The 22-year-old Brandon, Ontario native has had some ups and downs but learned a lot as a professional hockey player, according to Springfield coach Brad Larsen.
In this Feb. 12 file photo, Springfield Falcon Matt Calvert (37) takes the puck past Manchester Monarchs Brandon Kozun it the MassMutual Center in Springfield.
SPRINGFIELD – Matt Calvert pondered a question about how players deal with slumps and scoring droughts, then offered a simple answer:
“It’s all about being a pro,” he said.
Yes, life does change when a young player steps up from junior hockey to the professional level.
As Springfield Falcons coach Brad Larsen pointed out, “Sometimes, if success comes right away, a player can get really frustrated if he hits a scoring drought – and those are going to happen.”
After a 47-goal season with his hometown Brandon, Ont., Wheat Kings, Calvert scored 13 goals in 38 games as an AHL rookie with the Falcons in 2010-11, then 11 in 42 games after being promoted to Springfield’s parent club, the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Last season, he had to deal with being sent back to Springfield after starting the season with the NHL club. Then he had to deal with a late-season scoring drought, followed by another one early this season.
Let it be said that he has handled all of that like the pro that he has become. He has learned an important lesson in maturity from Larsen – that a forward must do his job every night and play the game right whether he’s scoring or not.
“You work hard, learn from your mistakes and try to benefit from your experience,” Calvert said.
“Matt is a high-character kid, and someone who has learned to deal with adversity when the reality of what the pro game is really sets in,” coach Larsen said.
“We’ve had conversations, talking about what Matt’s strengths are, and making it clear that he has to be tenacious with the puck. He’s been showing that. His puck management is much better than it was last season.”
Larsen said that young players like Calvert – he will turn 23 on Christmas Eve – need to understand that they can be valuable to their team even when they’re not scoring.
“You have to bring that tenacity every night,” the coach said.
So far, his Falcons have been bringing it with consistency. They head into a three-game weekend with a 14-4-1-3 record. In the 30-team American Hockey League, their 32 points rank second only to Abbotsford’s 33 in the Western Conference.
“We have an awesome team on the ice, and a close-knit team off the ice,” Calvert said. “We have the goaltending, the defense and depth on our forward lines. Up front, we have scorers, hard workers and defensive guys – and we build off each other.”
Although coach Larsen likes his team’s all-out effort, he remains a taskmaster who always can find something for his players to do better.
“This is a special group with good chemistry, and they all play the right way. What we want is for them to bring the same level of ‘compete’ to every game, and be consistent. When you do that, you become a team that is very hard to play against,” the coach said.
ICE CHIPS: With goaltender Allen York recalled from Evansville of the ECHL, the Falcons sent former UMass captain Paul Dainton to the Evansville club . . . The Falcons have gained points in seven straight road games, and would tie a franchise record in that department with a victory Friday in Providence . . . The Falcons play at home Saturday against St. John’s, then visit Manchester Sunday afternoon . . . Springfield’s plus-32 goal differential (79 to 47) is the highest in the league, nearly twice that of the Syracuse Crunch (plus-17), who rank second in that category.