“We can push each other”

Sam Honzek and Jayden Lipinski aren't done yet.

A pair of Vancouver Giants forwards are poised to make an impact with the Calgary Wranglers – arriving in town this week after the club's WHL season ended last weekend.

Both young squads were selected by the Flames in last year's NHL draft — Honzek in the first round, Lipinski in the fourth — and now they'll have a chance to spend time together on the West Coast as the Wranglers prepare for the playoffs. AHL playoffs.

“It's nice to see some familiar faces from the beginning of the season,” Honzek said Thursday morning. “I'm very happy to be here, to join some games with the guys before the playoffs, I'm going to enjoy it.”

Honzek, who was limited to just 33 regular-season games, scored 31 points as a Giant in 2023-24 — while also representing his native Slovakia at the World Juniors.

Lipinski, meanwhile, tied for the team lead with 66 points for Vancouver and nearly 900 faceoffs.

“It's great to be back here and see the guys I saw at the beginning of the year,” Lipinski added. “They are all very professional, come to us and make us feel at home.

“We're very happy to be here, we didn't finish well in Vancouver, but we're going to be here and that's always a great thing.”

Their Vancouver team faced the stingy Everett Silvertips in the first round of the WHL postseason. The Giants won Game 1 — thanks in part to a goal by Gonzek and a trio by Lipinski — but dropped the best-of-seven series 4-1.

It was a tough way to end their junior season for Honzek and Lipinski, but both learned valuable leadership lessons during the campaign.

Honzek was named captain of the Giants in November, a role he did not take lightly.

“It was an honor for me, a lot of pressure to be honest,” he said, “but good players like Jayden helped me a lot along the way, I'm happy for everyone who helped me. It was a big responsibility.”

“We had to step up, be leaders, we were the big guys in the league,” agreed Lipinski, who was also part of Vancouver's leadership team. “It was great to play this role, it took a lot of minutes; I think it helped me develop.

“It's not just the scores, I think the developers here have done a really good job of building a personality for me; That's been the focus all season, trying to play the same way.”

As Wranglers, the goal for both will be to play the game, but Honzek and Lipinski are part of a deep lineup in Calgary.

Wranglers head coach Trent Cull believes the pair will have a chance to make an impact — along with other recent additions in defensemen Etienne Morin and Johnny Jourmo and forward Parker Bell, who played his first AHL game of the season last Friday in Bakersfield.

“Really, I think it's up to them what their role is or will be,” Cull said Wednesday. “They get a chance to train, they have to train well. Basically, we have 10 defensemen on the ice right now, we have five forwards, so they have to fire someone else.

“We're trying to win, we're trying to be successful, that's the environment we want to expose them to.”

Honzek said his focus will be on breaking the Wranglers' lineup during Calgary's final four regular-season games or during the Calder Cup playoffs, which begin later this month.

His long-term goal? Club in 2024-25.

It's a tough transition to go from team captain to one of the youngest players in the same locker room, but it's a journey he's grateful to have had with Lipinski.

“Basically, Jaden and I have been drafted, it's been a long road for us, spending more time together, which is huge,” Honzek explained. “We have each other's backs, especially in a new place like this, and we can push each other.

“That's very helpful on my part.”

Unlike Honzek, Lipinski hasn't put an entry-level contract on paper, so he sees this opportunity through a different lens.

Arizonans are age-eligible to play professional hockey next fall.

And he intends to use his time in the Stampede this spring as an opportunity to show the Flames brass.

“We both have a chance to be here next year, and I think it's a great time to make an impact,” Lipinski said. “I have many goals for myself, and I want to hit, like signing the first contract.

“It's something to work on, I just try to be a sponge and absorb everything.”