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NEWARK, N.J. – Eddie Lack doesn’t feel like he had a short leash while he was a member of the Calgary Flames.

“I don’t really feel like I had any leash at all,” said the New Jersey Devils back up of his limited stint before being traded by the Flames on Dec. 30.

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“I started in two games in nine weeks. When you look over my career, my numbers when I play somewhat consistently are really good. And when I don’t play at all, I’m the first guy to tell you that I suck.”

A pretty good summation from a reclamation project the Flames weren’t able to reclaim.

An odd thing for an NHL backup to say, but it is par for the course for the quirky, open Swede whose candor has always endeared him to the media.

Acquired via trade in the summer to back-up a known workhorse in Mike Smith, surely Lack knew he’d be afforded no more than 10 or 15 starts with the Flames.

What’s more, the organization sure seemed to make it clear – publicly anyway – that he arrived in camp with plenty to prove before he was even considered a dependable backup.