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Tough Year For Tim

February 2, 2012, 4:42 PM ET [15 Comments]
Shaune Vetter
Calgary Flames Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
When Tim Jackman signed with the Calgary flames On July 2nd 2010, there weren't a whole lot of people who were excited by the deal. After all, it was just the second day of free-agency and many Flames fans didn't even know who the burly winger, formerly of the Islanders, was or what he brought to the table.

Brent Sutter knew. After all, as the coach of the New Jersey Devils, Brent and his club had to face the Islanders 6 times a season and he knew that Tim brought an intensity and effort level that even most pros find hard to match, and was likely a big part of why the Flames offered big Tim a contract.

Hi first season in Calgary was amazing by his standards. After scoring just 11 goals his entire career previous to joining the Flames, Tim was able to score 10 in 2011 to go along with 13 assists and was a positive performer at +4. Stats didn't tell the whole story with Tim Jackman either. As impressive as his career-high stats were for essentially a fourth liner, Tim always brought his high compete level to every shift and was an inspiration to his team-mates as he never seemed to take even one shift off and was willing to literally do anything to help his club win.

That effort level and commitment to being a total team player led to chances the American Born player hadn't seen since his University days as he ended up playing powerplay minutes and even saw some top line shifts 5 on 5 at times in order to bring his enthusiasm to all facets of his team's game. After the season it was clear that Tim Jackman, who on many nights was clearly the hardest working Flame, was destined for bigger and better things.

But something happened on the way to 2011-2012. For some reason the puck has stopped going in. It isn't like Tim isn't busting his but like there's no tomorrow like he did last season. It's not like he shying away from the "tough" areas because he thinks he's "too good" for that now, quite the contrary in fact. The most frustrating part of the struggles Tim's experienced this season HAS to be the fact that he's doing exactly what made him successful last season, one could even argue he's doing things better than he did last season, the pucks just aren't going in.

In the Flames last game against the Wings, Tim Jackman had two of the best scoring chances the Flames had all night. he earned them the same way he got his scoring chances last season, by working hard, and driving the net hard. He could have easily had 2 goals that could have changed the complexion of that game entirely. We all know that he didn't. It must be excruciating to know that you're doing everything right but just can't buy a break, yet Tim perseveres. It would sure help the Flames if Tim's hard work would start to pay off.

Have a great day!

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