[sureLoss]

Darren Haynes talks to Jankowski after his first stint as a pro hockey player:

http://www.flamesfrom80feet.ca/2016/...ts-on-his.html

Jankowski spent his time in Northern California sharing an apartment with 18-year-old goaltender Nick Schneider and defenceman Keegan Kanzig, who had each joined Stockton after their WHL seasons had ended. Located right beside the rink and with a restaurant on the main floor, Jankowski said it was an ideal set-up.

"He showed an offensive side, he showed a responsible defensive side, he can make plays from the middle of the ice and every game he played for us, he got much more confident to the point where we were using him in tons of key situations at the end," Huska said. "And a lot of the games that we were playing down the stretch, we were still fighting to get ourselves into the playoffs so the games meant something and I felt he raised his level every game.

"He has a lot of intriguing factors about him because he is that big centre man and if he can continue to put on the weight and continue to challenge himself and come back to camp with confidence, I'm excited to see what he's going to do next year."

"Face-offs went OK. While they didn't know me, I didn't know them so it was new for everyone and there was no real advantage for either of us," said Jankowski. "I had some good games, had some bad games in that but it was great."

Face-offs is an area Jankowski takes a lot of pride in. Tracked as part of Hockey East's advanced stats the past two seasons, he was an impressive 58.1 percent at the dot in 2014-15 before falling off to 52.1 percent this year.

"It's such a big part of the game, especially with all the focus on possession right now. You want to have the puck as much as possible and it starts right away from the face-off," he says. "I've worked a lot at it, it's no different than anything else that you're working on in your game and it's an area that I'm looking to to be successful with in the future."

There were two things that Jankowski knew going into the negotiations. One was that he definitely wanted to be part of the organization that showed such faith in him by taking him 21st overall in the 2012 NHL Draft. Second, he wanted the next step to be what was best for him.

"I always wanted to be a Calgary Flame, that was never an issue for me. It's been a great organization, they've been nothing but top notch, especially when the management changed and Mr. Treliving and his staff took over. We've talked a lot, we have a very good relationship and I just felt this was definitely the place where I wanted to be a pro hockey player."

Another thing he's looking forward to next season is being reunited with Jon Gillies, his teammate for three years at Providence including that 2015 championship team.

"We've been texting and talking. It's definitely nice to have someone in the same organization that I've spent so much time with over the years. We can talk about things, he can show me the ropes a little bit. I've known him so well for the past four years, Jonny and I getting to be teammates again will be a great experience. We've had some success in the past together and we definitely want to have success in the future."

While the experience will be new this summer in concentrating fully on hockey, the surroundings will not be. When you've been around the same organization as long as Jankowski has, there are lots of familiar faces at this point.

He roomed with Patrick Sieloff when he came to Calgary last year. He also lists Morgan Klimchuk, Brett Kulak and Kanzig among the other guys he's gotten to know quite well over the years.

"One of the biggest things I can take away from my time in Stockton is while I may have had a little bit of success in the first stint, I need to have a huge summer and be prepared for training camp and next season. That league, like any pro hockey league, is not easy. You can't take anything for granted. Any success that you've had. You have to build off that and you can't be complacent."