Jake Bean does not go by the name “Josh”.
As far as he can recall, nobody’s ever called him “Josh Bean.” Why would they? It’s literally not his name.
So he’s not entirely sure why Elite Prospects, an invaluable and reliable resource for everyone wanting stats and information about the hockey world, says “AKA Josh Bean” under his name on his profile.
“Never, no,” Bean said Friday when he was asked if anyone calls him Josh. “That’s new to me.”
The mystery of why Elite Prospects thinks Bean is also known as Josh won’t get solved here. Not today. Sorry to disappoint.
And Bean has long been a household name in Calgary, anyway. There’s no confusion about his name in this city. He’s a born-and-raised Calgarian who starred for the Hitmen during his WHL days.
Signed by the Flames in free agency back in July, his homecoming has started off well. He scored his first goal of the season on Thursday night against the team that drafted him, the Carolina Hurricanes, and has also picked up two assists and is a +2 through six games.
Playing with both Brayden Pachal and Tyson Barrie, Bean’s been a reliable presence on a Flames’ blue-line that has been a real strength on both ends of the ice during the team’s surprising 5-1-1 start to the campaign.
“I think he’s settled in well,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “I think the one thing I really like about his game is he understands how to keep and play a really tight gap. He does a really good job of that, he doesn’t really give up a lot.
“Short answer, I think he’s done a really good job so far.”
The Flames aren’t necessarily relying on Bean to score a tonne of goals, so it’s not like he was feeling any pressure to bury one prior to Thursday night’s game.
Still, though, it felt good to score, especially because the goal seemed to act as a catalyst for the Flames stepping up their play and getting back into a game they were trailing 3-0 at the time.
The Flames ultimately couldn’t complete the comeback and wound up losing their first game of the season in regulation by a 4-2 margin.
“It’s nice get one and it’s nice to be part of the comeback,” Bean said. “It was good to get that one, unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.
“I’m sure there will be more to come.”
The goal was the seventh of the season by a Flames defenceman and they’ve also combined for 20 points through seven games this year. That productivity has been a big part of the team’s hot start and the fact that Daniil Miromanov is the only one of the seven guys who have played on the blue-line with a plus/minus below zero is encouraging, too.
It’s a deeper group than a lot of people were giving the Flames credit for having prior to the start of the season, and Bean has absolutely been a part of that.
“We don’t really have any inexperienced d-men,” Bean explained. “Everyone’s kind of been around, so it’s kind of to a man, you have to do your job and if everyone does that we’re going to find better results than worse.”
AVAILABILITY UNCLEAR
Both Sam Honzek and Yegor Sharangovich skated with their Flames teammates for a second day in a row on Friday, but it’s not clear that either will be available Saturday night against the Winnipeg Jets (5 p.m., Sportsnet West, Sportsnet 960 The Fan), who happen to be the NHL’s last team with a perfect record at 7-0-0.
Sharangovich has been out since suffering a lower-body injury in the pre-season finale, while Honzek has been dealing with an upper-body injury for the last three games since getting hurt against the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 15.
Huska said both guys should be considered day-to-day.