From the frying pan into the fire, Jason LaBarbera is not shying away from the heat.
The Prince George minor hockey product just began his next hockey challenge this week as the newly-hired goaltending coach of the Calgary Flames.
On Thursday, the day after his seven-month-long commitment to Canada’s world junior team ended in the shocking disappointment of a 2-0 loss to the United States in the gold-medal game in Edmonton, LaBarbera was back in Calgary shuffling his office to the Flames’ side of the building in Scotiabank Saddledome to return to the ice for his first training camp as an NHL coach.
After four seasons as goalie coach of the Calgary Hitmen, LaBarbera signed a three-year term to take on the coaching role Jordan Sigalet held the past three seasons, while Sigalet becomes director of the team’s newly-created goaltending department.
LaBarbera played 187 NHL games in a 17-year pro career with the New York Rangers., Los Angeles Kings, Vancouver Canucks, Phoenix Coyotes, Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks. The 40-year-old former Portland Winterhawk/Spokane Chief was born in Burnaby but played most of his minor hockey in Prince George.
“I’m pretty fortunate for sure and obviously grateful for the opportunity - when you play you have to move around a lot and now in coaching if you want to move up, usually you have to move,” said LaBarbera. “I have a young family and obviously I don’t want to move around, not yet, and to be able to just move down the hallway is pretty awesome. Hopefully I can spend the next three years in Calgary and hopefully longer.”
LaBarbera will work directly with the Flames netminders and will answer to Sigalet, who will oversee the draft and be on the lookout for NHL prospects playing in minor pro leagues or in Europe. Thomas Speer is also in the Flames’ organization as goalie coach of the Stockton Heat of the AHL.
The Flames are among several NHL teams in recent seasons that have expanded their goaltending coaching ranks, in recognition of how critical the position is to team success and the fact most head coaches lack the knowledge of how to teach their goalies. LaBarbera is looking forward to having Sigalet around as a sounding board.
“One thing about goalie coaching is you’re pretty much on an island most of the time trying to figure things out,” said LaBarbera. “You don’t have that added resource of someone that’s on the same side as you that you can pick their brain.
“Coaches sort of have each other if the power play’s not working, but if something is going a little awry with the goalie you’re kind of on your own to try to figure it out, which is good in a sense. That’s what you’re there for. But sometimes it’s nice to be able to call a guy up that’s on your side to find, ‘what am I missing here, what would you do?’ It’s always good to have another set of eyes.”
NHL scouts are for the most part retired players who have played at a high level. But as LaBarbera points out, very few have ever played as goaltenders.
“What do former players really know about goalies and why they did or didn’t stop the puck - there’s a million factors that go into that and a goalie coach can see those things and figure those things out,” said LaBarbera.
The Flames landed one of the most coveted free agents during the off-season when they signed former Vancouver Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom to a six-year, $36 million contract. Markstrom finished fourth in Vezina Trophy voting and was a big part of the Canucks’ successful season and extended run in the 2020 playoffs which ended in a seventh-game loss to Vegas in the Western Conference semifinal.
“I’ve been a big fan of his the last three or four years,” said LaBarbera.
”Just to see his progression and how he was able to figure out how to become an elite goalie. I’m super-intrigued to be around him and pick his brain and learn some of the things he’s done the last few years to elevate his game and try to add some of the stuff I’ve learned to try to elevate his game even more.
“When you’re coaching junior goalies you usually try to find a couple NHL guys you can show guys video of and he was always one of the guys I liked to use as a model because I really liked his game.”
Joining Markstrom in the Calgary crease in camp are incumbent Flame David Rittich, veteran NHL journeyman Louis Domingue, Garret Sparks (Vegas Golden Knights), Artyom Zagidulin (Stockton Heat, AHL) and Everett Silvertips puckstopper Dustin Wolf, a Flames seventh-rounder in 2019 who backed up Spencer Knight on the U.S. world junior team.
The Flames open their pandemic-shortened 56-game schedule Thursday in Winnipeg. They’ll play all their games this season in Canada as part of the seven-team Canadian division.
“It’s crazy, I think in February we have 15 games in 28 days,” said LaBarbera. ”It’s kind of set up like a baseball schedule. In February we play Ottawa three games in a row in Ottawa.”
The Flames are highly-touted as division favourites with Montreal and they will be looking to improve on last year’s playoff disappointment which ended in a six-game opening-round series loss to Dallas after a four-game qualifying series win over Winnipeg.
“There’s not going to be a whole lot of time for practices and you’re going to want to get off to a good start in the season,” said LaBarbera. “That will be huge because if you’re chasing after the first month it’s not going to be easy to catch up.”
