'Dancing In Her Pajamas'

It’s always a good reminder to hug the people you love.

But when your husband – “the best guy,” tweeted Madison Kirkland – fulfills a childhood dream in one of the most storied rivalries in professional sports, you embrace the moment and pull out all the stops.

No matter the wardrobe.

“My wife is so supportive,” Justin, now an NHL goal-scorer, beamed following Tuesday’s morning skate. “We got back from Edmonton at midnight and she's on the front steps of the street dancing in her pajamas and smiling.

“I've got these amazing people in my life that have helped me so much, so to be able to share it with her and come home that night and have a little celebration when I got home was very special.”

For Kirkland – or ‘Costco,’ as he’s known around the Flames dressing room - the reception following his first-career goal was unlike anything he’d ever experienced.

One-hundred and fifty text messages rolled in over the course of 24 hours, with friends, family, former teammates and old organizations, coaches and staff members among those that reached out to congratulate him.

He figures it will take about a week to get back to everyone.

But for now, he’s taken aback by all the affection.

“I ended up putting my phone on do not disturb,” Kirkland laughs. “It's been a little overwhelming, but it's been special to see the love and support that I've gotten.

“I was able to put the phone away and enjoy the moment with my wife. We got to watch the highlights a couple times and just celebrate and reflect on the journey that it's been to get here, so it's been amazing.”

When Kirkland pounced on the rebound left by a Kevin Bahl point shot, it was the culmination of almost every human emotion.

Twenty-eight years old.

Ten years after being drafted.

More than 400 AHL games and only 10 at the sport’s highest level.

And yet, the biggest hurdle of all came not at the rink – but on his way to it in January of 2023, after finally breaking through and realizing his childhood dream with the Anaheim Ducks.

The Camrose native was involved in a car accident on his way to the game that night, suffering serious “head trauma” that thankfully wasn’t life-threatening, but certainly impacted his day-to-day function, while threatening his livelihood as a hockey player.

“With Anaheim when I got that opportunity was the absolute highest point of my career,” Kirkland said. “Then, the accident happens and then I'm at the lowest point of my life.

“Trying to balance that mentally and deal with that mentally was the hardest part. But like I said, with the support system that I have around me – my wife and my family – we were able to get through that point. It was tough, it was a long road. But I said to myself: I've got two options. I can hang my head and say, ‘Poor me,’ or wake up tomorrow and try to get better.

“And that's what I've done ever since.

“Having that little taste of the NHL was that motivating factor to prove to myself and say, 'I can do this, I can get back here.' That's what pushed me to continue to try and get better, and day after day, continue to chase that dream again.

“I spent some time in the hospital and had a lot of appointments and stuff like that to figure out what was going on. The head and the wound heals, but it was mentally trying to figure out how I was going to go about moving forward from that.

“It definitely took me a while and when I came back at the end of the year, I don't think I was quite ready. I don't know that I was quite there. But I was on a one-year contract and my health was a bit of a concern. So, my thought was, 'Let's try to get through these last few games and prove to Anaheim and also the rest of the league that this health (issue) was not a concern and I'm OK to play.'

“It was a crazy year – still something that I look back on and I'm very happy and very proud to be on the other side of it now.”

Kirkland returned for the 2023-24 season, logging two games with the Arizona Coyotes, but spending the majority of the campaign with the club’s AHL affiliate in Tucson, where had eight goals and 30 points in 43 appearances.

His belief never wavered.

So, when he signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Flames back on July 3, he knew an opportunity like the one he’s relishing now was a real possibility.

He parlayed a strong training camp into the first call-up of the season – and is now turning this role as a fourth-line centre, alongside Ryan Lomberg and Matt Coronato, into one of the feel-good stories of the new season.

As hard as it might be to look back on those challenging, life-altering moments now, the view from the summit is a whole lot sweeter after experiencing the depths of despair.

Not that you’d ever wish for an experience like that, but Kirkland has emerged on the other side more driven, more grateful, than ever before.

"At the start, it was, 'Am I going to play again?' he recalls. "At the start, it was definitely on my mind of, 'What’s this going to do to my career?'

“As we progressed through it, hockey started to go on the backburner and I started to look at what's really important in life. I think it kind gave me some new perspective that hockey's not the be-all, end-all. It's family and friends and stuff like that.

“Going through that process and having the support that I had, it helped me balance out my life between hockey and family.

“Hockey was always at the forefront – 'This is what I want to do, this is what I have to do' – but that forced me to take a step back and look at the big picture of things and it's been going good ever since.

“So, I’m trying to keep it rolling.”