After countless chances and an injury that caused him to miss five games, Cochranite and Calgary Flames foward Dillon Dubé finally has his first regular season National Hockey League (NHL) goal after he scored the Flames first goal in a 6-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Nov. 21. “It was good. It was nice to get it out of the way and move on from it. I think I’ll have a little more confidence around the net, not second guessing and thinking ‘is this it?’ Now it's kind of trying to get the puck on net and not thinking of the outcome. Obviously, you’re not going to score every time but you’re clear minded now and know you can do it," Dubé said of scoring his first NHL goal. “I think I had the chances and I was happy to be getting the chances – happy to have the opportunity to be out there in those situations. It’s good to finally get it and hopefully keep rolling.” The goal now gives the young Cochrane forward four points in 19 games so far this season while rotating between the left side of veterans Derek Ryan and James Neal early in the season while most recently playing with young guns Mark Jankowski and Garnet Hathaway while also getting the odd look on the Calgary power play as well as penalty kill. He's been happy with his first NHL season and plans on sticking around long term. “There have been some ups and downs, with injuries, but so far it’s been good, I’ve been lucky enough to play every night that I’ve been healthy. Every game is still exciting for me and it’s going to stay that way for a long time," Dubé said. “I plan on staying here (in the NHL). That’s the goal. Ever since camp, I wanted to be an NHLer and that’s the goal. Every day, I have to show that I am one.” Speaking of staying healthy, the rookie forward is just getting back into the swing of things after suffering a concussion due to being hit from behind by Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Duncan Keith on Nov. 3. “I think that happens a lot in hockey. It’s happened before. The way I play, my stature, you get hit a lot and find yourself in those situations, but it’s how you recover and how you protect yourself in the future, said Dubé. "You have to learn from that. It happened in junior, too, so I don’t know if it was a ‘welcome to the league’ moment, but you just have to sharpen up and be more aware.” Dubé, who was taken in the second round (56th overall) by the Flames in 2016, spent last season playing junior hockey with the Rockets and had a stellar career with the club. The Cochrane native, who was presented with the Rockets President’s Choice Award to recognize outstanding and significant accomplishments at their awards banquet in March, played in 203 WHL games, amassing 101 goals and 131 assists for 232 points. Those stats included the 38 goals and 84 points he posted in 38 games last year with the Rockets. He also helped guide Kelowna to a league championship after winning the Ed Chynoweth Cup in 2015. During his last year as a junior, Dubè suited up as team captain for Team WHL during the CIBC Canada-Russia Series, where he tied a WHL record in points (two goals and three assists) and he is also the first Kelowna Rockets player to earn a spot on the Canadian World Junior team in back-to-back seasons. A season after coming home with a silver medal and finishing the tournament with three assists in seven games in 2017, he became the first player from the Kelowna Rockets to Captain Team Canada at the 2018 World Juniors in Buffalo, New York, this time helping the team to a gold medal. He had three goals and two assists in seven games that year. With files from Scott Strasser, Rockyview Weekly
