defence corps in front of them.