Bruins' Frank still working towards first call-up | TheAHL.com

By Jesse Liebman | AHL Rhythm

hershey bears forward Ethan Frank His first pro season was already off to a respectable start when he was selected to represent the team in the American Hockey League All-Star Classic in February 2023.

On what would have been Frank's 25th birthday, he thrilled the Bell Plaza crowd and thousands of TV and social media viewers across North America with a stunning lap time of 12.915 seconds in the CCM Fastest Skating Competition, becoming the first person to break 13 Seconds Player – The second threshold in the AHL or NHL Fastest Skater competition and earns the title “Hockey's Fastest Man.”

The accolades soon followed. Frank finished the year with 30 goals (seventh among all skaters and first among rookies), signed an NHL contract with the Washington Capitals, earned a spot on the AHL's All-Rookie Team, and helped the Bruins win the Won the Calder Cup to assist Mike VecchioneGame 7 was an overtime decision over the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

The following year, Frank went on to defend his title as fastest skater – he led the way with a 13.032 lap at the 2024 San Jose event – and played a major role in Hershey's return to the title at Coachella Valley .

as frank said Drew Remenda On-ice interview after winning the 2024 fastest skating competition, Speed ​​Kill.

While Frank clearly has NHL-level speed, he has also consistently proven over the past two and a half seasons in the AHL that he has a scorer's touch.

To wit: On April 15, 2022, he scored his first career goal at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, a power-play shot from the left circle with a one-man advantage ;Since then, Bear Nation and the rest of the AHL have seen Frank score a total of 79 goals during the regular season, a record surpassed only by Ontario's 81 goals. Samuel Fagermo. Frank is tied for fourth in the league with 13 power-play goals in 2023-24, tied with Calgary as the Bears head into last weekend's holiday season Rory Collins Ranked first in the AHL with 19 goals. He seems almost certain to be selected to play with the Bruins in the AHL All-Star Classic for a third straight season, which will be held at Acrisure Arena in February.

“Without a doubt [his 2023 performance] It will definitely put him on the map, just talk to league officials and front offices. They want to see players perform well in skill games,” Bears head coach Todd Nelson explain. “He's definitely going to be in the discussion for the third year in a row; he leads the league in goals and I believe he deserves some consideration for that.

“It will be very special to represent Hershey and be part of something like this again with my teammates, coaches and staff,” Frank said. “I know it's there [Coachella Valley]so I might get a few boos here and there, but it's all in good fun.

But Frank's goal is to use his speed and goal-scoring ability, along with a commitment to improving his 200-foot game, to get him closer to a goal that has eluded him thus far: a first NHL call-up. Although he has accomplished so much, there have been growing pains along the way.

Frank struggled toward the end of his rookie season, struggling to find the back of the net as the team entered the Calder Cup playoffs, even getting scratched in parts of the Eastern Conference finals and championship round against the Firebirds. . After hoisting the Calder Trophy in 2023, Frank spent the entire 2023-24 season in Hershey, missing eight games with the Bears from mid-February to early March with a serious lower-body injury when he could have Attend a Bears game.

But later that spring, Frank also exorcised his playoff demons, tying for the league playoff lead with 10 goals — one in particular en route to a six-game winning streak — and playing for Hershey. Four game-winning goals were scored as the team defeated Coachella Valley for another Calder Cup title.

Expectations may be as high as ever this fall, but Frank hasn't been able to make enough of an impact to crack the Capitals' lineup in three preseason games with Washington.

The impetus to finally break through may be what inspired Frank to start the season. Among his 19 goals, he scored a hat trick in the opener against Cleveland and had four game-winners during a five-game winning streak in late November. But he's quick to acknowledge those who helped get him to this point.

“I have to give credit to everyone else on the field, even the coaches and the support staff, who showed film on the bench and came up with ideas on how to beat the team,” Frank said. “Whether it’s the power play or five-on-five, there’s a lot of people that support us as players and what we do and try to make our job as easy as possible, and it seems to be working out well for everyone.”

Bears assistant coach Nick Butland Responsible for overseeing the team's starting lineup – Frank has been on this team ahead of Hershey the past two seasons and currently ranks as the No. 1 prospect among forwards this season. He liked what he saw as Frank continued on his upward trajectory.

“If you look back at the progression and look at the first year of the playoffs, we actually had him sit out games because the games weren't there. He wasn't willing to pay as much as we wanted him to pay. Once we did that , he was inspired and he will never forget that moment,” Butland said.

“He goes back to that moment in the playoffs early last year when he said, 'I'm not going to let this happen again.'” He was outstanding during that stretch and it just carried over into this season. At some point, you might see an opportunity for him to join the National Hockey League. I think there will be an opportunity at some point. He's one of those guys who has the ability to make things happen. I think he's going to score wherever he goes.

Nelson has seen Frank's efforts and knows the challenges he faces as a player when opposing teams game plan on a regular basis.

“I think his confidence is at an all-time high right now. We all know he skates well and shoots the ball well, but now he's getting there and his shot is getting more accurate. He's playing strong and the team Started overpowering him and trying to take away his chances but he still found a way out of it and put the puck in the net.

“I think he's eager to be in the conversation, eager to be drafted. I think when you look at his training camp in Washington, you'll see that maybe things didn't go as smoothly as he wanted. I think he has a little bit of a redemption journey here, if Let Washington include him in the conversation if it needs to be drafted.

Vecchione, who played with Frank in the All-Star Classic in Laval nearly two years ago, has witnessed Frank's success as a regular teammate, often playing left wing to Frank's right, and the two consider each other close on and off the ice. friends. Vecchione continues to marvel at his teammates' goal-scoring prowess and preparation.

“Even after two years as the primary shooter, he's still looking for different ways to score and not let other teams get in his way,” Vecchione said. “That's a credit to him, the pre-scouting work he does and all the little things he does to put himself in the best position to be a good teammate and a good shooter.”

Will Frank finally get an NHL call-up? Does Frank have a chance to defend his fastest skater crown for the third year in a row? Can the Bears capture a rare three-peat Calder Cup (a feat accomplished only once before by the Springfield Indians in the early 1960s)? The answers to all of these questions remain to be seen, but on the former, Frank remains calm.

“I hope I'm close,” he said. “I like to have confidence in myself, but of course I don't know what [Washington’s] The roster looks like a draft roster, so I'm just doing what I can to give myself the best chance. You can't overthink it or you won't perform well, so I just try to stay in the moment and control what I can control now. I think getting a call-up will probably require playing better defensively without the puck and being more pressing all over the ice rather than in any particular area, but obviously, the NHL is fast, And it's full of good players so it's hard to crack it; it's hard to stay in it for a reason.