Calgary Flames forward Matt Coronato tees it up for charity at the Calgary Italian Open

Calgary Flames forward Matt Coronato is getting in a few last golf swings before training camp opens in about a month.

The 21 year old teed it up at the Cottonwood Golf and Country Club on Monday for the Calgary Italian Open golf tournament.

Coronato says his golf game is just okay, but he’s a lot more confident with a hockey stick.

“It’s nothing too special,” he said with a laugh. “I’m sure we’ll have a fun day but it’s nothing too crazy.”

The scores don’t really matter, what is important is raising money for charity.

Since it started in 2002, the Calgary Open Society has raised over $1.3 million for various charities in the city. This year proceeds from the event will go to Renfrew Educational Services.

Coronato joins Mark Giordano and Andrew Mangiapane as Flames players who have teed it up in the Calgary Italian Open and he says it’s a great event to be at.

“It’s great to be here. I’m proud to be Italian so it’s fun and taking a great guy like Andrew’s place is awesome.”

Big year for Coronato

Coronato split last season between the Flames and the Wranglers. With the Flames, he skated in 34 contests, scoring three goals and adding six assists.

With the Wranglers, Coronato netted 15 goals and added 27 helpers in 41 games. Coronato knows this is a big year for him and he wants a full-time job with the Flames.

“I feel a lot more comfortable with having real relationships with the guys and the staff and just kind of knowing the way things go with the training camp,” he said.

“I feel good this time around and have got a couple of more weeks to kind of gear up and get ready for it.”

Coronato is in great shape coming into camp and he says one of the things he really worked on hard in the offseason was his skating.

“It’s gone well,” he said.

“It was a big focus for the summer. Like I said there’s still some time and definitely still continuing to go do things here over the next couple of weeks but I feel good about it.”

Coronato says he’s had some conversations with the coaching staff in the offseason and he feels everyone is on the same page.

“I think they kind of want the same thing for me and that’s for me to come in as the best version of myself with a lot of confidence and show what I can do and that’s my goal going in,” he said.