'Confident In Your Abilities"

If there’s any downside to scoring an absolute highlight-of-the-night, game-winning goal that becomes the talk of the hockey world is the fact that your phone will blow up.

Big time.

Creates a lot of extra work for a guy.

“I got quite a few,” recalled Connor Zary with a wide grin, of the texts and emails that flooded in after his spectacular OT tally against the Vancouver Canucks back on Oct. 9 when the Flames opened the season with a thrilling victory. “It took me a bit to respond to them all, but it's always good to have people supporting you, and even just seeing texts from someone that maybe you don't text all the time, but to say that they're proud of you, it's always awesome.”

So awesome, that a fella could get used to it.

So, then, it should come as no surprise that Zary has continued to create magic following that night, helping the Flames start the season a perfect 4-0.

Forget about a sophomore slump, the young forward has stepped his game up another notch, sitting third in team scoring with two goals and five points and showing himself to be an offensive threat every shift he's on the ice.

His poise and play has given the coaching staff plenty of confidence in his game, so much so that he logged 17:06 in Calgary’s recent 3-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday night.

He trailed only Jonathan Huberdeau (18:48) and Mikael Backlund (18:45) among forwards.

And he almost added another jawdropping marker, showing off his speed and deft hands by flying up the ice and walking around Chicago captain Nick Foligno and then toe-dragging defenceman Connor Murphy but Petr Mrazek was able to make a stop on his in-tight shot.

So was that opening goal on the West Coast just over a week ago a little shot of confidence, reminding - or maybe reinforcing- to Zary that he can hold onto the puck and use his skating and skills to create some magic by undressing a defender, driving wide around them, or dancing down main street for a scoring chance?

“Yeah, for sure,” he nodded in the hallway of the Canmore Recreation Centre, where the team practiced Thursday after spending Wednesday in Banff for some team bonding (more on that in the video below). “And it's one of those things that you know that’s not gonna work (all the time), but you got to pick your spots when you have the right opportunity to do that … you've got to be confident in your abilities.”

Skating on a line with Backlund and Blake Coleman, Zary’s continuing emergence as a 1-on-1 whenever he gets the puck on his stick threat presents another wrinkle for the opposition to worry about when the Flames have the puck.

“I think sometimes if you have a guy, like, for example, Naz, a D-man might think twice, you know. Naz might make a move on him, then all of a sudden he has a shooting lane instead of making that move. So, I think it's just little things like that, that when you know you have that ability, it might give you the extra one second to make a decision, or something like that.”

Zary spent the summer working with powerskating coach Jordan Trach back home in Saskatoon, something he’s done since he was a kid. He’s also spent time honing that skill with Flames skating consultant Danielle Fujita since the end of the last campaign.

To the naked eye, his skating looks more powerful so far. He nods when asked if he's already felt a difference this season.

“I feel quicker,” he explained.” I feel stronger. And I think that's something to keep building on, something I want to keep getting better at, and keep working on."