Ryan Culkin was on the short-list for a summons to the Saddledome.
That is, until the Calgary Flames defensive prospect wound up on the injured list instead.
“You don’t really know what the coaches are saying until you meet with them after the season, but at the exit meeting, it was all positive stuff,” Culkin said Thursday at the Flames annual summer development camp. “They said that they really liked what they saw from me. They said, ‘If you didn’t get injured, you maybe would have been called up.’ I take that as great feedback.”
Thursday’s scrimmage had added significance for the 21-year-old Culkin, who hadn’t skated in a competitive setting since slicing tendons in his left wrist during an American Hockey League contest in early February, a freak injury that required season-ending surgery.