CLICK FOR TICKETS<\/a>). They won the first outing of the two-game set 6-5 in Edmonton Friday night.<\/p>\nAfter playing five games with the Flames last season before an injury sidelined him, Honzek spent the bulk of the 2024-25 campaign with the AHL\u2019s Calgary Wranglers. He dressed for 52 games and notched 21 points (8 goals, 13 assists), using the opportunity to adjust to the pace and grind of pro hockey.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh yeah, for sure,\u201d he said. \u201cBeing a pro player and becoming a pro, I think for the last two years I\u2019ve been through these training camps, I have to bring it all together and just be the best from the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n
This offseason, he focused on building himself up, both physically and mentally.<\/p>\n
\u201cI worked really hard, gained some weight,\u201d he said. \u201cThat was my priority.\u201d<\/p>\n
Honzek packed on 15 pounds over the summer, and now hopes to use that added strength to his advantage in board battles and puck protection.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to be better, bring it on the wall, and get the pucks on the floor of the forecheck and use the extra muscles I gained during the summer to my advantage,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
Helping push him this offseason was fellow Slovak and current Flames winger Martin Pospisil, who has carved out a role as a physical presence with the big club.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if I can say this,\u201d Honzek laughed, \u201cbut I think this summer I pushed him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to be better than him, and he wants to be better than me, so it\u2019s a good competitiveness between us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being one of the more experienced players in rookie camp, Honzek is starting to feel a shift in his role, stepping into more of a leadership presence for the younger prospects.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my third time going through a rookie camp and the main camp. I can be a good leader and show the guys the way … help them if they don\u2019t know anything, or just be a good guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
And while he\u2019s not barking orders, Honzek knows the moment will come to speak up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019ll get to the point where I\u2019ll probably say something to them,\u201d he said. \u201cBut for now, just let them practice, and when the game time comes, then maybe a couple of quick words in the locker-room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Honzek\u2019s motivation is clear: win a spot on the big club and prove he belongs.<\/p>\n
His journey hasn\u2019t been without bumps, but he\u2019s determined to show he’s ready for the next step.<\/p>\n
\u201cI gotta keep my head down, work really hard and earn my spot on the team,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s doable and I can do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sam Honzek is no stranger to the Flames prospects camp. The 20-year-old winger, who was selected 16th overall…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-145279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}