Through two years as a professional hockey player, Carter Bancks has learned a valuable lesson about the physics of the power forward.

Size and strength aren't optional — they're absolutely necessary for survival along the wall and in front of the net.

Heart, desire and hard work can only get a man so far.

"I need to get bigger," Bancks said this week at Calgary Flames summer development camp. "I need to get stronger to keep myself healthy if I want to keep playing this way."

Undrafted and relatively unheralded, Bancks needs to keep playing "this way" for a chance at navigating the next step from the minors to the ultimate destination of the NHL.

As a rookie with the Abbotsford Heat, Bancks dazzled former head coach Jim Playfair with his grittiness and passion for the game. In fact, Playfair publicly called the Lethbridge Hurricanes product his best player and urged the Flames to sign him to an NHL contract.

They did so, even though the Kimberly, B.C. native suffered a nasty concussion that prematurely ended his rookie AHL season.

In the first year of his new deal, Bancks separated his shoulder during Heat training camp. He drew back into the lineup five weeks later, only to break his hand blocking a shot.