Flames’ newest ‘beauty’ Jake Middleton brings a blue-collar edge

CALGARY – Ask anyone about Jake Middleton and the word “beauty” often follows.

Whether it’s a reference to his moustache, his personality, or his perspective on how he entered the NHL, it’s apropos.

Asked about the painful exercise of being selected last in the 2014 draft, the newest member of the Flames smiled.

“The last pick before (Connor) McDavid,” he reframed the accomplishment with a wink, reflecting on hearing his name called 210th overall by the Los Angeles Kings, just one agonizing spot ahead of a certain generational talent who went first overall the following year.

"Why'd you have to bring that up?"

It is a trivia nugget Middleton wears with an endearing blend of self-deprecation and grit.

Long before that agonizing day, or before he began his latest NHL stint by rolling his 2008 Harley-Davidson Softail Cross Bones into the Scotiabank Saddledome parking lot, Middleton was earning his keep the hard way.

A high school dishwasher who also spent summers laying bricks, mending fences, and cutting 100 acres of grass on a hobby farm, his path to the NHL helps you understand the DNA of the Calgary Flames' newest defenceman.

Middleton didn't glide into a leadership role on a rebuilding NHL roster, he manual-laboured his way there.

When the 30-year-old defenceman arrived in Calgary alongside his 70-year-old,"old-school as hell" father, Steve, it marked the end of a two-day, 1,600-kilometre motorcycle trek from Minneapolis through Swift Current.

He packed light – no hockey bag on the back.

So light, in fact, that a FedEx delay on the rest of his stuff left Middleton living out of a single overnight bag for his first two weeks in town.

“Everything I shipped hasn't shown up yet… I've done quite a few loads of laundry and worn the same clothes since September 1st,” laughed Middleton, acquired in the Blake Coleman trade.

“I've got some nice clothes, but I'm on probably my fifth time wearing them now."

When your hockey origin story is forged in restaurant kitchens and masonry sites, repeating an outfit barely registers as a bump in the road.

That blue-collar work ethic isn't just a quirky backstory, it’s the exact culture general manager Craig Conroy and head coach Ryan Huska need as they reshape the Flames' locker room.

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Middleton was born four hours northwest of Cowtown, in tiny Wainwright, Ab., where his parents put in endless hours running the Honeypot Eatery & Pub his father and grandfather built.

When Middleton was eight, the family moved to Stratford, Ont. where his father worked as a custodian and millwright at a Toyota plant for two decades, while his mother, Darlene, balanced restaurant shifts with a job at the town paper.

"That's just kind of how we did things in our family," said Middleton.

"My brother, sister and I, we were always working. We always worked for what we got."

That relentless grind was put to the test on a Saturday afternoon in June 2014.

Middleton decided to skip the draft in Philadelphia because he wasn't sure his name would even be called, choosing instead to monitor the draft while attending a Blue Jays game. He watched 209 players selected before his name was called.

"How did it shape my career? It's truly an embarrassing moment, right?" admitted Middleton, who didn’t end up getting a contract offer from the Kings,

"You're thinking you're gonna be better than last. I didn't go to the draft because I was not confident.

I was happy to get a chance, but yeah, there was some embarrassment behind it, a little bit of'eff-you' going forward, and it took a lot of work. But we're here.

"Here" required a journey through the ECHL's Manchester Monarchs and years of development with the AHL's San Jose Barracuda. Nobody handed him an NHL sweater.

He earned every bit of his 11-year professional career brick by brick, transforming from a minor-league longshot into a rugged, reliable defender in San Jose and Minnesota.

Now settling into Calgary with his wife and young daughter, Stevie, the Western Canadian ties his family established in Wainwright have brought him full circle. And he arrived in Alberta with plenty of experience watching how NHL leaders operate.

"As a 22-year-old call-up as the seventh defenceman, I got to watch how Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski and Patrick Marleau did things,” said the former captain of the Ottawa 67’s.

“Even how a guy like Brent Burns carried himself. And then I get to go to a team like Minnesota that had an extremely solid four when I got there with Spurgeon and Foligno."

Just as importantly, he paid attention to how those veterans welcomed younger players.

"The way that they were leaders in giving Matt Boldy and Brock Faber a voice when they were coming up, I got to see a lot,” said the 6-foot-3, 219-pound defender.

“I've been in a lot of different situations the past 10 years, and I think that's something that I'll be able to lean on going forward with the Flames."

His leadership on a rebuilding club will revolve around sticking up for teammates, playing depth roles, and leading by example on a team that has established a similarly admirable work ethic as its calling card.

“I'm not afraid to get uncomfortable too, which I think is a leadership quality in a lot of guys,” said Middleton.

There will indeed be plenty of uncomfortable moments for these Flames – nights made easier with the humour and guidance of leaders like Middleton.

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