It’s been a journey. Never selected in the NHL Draft, Hanley patrolled the blue line for four seasons at UMass (the same school that now features promising Flames forward prospect Aydar Suniev).
He joined the AHL’s Portland Pirates in the spring of 2014, and worked his way up the chain for two seasons before making his NHL debut - against the Flames - as a member of the Montreal Canadiens in March of 2016.
It was in Dallas that Hanley found an NHL home, breaking into the lineup and dressing in 12 games in the ‘bubble’ playoffs of 2020, where the Stars went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final before falling to Blake Coleman’s Tampa Bay Lightning.
In the seasons since, Hanley’s not played a single game in the minors, though his career-high in NHL games played over the course of a single campaign stands at 44.
Last Saturday’s milestone night was just game number seven on the season for Hanley, who says the role of seventh defenceman is one he’s had to learn as his pro career has progressed.
“I’ve kind of had to grow into that role,” he explained. “I always wanted to be a top-four defenceman, but it came to a point where I was ‘if I can’t be the best top-four, I want to be the best seventh defenceman.’
“I think that was my mindset, that I wanted to be the best I could at that role.”
It’s not an easy role, either.
Hanley has spent extended spells out of the lineup, but during those breaks in game action, he’s still expected to show up and do the work at practice, every single day.
Because at the drop of a hat, he might be called upon and expected to perform.
Not an easy job, but an admirable one, if you ask Flames head coach Ryan Huska.
“All the way along - East Coast League, to the American League, to the NHL - you have to make sure that you show up every day and prove to people that you one, deserve to be there and two, that people are going to want to be around you, you have a great attitude,” Huska explained Monday. “So he’s learned how to be one of the ultimate team guys by making sure he comes in every day, and nobody would know whether he’s played 10 games, or he had the best game of his life the night before.
“He is someone that people want to be around, and I think he just gives off the right kind of persona because of what he’s had to do, and how he’s had to grind all the way through to get himself to this level.
“He’s one of the better guys that I’ve seen at it, for sure, very strong mentally.”
Every player wants to play every night, no doubt. It’s that ingrained competitive drive that makes the best athletes rise to the top.
But Hanley credits those close to him, too, for helping him stay on task, to remind him those nights in the press box pay off in the long run.
“I think my family plays a big part in that,” he said. “They do a good job of keeping my confidence up. Sometimes it’s easy to get down on yourself, and second-guess yourself when you’re not getting into the lineup.
“They do a good job of keeping me grounded, and keeping my confidence up.”
For Huska, Hanley offers similarities to another blueline mainstay from recent years.
He might not have Michael Stone’s booming slapshot, but attitude-wise, the pair are - for Huska - integral elements in the dressing room.
“There’s such value in it, there really is; it takes a very special person, like I said, they’re very strong up top,” Huska explained. “They know that when they step in the lineup that they’re capable and ready to play, which is important for me.
“Those two have a lot of the same characteristics in that regard.”
Hanley again skated on the second pair at practice Monday, taking reps alongside MacKenzie Weegar after earning more than 19 minutes of ice-time for just the second time in his Flames tenure Saturday, in that 3-0 victory over the Panthers.
Safe to say, if he’s called upon again Tuesday, when Calgary plays host to the Boston Bruins in game three of this pre-Christmas homestand (GET TICKETS), Hanley will be ready to go.
No questions asked.
“It’s just (about) working hard,” Hanley mused.
“And when your opportunity comes, just try to make the most of it.”
