DENVER \u2014 He\u2019s an imposing presence on the ice, doling out hits, causing havoc and even shedding his gloves now and again.<\/p>\n
But one month into his 2026-27 campaign, Adam Klapka feels like his game is becoming more well-rounded, as his Flames get set to kick off a three-game road swing Saturday evening against the Avalanche (8 p.m. MT, Sportsnet).<\/p>\n
Through 13 games, the big Czech winger has four points – a total that included a drag-and-snipe beauty the last time Calgary and Colorado locked horns – in addition to ranking second among NHL skaters in penalty minutes and inside the League\u2019s top 15 in hits.<\/p>\n
But in addition to the numbers game, Klapka\u2019s defensive acumen is starting to show through. That 6\u20198\u201d size includes a wingspan several Denver Nuggets would probably envy, and Klapka\u2019s recent form has included a propensity to dispossess opposing skaters from seemingly impossible distance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know I have a long stick, and I can reach much farther than other guys,\u201d he said during a quick conversation at the team hotel Saturday morning. \u201cI learned a lot of it when I was with the Wranglers, that was a time when I was working on it a lot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat (AHL experience) was one part, and during the summer, I was trying to (work on) some stuff like this too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAdam is one of our more consistent guys, from the start of the season, he\u2019s been a guy that I think has played to the identity that we want him to have,\u201d Head Coach Ryan Huska added Saturday. \u201cHe\u2019s such a big man, that he\u2019s hard to contain and hard to control.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s able to get us some zone time, he\u2019s able to wear teams down and he\u2019s a really effective player when he\u2019s playing that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Klapka has found a home, too, in helping wear opposing penalty-killers down. And while he\u2019ll readily admit that recently, Calgary\u2019s top unit has been humming, he\u2019s still eager to show what he and the second unit can do when given the opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s awesome,\u201d he said of his man-advantage responsibilities. \u201cIt was my role with the Wranglers, and it took a little bit longer to get a chance on the powerplay here, but it’s the NHL, so there’s a lot of good guys on the on the team. So I get it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut now I’m really happy and thankful that I’m getting the chance. The first unit is doing a pretty good job, so whatever time we get, we go in there and try to do our best.\u201d<\/p>\n
His role is unique – not many fourth-line wingers get the opportunity to strut their stuff on the powerplay – but as he continues to develop, the 26-year-old is carving out an irreplaceable role in this Calgary lineup, skating in all but three of the Flames\u2019 95 games since the start of the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n
Consistency is a buzzword in many an NHL media scrum, but for Klapka, it\u2019s how he earns his keep.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And keeps getting the call to play that bruising, checking role night in, night out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it’s coming together right now,\u201d he said of his start to this season. \u201cI just started feeling the same comfort that I had last season, or the season before with the Wranglers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m happy that I’m seeing some progress, and I just want to continue to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DENVER \u2014 He\u2019s an imposing presence on the ice, doling out hits, causing havoc and even shedding his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":947916,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":["post-947915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=947915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/947916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=947915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=947915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=947915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}