Jakob Pelletier is the "funny kid" fuelling Flames excitement right now
Jakob Pelletier boasts just 19 National Hockey League twirls on his NHL resume, but he’s already the clubhouse leader in fun for the Calgary Flames.
The 22-year-old’s youthful exuberance and contagious excitement are full-on permeating the walls of the Flames locker room.
Just ask those absorbing.
Jakob Pelletier being wholesome: A thread#Flames pic.twitter.com/Y7Q0kjUQhT
— Andrew Mangiapane is the best Breadman (@FieryBreadman) March 9, 2023
“He’s young,” mused veteran leader Nazem Kadri, a Stanley Cup winner who, at 32, boasts 856 regular-season and playoff tilts.
“That’s definitely one of his responsibilities right now is to bring the energy and he does a great job of that. Pelts is a great kid and a good player. He wants the team to do well. That’s definitely an important component to have. I think in thinking that way you’re going to find your own success too.
“It’s good for him.”
Good for him. He’s living the dream.
But it’s also good for the group.
Pelletier, who was recalled in January and sat as a sponge absorbing everything around him as a healthy scratch for a half-dozen, has had an impact larger than his 5’9″, 170-pound frame.
He’s become a tweetable figure every time he celebrates a goal — his own or a teammate’s — or offers up some encouraging words to those alongside him on the bench.
Jakob Pelletier, human ray of sunshine. pic.twitter.com/to3jZ0SzdE
— Torie Peterson (@ToriePeterson) March 7, 2023
“He brings that life and that energy on the bench,” said Andrew Mangiapane, far from a greybeard himself at 26 and not that far removed from a similar happy-go-lucky rookie campaign back in 2018.
“You can see it during the game. It’s good. It brings us something I don’t think we have a lot of. I think he’s just a young kid that’s happy to be here and is excited. You see that in everything he does on the ice. It’s great when you see someone score and he’s the most pumped guy on the bench and everything like that.
“It’s pretty funny when you see him hitting some veteran’s guys’ heads and everything like that, telling them to keep going. It’s fun. We don’t have a lot of young guys on this team, right, so it’s good.
“He brings a lot of life to the team.”
Pelletier, the easily-loveable QuƩbec product, plucked out of the first round (No. 26) of the 2019 NHL Draft, has three snipes and seven points while playing 19 straight since entering the lineup.
He’s gone from fourth-line checker to first-line anchor in that time.
Suffice it to say, he’s contributing in more ways than one.
But it’s that grin that’s been most noticeable.
Got to love the Huberdeau and Pelletier bromance ā„ļø pic.twitter.com/PCOFevUcZi
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) March 1, 2023
“It’s awesome,” said Dillon Dube, the 24-year-old who used to occupy the left side of the top line.
“I think that emotion, it’s contagious. You feel it. You hear him. He’s a presence in the room for sure. It’s exciting to see that. Obviously even a young guy, you can learn from that excitement he brings, that energy. He brings the group a lot of energy.
“It’s really good for a lot of guys in this room to have him in here.”
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