Know this about Darryl Sutter, the Calgary Flames' 45-year-old general manager and coach: The blunt, no-nonsense rancher from Viking, Alta., is rarely given to overstatement, hyperbole, overt gushing or any of the other verbal traits so common in pro sports.
Sutter generally says what he means and even if the message isn't always well received by his players, well, that's life in the National Hockey League. It's a league for big boys.
Accordingly, when Sutter talks about the play of 21-year-old rookie centre Matthew Lombardi, the fact that his review is mostly positive actually means something. It isn't just blather.
Lombardi made the Flames out of training camp, largely because of an injury opportunity. A shoulder problem limited Steve Reinprecht, the Flames' most significant off-season recruit, to a handful of minutes in a single preseason game. Reinprecht had been pencilled in as the team's No. 2 centre behind Craig Conroy.
When Reinprecht wasn't ready to start the season, it bumped another rookie, Blair Betts, up the depth chart and opened up a spot -- temporarily, it was assumed -- for Lombardi.
Now? It looks as if Lombardi is already ready for prime time.
Lombardi acquitted himself so well in his first four NHL games that when Reinprecht finally made his regular-season debut on Tuesday in Calgary's 3-2 win over Minnesota, he was playing the left side on the Flames' No. 1 line.
Reinprecht's right winger was Jarome Iginla, a former NHL scoring champion. His centre? Lombardi, who responded to the promotion by scoring his first NHL goal, then setting up the slumping Iginla for his first of the season as well.
"One thing about Matthew," Sutter said, "is he's probably our most responsible young player, both ways. If you ask him, it's because he's had to play behind offensive guys all his life. He's had to be the shutdown guy, so he knows how to do that. I really like him. For our team to get better, it's a lot healthier for us if we can do it from within our organization."
Lombardi played three seasons for Victoriaville of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and even in that high-scoring league, he didn't average a point a game. Then, in his fourth season, he blossomed with 57 goals and 130 points in 66 games.
Originally the Edmonton Oilers' seventh choice, 215th overall in the 2000 draft, Lombardi couldn't come to terms with the Oilers and entered the 2002 draft, where Calgary took him 90th overall.
"He's a bright kid, really teachable," Sutter said. "He's got really good speed and he makes good decisions with the puck and that's really good for us, because those are two offensive qualities. Either you've got 'em or you don't."
No matter how well things are going at the moment, Lombardi takes nothing for granted.
"For sure, I was coming in to fight for a spot," he said. "That's what the coaching staff told me I had to do -- come in with a good mindset and a good focus and be in good shape. I wanted to do the things I can take control of."
That is something he's doing with a singular purpose.