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Buffalo a special stop for Flames rookie Jankowski

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BUFFALO — As the final seconds ticked off the clock during Wednesday’s pre-game warm-up at what’s now known as KeyBank Center in Buffalo, Calgary Flames rookie centre Mark Jankowski stepped off the ice surface and reached with both arms to fist-bump a couple of red-clad kids as he retreated to the visiting locker-room.

Probably a pinch-me moment for all parties.

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After all, Jankowski was once one of those young’ns, hanging over the railing — albeit, at the home side — at this very same rink.

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“Ever since I started coming to the games here, I wanted to be on the ice, wanted to be one of those guys,” Jankowski said prior to Wednesday’s battle with the Buffalo Sabres. “I just thought it was so cool. I loved them. I would go down when they went out for warm-up, trying to get high-fives by the tunnel.

“It’s pretty cool now to think about where I am.”

On Wednesday, the 23-year-old was back in the building where his love affair with hockey started, and he put on quite a show for family and friends.

With No. 77 jerseys scattered throughout the lower bowl, Jankowski earned an assist on his second shift of the night. On his next spin, he scored his 12th goal at the big-league level.

The Jankowskis were season-ticket holders in Buffalo for several years, so Mark was raised a Sabres fan.

Countless times as a tot, he made the cross-border excursion — about a 90-minute drive from his childhood home in Dundas — to cheer on his hockey heroes.

His personal favourite? Speedy winger Maxim Afinogenov, who’s still playing in the Kontinental Hockey League.

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“He loved going to the games. He just loved it,” recalled Jankowski’s father, Len. “We would be having dinner at the Harbor Club (inside the arena) and I would have customers with me and we’d be talking away, so you’re focused a bit on that. And then all of a sudden, the TV comes on and they’re starting warm-ups, and he’d be like, ‘Dad, Dad … ’ ”

Len taps at the table.                           

“ ‘Dad, they’re on the ice. We gotta go!’ ”

This has been a winter of holy-smokes scenarios for Jankowski, an American Hockey League all-star last season and now a full-timer on the Flames’ third line.

Just the other night, for example, the up-and-coming pivot exchanged stick-work with Pittsburgh Penguins machine Evgeni Malkin, a guy he has tried to model his game after.

He’s now logged 60 appearances at hockey’s highest level.

Wednesday was his first in Buffalo.

BUFFALO, NY – MARCH 7: Mark Jankowski #77 of the Calgary Flames skates with the puck as Scott Wilson #20 of the Buffalo Sabres pursues during the first period at KeyBank Center on March 7, 2018 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Kevin Hoffman/Getty Images)
BUFFALO, NY – MARCH 7: Mark Jankowski #77 of the Calgary Flames skates with the puck as Scott Wilson #20 of the Buffalo Sabres pursues during the first period at KeyBank Center on March 7, 2018 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Kevin Hoffman/Getty Images)

“Everybody always talks about Toronto, but this is more special for him than Toronto,” Len said. “I would say we probably went to the arena in Toronto maybe three or four times with him. It might have been hundreds here. Maybe not hundreds, but a lot.”

Mark was even in attendance for one of the most controversial moments in hockey history — Brett Hull’s championship-clinching skate-in-the-crease goal in Game 6 of the 1999 Stanley Cup final.

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He sat on Len’s knee for most of that night. When the fans in the row below departed after the fifth period of that marathon, the four-year-old had a seat of his own, although he admittedly may have nodded off before Hull buried on behalf of the Dallas Stars in triple overtime.

The Jankowskis eventually gave up their season seats because Mark and his younger brother David — now the leading scorer in the Junior A-level Central Canada Hockey League and a recent commit to the NCAA’s St. Lawrence University Saints — were so busy with their own games and practices.

“Whenever Dad would say, ‘Hey Mark, do you want to come to Buffalo tonight?’ there was just that excitement immediately,” Jankowski grinned after Wednesday’s morning skate. “I went to a lot of games here and that’s when I kind of fell in love with the game. So it’s going to be pretty special to be out on that ice and looking up into the stands, instead of being in the stands and looking down at the ice.”

Wednesday was pretty special for the entire family.

“This is where he grew up with hockey,” said his mother, Rose Mary. “He was part of the Sabres Kids Club. He has pictures with (the mascot) Sabretooth. He was part of the birthday club, would get a birthday card every year …

“I remember, he would just be fixated with all the players on the ice. Now, for him to be one of those players on the ice, it’s just come full circle.”

wgilbertson@postmedia.com

www.Twitter.com/WesGilbertson

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