Calgary Flames centre Kevin Rooney admits it took him a while to get comfortable when he first joined the team in 2022.

Rooney, then 29, had worked his way through the New Jersey Devils’ farm system as an undrafted signing to establish himself as a reliable, bottom-six, penalty-killing forward. After a stint with the New York Rangers, he signed the biggest contract of his career – two years, $2.6 million – with the Flames in July of 2022. He was joining a veteran club in win-now mode, and making the most money he’d ever made in professional hockey.

Rooney put a lot of pressure on himself to live up to the new deal while trying to get comfortable in both a new city and locker room. A few weeks into his Flames’ tenure, Rooney was struggling to adjust to his new team and losing confidence. He decided he needed help.

“It was coming to a new team, a team that was already pretty set from the year before, being a new guy and trying to find my way and fit in with also just being who I am,” Rooney said.

He reached out to the Flames’ mental performance specialist, Dr. Matt Brown. Dr. Brown has a PhD in counselling psychology and has been with the Flames since 2016. His work with Rooney centred on simplifying his thoughts and focusing on his strengths as a player.

“Those are the things I’m thinking about on the bench,” Rooney said. “We always talk that hockey’s a game of mistakes. You have to be able to flush a mistake quickly and I think that’s really........

© TSN