'A Whirlwind Of Emotions'

With a nickname like this, Joel Hanley should have no trouble fitting in here, at the home of the best gameday grub in the National.

“I think it was two seasons ago,” Hanley recalled of how his hilarious moniker came to be. “One of our coaches – he was new to the team – called me 'Joe' for basically half the season. Then, one day, the guys were like, 'You know, it's not Joe. It's JoeL.

"Not-Joe... Nacho...

"It's such a silly thing, but hey, it stuck."

Just wait until he gets his hands on that mouth-watering, cheesy, delightfully blond jus served up at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

With jalapeños, of course, to add just the right amount of kick.

Regardless, as the newest member of the Flames – plucked off waivers from the Dallas Stars at noon Tuesday – 'Nacho' Hanley couldn’t be more excited to make the 'Dome his new home.

“It's been a whirlwind of emotions," he said. "The last 24 have hours have been pretty crazy with all the unknowns, but when I found out I got picked up by Calgary, I was super excited. With the history of the team, a Canadian market ... It's such a great organization and I can’t wait to meet my new teammates.”

Hanley, 32, has an eventful day in front of him.

First, he had to rush out and pick up his gear from the rink in Dallas. From there, he had to quickly head home, pile his life into a suitcase, hug, kiss and say goodbye to his wife and two-year-old son, Hudson, before heading off to the airport.

Because in Tampa – where the Flames will kick off a three-game, Stateside swing on Thursday – a new chapter awaits.

The undrafted, left-shot blueliner has spent the past four seasons as a full-timer in Dallas, establishing himself as a reliable, stay-at-home presence with impressive underlying metrics on the defensive side of the puck.

In 32 games this year, the Keswick, Ont. native ranked second among Stars defencemen with a 54.95% possession rate.

Miro Heiskanen is the only one better.

Most impressively, Hanley did this while having the third-lowest offensive zone-start percentage (behind Jani Hakanpaa and Esa Lindell) at 44.49.

So, while most of his shifts begin 200 feet from the enemy’s net, the puck – more often than not – ended up there at a rate better than most.

“The position I've been in my whole career is the 6-7 defenceman, and when you're in a role like that, you try to be reliable and not try to play (outside) your abilities,” Hanley said. “I try not to be anything flashy. Just being strong defensively and getting the puck into the forwards’ hands as quickly as possible.

“That’s the player I’ve become over the past couple of years and, for sure, I definitely take pride in that part of the game.”

The 5-foot-11, 186-lb. rearguard is signed through the 2024-25 season at a team-friendly, $787,000 annual cap hit.

In 183 appearances, he has two goals and 27 points, along with another three points (1G, 2A) in 33 playoff games – including all seven against the Flames in the spring of ’22 when he averaged 12:03 per game in ice time.

Hanley is the type of player who’s had to work for everything in his career.

From cutting his teeth in Junior-A with the Newmarket Hurricanes of the OJHL, to spending four years with the UMass Minutemen in the NCAA, to signing his pro contract with the AHL's Portland Pirates and briefly getting demoted to the continent's third tier ... Nothing has ever come easy.

But like life, hockey is one endless pilgrimage.

And with the Flames giving him another shot at keeping the big-league dream alive, he has no intention of letting the opportunity to go waste.

“It’s part of the journey when you go undrafted,” Hanley said. “It's made me work harder and work for everything that's been given to me. And trust me, it's a good thing.

“It's put me in the right frame of mind that I have to go out there every night and not take anything for granted. Every day in the NHL is special, so I don't want to take anything for granted.

“Just work.

“And work every day to get better for my new team."